Claim or just notify?

ChickenLicken12

A car went in to the back of me. 

I took their details but they didn’t take mine - he just said my insurance company will deal with it. 

Having checked their reg it appears they have no MOT. 

The question is do we claim or just report?

The damage to our vehicle is an indented bumper and some paint scratched off. 

The other driver seems to think his car is a write off with damaged bonnet, loose light and cracks in bumper. 

If we did claim and he was found at fault, who pays as I thought no MOT invalidated insurance. 

It’s all a bit odd as he willingly gave me his insurance details but didn't want mine . 

Aretnap

Your insurance details wouldn't be much use to him. If he drive into the back of you he's the one at fault (assuming you weren't doing something really silly like brake testing him) so your insurance company aren't going to be paying for his repairs, whether he has their details or not.

No MOT is unlikely to have any impact on his right to claim for his own damage and will certainly not affect your right to claim for yours as a third party. 

Basically you have three options: 

(1) Do nothing and live with the dent
(2) Claim from your own insurance, who will subsequently reclaim their costs from his insurer. Can take a while, and mean paying your excess and having your NCD reduced while the process is ongoing, which can be a pain if your renewal is due soon
(3) Tell your own instead for notification only, contact his insurance and see if they will deal directly with you, without you having to pay your excess or have a temporary reduction in your NCD. Legally they didn't have to do this unless you have actually taken the other driver to court, but if liability is clear cut they will usually be happy to step in at an earlier stage - it saves then the costs of going to court etc

ChickenLicken12

@Aretnap thanks for the detailed reply.

If we find that costs to repair our vehicle are as much as the excess we pay, should we still inform insurers.

Also bearing in mind as he has no MOT his insurance is invalidate, no?
So our insurance can’t claim anything from his. And we’ll be hit by increased premiums for our household vehicles.
We’re named drivers on each other’s cars. 

Sorry this is causing me a lot of stress as not been in the situation before, and a lot of my surmising and comments are through lack of understanding and comments from family/friends!!  

cw8825

Him having no MoT will not invalidate your claim against his insurance. They are legally obligated to cover your claim if he is at fault

Regardless you should inform your insurance whether claiming through them or not. And will need to be notified on both polices at renewal

your insurance policies could go up due to this. There no guarantees 

Aretnap

No MOT does not invalidate insurance - that's largely an urban myth. If his policy did have a clause saying that his car has to have an MOT certificate (and not all do) then at a push his insurer could refuse to pay for damage to his own car, but only if they could prove that his car had a defect which would have been picked up by an MOT, and that defect was a significant factor in causing the accident. Even then they would still have to pay for the damage to your car. It's extremely difficult for a motor insurer to avoid their responsibilities to third parties. The Road Traffic Act says that they have to cover third party liabilities in nearly all circumstances, and that trumps anything in the policy terms and conditions.

Your insurer will require you to inform them of all accidents whether you want to claim or not. You will also have to declare it as an accident for the next 3-5 years claim or no claim, which will affect your premium whether you claim or not.

If it's very minor damage... well personally I don't feel the need to to tell my insurer about every slight scratch on my paintwork, some of which I remember getting, some of which I have no idea where or when they happened. But I probably wouldn't "forget" to tell them about an accident big enough to write off the other car, even if my own car didn't suffer much damage. To much risk of it coming back to bite me somewhere down the line. 

If you're going to tell your insurer and liability is clear cut, there is little advantage to choosing not to claim. Your insurer might agree to waive your excess knowing that they will be able to reclaim it from the third party. If they don't then you can reclaim it yourself from the this party insurer once the claim is settled - it's usually a simple matter of sending then a receipt for it and asking them to pay. It will ultimately be recorded as a no fault claim (once the third party insure has paid out) and the impact on your premium will be much the same as for a no claim accident.

ChickenLicken12

Sorry one final question. 

I’m named drivers on my husband’s policy for this vehicle. 

As it was his policy would it be better for me to claim/inform my own insurer for as I have a vehicle fully comp where he is named driver. 

And that we be third party claim only. 

Then my husband’s insurance wont be affected (he’s also got a van and bike) and only me affected. 

cw8825

You wouldn’t be able to use the third party only cover on your policy as your names on the other policy. 

Your husband’s policy will be affected because it’s his car and his policy
your policy will be affected because you were driving

ChickenLicken12

@cw8825 and @Aretnap - thank you both so much for your sage advice and taking the time to answer my questions (and calm my overthinking mind!)