Reporting an accident

[RZ1]

My nephew had a car accident a few days ago, single car involved, he aquaplaned on a dual carriageway and hit the barrier.

Police attended and helped clear up then let him drive home, less than a mile away.

As he is a young driver, 20, his excess is £750, car is probably worth about £500. The damage is probably a few hundred quid.

He has no intention on claiming on his insurance to repair the car, but does he need to report it to his insurer? He is worried that his premium will go through the roof if he reports it, plus with the excess it will cost him less to repairs it himself.

[StevenB]

I think you might find an invoice for the repair of the barrier in the post at some point

He does need to report it to them, if they find out at a later date they could invalidate his policy or future policy where he says no accidents

[blue_haddock]

Yes he should as he may get a bill for replacing the barrier, especially as police were involved.

[RZ1]

Surely you would only get invoiced for the barrier if it was damaged.
The police didn’t say anything about repairs to the barrier and the damage to his car is a couple of broken lighs, broken grill and bumper.

[StevenB]

He needs to declare the accident, it will be less pain than them finding out about it.

Insurance Excess is only payable for repairs to your vehicle, if you don't claim , you don't pay it.

[anonymous-user]

Do insurers use S.170 as the definition of an accident or something wider?

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/secti...

As if there's no barrier damage (or practically any anyone is going to care about), then it's not an accident.

[anonymous-user]

Insurers are interested in risk profile and will use a real world view of an accident, which this incident certainly was.

[Bright Halo]

It’s bonkers in a way.
If we all have on average say three motoring accidents during our years driving surely once you have had one accident then statistically you are less likely to have another. Therefore your insurance premiums should go down not up!
I do like my crazy logic, it is a shame insurance companies do not share my view.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Bright Halo said:

It’s bonkers in a way.
If we all have on average say three motoring accidents during our years driving surely once you have had one accident then statistically you are less likely to have another. Therefore your insurance premiums should go down not up!
I do like my crazy logic, it is a shame insurance companies do not share my view.

Yes, they ridiculously rely on actual statistics rather than hunches and made up statistics put forward by people on the internet. The swines!

[Drezza]

Personally I'd keep quiet about it...

[anonymous-user]

Phone 101 and ask what the police will have done ?

[DaveH23]

I've only ever had 1 at fault claim. Nobody else involved so similar to the OP except I didn't cause any 3rd party damage.

That said my insurance never increased and continued to drop each renewal. When I no longer had to declar it the reduction was no more than it was the year before so made little to no difference to my policy price.

For the sake of not getting stung in the future, I'd highly recommend reporting it.

[DaveE87]

Speak to the local authority to ask if there's any damage that needs repaired. If no, win win and carry on repairing the car. If yes, be prepared to cough up for the costs. It can easily run in to a few thousand pounds so it might end up being an insurance claim after all.

[megaphone]

Drezza said:

Personally I'd keep quiet about it...

And me. No one else involved, no damage to anyones property, nothing really to report. Same as if you scraped your car on a tree or post or similar, would you report that? .

Edited by megaphone on Tuesday 15th December 14:12

[Sheepshanks]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

That seems bonkers. Where do you draw the line - report a bumper scuff in a car park, door ding from the car parked next to you?

[nordboy]

If there’s subsequent damage found by the highways dept to the crash barrier then that could cost a fair few quid. It’s £000’s per metre. And they can only replace full sections, if the upright stantions are damged then that’s a load more.
They often send the bill directly to the vehicle owner, rather than the insurance company.

If he risks it and then a bill drops on the doormat, I know i’d like to have informed my insurance company beforehand?
Take a drive past the location and see if there’s any damage? May be a good place to start?

[Smurfsarepeopletoo]

He has a couple of options here.

1. Dont tell his insurance and hope nothing comes of it, but then risk the Local Authority claiming and worst case scenario his policy cancelling (Although Unlikely)

2. Report to insurers for information only, and accept the consequesnces of his actions, learn a lesson and chalk it up to experience.

3. Contact Local Authority and offer to pay, but you then risk them being unaware of the incident and him then making them aware, and prompting a claim, that wouldnt have happened if he hadnt have called.

My suggestion would be to just make his insurers aware for information purposes.

[s2sol]

nordboy said:

If he risks it and then a bill drops on the doormat, I know i’d like to have informed my insurance company beforehand?

Take a drive past the location and see if there’s any damage?

May be a good place to start?

It's arguable that any of these sentences are questions. Are you Australian?

[Foss62]

Sheepshanks said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

That seems bonkers. Where do you draw the line - report a bumper scuff in a car park, door ding from the car parked next to you?

Yes I agree. The key point here would have been that the Police attended so the insurers should be told - just in case there is any future comeback on the barrier, but I can't see the sense in reporting minor knocks that you either leave or repair yourself.

[RZ1]

Thanks I will advise him to report it to his insurance as information only and reiterate that he has no intentions to claim for the damage to his car.