...Right

I just reversed into a car, and cracked the license plate of the car.

I apologised, and the damage is minimal, I am expecting a call soon, he was very understanding and it seems we are keeping it to ourselves.

HOWEVER if he decided to claim on the insurance, where do I stand?

The damage to the car is a crack to the registration plate, and it the license plate can be repaired and replaced for a 10er.

The bad part is, and I'm expecting stick, is that I've just passed my test. The damage was minimal, and I can prove this by the fact there is no mark on the rear end of my car that wasn't there previously, or indeed shows any impact.

Obviously the point is moot if the fella will keep it private, but what if he decides to go get the insurance involved?

I do not expect the third party will inform their insurance company due to the value and if they do then the insurance company will most likely abandon any attempt to contact you as it is a waste of money and time (not cost offective).

It's more the worry that my insurance will no doubt go higher, if the person decides to claim.

I mean, where will I stand on the argument?

That can be fixed for a tenner, and it's my fault? Even if I don't claim on my insurance, will it affect my premium?

It will not affect you insurance policy if you do not involve your insurance company.

Yet, What if the other person does?

Doesn't matter, you can deal without your insurance company.

Cheers Mate

No problem!

I always advise against settling privately. If things go wrong, as they invariably do, then it is for you to sort it, as you insurer may say that they would not have taken the course of action you did and will not get involved in any future dispute.

The third party has a right to seek recompense from your insurer (who have a right to act in your name), so like it or not, your insurer could very well be involved.

In any case, even if you are not claiming, you are contractually bound to inform your insurer of the incident even if not claiming yourself.

As regards to your insurance policy, there is nothing stopping you paying them the cost that they incur which would leave your NCD etc as it was before. An insurer does not care where it gets it's money back (within reason). So long as it does....

I always advise against settling privately. If things go wrong, as they invariably do, then it is for you to sort it, as you insurer may say that they would not have taken the course of action you did and will not get involved in any future dispute.

 

The third party has a right to seek recompense from your insurer (who have a right to act in your name), so like it or not, your insurer could very well be involved.

 

In any case, even if you are not claiming, you are contractually bound to inform your insurer of the incident even if not claiming yourself.

 

As regards to your insurance policy, there is nothing stopping you paying them the cost that they incur which would leave your NCD etc as it was before. An insurer does not care where it gets it's money back (within reason). So long as it does....

I'm going to wait until the person contacts me.

Give it a few days, and then inform my insurance company.

The damage was minute, he drove off without a problem, was just a crack to the registration plate.

Obviously it could be worse, but it's been over 3 hours since the incident, and I've had no call as of yet as to what he wants to do.

I've done a quick google, and it will cost 10 Pound to replace and equip a new plate at Halfords. Now obviously it's not up to me where he goes to repair it.

But needless to say I would like to discuss any options with him and pay for any expenses he incurred.

He was very polite about the whole thing, and I don't think I could have crashed into a 'nicer' person to be fair.

If I was to inform the insurance company of the incident, would I incur any charges, would anything go further and would my NCB be null and void as well? Even if the victim didn't report the incident.

Just a few points.

1. The duty is to notify your insurer as soon as possible within reason. Whilst most insurers will not be bothered about how long this is, it may affect the ability to defend a spurious or fraudulent claim. report is ASAP. You have to report it anyway so why delay? Whether the TP contacts you or not is of no concern. They could say all sorts of things.

2. Damage. Low speed impacts can cause more damage than you think. I've lost count of the number of complaints of "fraud" I have had due to one party claiming for damage that the other party thought impossible from the speed at the time.

3. The fact of him being "nice" does not negate what I said earlier or the possibility of him being not so nice after all. I'm sure one or two of us have spoken to a "nice" salesman in a certain high street retailer when buying a large expensive item, only to find later, when things go wrong and they have your money, that "niceness" seems to be a naughty word.

That brings me back to my first point of things going wrong an you being liable. Suppose you asked for a quote for damage to a number plate, but the garage (independant) said that there was underdamage to whatever and the cost would be £x thousand. Not only may you not bei unable to pay that, but your insurer would be miffed if they could have said that the accident was 50/50. But not as miffed as you would be when your insurer tells you that they will not meet the whole cost.

Let the insurers deal with it. There is no "penalty" for a notification. The state of you NCD depends on whether you have protection or not, as well as the terms in your policy. With no protection (or protection used up), NCD is usually reduced by 2 years. But like I said, you could pay your insurer the cost of the repair and your policy would be reinstated.

Cheers mate.

I'll get onto this tomorrow morning.

Cheers mate.

 

I'll get onto this tomorrow morning.

Make sure your insurance company logs the claim as "notice only" other wise it may damage any NCD. A "notice only" claim normally shuts automatically within 30/60 days of notification.

Make sure your insurance company logs the claim as "notice only" other wise it may damage any NCD. A "notice only" claim normally shuts automatically within 30/60 days of notification.

Even better advice.

As I said, I'll give it a days grace, and give them a call.

Cheers for all the advice people.

If you are obliged to involve your insurance company despite the minorness of the incident, then unfortunately that is what you should do. But if the other guy voluntarily involves insurance he is an idiot, because nowadays non-fault claims (like what it would be for him) also increase your premium, so he will be out of pocket, which seems pointless and avoidable from his perspective.

If you settle it privately, he can (within reason) go to any number plate fixing place he wants even if it is not the cheapest, and you have to pay what he quotes. You could choose to challenge his quote and go looking yourself, but then the risk is he may threaten to go through insurance (or just go straight through insurance without telling you, which would end you up in big trouble if you have not told your insurer about the incident).

The one advantage of going through insurance is that if you feel his (or rather his insurer's) quote for the repair to the number plate is excessive, you can go looking for quotes yourself and if you find a cheaper one, you can let them know and the quote for repair may go down.

Personally I think all minor cases like these would be much better sorted out privately, to save time and money for both us and the insurance companies, but sadly the insurers make these rules and you are obliged to obey them when you buy their policy; and if, in any possible way, it is discovered at a later date that you didn't tell your company about this tiny incident, you may have your policy invalidated and will find it difficult and expensive to be accepted for new policies because you will have to declare on all the forms that you have had your policy invalidated in the past, etc.

He just phoned before.

Apparently I caused more damage, then what was seen and it will cost 80 to repair a part which is 'bent'.

I challenged him, saying I can get the repair done for far cheaper if he can give me the part number etc.

He seemed okay with it.

I stand by what I said before (which seems to becoming eerily true). If you want to do this without involving your insurer, then proceed at your peril. Hope it works out though.

Tried to get a receipt off the person, didn't get one. He got no money and I informed the insurance.

Feels better to do that to be fair. We've applied for the CCTV from the Garage, and I've got a friend who is a witness.

And we can pay back whatever is shelled out and protect the no claims.

Best choice really. Don't wanna say "told you so", but I think what has happened demonstrates what normally happens and why you should avoid it.

Yeah, I guess we thought things would be actually worse than they are.

Thanks once more