Accident Report to Insurance Company?

Viper1

I was involved in a very minor accident in which some body work got scraped, nothing major and have decided to settle it out of court and pay for the damage (don't want to risk my no claims over something so small).

Insurance and contact details were exchanged and a report made to the gardai at the time, I am now awaiting contact from the other party.

My question is this, should I report it to my insurance company and what are the consequences if any for not reporting it?

Seth Brundle

You say that you have decided to settle and pay. You have not said what the other party wants to do. Have you asked them?
If you both decide to keep the money grabbers (insurance companies, solicitors, et al) out of it then you pay the other party and they get the repair work completed. Don't report it to your insurance company unless necessary!

pedro ferio-vti

Report it to your insurance co and make SURE you state that its for "Record Purposes Only". Its like giving your version of events so it can be referenced by the Gardai if the 3rd party decides to act the tosser by denying liability etc etc. If you don't report it now you may have to do it in a month or 2 time if/when there is a dispute over liability and by then the details will be very hazy in your mind so do it as soon as poss plz.

Peter

Seth Brundle

from my interpretation of it the OP accepts liability and is willing to pay for the damage they caused.
Therefore I would give no grounds for the insurance company increasing their premium (for no valid reason) and therefore not inform them.

pedro ferio-vti

They won't increase the premium if he's just reporting the accident for record purposes, they'll find out anyway if the 3rd party reports it cos the 3rd partys' co will contact his co and it will look bad on the insureds' part if they have to find out the long way. Was a Gard present at the scene of the accident? If not and a report was simply filed then the admission of liability is his word against their word.

Peter

Seth Brundle

the OP has said that they will pay for all damage and given that it was "a very minor accident" then it probably isn't worth contacting the company (the damage may be less than the OP's policy excess.
The only reason I would contact them would be if
a) you couldn't afford it (but in this case I don't think this applies) or
b) if the other party started suffering from whiplash etc.

pedro ferio-vti, with regard to your claim that "They won't increase the premium if he's just reporting the accident for record purposes", can you be 100% sure of this? I would not trust them as far as I could throw them!

Victor

Be careful he doesn't claim off your insurance anyway......

Viper1

Thanks for the replies.

Regarding the above, I am not 100% sure what the other party intends to do, they said they'd call in a couple of days. I hinted that I would prefer to pay for the damage at the time but was wary to admit any liability (I know paying seems that I am accepting that but see below). It really was a 50-50 accident in terms of proving who was in the wrong. In retrospect I wish I had forced the issue and at least know now. Hate this hanging over me, especially coming up to Christmas.

The guards were called by the other party but neither of us waited for them at the accident spot, instead chose to drive up to the garda's station which was only a short distance away. He left first and was there before me due to me getting caught at traffic lights. When I turned up they were emerging from the station. I again talked to them again and checked the damage to their car, which was a scratch on a colored bumper. It was then that they said they would call me in a few days having exchanged contact details at the scene. After this I entered the garda station and made a very simple statement just for the record and to cover myself.

The reason I don't want it to go to court or let them try claim off the insurance is that I don't want to risk losing my no claims bonus, I'm a young male driver and it’s high enough as it is. The bumper only needed a respray in my opinion but even to replace it would be cheaper than my insurance going up. Guessing it would cost around 400-500, Scoda Octavia.

I'm a bit wary/paranoid about giving out too much detail in the matter.

I am still unsure about contacting my insurance company. At the moment I am holding out for the call. Hopefully it will come. I have a name and address of the person but never got a contact number, stupid I know.

As for forgetting any of the details I wrote out everything leading up to and after the accident when I got home.


Again I thank you for your helpful replies.

Victor

A guy I used to work with tail-ended at guy at a set of lights and "scratched his bumper" on an old car. He didn't find out until renewal time that the guy got IR£2,500 from the insurance company.

JohnBoy

A guy that I used to work with was in a similar situation.

He was at fault but couldn't afford the further increase in insurance premium as he had just written off his car a few months before hand. He paid for the repair work and paid a solictor about €30 for a letter which basically said that the work had been done, no injury had taken place and that both parties were square.

all worked out in the end

DaveD

I'd report this to my insurance company. It is stated in your policy of insurance that you MUST report all incidents even if only minor immediately to your insurance company. By reporting the incident it doesn't mean its gonna affect your premium, it will only affect it if a payment is made on the claim.

What you could do, which will save you alot of hassle, is let the insurance company deal with the claim and then when settled you can then re-pay the insurance company the amount they paid out and therefore the claim will show nil payment and your bonus won't be affected. If you decide to pay the claim yourself its a possibilty the other guy could rip you off whereas if you let your insurance company deal with the matter, they will send out an insurance assessor and view the other party's car and see what damage is done and agree a repair figure.

pedro ferio-vti

Originally posted by kbannon

pedro ferio-vti, with regard to your claim that "They won't increase the premium if he's just reporting the accident for record purposes", can you be 100% sure of this? I would not trust them as far as I could throw them!

Yes I am 100% sure because I work in the claims department for an insurance co. Do yourself a favour mate what myself and dave are telling you mate, especially since a gard didnt arrive at the scene.

Peter