My fault - claim on insurance or offer to pay myself?

AnnieMags

Hello, I would be grateful for any advice. I have a 9-year no claims bonus, which is protected. Today I scraped a car in the car park at work - the damage is minimal but it clearly needs sorting. My own car suffered no damage to speak of and will not need any repairs.

If I use the insurance, will it affect my premium at next renewal even with the protected NCD?

Will there be an excess to pay if the claim is only to pay for repairs to the third party vehicle?

(I have so little experience of using insurance - 9 years with NOTHING and today I cause damage to a stationary vehicle???? AAARGH - I am still kicking myself!:mad:)

Quentin

No excess to pay for repairs to third party car.


You can get an idea of what this claim does to your premium now by doing dummy quotes online with and without the claim in your history,

stator

Legally you should tell your insurance company about the accident even if you intend to pay for the damage repair yourself.
When you renew they will ask you about all accidents you've had in the last 5 years, even if they didn't result in a claim. So you will have to answer yes to this and your insurance premium will go up. Your premiums will go up more if you make a claim than if you pay for the damage yourself. However because your NCD is protected your premium won't go up as much as it would have.
If the other party make a claim on your insurance they won't have an excess deducted.

InsideInsurance

The above is absolutely the correct thing to do. The normal thing to do however is pay them in cash and agree between yourselves to neither report the incident to your insurers.

Presumably the TP vehicle was parked and unattended at the time so no risk of a PI claim in a few years time?

chanz4

stator wrote: »

Legally you should tell your insurance company about the accident even if you intend to pay for the damage repair yourself.
When you renew they will ask you about all accidents you've had in the last 5 years, even if they didn't result in a claim. So you will have to answer yes to this and your insurance premium will go up. Your premiums will go up more if you make a claim than if you pay for the damage yourself. However because your NCD is protected your premium won't go up as much as it would have.
If the other party make a claim on your insurance they won't have an excess deducted.

Where is the law that states this? if you know the person speak to them pay for the damage, no chance of pi. You will find posts on here whom see it from an insurance way in a one track way

OnanTheBarbarian

It's all about weighing up the costs of paying for the repair against the costs you will face if the insurer becomes involved and the resulting loading of your premiums.

If you can totally trust the other party not to mention the incident to their own insurer EVER, then with the assumed absence of anyone being in the other vehicle and a PI claim coming out the woodwork within the next 3 years, it may prove beneficial to just deal with the matter privately.

By doing comparison quotes with the incident declared and then not declared, this will give you an idea of what your premiums may rise by in the next 12 months. But consider they will perhaps be slightly inflated over the next 3-5 years (depending on what claims history any future insurers ask you for when quoting)

losgiganteskid

chanz4 wrote: »

Where is the law that states this?

What they mean is a "contractual obligation"

AnnieMags

THANK YOU all of you for your very helpful replies - much appreciated! I am waiting to hear how much the repair is going to be and will then decide how to proceed - pay or sort it through the insurance. I have notified my insurance company - as you are required to do - and they have confirmed that there will be no added premium to my next renewal if I choose to pay privately. Thank you again for your help.

chanz4

yeah right bet they will