Car Insurance settlement & salvage impact

Williamhenhouse

Hi all,
My elderly mother (81) had her car bashed into when it was parked near her home (she wasn't in it at the time).  There is a dent and the plastic bumper is cracked, so only cosmetic but the cost will be definately more than the elderly car is worth.. She doesn't want to go through insurance as this (even though not her fault and the other party have claimed full responsibilty) will almost ceretainly affect her no claims bonus (of which she only has 1 year's worth due to previously driving a motability vehicle on which you can't claim NCB) but more importantly she is concerned that it may affect insurance companies preparedness to insure her (lots of companies wont insure at her age).  So, we the other side have suggested that she can keep the vehicle and accept the pre accidental value minus the salvage.  If she accepts this, she will likely get a small amount BUT does she need to inform her insurance company?  Will the other party report the car as a write off on some central database somewhere - all things considered what are her best options to keep her car and not affect her future insurance prospects? 

Currently of the view that she should just live with the damage and do nothing..

 

Hoenir

Williamhenhouse said:

Currently of the view that she should just live with the damage and do nothing..

 

Reporting an accident is a primary insurance requirement. Irrespective if a claim is made or not. 

DullGreyGuy

Who is suggesting this? The third party insurer?

You are always required to inform your insurers as soon as is practicably possible of any incident you've been in regardless of fault or if you intend to claim or not. 

If its the third party insurer they most likely would update MIAFTR to state the car has been a cat N write off (assuming thats what it is) and they will load the fact she has been involved in an accident to CUE. 

The Cat N won't impact her insurance, in principle it would marginally reduce the value of the vehicle but not enough to make insurance cheaper. The CUE entry makes it high risk to "forget" to mention it to your current or future insurer... assuming the TP Insurer has already been informed it's likely a CUE record of it already exists. 

chrisw

If the other party have accepted full responsibility then she won't lose her NCD, although her base premium may or may not increase slightly.