My parked car hit,insurance company repairing from my policy
Discussion
My car was involved in an accident a couple of weeks ago and I am unsure if the claims process being followed by my insurance company is correct.
Basic story is that my car was parked on the side of a road while I popped into a shop and on return I was told someone had hit my car. The person involved had stopped and was waiting for me to return. He told he doesn't think he had hit my car as he could not see any marks on his vehicle. On closer inspection, I could see paint was scuffed and plastics showed signs of contact on the other person's vehicle. Photos were taken.
I rang my insurance company and they recorded the details and started to initiate a repair company, hire car etc. My insurance is Fully Comprehensive if that helps.
My question is, it appears they are using my insurance to fix my car before contacting the other party's insurance. I'm concerned that now I have to declare that I have made a claim in future and possibly increasing my costs.
Is the procedure my insurance company taking correct?
Many thanks in advance
Basic story is that my car was parked on the side of a road while I popped into a shop and on return I was told someone had hit my car. The person involved had stopped and was waiting for me to return. He told he doesn't think he had hit my car as he could not see any marks on his vehicle. On closer inspection, I could see paint was scuffed and plastics showed signs of contact on the other person's vehicle. Photos were taken.
I rang my insurance company and they recorded the details and started to initiate a repair company, hire car etc. My insurance is Fully Comprehensive if that helps.
My question is, it appears they are using my insurance to fix my car before contacting the other party's insurance. I'm concerned that now I have to declare that I have made a claim in future and possibly increasing my costs.
Is the procedure my insurance company taking correct?
Many thanks in advance
You will have to declare the incident irrespective of whether your insurance deals or theirs.
The process they are doing is fine, they will attempt to recover costs from the other party. If this is successful then it won’t affect your NCB but if unsuccessful it will. Any potential impact on premium may vary depending on whether they are successful.
Ive worded it like that as the other insurer may have been told by their customer that he didn’t hit your car in which case it becomes less straightforward than if he has admitted to them it happened.
The process they are doing is fine, they will attempt to recover costs from the other party. If this is successful then it won’t affect your NCB but if unsuccessful it will. Any potential impact on premium may vary depending on whether they are successful.
Ive worded it like that as the other insurer may have been told by their customer that he didn’t hit your car in which case it becomes less straightforward than if he has admitted to them it happened.
Your IC will claim costs from the 3rd Parties IC including repair cost, excess, car hire etc..
It will go down as a non fault accident and, if it's your only accident, should not, in my experience, affect future insurance cost.
Get a insurance quote both with and without a non fault accident claim just to see if there is a difference.
ETA Too slow
It will go down as a non fault accident and, if it's your only accident, should not, in my experience, affect future insurance cost.
Get a insurance quote both with and without a non fault accident claim just to see if there is a difference.
ETA Too slow
Insurers generally ask you if you've had "accidents, claims or convictions" - so your answer to that wouldn't change regardless of which insurer you claimed from.
I guess there will be examples where people's premiums were massively affected by a claim, but in my experience it generally isn't the case and I really don't get why people panic about claiming on their insurance.
I know somebody who had a fault total loss claim a year or two back (at the age of 21 so inexperienced). Her part of the claim was ~£6k / total loss, I don't know about the other party. Her insurance did not rise significantly.
I had a no fault claim a few years back and claimed off the other party insurance. My insurance went down the following year.
I had a fault total loss claim last year - with a significant payout. I got a quote for replacing the car last week, and if the premium has gone up - then it's small enough that I can't tell.
I doubt that these 3 examples are unique - and yet there frequently seem to be posts on here where people think they'll need to remortgage their house to pay their insurance in future once they've made a claim.
I guess there will be examples where people's premiums were massively affected by a claim, but in my experience it generally isn't the case and I really don't get why people panic about claiming on their insurance.
I know somebody who had a fault total loss claim a year or two back (at the age of 21 so inexperienced). Her part of the claim was ~£6k / total loss, I don't know about the other party. Her insurance did not rise significantly.
I had a no fault claim a few years back and claimed off the other party insurance. My insurance went down the following year.
I had a fault total loss claim last year - with a significant payout. I got a quote for replacing the car last week, and if the premium has gone up - then it's small enough that I can't tell.
I doubt that these 3 examples are unique - and yet there frequently seem to be posts on here where people think they'll need to remortgage their house to pay their insurance in future once they've made a claim.
Dingu said:
You will have to declare the incident irrespective of whether your insurance deals or theirs.
The process they are doing is fine, they will attempt to recover costs from the other party. If this is successful then it won’t affect your NCB but if unsuccessful it will. Any potential impact on premium may vary depending on whether they are successful.
Ive worded it like that as the other insurer may have been told by their customer that he didn’t hit your car in which case it becomes less straightforward than if he has admitted to them it happened.
Does this not depend on the NCB rules of your own insurer?The process they are doing is fine, they will attempt to recover costs from the other party. If this is successful then it won’t affect your NCB but if unsuccessful it will. Any potential impact on premium may vary depending on whether they are successful.
Ive worded it like that as the other insurer may have been told by their customer that he didn’t hit your car in which case it becomes less straightforward than if he has admitted to them it happened.
BertBert said:
Dingu said:
You will have to declare the incident irrespective of whether your insurance deals or theirs.
The process they are doing is fine, they will attempt to recover costs from the other party. If this is successful then it won’t affect your NCB but if unsuccessful it will. Any potential impact on premium may vary depending on whether they are successful.
Ive worded it like that as the other insurer may have been told by their customer that he didn’t hit your car in which case it becomes less straightforward than if he has admitted to them it happened.
Does this not depend on the NCB rules of your own insurer?The process they are doing is fine, they will attempt to recover costs from the other party. If this is successful then it won’t affect your NCB but if unsuccessful it will. Any potential impact on premium may vary depending on whether they are successful.
Ive worded it like that as the other insurer may have been told by their customer that he didn’t hit your car in which case it becomes less straightforward than if he has admitted to them it happened.
ETA: The ombudsman’s website uses similar language so I think it is quite unlikely there is such an example, so the answer to your question is almost certainly no.
Edited by Dingu on Monday 30th January 13:27
Dingu said:
If you can provide an example of a company which, as their policy, reduces NCB after all costs have been recovered I’m all ears.
ETA: The ombudsman’s website uses similar language so I think it is quite unlikely there is such an example, so the answer to your question is almost certainly no.
So I've just checked AXA and their is no mention of whether the claim is fault, non-fault with all costs recovered. It specifies that the NCB reduces with claims.ETA: The ombudsman’s website uses similar language so I think it is quite unlikely there is such an example, so the answer to your question is almost certainly no.
Edited by Dingu on Monday 30th January 13:27
BertBert said:
So I've just checked AXA and their is no mention of whether the claim is fault, non-fault with all costs recovered. It specifies that the NCB reduces with claims.
It won’t reduce due to non-fault, suggestions otherwise are just incorrect and causing confusion. Whilst this link is entitled fault claims, it goes on to discuss non fault claims.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/c...
“Non-fault accidents
You might report an accident, which you say wasn’t your fault and don’t want to claim for. Your insurer should only treat this as a claim if they receive a claim from the other driver – or third party. If they do, it will affect your no-claims bonus until your insurer can work out who’s liable.
If you decide to claim for any damage, it will affect your no-claims bonus until your insurer can recover the costs from the other driver’s insurer.
But a no-claims bonus is only relevant at the annual renewal of the policy. If it’s been found that you weren’t at fault for the accident by the renewal date, your no-claims bonus won’t be affected, regardless of whether the claim is closed or not.”
nlldavies said:
He told he doesn't think he had hit my car as he could not see any marks on his vehicle. On closer inspection, I could see paint was scuffed and plastics showed signs of contact on the other person's vehicle.
What's the extent of the damage?My wife's Tiguan was parked and a bus swiped the front offside corner and thankfully left it covered in the distinctive paint that the bus company use.
They sent a vehicle examiner who produced a repair estimate of £800. I took it to our local body shop and the guy looked bemused - got a rag and polished the paint off and there's not a mark on the wing/bumper.. There is the most minor scuffing of the wheel arch trim but even knowing it's there I'm hard pushed to see it.
Dingu said:
It won’t reduce due to non-fault, suggestions otherwise are just incorrect and causing confusion.
Whilst this link is entitled fault claims, it goes on to discuss non fault claims.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/c...
“Non-fault accidents
You might report an accident, which you say wasn’t your fault and don’t want to claim for. Your insurer should only treat this as a claim if they receive a claim from the other driver – or third party. If they do, it will affect your no-claims bonus until your insurer can work out who’s liable.
If you decide to claim for any damage, it will affect your no-claims bonus until your insurer can recover the costs from the other driver’s insurer.
But a no-claims bonus is only relevant at the annual renewal of the policy. If it’s been found that you weren’t at fault for the accident by the renewal date, your no-claims bonus won’t be affected, regardless of whether the claim is closed or not.”
I'm not challenging what the ombudsman says, just saying what Axa says!Whilst this link is entitled fault claims, it goes on to discuss non fault claims.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/c...
“Non-fault accidents
You might report an accident, which you say wasn’t your fault and don’t want to claim for. Your insurer should only treat this as a claim if they receive a claim from the other driver – or third party. If they do, it will affect your no-claims bonus until your insurer can work out who’s liable.
If you decide to claim for any damage, it will affect your no-claims bonus until your insurer can recover the costs from the other driver’s insurer.
But a no-claims bonus is only relevant at the annual renewal of the policy. If it’s been found that you weren’t at fault for the accident by the renewal date, your no-claims bonus won’t be affected, regardless of whether the claim is closed or not.”
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