Should I report an incident (no damage) to my insurer?

Retrogamer

I done a similar thing.
No damage to the car i bumped. Lots of HD video and high quality photographs to try and prevent a false claim for damage that appeared later.

Reported it to insurance company for "info only" and advised i had evidence there was no damage. They advise they will contact me if a claim goes in to request pics / video to dispute it.

Fast forward to renewal time and i have a claim for £1500 against me. £500 for a bumper respray and £1000 hire car charges.
Turns out when i informed my insurance company, they wanted to save as much as possible. They contacted the person i bumped on their own accord and invited him to claim direct with them.

When i found out i again offered pics / video but they weren't interested.
Turns out i was told to dispute the claim opens up for whiplash liability and dragging on / doing more work costs my insurance too much money to do. So they protect themselves also by inviting them to claim so they can wrap it up as quickly as possible and minimise costs.
As far as i know, the man i hit got a quote for repairs / hire cars from dodgey friends who own business' in the trade and could print off invoices for fun

PeacefulWaters

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

Personally, if I judged the other person to be a reasonable person, I wouldn't report it. There could be consequences, but I would take a chance. There is no reason not to say sorry because it is clearly your fault.

Alas, not many remain reasonable when egged on by friends and family with £££ signs appearing in front of them.

a1260532

I've just received a confirmation from my insurer that third-party does not intend to claim and the case is closed. No injury or damage :beer:.

I guess the sorry went a long way and I personally think saying sorry is good manners if one is at fault, though the lawyers and insurance firms would have us behave differently.

Anyway, I am not very happy to add the theft of phone as a "claim" because I feel it is unfair, I paid for a replacement phone, paid for replacement glass and now the insurance is being boosted by £400 because I add it. I feel this is clearly unfair. It would make my insurance higher than the first one despite No Claims! My renewal comes in December, maybe ask santa for cheaper insurance this year.

Hintza

If you hit someone you say sorry. As arcon5 says your attitude at the time will go a long way to determining how I would react.

If I had been you I would have phoned her again in a day or so and enquired after her health and the health of the car and enquiring how she was going to proceed.

That would have saved you making a claim which you now need to report for 5 years.

Richard53

Also, saying 'sorry' doesn't necessarily imply admitting liability. "I'm sorry this has happened" is not the same as "I am sorry to have caused this". I know that's probably just playing with words, but if I were at fault in an accident I wouldn't hesitate to say sorry.


Just go about your business being a decent human being, while being aware that not everyone is as nice as you.

Quentin

a1260532 wrote: »

I've just received a confirmation from my insurer that third-party does not intend to claim and the case is closed......

The case being "closed" does still mean that the incident will be on your record and will need to be disclosed when approaching insurers for quotes in the future.

notisis

Like Retrogamer a colleague experienced similar. 2 mph bump in gym car park all noted on cctv. Despite no damage to either car, other driver then claimed all sorts including debilitating whiplash which stopped her exercising amongst other things. Colleague offered her insurance company the cctv which had been released to her as well as statements from various trainers at the gym that confirmed the woman still continued to partake in classes at least 3 times each week and confirmed to them verbally (they asked) she had no problems. The insurance company seem complicit in allowing people to falsely claim.

Gavin83

arcon5 wrote: »

I hope she's reported it to her insurers, otherwise your insurers contacting hers could be a PITA for her.
Glass claims usually have to be declared yes. It's notusually even worth making glass claims in many cases.

My car was broken into a while back and while I didn't claim for the stolen contents I had the window fixed on insurance. When I've renewed my insurance I've always said 'no' to the incidents in the last 5 years question and its never been a problem. Didn't know I needed to declare it to be honest!

forgotmyname

They could have used that as an excuse for not paying out though.

Lots of problems dont get pulled up until a claim is made. Plenty of threads in the Motoring and Insurance sections where the insurer refused the claim due to incomplete data.

Quentin

Gavin83 wrote: »

My car was broken into a while back and while I didn't claim for the stolen contents I had the window fixed on insurance. When I've renewed my insurance I've always said 'no' to the incidents in the last 5 years question and its never been a problem. Didn't know I needed to declare it to be honest!

Most insurers don't bother checking you told the truth till a claim comes along.

Your claim ( and the theft if you told them about it) will now be on the database.

So if it happened in the last 5 years disclose it or risk having any future claim causing problems