Should I claim on my car insurance or theirs?

Profile9506

Hi,

I was involved in a small accident. The damage is mostly scratches on the bumper and a minor dent. The other driver accepted responsibility after the accident and informed their insurance company.

I have comprehensive insurance, I intend to have the car repaired by a garage that is not in my insurer's approved list, because I want the car repaired by the manufacturer. My insurer asked for a quotation of the garage so that they can approve.

I was also approached by the other driver's insurer. The garage that I intend to use is in their approved list. Also, because they have a shortage of courtesy cars, they offer about £500 cash instead.

In my circumstances, getting £500 cash is more appealing that the replacement car. Also, the process with the other driver's insurer sounds more straightforward. 

Should I go for the other insurer instead of mine? 

ThorOdinson

Sounds like the third party is the way to go. The only issue is you can't complain to the FSO about them, but if they are happy to use your preferred garage anyway and you trust them to do a good job, it seems like the risk is low.

DullGreyGuy

Just to clarify on the above, if things go wrong for any reason then you have no rights to use the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) as you are not a customer of the third party insurer. Repairs do occasionally end at the FOS when there is a dispute on quality or pre-accident damage but total losses are much more commonly ending in dispute. 

Assuming your car isn't particularly old and there is minimal chance of it being beyond economical repair then the risks are slim and there are the benefits like the cash in lieu