Should I inform insurance company of minor road accident?
Discussion
As title suggests, partner skidded in our car on a slip road last night and ended up kerbing the car hard so much that the car had to be recovered. Policemen came by after seeing us on street cameras to assist and offered to recover our car at their expense on the basis that we were at some traffic lights and our recovery service had an ETA of 3 hours.
We plan to get it fixed ourselves without claiming on insurance if the costs don’t amount to more than our excess (£1000 voluntary + £250 compulsory).
Do we still need to inform the insurance company if we fix it ourselves, knowing full well that the police have most likely logged the incident and attended to us?
Thanks
We plan to get it fixed ourselves without claiming on insurance if the costs don’t amount to more than our excess (£1000 voluntary + £250 compulsory).
Do we still need to inform the insurance company if we fix it ourselves, knowing full well that the police have most likely logged the incident and attended to us?
Thanks
My thinking would be along the lines of would the police have recorded any damage in detail? Their records, I would've thought, will be fairly basic. It wasn't really a crash, just a minor mistake.
I would take the chance, but you never know, it might have almost no effect on the premium anyway.
I would take the chance, but you never know, it might have almost no effect on the premium anyway.
lucazkoh said:
As title suggests, partner skidded in our car on a slip road last night and ended up kerbing the car hard so much that the car had to be recovered. Policemen came by after seeing us on street cameras to assist and offered to recover our car at their expense on the basis that we were at some traffic lights and our recovery service had an ETA of 3 hours.
We plan to get it fixed ourselves without claiming on insurance if the costs don’t amount to more than our excess (£1000 voluntary + £250 compulsory).
Do we still need to inform the insurance company if we fix it ourselves, knowing full well that the police have most likely logged the incident and attended to us?
Thanks
1) I'd be surprised if it's at Police expense, more likely the recovery agent will bill you/your insurance for it.We plan to get it fixed ourselves without claiming on insurance if the costs don’t amount to more than our excess (£1000 voluntary + £250 compulsory).
Do we still need to inform the insurance company if we fix it ourselves, knowing full well that the police have most likely logged the incident and attended to us?
Thanks
2) Records will exist (Police will have created an incident record to call recovery, Recovery will have a record & there's now a record here).
3) You have a moral duty to inform your insurer of your loss (the insurance contract is a contract based in good faith).
4) The choice is yours.
vonhosen said:
1) I'd be surprised if it's at Police expense, more likely the recovery agent will bill you/your insurance for it.
2) Records will exist (Police will have created an incident record to call recovery, Recovery will have a record & there's now a record here).
3) You have a moral duty to inform your insurer of your loss (the insurance contract is a contract based in good faith).
4) The choice is yours.
Do you think that insurance companies ask every police force in the country if they have a record of an incident with anyone looking to get insured with them?2) Records will exist (Police will have created an incident record to call recovery, Recovery will have a record & there's now a record here).
3) You have a moral duty to inform your insurer of your loss (the insurance contract is a contract based in good faith).
4) The choice is yours.
The answer is that they don’t. They don’t even check their own Claims and Underwriting database in a lot of cases.
lucazkoh said:
As title suggests, partner skidded in our car on a slip road last night and ended up kerbing the car hard so much that the car had to be recovered. Policemen came by after seeing us on street cameras to assist and offered to recover our car at their expense on the basis that we were at some traffic lights and our recovery service had an ETA of 3 hours.
We plan to get it fixed ourselves without claiming on insurance if the costs don’t amount to more than our excess (£1000 voluntary + £250 compulsory).
Do we still need to inform the insurance company if we fix it ourselves, knowing full well that the police have most likely logged the incident and attended to us?
Thanks
So you broke down at a set of traffic lights, the police kindly pulled you out of the way to keep the road clear and you repaired/replaced the flat tyre yourself, and got the tracking checked and fixed We plan to get it fixed ourselves without claiming on insurance if the costs don’t amount to more than our excess (£1000 voluntary + £250 compulsory).
Do we still need to inform the insurance company if we fix it ourselves, knowing full well that the police have most likely logged the incident and attended to us?
Thanks
Had a colleague who drove down a pothole this week, punctured both nearside tyres, knocked his tracking out, got recovered home, took the wheels down to his tyre depot the next morning, got new tyres, and took the car back to get the tracking sorted once he had re-fitted the wheels.
His breakdown recovery is paid for by him, and he paid for the new tyres and tracking.
Why would he want to tell his insurance company.
Not sure why people want to rush and tell their insurance co about every little incident that you can take care of yourself. Never come back to haunt me.
Gavia said:
vonhosen said:
1) I'd be surprised if it's at Police expense, more likely the recovery agent will bill you/your insurance for it.
2) Records will exist (Police will have created an incident record to call recovery, Recovery will have a record & there's now a record here).
3) You have a moral duty to inform your insurer of your loss (the insurance contract is a contract based in good faith).
4) The choice is yours.
Do you think that insurance companies ask every police force in the country if they have a record of an incident with anyone looking to get insured with them?2) Records will exist (Police will have created an incident record to call recovery, Recovery will have a record & there's now a record here).
3) You have a moral duty to inform your insurer of your loss (the insurance contract is a contract based in good faith).
4) The choice is yours.
The answer is that they don’t. They don’t even check their own Claims and Underwriting database in a lot of cases.
Merely pointed out the 4 points above (which aren't altered by that).
It's the OP's choice & he is responsible for his choices (nobody who posts their opinions here is responsible for his choices).
lucazkoh said:
Policemen came by after seeing us on street cameras to assist and offered to recover our car at their expense on the basis that we were at some traffic lights and our recovery service had an ETA of 3 hours.
I hope they do, but I can’t see them doing it at their expense.LandRoverManiac said:
I was in a similar situation in November last year. A Fiesta went straight into the back of my Disco (was waiting in a queue at the time) and made an almighty mess of her car but not so much of mine. The driver instantly admitted liability and pretty much said she would try to fix it without going via the insurance. Since the damage to mine was limited to a cracked indicator bulb and some fresh Ford blue paint on the towbar - I was happy to just put it down to one of those things and fix it when I got home.
I did still ring up my insurer on the same day to notify that there had been an incident and what had happened - they just put it as notes on file and for the purposes of renewal it didn't count as a 'claim' or affect my quote. The call handler said that in the case of a belated claim down further the line (e.g. whiplash injuries from the other party) the fact that I informed them straight off the bat would cover my behind. If I hadn't, and the other party had decided to have a change of heart - then I would have some explaining + remembering to do.
I'd let your insurers know if only to cover yourself. It'll save plenty of aggro if there are any complications further down the line.
And how would the Fiesta driver claim for whiplash? They can’t sue themselves for their own stupidity. Nor would your insurer simply roll over given the damage and assume you were at fault simply because you hadn’t reported the claim. You wouldn’t have had any “explaining”to do either. I did still ring up my insurer on the same day to notify that there had been an incident and what had happened - they just put it as notes on file and for the purposes of renewal it didn't count as a 'claim' or affect my quote. The call handler said that in the case of a belated claim down further the line (e.g. whiplash injuries from the other party) the fact that I informed them straight off the bat would cover my behind. If I hadn't, and the other party had decided to have a change of heart - then I would have some explaining + remembering to do.
I'd let your insurers know if only to cover yourself. It'll save plenty of aggro if there are any complications further down the line.
kingswood said:
anyone else not shocked by the big white elephant in the room..............£1000 voluntary excess?!? what car is it?
Based on the picture in the duplicate thread in the Audi / VW subforum it appears to be a Vegas Yellow (lovely colour btw) A3.https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Edited by AlexRS2782 on Sunday 18th March 21:16
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