I had my first bump today on a slip-road at a roundabout. I was watching the traffic go past looked forward saw the car in front move and then when I checked back to the roundabout and set off the car in front wasn't moving! Obviously my fault as I was at the back but somehow feel that when the gentleman vacated the vehicle the first thing I thought was that he probably did it on purpose. Just got my spider senses tingling if you know what I mean. Anyway we went to a garage for a quote for damage repair and on his 53 plate Seat Leon S it came to £2200!!! My damage came to £1000! The guy said he would accept cash to avoid insurance to "save me the hassle" and after adding up the bumper, boot and paint it came to £692. I said I can't afford that and wanted to let my insurance know. I rang them up and gave details and they said my excess was £850! They asked me if I wanted mine repairing and if so it would be £850 excess, they pay for his repairs for free...now I never knew this but is that true? Is my excess only for damage to my car? I tried to weigh everything up and I have 10yrs protected no claims and the fact that if I leave my car as is, this incident costs me nothing bar the increased premiums on my next renewal. I told the guy seeing as I have to pay nothing for his car and the fact I don't have £700 to hand I will go through insurance who will likely write his car off. Have I done the right thing? How much is usual for premiums to increase in case of a claim? If his is a write off or goes the usual route of whiplash compensation will that affect my insurance i.e. Is a claim a claim or is it how much the claim costs? How do I register this incident on my next insurance, do insurance companies ask for date of claim and that's it? Thoughts from anyone in the industry or who have gone through something similar! Thanks chaps
You've declared it to your insurance. Your premium is going up regardless. You dont pay for the amount paid out. You pay for the increased risk. It wouldnt make a difference if you hit a Veyron. Thats not how insurance works. Even if you decided to pay for it yourself you are obligated to declare the accident to your insurance company. Otherwise it could be seen as fraud. Read your policy. Hope You're ok.
I meant in terms of opting for an insurance claim for his car repair as opposed to him asking me to pay cash and keep it out of insurance. Is it right that my excess only comes into effect if I want my car repairing?
Cheers btw, I'm perfectly fine. It was a near stationary accident he just got me accelerating which is what booted him. All ok which is good but I am seriously hurt in the pride department. Been walking around like a zombie all day, just disappointed, feel like a criminal or something... The damage to his looks bad because my crash bar was higher than his so I rolled straight into a hollow bumper. If mine was lower or his crash bar higher it would have been a small dent and nothing more. Luckily for me, now my plates back on, it doesn't look that bad.
No. You make a claim, you loose your excess. The damage is done. It's why you have insurance. Pay the excess and take it on the chin. Then if anything goes on with repairs or further injury claims (like when he gets home and decides his neck is hurting) your ass is covered. It's tough but its why you have insurance. BTW - That bumper shouldnt be hollow. Wonder if its been in an accident before?
But I'm not claiming, he's claiming on me... On a recorded call Privilege told me it's only applicable if I claim on the insurance, I'm, sure they did...hmmm Hope I wasn't in zombie mode then!
And you're at fault. Ring em and ask them again then. But I think you'll find they will take your excess even for 3rd party.
Well his is a write off, I doubt it's worth £2k. Shame your excess is so high, you need to use insurance by the looks of it. As you've got 10 years ncb, insurance will be more next year, but not too bad if you've not had other claims. If you had a second claim, all if a sudden you'll be a bug risk. Maths wise, £850 excess+ £500 max next year. Pay him off £1k if he takes it + £1k on yours.
My insurance this year was £650. You reckon my insurance will go up £500? I don't want to claim for mine I'll just get my bumper touched up there's no structural damage as such.
I had a leon. Thats not how that car left the factory. Did he take you to a garage or did you go to one of your choice?
No - it wont go up by 500 notes. Its not how insurance works. Seriously. Dont skimp - you'll regret it. Just pay the excess
He wasn't from around here so we went to a big body shop. They looked top. We just found them on google. See attached quote:
Seems reasonable to be fair. Seriously, take the hit. It will be cheaper in the end. Put it this way. If you pay 850 yours AND his gets repaired. To perfect factory spec (and you have someone to argue with if it isnt). That to me is a bargain. Call me if you want to discuss but its simple really.
Some bad advice on here! If you dont claim you dont have to pay your excess, period. Im a counter fraud claims adjuster at a motor insurer, if you have any problems, drop me a pm.
For the record, i had an accident when i was like 20 was a 15k claim and my insurance went up circa £200 on a £1200 policy, i got over it!
The guy at the garage said to me if I was you try and get a new bumper and grill from a scrappers with rear end damage. The radiator and beam was fine. I might TCut it tomorrow and see how it looks then price up a touch up.
Sorry if I got that wrong. But what of the 3rd party. If he claims does the original poster not loose his excess? Also if he doesnt claim he WILL still have to declare it which will affect his premium - yes? Apologies for my error. But I did advise him to check again with his insurer.
Sorry i cant make much sense of that if the 3rd party claims from HIS insurer (not the meg insurer) he will have to pay his excess yes. But he should just go through the meg insurer so he wont have to pay a penny. Regardless of whether he claims or not he 'should' declare it as an accident, yes.
Forgive me. For clarity: Sorry if I got that wrong. But what of the 3rd party. If he claims against the meg owner does the original poster not loose his excess? Also if he doesnt claim he WILL still have to declare it which will affect his premium - yes?
If the 3rd party claims of the meganes insurer the megane owne (meso) wont have to pay anything And yes regardless of whether he claims or not he 'should' still declare it as an accident.
Yes basically. If the insurer finds you havent declared an accident or convictions or modifications they will void your policy from inception. If they find it in the event of a claim, they will refuse to pay any own damage claim and most likely refuse indemnity and void the policy. but if its a fault accident, they have an obligation to pay any third party claim as 'rta insurer' the insurer will then likely pursue you direct for the money they pay out.
Cheers guys It was declared earlier today and they spoke to the "victim" on my phone. My query wasn't should I declare it but my query was rather should I have given him cash after declaring or gone through the insurer in full? My insurer rang him straight away and said are you claiming? We still hadn't decided so he said ring me back. I then said I'm not paying you £700 claim on me. So I guess when they rang him back he said its a claim. I just wanted to know what others would have done ie declare but get the guy to agree with insurance company a cash settlement had been agreed between is two or whether you would go through insurance. I am trying to weigh up long term cost of increased premiums against the £700 cash he wanted. I suppose if you don't have a crystal ball it's a hard question. mattyw if you think my protecting my NCB helps in this instance then great, I take it though whenever you have a claim the insurance company will shit on you at renewal and you will probably find it cheaper elsewhere? Ps it's probably unprovable but he was on his uncles insurance. What's to say that he wasn't insured on the car and just gave my insurance company his uncles name and address? Something didn't stack up for me but I guess if the police aren't involved there is no way of checking the drivers identity.
Good idea. It's a common name so will see what I can throw up but the possibilities could be endless. Can I ask for an identity parade before payout?
Just pay your excess and let your insurance company do their job, he can sort his own shit out! It's not uncommon that both pay excesses to their respective insurer while the insurance companies agree liability. Then he gets his back if it's not 100% his fault.
Well, strictly speaking, whether you agree or not (im just laying it out) - if you have an accident you declare it if there is a claim or not - because there is a 'claim' or 'accident' on the policy it will be treated as that at renewal - if your insurer paid him £1000 or £10,000 it would hardly affect your renewal price To me, id just let insurers deal, your insurance wont go up £700 over the 3 years you need to declare it. In answer to your q about protected ncb, your current insurer will hike the price to try and help recoup what they pay but comparethemarket etc will show nothing much in it. If you want, do a quote now one with an accident and again without and see the price difference for yourself. Re the uncles insurance, its getting late and i cba right now to get into it but regardless of whether he is insured or not, an illegal immigrant, driving it whilst stolen, the claim will still get paid (government legislation for you!) so i wouldnt worry yourself about it. All i would say is to your insurer 'the driver was mr smith driving mr jones car so dont pay mr smith any vehicle damage as he doesnt own it, dont pay unless the owner my jones claims e.t.c'
That's the thing fella, they haven't asked me to pay anything, sure they said you only have to pay excess if you want your own car repairing. So I'm sitting here thinking it seems to have gone too smooth
Thanks for your input Matty. Apologies if I confused the issues Meso100. I think we ultimately got there in the end. I was wrong about excess but I think in general the rest was about right.
I'm not listening to anything you say again! Yeah no worries mate, I was just bothered about the excess tbh. Would have had to go and sell my ass on the streets to get some doh! Glad I can relax now. Cheers all for your input!
Specialist mattyw has confirmed only when you claim on your own insurance on your own car. If someone claims on you there is no excess. Google backs this up too. You learn something new every day. That's not an excuse to go out playing bumper cars now though!
That's what I'm thinking? Surely I can't go round crashing in to people and not pay a penny because I'm happy for my bumper to be hanging off? The third party will have to pay to get money out of your insurance, but all you pay is at renewal? If that's the case, I'm getting a remap, a roll cage and bull bars.
Haha yeah get bull bars mate. You would cause havoc! I'm glad I kept my £700 in my bank account anyway, imagine of i had parted with funds then found out off mattyw I didn't have to pay an excess!
