Response to car insurance claim against me

rubble2

Had a minor car accident over Christmas, I provided my insurance details to the other driver and was promised that they would respond with their details by return - this never happened.
I notified my insurer for information only, stating that I did not want to make a claim on my policy as the damage was so slight.

This morning I was contacted by my insurer to say that the third party has now contacted them to make a claim. I again confirmed my account of the incident and my intention not to proceed with a claim for the damage to my vehicle via my own policy.
Given the delay since the accident occurred I had assumed that no claim was going to be made by the other party, now that this claim has appeared I wonder if I should initiate a claim against the TP insurance and if not doing this will be perceived as an admission of guilt? (My insurer will not pass on the TP insurance details to me as it apparently breaches data protection rules) I would therefore need to progress any claim I make through the claims team at my own insurer. 

Would appreciate any advice on the best may to proceed.

TadleyBaggie

Who, in your opinion, was the liable party?

pramsay13

If you don't want to make a claim why are wanting third party details?
I assume you feel the accident was the fault of the third party but they are suggesting that you are to blame?

rubble2

In all honesty I think it is a textbook 50/50.
It wasn't my intention to claim as I thought that as the TP hadn't been in touch for three weeks we were just going to take care of our own damage.
Now that the TP has initiated a claim I am wondering if not now making a counter claim will be viewed as an admission of guilt?

400ixl

So the 3rd party is claiming that you were the at fault party? Whether you make a claim for your vehicle or not, you will still have to provide all of the details of the accident.

You will still have to declare you have had an accident for any renewal and if found to be the at fault party, then it will be an at fault accident to be claimed.

Unless the damage is less than your excess or you don't intend to repair it then you may as well claim.

DullGreyGuy

rubble2 said:

Had a minor car accident over Christmas, I provided my insurance details to the other driver and was promised that they would respond with their details by return - this never happened.
I notified my insurer for information only, stating that I did not want to make a claim on my policy as the damage was so slight.

This morning I was contacted by my insurer to say that the third party has now contacted them to make a claim. I again confirmed my account of the incident and my intention not to proceed with a claim for the damage to my vehicle via my own policy.
Given the delay since the accident occurred I had assumed that no claim was going to be made by the other party, now that this claim has appeared I wonder if I should initiate a claim against the TP insurance and if not doing this will be perceived as an admission of guilt? (My insurer will not pass on the TP insurance details to me as it apparently breaches data protection rules) I would therefore need to progress any claim I make through the claims team at my own insurer. 

Would appreciate any advice on the best may to proceed.

Not claiming isn't an admission of blame... you don't have material damage. Large construction vehicles etc very rarely are damaged in crashes with puny little cars but the fact they are undamaged (or the damage just matches the rest of the damage from construction/demolition) doesn't mean they roll over and payout on anyone that says they caused damage.

At the end of the day you say it's 50/50 then that has the same impact on your policy as if it was 100% your fault. As long as you continue to not want to claim then just leave it in the hands of your insurers and they will negotiate on your behalf and don't get over worried about how they settle.

rubble2

DullGreyGuy said:

rubble2 said:

Had a minor car accident over Christmas, I provided my insurance details to the other driver and was promised that they would respond with their details by return - this never happened.
I notified my insurer for information only, stating that I did not want to make a claim on my policy as the damage was so slight.

This morning I was contacted by my insurer to say that the third party has now contacted them to make a claim. I again confirmed my account of the incident and my intention not to proceed with a claim for the damage to my vehicle via my own policy.
Given the delay since the accident occurred I had assumed that no claim was going to be made by the other party, now that this claim has appeared I wonder if I should initiate a claim against the TP insurance and if not doing this will be perceived as an admission of guilt? (My insurer will not pass on the TP insurance details to me as it apparently breaches data protection rules) I would therefore need to progress any claim I make through the claims team at my own insurer. 

Would appreciate any advice on the best may to proceed.

Not claiming isn't an admission of blame... you don't have material damage. Large construction vehicles etc very rarely are damaged in crashes with puny little cars but the fact they are undamaged (or the damage just matches the rest of the damage from construction/demolition) doesn't mean they roll over and payout on anyone that says they caused damage.

At the end of the day you say it's 50/50 then that has the same impact on your policy as if it was 100% your fault. As long as you continue to not want to claim then just leave it in the hands of your insurers and they will negotiate on your behalf and don't get over worried about how they settle.

Thanks for the advice, that has addressed my concerns completely. I suppose I suspected (as you have confirmed) that once the TP made a claim then the genie was out of the bottle - I will now do as you suggest and let things take their course.