First car accident

clockworkjerk

Only passed my test a month so this is a huge bummer really considering, but yeah, I've had an accident in crappy weather conditions yesterday morning no injuries but damage to the car, and it looks like the car could be a write off. Only a 1k Corsa from 2002, a nuisance considering but things happen, but after having a sleep and proper think over things after telling insurance, I'm not really sure whether to go through with a write off.

Option A - Finish the claim, let them inspect the body work and front bumper damage....probable write off and considering excess and the fact I paid all my insurance outright I'll get about £300 to £500 I guess if they go by glass valuation, plus a hike in future insurance of a few hundred.

Now onto the second I've been thinking about a second option, can I ring up and cancel the claim? Keeping the insurance for another 9 months for which I'll add a car in time and add in that I've had an accident so still a price hike a bit.....would I keep my no claims doing this?

Not sure what the price would be for the second option, as I have to call the recovery compound to get it scrapped, and then a hike in my premium so I'd assume, but I wouldn't have to pay the £650 in insurance again when switching cars.

Thanks for any help.

By first....I do hopefully mean only. This will go down in the experience books for me, though I probably won't be driving too much on longer journeys in similar weather over winter.

Captain_Flack.

You can cancel the claim but you'll still have to declare the accident when you take out a new policy.

How much was this years policy? A price hike of £300 to £500 can be expected if that's what you paid.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

bummer yes.

you've notified insurers now, so your premium will hike considerably given that you've had a accident on file 4-6 weeks after getting your license.

how did the weather cause this accident?

Captain_Flack.

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

bummer yes.

you've notified insurers now, so your premium will hike considerably given that you've had a accident on file 4-6 weeks after getting your license.

how did the weather cause this accident?

Driving too fast for the conditions one would imagine.

wba31

Captain_Flack. wrote: »

Driving too fast for the conditions one would imagine.

clearly... so obvious from the OP's original post...

get off judging here, could be simple inexperience in driving in dark wet conditions. get off your soapbox until you are a perfect driver yourself, or unless the OP says otherwise. Even then, judgement is unwarranted...

forgotmyname

Did you damage any other property in the incident?

Its possible they may claim from your/your insurance anyway.

You have notified them so may as well let it all ride out. See what they offer. Is the car a total loss? Buy it back and fix it up using 2nd hand parts?

paddedjohn

Cancel the claim and tell them you are informing them for information purposes only, if they let you transfer the insurance onto another vehicle you can continue to build towards your first years ncd

Quentin

You will be able to cancel the claim from progressing, but your insurer may have already incurred costs which would have to be reimbursed to save your ncd being impacted.

You can get an idea of how this incident affects your premium (both as a claim and as a none cost incident) by doing dummy quotes online.

Do quotes with the claim and nil ncd, then with ncd and a no cost incident.

But of course these figures won't mean anything if you have another claim during the year!

clockworkjerk

Did some quotes both ways and seems cheaper cancelling which I now have done, so unless the recovery want like £500, I should be saving a bit in the long run given I can just suspend the insurance and add a new car onto it at a later date. Though I'm not sure when I'm going to get behind the wheel again, tad bit shaken.

Appreciate the help.

On the accident itself, basically I was coming out of a junction into a two lane road on the left land that quickly goes into one lane but is well know for other drivers flying past in the right lane as they come from the dual carriageway....After thinking about it, I was paying too much attention to what was happening in that right lane, the collision only happened at about 10mph thankfully. Only a few bends in the railing, any faster I'd assume would of taken it off.

Quentin

If you damage property you are supposed to report this to the police ASAP, and commit an offence if you do not.

So it's your call.

If you damaged the railing, and you get traced, (think cctv/jobsworth witness etc) expect the owner to put in a claim.

arcon5

Also take in to consideration the fact you may receive an invoice from the highways agency for the repair of the railing.

But for a £1k car for a new driver with no NCB not making a claim is probably a winner. This is bearing in mind if you make a claim you'll still be expected to pay for the full years premium. So if the premium is £1k and your paying monthly and owe say £800 - they may deduct this £800 from any claim - leaving you owing them.

Might be best to buy a new banger, change the insurance to the new car and continue with the policy at the current price without a claim - at least to earn 1yr NCB before going in to year 2 of driving with a declaration that you've already crashed a car.