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car accident - worth settling privately?

Happytosave
Happytosave Posts: 73 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
in Motoring
I scraped a stationary car in a narrow road a couple of days ago and left my details. The owner came back to me and has said that the scrapes on the bumper would cost £280 incl VAT - he got a quote through a garage mechanic he knows rather than go through the main dealership which would definitely be expensive. It was an expensive sports car I hit. :(

My car insurance has an excess of £160 and I have protected my no claims bonus (11 years but it has a maximum level of protection of 5 years).

I am unsure about the nitty gritty of insurance, premiums etc. Can anyone advise what would be better to do - settle privately or go through the insurance?

Comments

  • Fat_Walt
    Fat_Walt Posts: 750 Forumite
    Happytosave wrote: »
    I scraped a stationary car in a narrow road a couple of days ago and left my details. The owner came back to me and has said that the scrapes on the bumper would cost £280 incl VAT - he got a quote through a garage mechanic he knows rather than go through the main dealership which would definitely be expensive. It was an expensive sports car I hit. :(

    My car insurance has an excess of £160 and I have protected my no claims bonus (11 years but it has a maximum level of protection of 5 years).

    I am unsure about the nitty gritty of insurance, premiums etc. Can anyone advise what would be better to do - settle privately or go through the insurance?


    It's purely up to you, however you're unlikely to pay the excess unless you claim for your damage.
  • jimjames
    jimjames Posts: 19,025 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    In my experience for small claims it's worth sorting privately. You may not pay your excess but your premium could rise as a result especially if it's an "at fault" claim.
    Remember the saying: if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is.
  • Strider590
    Strider590 Posts: 11,874 Forumite
    Even in a non-fault claim your premium would rise £50-£150 per year for 5 years. On a fault claim it'll cost even more.
    “I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”

    <><><><><><><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><> Don't forget to like and subscribe \/ \/ \/
  • chrisw
    chrisw Posts: 3,878 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You 'should' inform your insurance company of every incident even if you don't claim, however, if it was me and I thought it very unlikely the other person would inform their insurance because theirs would also increase, I would pay the £280 and be done with it.
  • peter12345678910
    peter12345678910 Posts: 481 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Photogenic
    You should be happy that they are playing game. They are offering a quick way out. But as this is a money saving site, tell them to get another quote from another garage.
    When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you. Nietzsche

    Please note that at no point during this work was the kettle ever put out of commission and no chavs were harmed during the making of this post.
  • Aylesbury_Duck
    Aylesbury_Duck Posts: 16,124 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    peter12345678910 wrote: »
    You should be happy that they are playing game. They are offering a quick way out. But as this is a money saving site, tell them to get another quote from another garage.
    I don't think the OP is in a position to be telling them what to do, unfortunately. I think the OP has either got to accept the quote and proceed, or ask the other party to claim on the OP's insurance.
  • Iceweasel
    Iceweasel Posts: 4,891 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    £280 sounds fair to me - pay it and move on.

    Do anything else and the total bill will likely be much more when you take into account the inevitable increase in premiums you will suffer.
  • Shimrod
    Shimrod Posts: 1,196 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Strider590 wrote: »
    Even in a non-fault claim your premium would rise £50-£150 per year for 5 years. On a fault claim it'll cost even more.

    That's not true - it depends on the company. For a no fault claim you're more likely to be insured with a company that doesn't put the premium up.
    https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/apr/16/no-fault-claims-car-insurance-aa
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