Insurance help please - accident

mikenw

Hi all,
Last night I hit a car parked opposite my house, I did minimal damage to my car, but have caused a big dent in the wing of the other car. Can't have been doing more than 2 mph.

So the question is I told the neighbour and it was his visitor, I mentioned I'd pay cash for the repair, but he wants to tell his insurance.

I guess I must report this to my insurance company? But if the repair is less than my 450 excess, can i still pay this and keep it away from my policy??

sep8001

Hi

I believe you only have to pay the excess if you make a claim to repair your car. However as the other insurance will make a claim against you, your premium will go up at renewal and you will have to declare it when renewing.

Lee

If they are going to tell their insurance then you will have to tell yours. Technically either way you have to tell yours anyway.

The 450 excess is only what you pay towards the cost of repair to your own car. Your insurance company will pay the full cost of the repair for the other car

mikenw

Thanks both, I'll call this morning.  Good news I'm not out of pocket on the excess, well until I renew!
So there's no way I can settle and pay his claim, without it going down as a claim once the insurance is notified??

nvingo

Is the 'big dent' clean or dirty; ie. Would it pull out with a suction device or is it creased and needing expert panel beating or replacement ?

mikenw

Looks like it could pull out, but obviously he wants a 100 percent repair, can't blame him. It's more can i still pick up the bill when insurance involved,  or it still count against me

PSM1

I believe you tell the insurance but do not claim from it so it will go down as an at fault accident but with no loss to the insurance company. Not sure why he is going through his insurance company since it will end up costing him more at his renewal as well even though it will be down for him as a no fault claim. Although technically you both should report it to the insurance company I would not bother if the other party had admitted it and offered to pay the full repair of my choosing.

IronGiant

If you've ever been mucked about by someone who "didn't want to go through insurance" then you'd know why some people only go through their insurance   The converse is of course., equally true

un1eash

The question insurance companies usually ask is have you had any accidents in the past 3 years even if no claim was and and regardless of fault. Basically you need to declare it and it'll go down as a fault claim and you'll lose some ncd if there not protected.

mikenw

Thanks all for the advice, he'd already called his insurance to claim, so lucky i did to.its good news about the excess only being on my car,  as mine is hardly marked. So it's a 100 pound job when I'm ready.

Yeah I've been messed about in the past to by let's not do insurance.