Settling car accident damage privately?

Typhoon2000

Yesterday my wife ran into the back of another car a in a queue of traffic at low speed. There was no damage to her car but some cosmetic damage to the body work and bumper of the other car. No one was injured. They exchanged details including insurance details. Got photos etc..

Clearly it was her fault but she didnt admit liability.
The other party mentioned they could deal with this privately and would get a quote for the repair. She hasntt rung her insurance yet. The other car is about 20yrs old and WeBuyAnycar says they will give £50 for it ( less than scrap value) So clearly his car will be written off and the owner offered £200 and loose his car as it will be uneconomical to repair if he/we goes through insurance.

My wifes excess is £300. So how should she proceed? Inform insurance company of the accident and say we are not claiming on our car and the party wants to deal with it privately? If she goes through insurance and the other car is written off and my wifes insurers liability is £200, can we just pay that and not the full excess?

Thanks

AndyMc.....

Her excess is not relevant if she!!!8217;s not claiming. She should be telling her insurance but what you tell her and what she does is down to you two.

If it can be kept off the books everyone may win. But they will also be accused of insurance fraud.

Typhoon2000

I mean that if it goes through insurance the other party will be claiming, and as it is her fault, she would have the pay her excess if her insurance company pays off the the other party.

neilmcl

Typhoon2000 wrote: »

I mean that if it goes through insurance the other party will be claiming, and as it is her fault, she would have the pay her excess if her insurance company pays off the the other party.

No, you only pay excess when you claim for repairs to your own vehicle.

Typhoon2000

neilmcl wrote: »

No, you only pay excess when you claim for repairs to your own vehicle.

Ah didn’t know that. Thanks. So only adavantage to her to go privately would be to avoid premium increase next year ( though she has protected NCB, I guess it would still go up a little).

neilmcl

Typhoon2000 wrote: »

Ah didn’t know that. Thanks. So only adavantage to her to go privately would be to avoid premium increase next year ( though she has protected NCB, I guess it would still go up a little).

She is contractually obligated to inform her own insurer regardless and declare it for the next 3-5 years, so the likelihood is her premiums will rise. Whether your OH does this is entirely up to her.

wgl2014

The other issue can be if the other driver decides to make a personal injury claim later on, if you don't inform your current insurer you could be left in a difficult position.

tonyh66

the whiplash claim will make your eyes water, go through the insurance.

Nobbie1967

In theory you could get the other driver to sign a statement such as 'in full and final settlement' to avoid any later claims, but without proper legal input to this, I would not want to risk it. As you have NCD protection, I'd just go through the insurance if you want to avoid worry.

Bigphil1474

Bear in mind the NCD may be protected, but your premium will go up, and possibly a lot. If you have 65% NCD, and your current full premium is say £1000, you pay £350. With a fault claim, the premium will go up - who knows by how much - if, for example it goes up to £1500, you'd be paying £525, which is 50% more.


The other party could go through their insurers, get a pay off and keep their car, but if it is only cosmetic they might not bother. Depends what value it has to them (not what WBAC say). Best bet is that you agree to give them a bit of dosh and you save on your insurance for the next 5 years, and everyone's a winner. In the real world, Insurance company don't need to be involved, but you or the other party may choose to involve them.

Mercdriver

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

Bear in mind the NCD may be protected, but your premium will go up, and possibly a lot. If you have 65% NCD, and your current full premium is say £1000, you pay £350. With a fault claim, the premium will go up - who knows by how much - if, for example it goes up to £1500, you'd be paying £525, which is 50% more.


The other party could go through their insurers, get a pay off and keep their car, but if it is only cosmetic they might not bother. Depends what value it has to them (not what WBAC say). Best bet is that you agree to give them a bit of dosh and you save on your insurance for the next 5 years, and everyone's a winner. In the real world, Insurance company don't need to be involved, but you or the other party may choose to involve them.

Except, the other party is pretty likely to get those annoying calls from Personal Injury agencies and get the question, "That accident you had recently. Have you thought about claiming for injury?" Especially for a rear end shunt, the risk is too high. If this happens the OP's o/h will be worse off financially and have the insurance cancelled and have to declare it for ever. Not worth it. Go through insurance...