[rogerxp]

As most of you will know my car is in need of repair and because of the estimated bills it's going through the other party's insurance.

This begs the question; do I need to tell my insurance company .

Part of me thinks, don't say a word, they'll only use it against me in the future but another part of me definately doesn't want to deceive my insurer as, if they find out, I'm stuffed.

I regularily change my insurer so have to answer the question of "in the last 5 years have I been involved in an incident" at which I'd have to lie.

The bodyshop (who I know the owner) says, if I do tell them, state that I'm informing them for 'reference purposes only' as they shouldn't use that against me. I'm not convinced by their integrity to be honest .

What would you do...

[Kerr]

I would say to keep myself safe.

Information seems to be passed around very easily between insurance companies and what if you need to make a big claim only to find they have justifiable grounds to refuse your claim?

Is it not also an offence to lie to your insurance company?

Is your NCB protected?

For the sake of a little jump in your premium, it just seems a really dodgy position to put yourself in.

[JLR1969]

100% tell them. Insurance companies will find out one way or another. Your life will be a nightmare if you make a claim and then this pops up and you face having your policy cancelled.

[rogerxp]

Yes, my preference would be to tell them, but would just hate to get penalised myself going forwards when a) it's through no fault of my own and b) it's also cost my insurer nothing.

My no claims are protected which I suppose helps. I'm with Esure.

[sheps]

Hmmm.
Perhaps my opinion is a little different because I haven't had my own insurance policy since getting rid of the red thing, but I would keep quiet.

To all the people who are saying "Tell them, what harm can it do, it's only for their records" etc I ask this question:

"If they aren't going to use this information to give our Rog the shaft in the very near future, for what other reason are they possibly asking?"

I fail to see what Roger's insurance company's interest is in this matter?
Roger isn't claiming against them.
Nothing Rog did or didn't do could have prevented this incident, meaning Roger's "risk to be insured" hasn't changed.

Where does it stop?
If your kid leans his bike against the car and scratches it (necessitating a repair) do you tell them then? That's a non-fault (on your part) incident that necessitates a repair.
If you open your door into a garage wall and scratch it, do you tell them then?

Your fault or not, if you tell them about an incident (even if it was unpreventable) then they will adjust your insurable risk status and your premium will increase.

Which is not fair or reasonable.
Keep quiet is my advice.

[dar2008]

My wife bashed the side of her car when driving into our driveway. It's an accident, or 'incident', but we don't intend to claim on the insurance and will instead pay a bodyshop to repair the damage (approx. £500). Following the logic above, we 'should' tell our insurer about this incident,... don't think we will though.

[davyk31]

I'm with Sheps I think , your insurance company have no reason to know about this, it isn't costing them anything, they are not even having to be involved in any negoatiation with the other insurers. The other party has accepted blame and are paying for the repair, if there was any dispute then yes your insurer would be involved but in this case its straight forward and if it ever was raised in the future they would have to explain why it made a difference to them and why it would give reason for them to potentially refuse a claim.

[bmwak]

To be honest, you might as well tell them for their info only.

They will find out. A friend decided to settle out of insurance when he was nudged. The other party told their company for their info only. His idea was to keep quiet but received a letter saying that their insurance company knows about this incident and to contact them to fill them in.

Even if you hide it, you will have to say 'yes' to the question where it says have you had an accident regardless of fault in the last 3 years as it will be recorded in the Motor insurance database i beleive.

[Kerr]

When you renew your insurance you are specifically asked if you have made any claims within the last 5 years. Even no fault 3rd party claims.

Roger would have to lie to the insurance company and that's the main problem.

It's not about keeping quiet it's not bring truthful.

I understand why Roger feels hard done to at the possibility of a higher premium through no fault of his own, but there is not much you can do without putting yourself at risk.

[willhollin]

Did the third party go through her insurance Rog?

[sheps]

Roger hasn't had an accident, nor is he claiming.

Someone else has had an accident and they are claiming on their policy.

Seriously, if your child accidentally scratched your car, would you tell your insurance company so they could hike your premium?

Roger's insurance company have no right to this information. It doesn't affect his insurable status or risk one iota.

You all know, the only reason the insurance company want this information is so they can up his future premiums for no reason which is not fair or equitable.

Insurance companies prey on people being scared of non-payout for failing to give out information like this, but it simply would not happen. Don't let the insurance companies treat you like sheep.

I can't believe how many of you are happy to just lie back and take the shaft.

[jonsteele]

Tell them - I think if you read the small print on your policy you need to inform them of any 'incident'. Especially true if the 3rd party is claiming on their policy as your details will be registered on the insurance database. If you don't, and lie on your next policy application, they will find out if you have to make a proper claim further down the line. They'll then cancel your policy as invalid and you'll be footing the bill.

It's all wrong, and I'm speak from bitter ecperience here, but insurance companies have us over a barrel. They're easy to offer great deals and take our money, but will try everything to get out of a claim!

[zedman]

Yes you do, my car got hit by a motorcyclist, all repaired and paid for by his insurance company with NO involvement from mine.

come renewal time i get a phone call from the ins co asking me to update them on the claim that's showing on their system, even though it's non fault. Got charged an extra £60 on the premium too as now statistically more at risk of having an accident.

[Jon D]

My partner, who is a named driver on my policy, was recently involved in two minor accidents with her own car, one of which happened when she was nowhere near the vehicle and both claims were processed by the respective third party's insurance companies.
When renewing my own policy I mentioned this to my broker, who advised me that, because they were on record, I should most definitely declare both incidents, as failure to to so would result in my cover being compromised.
As it happens my premium wasn't affected because the incidents were logged as 'non-fault', and I have peace of mind.
What I learnt from this was that if any incident, no matter how small, is on record with an insurance company or any other authority, you should certainly mention it to your own insurer. As others have said, insurance companies will use any loophole to wriggle out of a claim and, to me at least, the answer is clear - it's simply not worth it.

[briers]

If the other person is claiming on their insurance surely they need your car details and dont these companies all work from the same database?

You will be classed as a higher risk even though you weren't even in the car at the time. Stupid i know. Thats the thing that annoys me the most.

[rogerxp]

Absolutely, it's a complete pisser but, now it's going through their insurance my details will be put into a database to be shared with anyone willing to part with the cash (speculate to accumulate for the insurers ).

If it had all been done cash-in-hand then I'd have kept quiet about it, which is why I was hoping the quotes were going to be lower, but as they ranged from £750 to £1,450 it was always going to be done through the insurers.

Think I'm going to my insurer and state exactly what happens to try to highlight why I'm no higher risk than the next man (not lady ) but we'll see.

Also, I suppose, if I'm going to end up paying higher premiums then I'm happy I've instructed a claims handling company who will speed things up and offer me a decent hire car for the 3-5 days it's been quoted to fix. Tit for tat I suppose. Doubt it'll be a Porka TT though .

Sorry, Si, whilst I do completely agree with you, I'm not willing to expose myself on a one-man crusade which will ultimately get me nowhere.

[themetz]

To notify them of any accidents, fault or not, will most likely be explicitly written in to your T&C's. Therefore, to not tell them would be exposing yourself to your insurers somehow, someway finding out at a later date.

If it's non-fault, it will be recorded as such and shouldn't be taken into account at renewal....

....however, back in the real world.....

[sheps]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

Sorry, Si, whilst I do completely agree with you, I'm not willing to expose myself on a one-man crusade which will ultimately get me nowhere.

Totally understand mate, I just feel for you; not only have your car molested by a bitch who clealry can't drive but then, even when she has admitted full liability and made full payment against the damage, you in all likelihoods will be paying an increased insurance premium for the priviledge.

It's not right.

In the real world, where you should be able to take an insurance company
to task, there is no way they could justify these actions. This woman hitting your car makes you no more likely to be involved in an own-fault accident, which is the liability you are insuring against.

What is the point of admission of liability and successfully claiming on another party's insurance if your policy is still affected? It's bollocks.

Makes me fell very grateful for my fleet policy. You all have my sympathies dealing with these w*nkers directly.

[rogerxp]

Well, if it all goes tits-up, do you fancy having a 370Z 'pool-car' on your fleet insurance .

[kaishang]

I would not feel any moral obligation to tell them.

But I'd tell them anyway, since the other person is claiming on their policy it will go on the database which is shared between insurers.

If there were no insurers involved and it was just cash to the bodyshop then I would not tell any insurer anything.

And since the quote was as low as £750 you should have suggested to the person at fault that they just cough up without going through their insurer. They will have an excess of maybe £250, so they would be claiming £500 on their third party. They then have increased insurance premiums for the next 5 years.

Paying for it yourself if it is under about £1,000 seems like a no-brainer.

[Baby Dave]

Don't tell them. If you are not claiming on your insurance why would you have to tell them. If it ever became an issue, which it wouldn't, state you had informed them over the phone. They are a set of tw&ts and the less you tell them the better.

[dxb335d]

Listen, if the other party is going through theirs then YES of course you should.