Low speed crash - inform insurance or not?
Discussion
Hi all
Just looking for some quick views pls. Missus had a low speed knock in the family car. At a junction - in terms of fault can't see it being other than 50/50 if fully claimed. Our car is a fairly old BMW Estate. Judging by the damage and from past experience the insurer will write it off with a book value of <£2k whereas its worth far more to me for various reasons.
Car is driveable but I estimate at least £2k of repairs. My instinct is to pay and sort myself, we'll never hear from the other party.
But one friend has pointed out what if in X weeks we get a 'whiplash' claim from the three builders? And I haven't informed insurance?
Would you report it or not?
Is it possible to report/notify my insurer without claiming, affecting my discount etc?
Other party were three builders in a van. Contact details swapped but not insurance details. We have an independent witness who was of the opinion the builders were somewhat intoxicated (5pm Friday afternoon) but no proof. His view was to call police and ask for them to be breathalysed which my wife didn't do - more concerned for her personal safety and that of our 5 year old daughter who was with her at the time. And no way the Met Police would have responded and attended accident like this quickly in my opinion - so just could be seen as 'aggressive' by the builders if police were called. Contact details swapped and everyone went on their way.
Admiral multicar (I also have a 996 on the joint policy). Their website T&C says:
"Tell us IMMEDIATELY if...
You have an accident - if you are unlucky enough to be involved in an incident no matter how big or small, you need to inform us. Even if you aren't planning on making a claim yourself the third party might so we need to have your version of events. We also need to know about anything which could affect the condition or value of your car."
In the past I have been one to always inform/claim but its just ended up costing me more in the long term. Car written off, excess cost, 'fault' claim I have to declare for 5 years resuling in singnificantly increased premiums. Therefore inclined to risk it this time...
Thanks in advance for any views & experiences.
Just looking for some quick views pls. Missus had a low speed knock in the family car. At a junction - in terms of fault can't see it being other than 50/50 if fully claimed. Our car is a fairly old BMW Estate. Judging by the damage and from past experience the insurer will write it off with a book value of <£2k whereas its worth far more to me for various reasons.
Car is driveable but I estimate at least £2k of repairs. My instinct is to pay and sort myself, we'll never hear from the other party.
But one friend has pointed out what if in X weeks we get a 'whiplash' claim from the three builders? And I haven't informed insurance?
Would you report it or not?
Is it possible to report/notify my insurer without claiming, affecting my discount etc?
Other party were three builders in a van. Contact details swapped but not insurance details. We have an independent witness who was of the opinion the builders were somewhat intoxicated (5pm Friday afternoon) but no proof. His view was to call police and ask for them to be breathalysed which my wife didn't do - more concerned for her personal safety and that of our 5 year old daughter who was with her at the time. And no way the Met Police would have responded and attended accident like this quickly in my opinion - so just could be seen as 'aggressive' by the builders if police were called. Contact details swapped and everyone went on their way.
Admiral multicar (I also have a 996 on the joint policy). Their website T&C says:
"Tell us IMMEDIATELY if...
You have an accident - if you are unlucky enough to be involved in an incident no matter how big or small, you need to inform us. Even if you aren't planning on making a claim yourself the third party might so we need to have your version of events. We also need to know about anything which could affect the condition or value of your car."
In the past I have been one to always inform/claim but its just ended up costing me more in the long term. Car written off, excess cost, 'fault' claim I have to declare for 5 years resuling in singnificantly increased premiums. Therefore inclined to risk it this time...
Thanks in advance for any views & experiences.
LeoSayer said:
The T&C you quoted are crystal clear about what you should do.
Telling your insurance company about the knock isn't a claim, so you NCB won't be affected. Your premium on the other hand....
It won't affect your NCB, but when I informed (and didn't claim) for a smashed window my insurance went up by nearly 50% at next renewal time. And you will still have to inform the company about the event even if you change providers, as they cover that by asking if you have had any claims, or incidents that could have led to a claim.Telling your insurance company about the knock isn't a claim, so you NCB won't be affected. Your premium on the other hand....
thescamper said:
Why not claim, buy car back and repair it yourself.
This, i've done it a few times i've had two no fault claims. Insurers always passed the matter to a crash management company who inflated the repair bill so much it was deemed no economical to repair. They quoted £3800 to repair a knock on the wing when a replacement wing was £400 and painting another hundred so £1000 tops.Bought it back for a few hundred and fixed it myself for £300.
eastsider said:
Hi all
Just looking for some quick views pls. Missus had a low speed knock in the family car. At a junction - in terms of fault can't see it being other than 50/50 if fully claimed. Our car is a fairly old BMW Estate. Judging by the damage and from past experience the insurer will write it off with a book value of <£2k whereas its worth far more to me for various reasons.
Car is driveable but I estimate at least £2k of repairs. My instinct is to pay and sort myself, we'll never hear from the other party.
But one friend has pointed out what if in X weeks we get a 'whiplash' claim from the three builders? And I haven't informed insurance?
Would you report it or not?
Is it possible to report/notify my insurer without claiming, affecting my discount etc?
Other party were three builders in a van. Contact details swapped but not insurance details. We have an independent witness who was of the opinion the builders were somewhat intoxicated (5pm Friday afternoon) but no proof. His view was to call police and ask for them to be breathalysed which my wife didn't do - more concerned for her personal safety and that of our 5 year old daughter who was with her at the time. And no way the Met Police would have responded and attended accident like this quickly in my opinion - so just could be seen as 'aggressive' by the builders if police were called. Contact details swapped and everyone went on their way.
Admiral multicar (I also have a 996 on the joint policy). Their website T&C says:
"Tell us IMMEDIATELY if...
You have an accident - if you are unlucky enough to be involved in an incident no matter how big or small, you need to inform us. Even if you aren't planning on making a claim yourself the third party might so we need to have your version of events. We also need to know about anything which could affect the condition or value of your car."
In the past I have been one to always inform/claim but its just ended up costing me more in the long term. Car written off, excess cost, 'fault' claim I have to declare for 5 years resuling in singnificantly increased premiums. Therefore inclined to risk it this time...
Thanks in advance for any views & experiences.
Please inform them, your leaving yourself wide open to having your policy potentially cancelled for non disclosure if anyone claims, then your insurance will be at least doubled for the rest of eternity.Just looking for some quick views pls. Missus had a low speed knock in the family car. At a junction - in terms of fault can't see it being other than 50/50 if fully claimed. Our car is a fairly old BMW Estate. Judging by the damage and from past experience the insurer will write it off with a book value of <£2k whereas its worth far more to me for various reasons.
Car is driveable but I estimate at least £2k of repairs. My instinct is to pay and sort myself, we'll never hear from the other party.
But one friend has pointed out what if in X weeks we get a 'whiplash' claim from the three builders? And I haven't informed insurance?
Would you report it or not?
Is it possible to report/notify my insurer without claiming, affecting my discount etc?
Other party were three builders in a van. Contact details swapped but not insurance details. We have an independent witness who was of the opinion the builders were somewhat intoxicated (5pm Friday afternoon) but no proof. His view was to call police and ask for them to be breathalysed which my wife didn't do - more concerned for her personal safety and that of our 5 year old daughter who was with her at the time. And no way the Met Police would have responded and attended accident like this quickly in my opinion - so just could be seen as 'aggressive' by the builders if police were called. Contact details swapped and everyone went on their way.
Admiral multicar (I also have a 996 on the joint policy). Their website T&C says:
"Tell us IMMEDIATELY if...
You have an accident - if you are unlucky enough to be involved in an incident no matter how big or small, you need to inform us. Even if you aren't planning on making a claim yourself the third party might so we need to have your version of events. We also need to know about anything which could affect the condition or value of your car."
In the past I have been one to always inform/claim but its just ended up costing me more in the long term. Car written off, excess cost, 'fault' claim I have to declare for 5 years resuling in singnificantly increased premiums. Therefore inclined to risk it this time...
Thanks in advance for any views & experiences.
LeoSayer said:
The T&C you quoted are crystal clear about what you should do.
Telling your insurance company about the knock isn't a claim, so you NCB won't be affected. Your premium on the other hand....
This. It's not worth the risk. Your premium won't go up until the renewal date, but don't all insurers put the renewal price up anyway? If you shop around you can hopefully avoid too much of a hike. The OH wrote her car off a couple of years ago, ended up in a newer, higher spec model, for only a very small price increase (something like £50 extra for the year).Telling your insurance company about the knock isn't a claim, so you NCB won't be affected. Your premium on the other hand....
Thanks all. Solid advice and I was going on the basis of the last time I claimed (hit when parked) I subsequently wished I hadn't - but there was no other party involved.
Pretty obvious I should really so I have informed insurance of incident without claiming at this stage.
Appreciate bring the obvious to my attention
Pretty obvious I should really so I have informed insurance of incident without claiming at this stage.
Appreciate bring the obvious to my attention
You could always go with "'tis but a scratch" with the insurers - tell them you've had a knock but there's no need to claim as the damage isn't minor enough to bother with. Of course if the car does subsequently snap in two and crash into a bus full of orphans you might have some explaining to do...
thescamper said:
Why not claim, buy car back and repair it yourself.
I bought my car back from insurance, following a rear end shunt, which became an insurance claim. It'll forever have an insurance category write-off against it, meaning its re-saleable value drops considerably (if that's a consideration for you). But with my (cheap old) car it was only the cost of new parts + painting + labor, that effectively wrote it off (matching price of car). The car had no structural chassis damage.
It also instantly becomes an MOT failure and you wont be able to ride it on the roads legally until its had a special DVLA MOT done, AFTER all repairs have been carried out. Its a painful process, going down this route, if this is your only/family dependent vehicle.
Plus if you did choose to make a claim, no matter if its a non-fault incident or not, it will need to be declared for the next 5 years, come insurance renewal time... don't know if it'll affect a premium much, if you weren't at fault.
Edited by DanSI on Wednesday 17th August 14:51
eastsider said:
Thanks all. Solid advice and I was going on the basis of the last time I claimed (hit when parked) I subsequently wished I hadn't - but there was no other party involved.
Pretty obvious I should really so I have informed insurance of incident without claiming at this stage.
Appreciate bring the obvious to my attention
You've done the right thing.Pretty obvious I should really so I have informed insurance of incident without claiming at this stage.
Appreciate bring the obvious to my attention
If it's any consolation, Flux had an incorrect claim on my record, discovered mid-term the other week, they thought I'd had a fault claim in 2012. They took it off and I got a premium refund of £13.
Made me realise that I won't ever mess about in future, if I have a bump I'll just claim and pay the tiny increase for the peace of mind.
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