Had a minor accident yesterday - new to this - help!

[Acehood]

Yesterday I was parked outside my sister's house and all of a sudden my alarm went off. Turns out it was a lady in a Ford KA who was unable to negotiate around a Renault Clio without scraping the front bumper. There was plenty of room (at least 2 car lengths) in front of my car and she still managed to hit it.

The damage is fairly minor but obviously I still want it to be sorted. The lady admitted fault straight away and seemed quite shocked at the whole thing. What surprised me was that she already had her insurance details written out on a little piece of cardboard (which I now have), although the car's details were for her previous car, she told me she'd only just bought the KA. I've obviously taken her current reg etc and know that she lives just over the road from my sister. I gave her the name of my insurer and policy number + reg.

Another thing that I noticed was her car is covered in scrapes on the passenger side. Obviously not the first time it's happened. I wouldn't be surprised if she's done it before and not bothered to tell the owner of the other car. She claimed she was 'tired' and that's why she hit my car.

This happened about 4pm yesterday. I take it the responsibility is on her to call the insurance company and sort it all out? Or do I need to do something as well? Was I supposed to call the police and report it?

Will this affect my NCB? It's not my fault at all, I wasn't even in the car when it happened! I know that sometimes you have to declare any 'accidents' even if it's not your fault though.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

[edo]

I woundt say you had an accident at all....

Call her insurance company immediately, explain the lady has admitted fault, and ask them to get your car sorted and a loan car in the mean time.

You are SUPPOSED to notify your insurance company too. If she is fully and properly insured and her insurance are sorting the repair I personally wouldnt involve my own insurance company who will add no value and a no fault claim whilst not affecting your NCD, will affect your premium.

Good luck and I hope she is covered.

[Acehood]

edo said:

I woundt say you had an accident at all....

Call her insurance company immediately, explain the lady has admitted fault, and ask them to get your car sorted and a loan car in the mean time.

You are SUPPOSED to notify your insurance company too. If she is fully and properly insured and her insurance are sorting the repair I personally wouldnt involve my own insurance company who will add no value and a no fault claim whilst not affecting your NCD, will affect your premium.

Good luck and I hope she is covered.

I just rang her insurance company and they told me I'd need to speak to MY insurance company. So I rang them. Extremely helpful as always and have logged a non-fault claim for me. They've said it will not affect my premium at all because it'll all be dealt with by her insurer. Apparently it's just a bit of a waiting game now. Not sure if she's even spoke to her insurance yet, will ring her later and remind her she hit another car yesterday

It's worked out quite well for me tbh as I wanted my front bumper resprayed anyway due to stonechips.

[Big E 118]

Unfortunatley this will effect your NCB, although the insurer will tell you it won't be considered a claim. When your renewal is assessed you will be deemed to be a higher risk because you have parked your car in a place where someone else has been able to hit it. You also have to declare non fault claims if you change provider.

Twice last year my car was hit while parked in residential streets. Luckily both times the guilty party left their contact details and admitted liability, all settled via their insurance.

I renewed last week and although I have 7 years NCB which I pay extra to protect, my insurance went up £280.00!

[Thejimreaper]

I was driven into whilst parked by a works van once. I had the damage repaired through their insurance and didnt even tell my own insurer. When it came to renewal time, my premium had gone up. They have a database so they know when you have made a claim fault or otherwise. I explained I had done nothing wrong but they still put up my premium. They aaid I must park in high risk areas!!!!

Good luck either way.

[Acehood]

Big E 118 said:

Unfortunatley this will effect your NCB, although the insurer will tell you it won't be considered a claim. When your renewal is assessed you will be deemed to be a higher risk because you have parked your car in a place where someone else has been able to hit it. You also have to declare non fault claims if you change provider.

Twice last year my car was hit while parked in residential streets. Luckily both times the guilty party left their contact details and admitted liability, all settled via their insurance.

I renewed last week and although I have 7 years NCB which I pay extra to protect, my insurance went up £280.00!

I don't understand how they can justify increasing a premium when someone else hits my car, when I'm not even in it. If it's going through HER insurance then shouldn't it be an increased cost to her, instead of me? Really makes no sense. It's no wonder people drive around with no insurance with the prices being ridiculous as it is and even higher when someone else is unable to park a tiny hatchback.

Are you sure it hasn't just gone up for other reasons? I've noticed mine creeping up as I get older and have more NCB, the insurance companies all tell me they've had to increase their prices for various reasons including fraudulent claims, economy and uninsured drivers

Thejimreaper said:

I was driven into whilst parked by a works van once. I had the damage repaired through their insurance and didnt even tell my own insurer. When it came to renewal time, my premium had gone up. They have a database so they know when you have made a claim fault or otherwise. I explained I had done nothing wrong but they still put up my premium. They aaid I must park in high risk areas!!!!

Good luck either way.

I don't see parking on a quiet residential street as being high risk. I'm not going to not visit my family purely so I don't have to park my car on the road. Anyone that knows me would tell you that I'm very particular about my cars and where I park them, as I said there was plenty of room and I'm amazed anyone managed to hit the car in the first place. It's only a Clio, it's tiny.

[Mr2Mike]

Acehood said:

I don't understand how they can justify increasing a premium when someone else hits my car,

You and countless other people. It's piss poor IMO.

However, you are perfectly entitled to deal directly with her insurers no matter what the monkey on the phone suggested. You simply ask them to send you a claim form and fill the details of the incident in and send it back along with quotes from your preferred repairers. They will probably want you to use some approved bodyshop that knocks out ropey repairs cheaply and quickly, if so push back.

[N Dentressangle]

Acehood said:

I don't understand how they can justify increasing a premium when someone else hits my car, when I'm not even in it.

But they do, for reasons others have explained.

You might have been able to get the woman to pay for your damage directly herself, as long as it's less than her excess, thus not involving insurance companies at all. However, as you've already spilled the beans to them I suspect that route is now closed.

The quote's originally about banks, but I'd say that insurance companies are also guys who lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.

[pdV6]

Yup. It's cr4p, but they'll have big actuarial tables somewhere to "prove" that you are now statistically a higher risk.

[anonymous-user]

Acehood said:

I don't understand how they can justify increasing a premium when someone else hits my car, when I'm not even in it

The theory is that something about the places that you park your car (or the way you park it) mean it's more likely to be hit than, say, mine. Therefore you're probably likely to keep parking in the same places and your dipst neighbour is more likely to crash into your car than mine is, making you a higher risk. Pain in the arse though, I know.

[snoopstah]

I'm considered to be too high a risk to even be insurable on my parents' car by their current insurers, due to having two non-fault accidents in my driving history (both totally covered by the other party's insurance).

[jeff666]

I am sure i heard that you can sue the other person for increased premiumns, up to 5 years in the future.

[fadeaway]

Symbolica said:

Acehood said:

I don't understand how they can justify increasing a premium when someone else hits my car, when I'm not even in it

The theory is that something about the places that you park your car (or the way you park it) mean it's more likely to be hit than, say, mine. Therefore you're probably likely to keep parking in the same places and your dipst neighbour is more likely to crash into your car than mine is, making you a higher risk. Pain in the arse though, I know.

I'm sure that is their theory. Of course 1 or 2 non-fault claims aren't statistically significant - ie you could be parking only in "safe" areas and have been unlucky, or in more dodgy places. There really isn't enough data for them to judge, which makes it very unfair.