Car Insurance Claim advice

jlwhitworth1

Hi all,

This week I was involved in a minor collision where I ran into the back of someone. At first the third party wanted to settle out of the insurance, whereby I agreed to pay the damage on invoice of a reasonable quote. The third party has then obviously gone home and had discussions with whomever, and now decided to go through the insurance.

I have informed my insurance company of what happened but want abit of advice regarding the claims procedure. Basically, the third party is going to claim on my insurance for cosmetic vehicle damage. My question is, is it worthwhile for me to claim on my own insurance to replace the front bumper of my vehicle (cost of £900ish) with my excess being £600 or should I not claim on my insurance and foot the full price myself? I suppose what I'm asking is, with the fact that the third party is claiming on my insurance, if I get my vehicle repaired also through my insurance, will it go down as one claim in total or 2 separate claims and how will this effect my premiums. I don't mind footing the full bill and just paying to get it repaired by not claiming off my insurance, but if it makes no difference then would I be better off just paying my excess (in theory saving £300 upfront) and stomaching the rise in premium over the next 3 years.

Obviously this will affect the amount of the claim that I have to declare when applying for insurance over the coming years, but when testing this out, it doesn't seem to make any odds whether I say the claim was £1000 (likely damage to third party car) or £5000 (third party damage, damage to my vehicle and say a £3000 whiplash claim - which the third party says they are not claiming for but you never know).

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards, Jake

Quentin

It all goes as one claim.


It will have the same effect on your premiums/ncd as just dealing with the third party (and not claiming for your own repairs) will


Looks a no brainer to get your claim in

jlwhitworth1

Thanks Quentin, much appreciated

mattk_180

You only pay the excess if you make a claim for your own damages so unless there was no damage to your car, which there isn't in this case, I would say definitely claim.


As the TP is claiming off your insurance, your premium will be affected either way and in my experience, £900 on the total claims costs wouldn't make it go any higher than if you didn't claim.


Save yourself £300!