Had a bump, do I tell the ins. co.?
Discussion
Briefly, a week or so ago I had a small crunch with another car.
Without getting in to the nitty gritty, I have offered to pay for the third party's repairs because, basically, I cannot afford to lose my NCD which stands at over 7 years.
The third party has accepted this course of action.
The question is, should I still tell my insurance that I was involved in an accident even though there will be no claim against them. If I did tell them, would they just bump up the premium anyway?
Secondly, should I get the third party to sign a document of some sort basically saying satisfied with repair and no further claim required?
All advice appreciated
Regards
John
Without getting in to the nitty gritty, I have offered to pay for the third party's repairs because, basically, I cannot afford to lose my NCD which stands at over 7 years.
The third party has accepted this course of action.
The question is, should I still tell my insurance that I was involved in an accident even though there will be no claim against them. If I did tell them, would they just bump up the premium anyway?
Secondly, should I get the third party to sign a document of some sort basically saying satisfied with repair and no further claim required?
All advice appreciated
Regards
John
quote:
Without getting in to the nitty gritty, I have offered to pay for the third party's repairs because, basically, I cannot afford to lose my NCD which stands at over 7 years.
I assume your NCB's not protected? (not that it makes much difference, they just put the premium up and give you the same % discount)
quote:
The third party has accepted this course of action.
The question is, should I still tell my insurance that I was involved in an accident even though there will be no claim against them.
Strictly, yes. Unofficially, no, because...
quote:
If I did tell them, would they just bump up the premium anyway?
You bet!
quote:
Secondly, should I get the third party to sign a document of some sort basically saying satisfied with repair and no further claim required?
Definately. Also get them to produce an estimate as otherwise you could be in line for a never ending series of "oh, I found some more damage..."
You didn't post the details of the incident, but it would seem you're happy to accept blame. Worth watching out for some lowlife types who make a killing out of driving around in some clapped out old heap (stolen?) with no brake lights and then deliberately slamming the anchors on to cause a rear-end shunt. They then jump out and demand that you pay for the damage, giving you the "friendly" offer of not going through insurance channels! (like they're insured anyway...)
quote:
Surely it is no concern of the insurance company if no claim has been made and no insurers have been involved? You don't have to tell them if you get a ding in your door from some numpty's door in the supermarket car park, so why tell them in this instance either?
Presumably you wouldn't have to tell them immediately, but on the next renewal surely you'd have to admit to having had an accident in the last 3 years or whatever
(assuming complete honesty on your part, that is
)Thanks for your advice so far guys, some good points raised.
The accident was obviously my fault and there was no bad intention from the third party whatsoever (incidentally, a 60yr old dear) . Also, the damage to their car was minor, hence why I offered to pay.
As to not getting NCB protection, yes that was probably stupid in hindsight although I'd hardly say it was a few quid more - about £600 on top of an already high premium if I remember. Factoring that in, and guessing that they would increase premiums anyway if I had a claim, swayed me against it.
As to the declaration at renewal, isn't it a case of 'have you had any *claims* or convictions in the last xxx years?'
Regards
John
The accident was obviously my fault and there was no bad intention from the third party whatsoever (incidentally, a 60yr old dear) . Also, the damage to their car was minor, hence why I offered to pay.
As to not getting NCB protection, yes that was probably stupid in hindsight although I'd hardly say it was a few quid more - about £600 on top of an already high premium if I remember. Factoring that in, and guessing that they would increase premiums anyway if I had a claim, swayed me against it.
As to the declaration at renewal, isn't it a case of 'have you had any *claims* or convictions in the last xxx years?'
Regards
John
quote:
As to the declaration at renewal, isn't it a case of 'have you had any *claims* or convictions in the last xxx years?'
Guess you'd have to check your small print. Was fairly sure it's "accidents or convictions". I would have thought that with 7 years of accident-free driving, and one small accident recently with no claims being brought, you'd get a decent quote at renewal time if you shopped around.
(but the keeping quiet option also has merit)
>> Edited by Dave Marett on Thursday 3rd October 17:13
Be very careful about not declaring the accident or for that matter any accident where another vehicle is involved. There is always the scenario where you may not report it, pay for any damage to an acceptable level with the third party and they then report it to their own insurance company because they are doing what they should.
All Insurance companys share information about accidents. It might be that this information comes to light through some entirely innocent enquiry at a later date. Say for instance you change companys to get a better deal and by chance it happens to be the same one that you had the misfortune of being told about.
This could make things difficult for you if you claim to be accident free. Where accidents and insurance companys are concerned, honesty is the best policy as if they find you out (and if you are a decent person not a scrote, they probably will) you could be out of pocket for a great deal more than the annual premium.
You are also legally obliged to tell them about any accident even if you do not intend to make a claim.
All Insurance companys share information about accidents. It might be that this information comes to light through some entirely innocent enquiry at a later date. Say for instance you change companys to get a better deal and by chance it happens to be the same one that you had the misfortune of being told about.
This could make things difficult for you if you claim to be accident free. Where accidents and insurance companys are concerned, honesty is the best policy as if they find you out (and if you are a decent person not a scrote, they probably will) you could be out of pocket for a great deal more than the annual premium.
You are also legally obliged to tell them about any accident even if you do not intend to make a claim.
I'm with JonRB on this one.
Do you tell the insurance company if you break the speed limit but don't get caught?
If you tell them they will raise your premium without a doubt, even though this little prang hasn't cost them anything. They steal far too much of our money anyway so what they don't know won't hurt us!
Obviously if Sunninghill are reading this, I think Johnny Boy is a mad dangerous fool who should have his license confiscated. He should tell his insurance company straight away and offer them his 7yrs no claims as a gesture of goodwill! His premiums should be raised by at least 500% and he should thank you in writing when it comes time to renew his policy!
Do you tell the insurance company if you break the speed limit but don't get caught?
If you tell them they will raise your premium without a doubt, even though this little prang hasn't cost them anything. They steal far too much of our money anyway so what they don't know won't hurt us!
Obviously if Sunninghill are reading this, I think Johnny Boy is a mad dangerous fool who should have his license confiscated. He should tell his insurance company straight away and offer them his 7yrs no claims as a gesture of goodwill! His premiums should be raised by at least 500% and he should thank you in writing when it comes time to renew his policy!
If home insurance is anything to go by they'll put it on record as a claim just as soon as you put the phone down.
I called my insurers to claim for some storm damage a while back, only to be told "You need EXTENED Accidental damage cover for that, I'm afraid you only have the accidental damage cover" so no money.
However, at renewal time, boldy emblazoned on the renewal form were the words "Claims made - 1".
They would not be swayed by some pretty impressive arguments on my part ...
I called my insurers to claim for some storm damage a while back, only to be told "You need EXTENED Accidental damage cover for that, I'm afraid you only have the accidental damage cover" so no money.
However, at renewal time, boldy emblazoned on the renewal form were the words "Claims made - 1".
They would not be swayed by some pretty impressive arguments on my part ...
Related, but not directly - when I changed insurance on my car, they asked about ANY accidents, so I told them about my bike crash of 5 years ago. They wanted to put up my CAR premium (13 years claim free) until I argued that it was on a separate policy, and NOTHING to do with my car policy.
Cheeky sods. Don't tell 'em anything you don't need to. Use this policy when dealing with Plod as well.
Minor prangs that are your own doing, NEVER report them. No point. EXCEPT if you have a big one, and htey see it has been previously repaired, you may get a smaller payout. Double cheeky sods.
C
Cheeky sods. Don't tell 'em anything you don't need to. Use this policy when dealing with Plod as well.
Minor prangs that are your own doing, NEVER report them. No point. EXCEPT if you have a big one, and htey see it has been previously repaired, you may get a smaller payout. Double cheeky sods.
C
quote:
7 years no claims and you havent got ncb protection? are you mad? Its only a few quid more and you get to wreck 2 cars in 3 yrs without loosing your ncb bonus its great. My insuer offered it after only 4 yrs no claims which was good as most say 5 yrs is the min
Never felt the need to protect my NCB until I put my girlfriend on my policy...
Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff