Hit a taxi in slow moving traffic - minor damage, he wants to claim - best option?

noitsnotme

If you don’t tell your insurer, even if you settle personally, and the insurer finds out later (maybe one of the passengers claims) you could end up with a cancelled insurance policy that you have to declare forever more.  That WILL end up being expensive.

cw8825

derobe said:

I spoke to the owner and he was much calmer than earlier and said he's happy to take it to the garage and let me know the bill rather than go through insurance,. I'm surprised people are saying to let insurance deal with it, depends how much it costs I suppose but for a one off fee compared to being stung for probably close to double the monthly amount I'm paying I'd rather go that route and keep my no claims..

I forgot to mention there were also two passengers in the taxi! Anyone know how it would work if they were to make a claim?!

If they decide to claim. It would be you/your insurance who deals with it

they have 6 years to claim 

they might be ok but as soon as they talk to friends who tell them what they are entitled to. 

They put a claim in

ita cert going to be easier/cheaper for you to let insurance deal with it rather than pay your self
ecen Across 5 years

your damage
damage to the other car
replacement car/loss of use and earnings
possible injury claims (whether valid or not)

it genuinely baffles me why people are so hesitant to let the insurance deal with it. 

Even if that came to £1000 for you to pay out.  I would wager your insurance across 5 years of exalting an accident would not rise by that amount in total

mr_stripey

derobe said:

I spoke to the owner and he was much calmer than earlier and said he's happy to take it to the garage and let me know the bill rather than go through insurance,. I'm surprised people are saying to let insurance deal with it, depends how much it costs I suppose but for a one off fee compared to being stung for probably close to double the monthly amount I'm paying I'd rather go that route and keep my no claims..

I forgot to mention there were also two passengers in the taxi! Anyone know how it would work if they were to make a claim?!

Because that is what insurance is for.

The risk of trying to operate outside the insurance is the costs and consequences can quickly spiral.

Even a "minor" repair can cost several hundreds or even thousands of pounds. Add to that the potential claims for loss of earnings, injuries to driver and passengers and you're quickly well outside the limits of a cash settlement.

As others have said, you are required to tell them anyway, so your premiums will likely go up even if there is no claim.

CliveOfIndia

The potential pitfall in this situation is that, even if the repair itself is not too expensive, the taxi driver would legitimately be entitled to either a hire car whilst his car is off the road, or else recompense for loss of earnings.  So you'd have to pay for that, on top of the the cost of the actual repairs.

Add in a potential injury claim (whether spurious or genuine) and you could soon see yourself facing a pretty hefty bill.

And, as has already been stated by others, you're supposed to notify your insurers of any accident anyway.  Sometimes people do conveniently "forget" to let them know, but in a case such as this, where there's a chance that either the driver or passenger may attempt to make an injury claim, you're far better to just do it by the book and let them deal with it.  If a claim does materialise then they'll know about it, so you may as well play it straight and tell them yourself - it could save you a whole load of hassle in the long run.

daveyjp

Photos are limited, but it looks like an older Toyota Estima, which is a Japanese import vehicle.  If its a few years old with many many thousands of miles on the clock its an easy decision for any insurance company if parts are hard to come by and the driver needs a replacement taxi for a few weeks to just write it off.

Being a taxi driver he will also be part of the taxi family where fixing damage and repairing vehicles is par for the course and the 'family' will sort the fix out, hence the desire to have it repaired.  However it is still possible for him to get a quote for the repair and claim off your insurance company for the costs.  He gets his car fixed, you are covered in the event of any third party claims,

DullGreyGuy

cw8825 said:

derobe said:

I spoke to the owner and he was much calmer than earlier and said he's happy to take it to the garage and let me know the bill rather than go through insurance,. I'm surprised people are saying to let insurance deal with it, depends how much it costs I suppose but for a one off fee compared to being stung for probably close to double the monthly amount I'm paying I'd rather go that route and keep my no claims..

I forgot to mention there were also two passengers in the taxi! Anyone know how it would work if they were to make a claim?!

If they decide to claim. It would be you/your insurance who deals with it

they have 6 years to claim 

they might be ok but as soon as they talk to friends who tell them what they are entitled to. 

They put a claim in

ita cert going to be easier/cheaper for you to let insurance deal with it rather than pay your self
ecen Across 5 years

your damage
damage to the other car
replacement car/loss of use and earnings
possible injury claims (whether valid or not)

it genuinely baffles me why people are so hesitant to let the insurance deal with it. 

Even if that came to £1000 for you to pay out.  I would wager your insurance across 5 years of exalting an accident would not rise by that amount in total

Time limit for a claim is dependent on if its property damage (6 years) or personal injury (3 years).


The OP is ultimately can try and deal with the matter themselves even if the third party claims from their insurance however most claimants are going to want to deal with an insurer rather than third party and so will go directly to the OP's insurer. Most insurers exercise their right to settle the case as they see fit, if an insured is insistent of dealing with it themselves some will allow them to but normally would require them to sign an indemnity document such as if you fluff it up and as such it costs an extra £3,000 then the insurer will not cover you for the increased costs.

Herzlos

It's also worth noting that courtesy-taxis are hugely expensive because they still need to be licensed, so it'll cost more than you think for it to be off the road.

With passengers involved and ambulance chasers, I'd be inclined to go through your insurance to avoid any problems later.

TooManyPoints

I forgot to mention there were also two passengers in the taxi! Anyone know how it would work if they were to make a claim?!

How it will work out, if you do not inform your insurers and allow them to deal with it, is that you will be liable for any claims they might make.

It's quite remarkable the number of times drivers and passengers are seemingly completely unharmed following a minor bump, but go on to develop severe and life-changing symptoms of injury after they have spoken to a couple of blokes down the pub that same evening. The taxi driver may also have been on the verge of beginning a new and lucrative contract which would have earned him £5k for a week's work and which he's had to turn down because his car needs repairs.

Let your insurers deal with this, especially if there are passengers involved who may make a personal injury claim.

DjangoUnchained

there is no such thing as minor damage these days unfortunatly.  People ars so obsessed about having their silly metal boxes looking pristine. just let the insurance deal with it.

Desmond_Hume

DjangoUnchained said:

there is no such thing as minor damage these days unfortunatly.  People ars so obsessed about having their silly metal boxes looking pristine. just let the insurance deal with it.

I’d completely disagree with that last statement. Nobody cares these days. About their own “silly little box” or anybody else’s.  You only have to wander round any car park to see that. 

Dents, scratches, scuffs, kerbed wheels, budget tyres, £5 scratch and shine car washes.