Should I claim quandary

Fuzion

Another driver hit my £800 car over the weekend - while parked up outside my house. The damage is cosmetic only but a bit of a mess. I've chatted to the driver and he seemed open to paying for the repairs himself. However I've spoken to the garage about how much the cost would be, and I doubt it's the kind of figure he can afford - £1500 +

My quandary is, going through my own insurance, I can't help thinking I'm going to face higher premiums despite not being at fault. I will also be inconvenienced by having to find another car - I really like this one and would rather keep it than have it written off! Plus I'll be stuck probably for weeks without a car while I look for a decent one at a price I can afford. Grrr!

Asking the other party for a few hundred quid to compensate for the loss of value of the car, and carry on driving it, seems more appealing to me right now. What to do.

Quentin

You won't get your repairs paid for whichever way you go - a claim from either your insurer or the third party (or his insurer) will result in a write off.


Try for a payment in lieu but beware the third party deciding on using his insurer (meaning you will have to then comply with your own insurance policy and inform your insurer of the incident/loss)

InsideInsurance

If the car is only worth £800 then the other parties liability is capped at that, you cannot force someone to repair a car if its not economical to do so.

If you're happy to live with the damage/ just get a basic patch job done then you can certainly agree to settle for less if thats what you want to do.

Irrespective of if you settle privately or go via your insurers you should be informing your insurers of the incident and if its a non-fault claim or non-fault incident is unlikely to make much difference. Of course most people "forget" to inform their insurers of incidents but thats another matter.

Fuzion

Indeed, thanks. I was going to ask for a reasonable sum to offset the vehicle's loss in value, say 50% of the total value. Realistically it's not worth anything any more but it does still function OK.

If, sorry - cough - WHEN I report the incident to my insurance, will that affect the other party in any way, if I do so without claiming?

CKhalvashi

Fuzion wrote: »

WHEN I report the incident to my insurance, will that affect the other party in any way, if I do so without claiming?

It could lead to 'we have been informed of RTC but you didn't notify us' letters to them, which in turn leads to a number of problems.