Advice needed on accident that was not my fault

Juju1987

Hello,

So today as I was exiting a round about a van driver stuck the front of his van out (from the right lane that was full of traffic) without putting a signal. He scratched the whole back passenger side. He was driving a company vehicle.
The accident is not my fault but I don’t want to claim on my insurance as I do not want to lose my no claim bonus and the minimum I have to pay as agreed on my policy would be £450 so more expensive that fixing it myself.
The driver’s company is calling me back tomorrow and are saying that claiming won’t affect my no claim bonus as it’s not my fault but I don’t think it’s true. I don’t want to call my insurance as I’ve seen on a post on here that they will record the incident anyway and that it will affect future premium.
I’m a bit lost about what to do and would appreciate some help.

Thanks a lot in advance.

loskie

you have to at least notify your insurer to not do this is fraud.

Claim directly off the van owners insurance if they admit liability (which it sounds like) it will be easy.
Your own NCB should not be affected and premiums not increase if you do this.

Juju1987

Thanks a lot.
So should I call insurance today or wait to hear from the company?
On a previous thread here someone said that they called their insurance and that they recorded it- well it was their fault in that case so I suppose this is different.

Quentin

Well....... unfortunately any reported loss often affects future premiums irrespective of whether or not a claim is made.

In this case the OP should notify his own insurer about the incident for information only. Failing to do so breaches the policy conditions allowing them to cancel the policy.

And be aware it will go on his record as a loss which must be disclosed to other insurers approached for quotes in the future. Insurers usually ask for your history over the last 3,/5 years

pramsay13

As loskie says you have to phone your own insurer and notify them.
You will also have to declare it each time you renew car insurance for the next 5 years although it will be noted as a non-fault claim assuming the other party do admit liability.

Juju1987

Thanks a lot.
So it’s clear that I need to call my insurance.
I just hope that it won’t have a negative effect on my premium given that it was not my fault

Juju1987

Before calling my insurance should I wait for the company to call me back? I’m asking that as they may be keen to not claim themselves and therefore calling my insurance and causing a note on my file that could cause me issue in the future seems silly.
If you get agreement with the person then insurance don’t need to be involved? Or is it legally required?

littleredhen

You should always tell your insurance as op said your premiums will go up on renewal anyway (they always do) although your no claim bonus won't be affected

Quentin

It is a condition of your policy - check your policy wording.

So it's your call.

What will you do if the other side refuse to pay you privately or at all?

If you have to contact their insurer then you can expect them to record the issue

z1a

"So today as I was exiting a round about a van driver stuck the front of his van out (from the right lane that was full of traffic) without putting a signal. He scratched the whole back passenger side."

Sorry, can't visualise how this happened.

Quentin

Juju1987 wrote: »

Thanks a lot.
So it’s clear that I need to call my insurance.
I just hope that it won’t have a negative effect on my premium given that it was not my fault

You can find out now what difference it makes by doing dummy quotes online with and without the claim in your history