Insurance claim or not?

MayoForSam

I had a bit a tip yesterday, ran into the back of another guy, my fault I guess, he had braked suddenly to avoid a rock that has fell off the ditch (typical country roads).

It was a low speed impact, my bumper was scratched, that's all. On his car however, his rear bumper had popped out on one side and there was an ominous bump on the floor of his boot.

As we were both fine and the cars were OK to drive, we exchanged contact and insurance details, he said he would get a price to repair the damage and as it looked fairly minor, I said I would pay, no need to get the insurance involved.

But today he's after ringing me and the repair cost will be approx. €1400 :eek:, although he will shop around a bit.

So now I may have to make a claim (I went into the guards today and filed an accident report) or do I?

Is it a matter of simple arithmetic to work out the most economic way to sort it out, should I keep my full no claims bonus or get the insurer to pay and lose it and start from scratch? Will my insurer advise me when I contact them?

My first accident in 18 years of motoring, c'est la vie I suppose.

unkel

Unlucky there, MayoForSam

You probably have a full NCB, in which case I would consider paying for the damage myself, rather than going through the insurance. Bite the bullit...

The_Conductor

You can be amazed at the amount of damage a minor rear ending can do- most of which is not immediately apparent until you remove the bumper. Its the way cars are designed to "crumple" to absorb the shock of a crash. The 1400 the guy has been quoted probably isn't too much out of the ballpark of what could reasonably be expected- if you don't have NCB protection on your insurance policy- I'd suggest you pay it yourself though (but report the accident to your insurance company regardless- it won't affect your policy).

Eoin

You might have a protected no claims bonus which will allow you to claim up to a certain amount without it affecting your premium with your current insurer.

Esel

True, but it's a claim on your record and will mean you have to stick with the same company.

pred racer

pretty much the same thing happened to me a couple of years ago(small car park tip) got the insurance to cough up for it. sure my insurance went from 400 to 700 to 550 to 400 again, nowhere near the cost of the repair(1700). Whats the point of paying fully comp insurance if you are not gonna use it?

Spipov

on a side note, somebody rear ended me in my garage and left without details. had to track them down (their car - with a piece of headlamp missing, found beside my car was parked in the same complex). they agreed then they were at fault with a little persuasion from the guards.

i got it estimated, not too bad, 370 euros and they said to go through insurance.

i rang mine (tesco/hibernian) who say my comp goes out of the window if i want them to sort it out, but i could ring zurich (the other party's insurance).

i did, and they said they need to have an assessor to check the damage. my car has now been sitting for a week waiting for that woman to ring me.

how long does this all take and anybody knows if zurich would pay quickly enough?i dont see why MY comp should go out when its not my fault and i have to do all the work to get the other insurance sorted?sorta annoying really. should i ring them back monday to see whats the craic and when is this going to get sorted?

MayoForSam

I reckon I will go through the insurance after all, as pred racer said even if the NCD goes, the premium increase next time round will in no way equal the cost of the repair (actually the car is insured in my wife's claim, I am a named driver and her insurance is normally less than mine anyway ).

Spivov - surely you should be claiming through the other party's insurance, not your own? Did you get their insurance details? Did you file an incident report with the guards?

Barr

I'd let it go through you insurance . Unless you pay a very big premium at the moment theres no point in paying it out of your own pocket. If you have comp - you mite as well put your own damage through as its all taken as the one claim

Run_to_da_hills

Go down to the credit union and withdraw the cash and pay off the guy immediatly before he starts thinking PI.

L1011

Spipov wrote: »

on a side note, somebody rear ended me in my garage and left without details. had to track them down (their car - with a piece of headlamp missing, found beside my car was parked in the same complex). they agreed then they were at fault with a little persuasion from the guards.

i got it estimated, not too bad, 370 euros and they said to go through insurance.

i rang mine (tesco/hibernian) who say my comp goes out of the window if i want them to sort it out, but i could ring zurich (the other party's insurance).

i did, and they said they need to have an assessor to check the damage. my car has now been sitting for a week waiting for that woman to ring me.

how long does this all take and anybody knows if zurich would pay quickly enough?i dont see why MY comp should go out when its not my fault and i have to do all the work to get the other insurance sorted?sorta annoying really. should i ring them back monday to see whats the craic and when is this going to get sorted?

I find it a bit odd that Zurich are sending an assesor - I got rear ended by a Zurich insured driver, the estimate was over a grand and they just gave me the go ahead without an assesor or an accident report. And my own insurer did the initial contact without it affecting my own policy (even got a letter to that affect). Had the car repaired within two weeks of the accident, and that included Fiat getting components over from Poland - could have been quicker if they were stock parts.

Esel

If you are paying yourself, be sure to get a signed statement that it is in full and final settlement of any claim regarding the accident.

Run_to_da_hills

esel wrote: »

If you are paying yourself, be sure to get a signed statement that it is in full and final settlement of any claim regarding the accident.

Get it witnessed at that.