small accident - car on lease

chatlow

Hi All,

Been involved in a very minor accident, however the 3rd party has approached their insurance and been told we are to blame. That said, they are yet to hear from the 3rd party (been over a month now) for any costs. They are keeping this open until Oct, then they will close the claim

I haven't got our bumper fixed yet. Small dent and some paint work wont cost too much but my question is:

If i get my insurance to fix it (as it will save me a further £100-200 in repair costs) then would that be recorded online somewhere? I am worried that the lease company will find out about this reapir and we are due to give the car back in 6 months time. Either way, the car will be fixed and looking like it did when we bought it, but would be good to know if they can see any claim info, because if they do, i will get it repaired myself.

Thanks

Car_54

chatlow said:

Hi All,

Been involved in a very minor accident, however the 3rd party has approached their insurance and been told we are to blame. That said, they are yet to hear from the 3rd party (been over a month now) for any costs. They are keeping this open until Oct, then they will close the claim

This is very confusing. First "the 3rd party has approached their insurance" then "they are yet to hear from the 3rd party".

Who are "they"?

If I understand it, the TP has made a claim. Their insurers will claim from you or your insurers. You have absolutely no choice but to tell your insurers. It will be recorded as a claim whether or not you claim for your own repair, so you might as well do so and let the insurers pay.

That will also mean the repairs are done professionally, using genuine parts and carrying a guarantee, so there should be no comeback from the lease company.

chatlow

Car_54 said:

chatlow said:

Hi All,

Been involved in a very minor accident, however the 3rd party has approached their insurance and been told we are to blame. That said, they are yet to hear from the 3rd party (been over a month now) for any costs. They are keeping this open until Oct, then they will close the claim

This is very confusing. First "the 3rd party has approached their insurance" then "they are yet to hear from the 3rd party".

Who are "they"?

If I understand it, the TP has made a claim. Their insurers will claim from you or your insurers. You have absolutely no choice but to tell your insurers. It will be recorded as a claim whether or not you claim for your own repair, so you might as well do so and let the insurers pay.

That will also mean the repairs are done professionally, using genuine parts and carrying a guarantee, so there should be no comeback from the lease company.

Sorry just to clarify-yes the 3rd party approached their insurance and the claim began. We then supplied evidence in support of us not being at fault and a month went by of us chasing for updates. Only now have we heard back to say we are at fault and the claim is on us but they are now waiting for the TP to provide any costs to them

At the time, my insurers asked if I wanted to claim for costs to our repair - they said we can decide this at a later date, which I agreed to. I wanted some time to look into whether getting it repaired through insurance would cause any impacts with the lease company. If it was going to, then I would get it done using a private garage as not much work is needed.

Oh and "they" was referring to my insurers - saying they would keep the claim open until the TP has provided some claim costs or 6 months from now and it will close down

Hope this makes more sense

born_again

Get some quotes to fix the damage on your car. While what looks like a small dent in a bumper to you can be hiding damage behind.

Then decide if it is worth claiming on your insurance, given your excess.

End of the day it is going to be listed as a claim. It's just down to if it worthwhile you claiming on your insurance.

chatlow

This is what I'm not understanding fully. Wouldn't I will need to pay an excess regardless of whether I claim for my repairs? This would cover the repairs for the TP

Car_54

chatlow said:

This is what I'm not understanding fully. Wouldn't I will need to pay an excess regardless of whether I claim for my repairs? This would cover the repairs for the TP

No. The excess only applies to your own car.

chatlow

thank you for confirming that. Makes sense as to why we haven't been charged yet. I think the excess is 100 and the repairs will cost closer to 200 most probably. If I do pay excess and get them to repair, then would this likely affect my premium even more for next year?

Mildly_Miffed

A £200 repair is going to be *very* minimal - it wouldn't even cover painting a bumper, let alone replacing it.

No, the repair won't be recorded anywhere, so as long as it's decent quality, the lease company will neither know nor care.

chatlow

I've already been quoted 200. The excess is 100. My concern is now whether my premium will go up more if i use them for the repair instead of getting it done privately. Or will my premium go up anyway (because there's a claim in place) 

Thanks for confirming my point about the lease company.

chatlow

actually sorry its 200 for labour and i need to spend 100 on a light cluster as it cracked

Going through insurance would save me some money but only if it doesn't affect my premium for next year even more than it is currently

DullGreyGuy

It won't make any difference if you claim or not if the third party insurers claim against your policy 

Its likely the data will go into CUE however finance companies won't have access to CUE.