I have been in a car accident need advice.

beeched

I am a new driver. On new years day I had an accident. It was just me involved, I slipped on the wet road and hit a concrete bollard. My question is, do I need to declare this accident to my insurance company? I am still within my 14 day cooling off period, and paid the premium in full. I wasn't speeding or driving dangerously, I'm just inexperienced. If I was to cancel the policy to get a refund, and not declare the accident would that be illegal? The police attended the scene and recovered the vehicle.

I really am unsure whether to declare the accident, cancel, or declare and not make a claim and buy another car soonish ( car was only £550). Could I please have some advice on whether the above is legal, and what I should do. Thank you.

chris_m

Not to declare it to your insurance company would be extremely foolish, more so keeping schtum and cancelling the policy - the Police know who you are, what the car is and what happened.
Should there be any damage to the council's (or another person's/body's) property and they get the details from the Police they will either come after you or your insurance company to seek payment for the damage.

Best would be to declare it but make it clear (if you so choose) that you, personally, do not wish to make a claim.

Robin9

It is good that you acknowledge your inexperience in driving - you must also own up to your insurer.

What does the police charge for towing away after an accident and storage?

Quentin

beeched wrote: »

I really am unsure whether to declare the accident, cancel, or declare and not make a claim and buy another car soonish ( car was only £550). Could I please have some advice on whether the above is legal, and what I should do. Thank you.

Assuming your car is now scrapped, then you need to inform your insurer that you have disposed of it.


Also check with your insurer if there is any time limit to put a new car on the policy (some insurers do cancel the policy if you don't put a replacement car on cover within a short time).


Assuming a claim is expected (regarding the damaged bollard) then if they cancel your policy you won't get any refund.


If you are getting a replacement car, check with your insurer that they will cover it before you buy it - if the replacement is unacceptable to them, again the policy will be cancelled with no refund.

Aretnap

When you next apply for insurance you'll be asked (something like) "have you had any accidents in the last 3/5 years, regardless of blame or whether a claim was made". Obviously the truthful answer to that question is "yes". Answering "no" would be illegal, and if the insurance company subsequently found out that you'd made a false statement it could land you with a big bill for a rejected claim, a voided policy and potentially problems getting insurance for the rest of your life.

If you'd given your car a slight dent while parking then many people would doubtless keep quiet about it and get away with it - but with the police involved, and with the possibility that a claim from the council for damage to the bollard or the road might surface in the next few weeks it would be foolish not to declare it. If you don't, there's a fairly high chance of being caught out, and the risk is not worth it IMO.

Agree - tell them, make clear that you don't want to make a claim. You can cancel the policy if you want to but you might not get a refund while there's still a possibility that a claim from the council might surface, so if you plan to buy another car you might be better off transferring the policy to the new car. Before buying a replacement car make sure it's of a make and model that your current insurer will cover you to drive - otherwise you won't be able to transfer the policy to it.

Nasqueron

beeched wrote: »

I am a new driver. On new years day I had an accident. It was just me involved, I slipped on the wet road and hit a concrete bollard. My question is, do I need to declare this accident to my insurance company? I am still within my 14 day cooling off period, and paid the premium in full. I wasn't speeding or driving dangerously, I'm just inexperienced. If I was to cancel the policy to get a refund, and not declare the accident would that be illegal? The police attended the scene and recovered the vehicle.

I really am unsure whether to declare the accident, cancel, or declare and not make a claim and buy another car soonish ( car was only £550). Could I please have some advice on whether the above is legal, and what I should do. Thank you.

Trying to hide the claim will come back to bite you later and cancelling the policy is plain stupid, you will pay loads in cancellation fees and if/when the council bill you, you will wish you had the policy in place to claim.

Report the accident, say you wish to make no claim and leave it there just in case the council bill you.

I had a similar one, albeit only damaged my car in a hedge, a car that was approaching 10 years old that I was going to replace shortly anyway, I simply reported it to the insurer, made no claim and sold the car to a scrap metal dealer as it was beyond repairable vs what the car was worth and bought the replacement a few months early, on renewal I moved insurers and got a lower deal even with the incident

forgotmyname

If the police recovered it who will be paying their bill? Will you also be paying the council for the bollard?

It could be costly if you cancel the policy and the bill for these may be far greater than your insurance cost. It cost my local council £13,000 to paint some white lines on a roundabout, which they did 4 times due to what i suspect the people who designed them probably didnt drive and never seen this roundabout on a normal commute.

PCMcGarry

Robin9 wrote: »

It is good that you acknowledge your inexperience in driving - you must also own up to your insurer.

What does the police charge for towing away after an accident and storage?

If it was still on the road £150 to recover it and £20 a day to store it.

PCMcGarry

forgotmyname wrote: »

If the police recovered it who will be paying their bill? Will you also be paying the council for the bollard?

It could be costly if you cancel the policy and the bill for these may be far greater than your insurance cost. It cost my local council £13,000 to paint some white lines on a roundabout, which they did 4 times due to what i suspect the people who designed them probably didnt drive and never seen this roundabout on a normal commute.

Unlike the ambulance and fire service the police don't charge for attending RTCs.

Oldbiggles

If the police were involved in any way then you can bet that the details are now on a computer, and I would hazard a guess that the information will already be in the hands of your insurer (Or all insurers for that matter)

PCMcGarry

Oldbiggles wrote: »

If the police were involved in any way then you can bet that the details are now on a computer, and I would hazard a guess that the information will already be in the hands of your insurer (Or all insurers for that matter)

Stop scaremongering the police don't inform insurance companies.