Car insurance, forced to settle privately?

tmoose_2

Hello all, here is my tale of woe...

Last Saturday my partner had a very minor accident in our car. She was turning left on to an uphill road with corner parked cars making it more difficult. As she edged her way out she saw a car coming down the road towards her, so she had to reverse to let it pass, as they had right of way. Unfortunately, she didn't check in her rear view mirror and there was now a car right behind her which she hit at a low speed. The  other driver and her both got out to inspect the damage and it appeared that there was none, ether to our car or his, although he did make a remark about modern cars being very flimsy and 'plasticy' My partner was a bit flustered as she has never had an accident before and admitted that it was her fault (which it was) and gave her name and number.

She told me about it that evening and since no damage occurred I though that was the end of it.

However, 5 days later the man calls and says that the bump has damaged the 'sensors' on his car (it's a kia) When I asked why he had taken 5 days to contact us he said it was the cruise control sensor and that he only noticed when he went on the motorway the previous day (we live in London and the accident took place near our home)

He also said he'd been to his local Kia dealer and the cost to replace the sensors in the front bumper came in at £1200 plus labour, at total of £1500. But he also said that he'd prefer not to go through the insurance and that he'd spoken to a mechanic who would do the work for £250.

Now, I know what you are all going to say: just go through the insurance. But here is the problem. When my partner told me about the accident I thought we'd better notify the insurers and so I dug out the various documents only to discover that my partner's license had expired a few months previously, which, needless to say, was a nasty shock. The fact that her license has expired, I presume, means she was uninsured when the accident took place, so I don't think it's possible to make a claim.

Regarding the other driver, my gut feeling is that he's trying it on and there's nothing actually wrong with his car (If the sensors were really damaged there would have been a warning light immediately, surely) and in normal circumstances I would just say 'fine, lets go through the insurance', as £250 is my excess and my NCD is protected. But in this situation I don't think I can.

I've asked him to supply the Kia dealer quote for the work and if he sends me that I'm thinking that my only option is to pay him the £250 and hope that's the end of it.

I just wondered if anyone had any advice about how I can protected myself from any further liability if i pay him the £250.

 Any advice, really, would be appreciated (other then telling us to get my partner's license renewed - we've already done that )

Aretnap

When you say her licence had expired, do you mean that the photograph had expired (it has to be updated every ten years) or that the licence itself has expired (this usually only happens when you are 70 years old, unless you have a shorter duration licence for medical reasons).

If it's the former then she can relax - failing to update the photograph does not affect the validity of the licence itself or her entitlement to drive and there is no reason why she should not go through insurance as normal.

Even if it's the latter it does not necessarily mean her insurance is not valid. If she checks the wording on her insurance certificate it will probably say something to the effect of "provided the driver holds or has held and is not disqualified from holding a valid licence". She has held a licence and she is not disqualified from holding one (ie banned from driving for motoring offences) therefore her cover is still valid.

A few insurers do say  "provided the driver holds a valid licence" which would be a problem for her, but they are in the minority.

So if you think he's trying it on them giving him your insurance details and telling him to talk to them is probably a perfectly good option. OTOH if he really is going to be happy with £250 then paying him is likely to be cheaper than the increase in your premiums over the next 5 years or so if you make a claim... but beware of the possibility that he might come back for more.

tmoose_2

Thanks for the reply. The license issue is slightly more complicated. Her license is an Italian one. In Italy when you renew a license you have to have a medical so they do actually expire. Since she is now living here we've applied to convert her license to a UK one, which you can do even if you original license has expired.

I will check the wording of the insurance document regarding the license validity.

Like you say, the possibility that might come back for more is the thing that worries me.

Mr.Generous

I'm a bit of a gambler but I'd get an email or text from him to say £250 full and final settlement and pay him.

The car may well only warn of a fault when cruise is engaged, the turn key start up check doesn't check every single sensor on the vehicle.

DullGreyGuy

Remember there is no excess to pay if you only claim for third party damages, its only if you claim on your own car that the excess becomes payable. 

tmoose_2

I didn't know there was no excess for third party damages, and Aretnap was correct about the wording of the certificate of insurance saying "provided the driver holds or has held and is not disqualified from holding a valid license".

So there is no benefit for me not to go through the insurance, surely? My NCD is protected, I'm not claiming for any damage to my car. Is my premium really going to increase by more than £250 as a result?

DullGreyGuy

tmoose_2 said:

I didn't know there was no excess for third party damages, and Aretnap was correct about the wording of the certificate of insurance saying "provided the driver holds or has held and is not disqualified from holding a valid license".

So there is no benefit for me not to go through the insurance, surely? My NCD is protected, I'm not claiming for any damage to my car. Is my premium really going to increase by more than £250 as a result?

Increases are done as a percentage so it depends on how much you are paying already?

Irrespective if you claim or not you are likely to see large increases this year (if you've not already renewed) and more increases next year anyway just because of how the motor insurance book as a whole has been performing

tmoose_2

I paid £316 last September, so an extra £250 would be a pretty hefty percentage increase

DullGreyGuy

tmoose_2 said:

I paid £316 last September, so an extra £250 would be a pretty hefty percentage increase

Look on here any on the Motoring section... you find many low premium people (and some not so low) seeing their premiums doubling this year without having made a claim. 

The problem is you will only ever just be given a price and will never know what percentage is due to the claim and what percentage is just to do with general increases. Given claims impact your premiums for up to 5 years I personally wouldnt be considering putting in a £250 claim however there may be other factors which makes it worth while for you even if its not strictly economical

Aretnap

Remember that the accident will have an impact on your premium for the next 3-5 years depending on the insurer, so the break even point for a premium increase is closer to £50 than £250. It seems plausible that it could be in that ballpark.

Personally if I was confident that £250 would be the end of it I'd probably pay the money, but if I thought there was a risk that he'd come back for more I'd be putting it through insurance.

DullGreyGuy

Aretnap said:

Remember that the accident will have an impact on your premium for the next 3-5 years depending on the insurer, so the break even point for a premium increase is closer to £50 than £250. It seems plausible that it could be in that ballpark.

Its on a  sliding scale though, so will have most impact on the next renewal and small to nothing on the 5th (assuming no further claims)