Minor accident, what's next ?

arthurk

Hi,

So I had my first accident today It was totally my fault. I was changing lanes and did not see car behind me in the right lane. We exchanged details, I told him it's was my fault etc. My total excess is £250 and I'm not sure what happens next and what's best for me.

Do I have a choice of not claiming for the fix and this will preserve my no claims bonus ? How does it all work from the side of the other driver and will his claim affect my no claims ?

If I'll loose my no claims bonus anyway, would it it make more sense for me to claim the fix on my car ? Please advice.

mrcow

What's the damage? Is the other party happy for you to just get their car fixed without making a claim?

arthurk

He wanted to exchange insurance details so I doubt he wants to do it, since it was my fault, he also did not give me his phone number, just name address and insurance company.

Not a lot damage though:

My car:



his:

Sgt_Pepper_2

His is probably a write off.

Tobster86

He's looking at replacement wing & bumper on his old Nissan Micra, which may indeed write it off.

If you're wanting to preserve NCB & insurance history, you have the options of paying for the repairs or simply offering him an adequate amount of compensation personally.

Does anyone in your family/friends fix cars or do you have a good mechanic?

I'd have thought you'd get a good condition bumper & wing for less than £100 and fitting them shouldn't be too time consuming for someone who knows what they're doing.

JQ.

Bear in mind that your insurance co may not be too happy that you have admitted liability, paid out on a claim and not informed them of an accident, when the other party submits a personal injury claim in 18 months time.

Don't get me wrong, we've had cars repired for cash outside insurance, but you need to be very very confident of the type of person you're dealing with.

Quentin

If you offer to get his car fixed, (and he agrees rather than have it written off), remember he is entitled to all his costs incurred, and would be entitled to come after you for a hire car whilst his is being repaired as well as any other expenses.

So the cost to you could be far more than just the parts and fitting/respraying, and letting him go throigh insurance might end up more cost effective than you paying out to keep your NCD.

Although you need to inform your insurer about the incident, if you don't make a claim, then you won't have any excess to pay.

But if they deal with the third party, then claiming for your car also will just count as one claim, so your repairs would just cost you your excess.

SLITHER99

This is my school of thought.

If you put it through insurance, you'll get your car repaired, cost to you is less overall - even considering an insurance hike. Even if your NCB is not protected, you'll only lose two years of it (as is looking the case with my partner with Admiral). However, he is certainly looking at a write off. Either way, something that's your fault will make life harder for him. I would imagine if he's driving a rubbishy old Micra it's because he can't afford anything better.

The other thought (if you were being nice) is to level with him and say "If it goes through insurance, you're going to lose your car - most likely. So we can either do that, or come to a Gentlemen's agreement"... which would be along the lines of he just lives with the damage and you throw a couple of quid in his back pocket. If he's happy to live with the damage and call it £200 or so in his back pocket which is probably how much his car is worth, you get your car sorted on your dime which would be cheaper if you source from a scrap yard, then all good.

If he DEFINITELY wants it all repaired, just go through insurance and have done!

My parent's '99 Astra had a small knock in it after a young lad came out of a parking space a little too quickly. They claimed, but wrote the car off. My parents aren't savvy to the tricks and back handedness of insurance companies but found out that their £800 settlement wouldn't buy much so the whole thing left them car-less! They wanted to buy it back, however the inspection dudes had sent it off to salvage before the request came through. Shame, it was still driveable.

That's the prospect. If he's being ameniable, willing to listen and you feel happy floating the idea, go for it. If he's being a bit arsey and not open to reason, go for insurance.

arthurk

So let me get this clear, if I offer this guy some cash, I live with the damage and clean record on my insurance (how can I protect myself from him not going to insurer after he gets money form me ?).

If I go to my insurer (fully comp) it costs me my NCB (it's only 1.6 years as this is how long I have my licence) I get my car fixed and it costs me £250 total as this is my total excess ? Also on the renewal, my premium will rise.

1jim

To be honest though, you don't have his number, you have his name address and insurance details.

If you had his phone number I would call and see if you could sort it out. You could turn up on his doorstep but to be honest I wouldn't like you doing that to me so I wouldn't react well to that if it were me. You try directory enquiries and see if number is listed. I wouldn't write to him proposing that, your insurance company is not going to like that if they find out and you haven't told them. To be honest the easiest way is just to pass his details to insurance company and get them to sort both cars.

arthurk

Looks like it's safer to go with insurance and make a lesson for the future from it.

Lets say he calls insurance company as I do. Does it matter in the long term if I claim for my car or not ? I'm sure my premium will rise as a result of what happened, but is it worth leaving the car as it is ? Will I keep my NCB this way ? Is NCB I have since June 2011 worth anything ?