Car accident with temporary insurance - Please HELP!

Max4848

Hello, I bought a used car and did the unthinkable - got in a accident with the one day drive-away insurance. It was my fault as I pulled out but our damage seemed minor (scratches/small dent) so we agreed not to claim through insurance. A few days later he rang me saying the garage have quoted £1000 repair! I now have a new 12-month insurance policy as the temporary one ran out the day of the accident.

What should I do? If we do it through insurance how will it work because the policy has run out? Thanks for any help.

Quentin

It's irrelevant that the policy "ran out"


The temporary policy was in force at the time of the incident and the insurer will deal with the claim.


Contact the insurer and report the incident ASAP.


You also need to now inform your current insurer about the incident, (and expect a premium increase)

Keep_pedalling

The policy was in place on the day of the accident so it should still be valid and you can claim on it. You may have a problem with your new policy though if you did not declare the claim on your application.

Max4848

Quentin wrote: »

It's irrelevant that the policy "ran out"


The temporary policy was in force at the time of the incident and the insurer will deal with the claim.


Contact the insurer and report the incident ASAP.


You also need to now inform your current insurer about the incident, (and expect a premium increase)

Ok thanks for the help. Is it bad that we've left it 4 days?

Also, my insurance is already £1300 as this is my first year driving (even though I've had my license a few years). I will probably have to pay a hefty excess on the one-day insurance and my current premium will go up now for the next however many years - do you think it would be cheaper in the long-term to just settle this £1000 privately without a claim?

Quentin

You cannot "remove" the incident from your history - so paying yourself may not be cost effective, as you still need to disclose the incident even if no claim is made


As your claim is against the temporary insurance it doesn't affect your NCD for this "year".


But you do have to explain why you didn't disclose this incident when applying for your policy!


Remember that if you agree to pay yourself then you are liable for all the costs, not just the repair bill eg, car hire whilst repairs are carried out/loss of earnings/late onset whiplash compensation/more damage found during the job etc

Max4848

Quentin wrote: »

You cannot "remove" the incident from your history - so paying yourself may not be cost effective, as you still need to disclose the incident even if no claim is made

But you do have to explain why you didn't disclose this incident when applying for your policy!

Sorry I'm a bit confused about all this If I pay privately for his car to be fixed and mine to be fixed why would I need to disclose the incident to my insurance provider?

Remember that if you agree to pay yourself then you are liable for all the costs, not just the repair bill eg, car hire whilst repairs are carried out/loss of earnings/late onset whiplash compensation/more damage found during the job etc

Fortunately (and I use that word loosely for this situation!) I know the woman I had the accident with as I live in a small town. She agreed just for me to pay the garage bill. I'm thinking it might be cheaper to just pay it myself in the long-run.

Quentin

Max4848 wrote: »

Sorry I'm a bit confused about all this If I pay privately for his car to be fixed and mine to be fixed why would I need to disclose the incident to my insurance provider?.....

Because you are asked by insurers about all losses and claims you have been involved in.


If you fail to disclose this you breach your agreement with the insurer which could come back and bite you big time in the future.


Do some dummy quotes online with and without this incident in your history and see if it is cost effective not to claim.


Then make your decision about whether or not you want to risk it by not disclosing the incident. (Is the third party agreeable to not informing her insurer?)

Max4848

Quentin wrote: »

Because you are asked by insurers about all losses and claims you have been involved in.


If you fail to disclose this you breach your agreement with the insurer which could come back and bite you big time in the future.


Do some dummy quotes online with and without this incident in your history and see if it is cost effective not to claim.


Then make your decision about whether or not you want to risk it by not disclosing the incident. (Is the third party agreeable to not informing her insurer?)

Yeah she doesn't want to go through insurance (she was the one who suggested we do it privately). Thanks that's a good idea about the dummy quotes - I just checked and my premium goes up by £500. And I guess I'll also lose money in subsequent years, plus whatever the excess is for the drive-away insurance (I assume high so they can get the premium down for the customer).

It seems like a lot more hassle and possibly more money with an insurance claim. I'm just worried now about not disclosing it. I didn't realise you had to disclose privately settled incidents... wish I never got a car now! Ugh

Quentin

Check the drive away policy wording, but usually you only pay an excess for repairs to your own vehicle. There is usually no excess to pay if they deal with just the third party claim

Max4848

Quentin wrote: »

Check the drive away policy wording, but usually you only pay an excess for repairs to your own vehicle. There is usually no excess to pay if they deal with just the third party claim

This is all it says about excess:

"A standard policy excess of £500 applies to all accidental damage, malicious damage, fire, theft and glass claims on this policy."

Does that mean I would have to pay £500?

Max4848

Hmm, I just thought, I have 14 days to cancel my new insurance. Maybe I could do that? I would still have to pay a higher premium of course but at least there wouldn't be any risk of my policy being cancelled for not telling them about the incident. I suppose I could get a black box insurance instead to lower the premium back down.