Car Park bump. What to do?

benny5

While my car was parked at the local shopping centre another driver, in the process of parking in the adjacent space, hit the front of my stationary vehicle. He said very little but provided his address and insurance details. My bumper and wing are scratch but slightly more concerning is the ‘crease’ the impact caused to the cars wing.  

1) Do I need to advise my Insurer and will this have a negative impact on my NCB/any excesses on my policy?

2) Can I simply pursue this through the other party’s insurance Co.?

DE_612183

you have to inform your insurance company and they will sort it out.

It will depend on your insurance company what impact it will have ( if any ).

DullGreyGuy

benny5 said:

While my car was parked at the local shopping centre another driver, in the process of parking in the adjacent space, hit the front of my stationary vehicle. He said very little but provided his address and insurance details. My bumper and wing are scratch but slightly more concerning is the ‘crease’ the impact caused to the cars wing.  

1) Do I need to advise my Insurer and will this have a negative impact on my NCB/any excesses on my policy?

2) Can I simply pursue this through the other party’s insurance Co.?

1) You are obliged to inform your insurer, though many people "forget". It won't have any impact on your NCD if you dont claim. Your excess would be payable but then recoverable from the other party if you did claim. 

2) Most insurers would be more than happy to deal with you directly as long as their client has reported the accident to them. Note however you are not their customer and so if things go wrong you cannot go to the Financial Ombudsman about their insurer.

benny5

Thanks for your input, really appreciate it.

Having viewed the ‘damage’ in the daylight I believe I can clear-up the scratch with T-Cut and some touch up paint.

Don’t know if the other guy will contact his insurer, his damage may also have been superficial.

Right now, I don’t fancy the hassle of processing an insurance claim, something I haven’t done in more than 40 years of motoring.

DullGreyGuy

benny5 said:

Don’t know if the other guy will contact his insurer, his damage may also have been superficial.

Right now, I don’t fancy the hassle of processing an insurance claim, something I haven’t done in more than 40 years of motoring.

As long as you remember that if he does contact his insurer then there is a reasonable chance that your details will be added to CUE as the other party involved in the incident in case you are tempted to "forget" to let your insurers/next insurers know about the incident. 

benny5

DullGreyGuy said:

benny5 said:

Don’t know if the other guy will contact his insurer, his damage may also have been superficial.

Right now, I don’t fancy the hassle of processing an insurance claim, something I haven’t done in more than 40 years of motoring.

As long as you remember that if he does contact his insurer then there is a reasonable chance that your details will be added to CUE as the other party involved in the incident in case you are tempted to "forget" to let your insurers/next insurers know about the incident. 

Perhaps I should let my insurer know just in case something crops up later. I have dash cam footage of the incident, my car is parked when the other driver attempts to park in the next bay and in the process he hits the front N/S of my car.

Bigphil1474

Did you not get his phone number? Maybe give him a call and let him know you aren't gonna claim?

DullGreyGuy

benny5 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

benny5 said:

Don’t know if the other guy will contact his insurer, his damage may also have been superficial.

Right now, I don’t fancy the hassle of processing an insurance claim, something I haven’t done in more than 40 years of motoring.

As long as you remember that if he does contact his insurer then there is a reasonable chance that your details will be added to CUE as the other party involved in the incident in case you are tempted to "forget" to let your insurers/next insurers know about the incident. 

Perhaps I should let my insurer know just in case something crops up later. 

As already pointed out, you are obliged to, though many commit fraud and "forget"

benny5

DullGreyGuy said:

benny5 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

benny5 said:

Don’t know if the other guy will contact his insurer, his damage may also have been superficial.

Right now, I don’t fancy the hassle of processing an insurance claim, something I haven’t done in more than 40 years of motoring.

As long as you remember that if he does contact his insurer then there is a reasonable chance that your details will be added to CUE as the other party involved in the incident in case you are tempted to "forget" to let your insurers/next insurers know about the incident. 

Perhaps I should let my insurer know just in case something crops up later. 

As already pointed out, you are obliged to, though many commit fraud and "forget"

To be legally compliant, I have decided to contact my insurer and provided the details together with images of the damage and dash cam footage of the actual impact.