Insurance claim or not? Skoda Kamiq
Discussion
Hi
Background
Have a Kamiq on lease from VWFS (lease ending July 2025), my wife had a bump with a DPD van, when turning left, which was parked on a bend/junction in a narrow street.
Currently only had 1 year of NCB - as only owned a car for 1.5 years (My licence is 15 years old - age 37. My wife's licence is 6 years old - age 33).
No points, previous incidents etc.
Insurance is with Churchill with me as the main driver and my wife as an additional driver. Paid £850 p.a. last year for insurance (£500 the year before) (ending in mid-July 2024)
I notified the insurance company about the incident on the same day (and my wife reported it to the police online as the DPD driver did not give their insurance details and only gave the number of their manager who also refused to give insurance details and said it would be dealt directly between insurers). My wife provided her details (but the DPD driver did not ask for them and wasn't provided insurance details - hence the notification to the police since neither party really exchanged insurance info).
The DPD courier van (white van without any logos) got a slight scratch but my car had more extensive damage due to initial contact and then the manoeuvre after (...which really made it worse)... the DPD driver was extremely apologetic and said he had to park there due to volume of deliveries and being in a rush. In any case, given they were stationary, my insurance company would consider this my (wife's) fault so any claim would be at fault. Unclear if the DPD van guy will claim for the scratch on his van but possible. They may think I will claim on their insurance based on what was discussed though but can always make a claim of course.
Damage
DPD courier van: https://i.ibb.co/tx5th22/9ff54be6-d86a-4b42-9b3e-6...
My car: https://i.ibb.co/kqLhdrd/af1eada7-9fae-403e-8939-2...
I took my car to a Volkswagen-approved bodyshop and they said that both passenger doors will need to be changed and the passenger side will need a full paint so quoted around £2,800 or so for a private quotation (inc. parts etc of which around £1600-1700 is just the doors inc. VAT)., 5 days labour at £900 and £200 for paint I assume)
My excess is £400.
Questions
1. Should I self-fund the repair or make a claim on insurance? Any guesses what my insurance premium increase would be. I have already notified the insurance company so regardless of if the DPD driver make a claim, guessing premium would increase anyway but really want to know if I actually will save money by paying for this privately
(i.e. would the increase in premium be much higher if I actually claim and then have to pay more than £2,800 in higher premiums over the next 5 years vs. self funding)
2. When I renew my policy - should I enter the accident under my wife's details as an additional driver or mine? It's a bit unclear as for eg. the question in "Confused.com" for both of us separately is "Have you had any motor accidents, claims or losses in the past 5 years, no matter who was at fault or if a claim was made?" so I will have to say yes to accident for her and give the claim details.
However, do I have to enter the same incident again in my name too as I am the main driver / policy holder? Or can I say no for me if full disclosure is made under my wife's name.
There is also a question in the consued.com details of "whether the claim made was under a policy held in their name" which I will have to say no to when entering details under her name.
3. Is there a timeline to make a claim under your own insurance? For eg do we have to get it fixed under the current policy year (ending mid-July 2024)
Any other advice is welcome as this is the first such incident for us
Background
Have a Kamiq on lease from VWFS (lease ending July 2025), my wife had a bump with a DPD van, when turning left, which was parked on a bend/junction in a narrow street.
Currently only had 1 year of NCB - as only owned a car for 1.5 years (My licence is 15 years old - age 37. My wife's licence is 6 years old - age 33).
No points, previous incidents etc.
Insurance is with Churchill with me as the main driver and my wife as an additional driver. Paid £850 p.a. last year for insurance (£500 the year before) (ending in mid-July 2024)
I notified the insurance company about the incident on the same day (and my wife reported it to the police online as the DPD driver did not give their insurance details and only gave the number of their manager who also refused to give insurance details and said it would be dealt directly between insurers). My wife provided her details (but the DPD driver did not ask for them and wasn't provided insurance details - hence the notification to the police since neither party really exchanged insurance info).
The DPD courier van (white van without any logos) got a slight scratch but my car had more extensive damage due to initial contact and then the manoeuvre after (...which really made it worse)... the DPD driver was extremely apologetic and said he had to park there due to volume of deliveries and being in a rush. In any case, given they were stationary, my insurance company would consider this my (wife's) fault so any claim would be at fault. Unclear if the DPD van guy will claim for the scratch on his van but possible. They may think I will claim on their insurance based on what was discussed though but can always make a claim of course.
Damage
DPD courier van: https://i.ibb.co/tx5th22/9ff54be6-d86a-4b42-9b3e-6...
My car: https://i.ibb.co/kqLhdrd/af1eada7-9fae-403e-8939-2...
I took my car to a Volkswagen-approved bodyshop and they said that both passenger doors will need to be changed and the passenger side will need a full paint so quoted around £2,800 or so for a private quotation (inc. parts etc of which around £1600-1700 is just the doors inc. VAT)., 5 days labour at £900 and £200 for paint I assume)
My excess is £400.
Questions
1. Should I self-fund the repair or make a claim on insurance? Any guesses what my insurance premium increase would be. I have already notified the insurance company so regardless of if the DPD driver make a claim, guessing premium would increase anyway but really want to know if I actually will save money by paying for this privately
(i.e. would the increase in premium be much higher if I actually claim and then have to pay more than £2,800 in higher premiums over the next 5 years vs. self funding)
2. When I renew my policy - should I enter the accident under my wife's details as an additional driver or mine? It's a bit unclear as for eg. the question in "Confused.com" for both of us separately is "Have you had any motor accidents, claims or losses in the past 5 years, no matter who was at fault or if a claim was made?" so I will have to say yes to accident for her and give the claim details.
However, do I have to enter the same incident again in my name too as I am the main driver / policy holder? Or can I say no for me if full disclosure is made under my wife's name.
There is also a question in the consued.com details of "whether the claim made was under a policy held in their name" which I will have to say no to when entering details under her name.
3. Is there a timeline to make a claim under your own insurance? For eg do we have to get it fixed under the current policy year (ending mid-July 2024)
Any other advice is welcome as this is the first such incident for us
thank you all. from some dummy quotes the increase in insurance only seems to be a couple of hundred strangely
will get another quote of damage too as it does seem strange that the entire 2 doors need changing for what appears to me to be not too much damage
but it could just be that the official / approved body shop of VWFS has this sort of policy
will get another quote of damage too as it does seem strange that the entire 2 doors need changing for what appears to me to be not too much damage
but it could just be that the official / approved body shop of VWFS has this sort of policy
richhead said:
why only one year ncd if driving 15 years with no incidents?
anyway youve told them now, so might just as well claim, so damage is done, insurance may or maynot go up, its not a given that it will
never had a car as a main policy holder beforeanyway youve told them now, so might just as well claim, so damage is done, insurance may or maynot go up, its not a given that it will
in London and didn't really need a car much - have been on my brother's insurance as an additional driver for many years but doesn't give me NCB
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