Dear Readers,

I was recently involved in a minor car accident. The situation was... I was driving on the middle lane of a busy road during morning traffic in to work. Traffic was generally slow and was start/stop all the time. Was going along steadily and had more than enough stopping distance to the car in front of me. But then a van from the left lane pulled out suddenly. My car was at the half way point/length of the van already and the front of the van had stuck out into my lane. I had no choice but to brake relatively sharp-ish. I honked my horn to let him know I was there and what he had just done. Van driver continues to pull out into my lane and then starts going along it but after a very short distance he brakes heavily to a complete stop (there was no traffic in front as they had pulled away when I slowed to avoid this van). I believe that he did this hard braking intentionally as he objected to me beeping at him. I did what I could to stop and changing lanes was not an option as they were jam packed with cars moving along. As the van driver had effectively reduced my available stopping distance by pulling into my lane in the first place had little chance of avoiding an impact. It was a low speed impact but was enough to cause visual damage to my plastic bumpers. The van suffered no damage whatsoever as it had a very solid type of bumper.

Van driver did stop to take a registration plate and I took his. However, when I asked to exchange insurance details or at least his contact details so that we could call each later when we both had time to find the papers he appeared not to want to claiming that I had hit him and so it was not his fault.Of course, I did not admit fault and even told him that I thought he had performed the emergency brake on purpose and maliciously. I noted down the phone number of name on the company van he was driving.

I had a quick look at the damage when I got to work. It all appears cosmetic and not panels elsewhere had shifted (or any damage eleswhere noted). Taking the car in for an estimate, the garage estimator confirmed that there were not any critical things that needed to be rectified on a safety basis - and I could have time to think about how I would like to proceed.

Talking to people at work, a few people said that I should report the accident to my insurers in any case - claim or not. The best reason given was that it would look bad for me if the other guy was to make a personal injury claim and I hadn't told the insurance company. The accident happened with speeds of less than 20mph (before I hit the brakes hard and prob a lot less at impact) so it was unlikely and the guy had no obvious injury. But being concerned, I reported the accident to my insurers as soon as I got home from work. Was this the right thing to do?

My estimate for repairing my damaged bumper and the slightly bent number plate was quoted at around GBP450 in VAT fitting etc from a main dealer. I have 4 years no claims bonus which would go down the pan if I claim. Stupidly I decided not to pay extra for the protected no claims option - I thought that I would unlikely be involved in any incidents this year (had been fine in my previous 4 years plus the many other years of driving on/off using my parents car when I needed it). My policy excess if GBP150.

My insurance company have already asked to other party's insurers if they would admit liability (via a letter). I doubt they would admit fault. I am worried that this may have sparked the other driver to now make a (false) injury claim against me.

Also I asked the insurance company what happens to my premiums for next year given this accident which I have just reported. They told me that the other party may wish to claim and that they normally wait at least 6 months to see if a claim will be made against me. While this is all happening they will treat it as though I have not got any no claims bonus at my renewal date (due to it being within the 6 month period). They said that once that 6 months is up and neither the other part nor I have claimed then I get my no claims bonus back and any refund on my premium due (assuming I stay with my current insurer). This all sounds like a blank cheque for the insurance company to me.

I do not know whether or not to make a claim and get the bumper an associated bits fixed. It's not a new car (2003) but if I ever wanted to sell the car it could be difficult to do with the front bumper damage - it would put a lot of people off I think (would put me off anyway). On the other hand, I would loose my no claims bonus if I claim. According to the policy book, with 4 years no claims they would drop me down to 2 years NCD for making a claim. Would they normally stick to this or could they make it 0 years NCD if they wanted to?

If I don't claim but the other party then attempts to claim against me would I still have to pay the policy excess? Having told the insurer about the accident would my premium not go up in any case for next year and therefore claim / no claim I would still pay the same amount?

Living in a major city, I am already paying much more for insurance than I would living elsewhere (in fact over twice as much compared to where I used to live).

Apologies for the very long post but any advice from people in the know or have had experience of a similar situation would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi There,

Sorry to hear about your bump - with regards to your questions -

"But being concerned, I reported the accident to my insurers as soon as I got home from work. Was this the right thing to do?" - YES, YOUR POLICY STATES YOU HAVE TO NOTIFY THE INSURER OF A POTENTIAL CLAIM ASAP

"According to the policy book, with 4 years no claims they would drop me down to 2 years NCD for making a claim. Would they normally stick to this or could they make it 0 years NCD if they wanted to?" - NO, IT WOULD BE 2 YEARS NCD

"If I don't claim but the other party then attempts to claim against me would I still have to pay the policy excess?" NO, THE ACCIDENTAL (OWN DAMAGE) PART CARRIES A £150GBP XS. THE TP LIABILITY SECTION WILL HAVE A £0 EXCESS

"Having told the insurer about the accident would my premium not go up in any case for next year and therefore claim / no claim I would still pay the same amount?" - NO. YOU HAVE TOLD THE INSURER OF A POTENTIAL CLAIM, NOT A CLAIM. AS THERE HAS BEEN NO CLAIM THE PREMIUM MIGHT GO UP BUT YOU WILL STILL BENEFIT FROM THE 4 YEARS NCD ON THIS PREMIUM - ONLY IF YOU DO NOT CLAIM FOR THE OWN DAMAGE"

Personally, it might be worthwhile taking your vehicle to a local bodywork centre (not main dealer). If the main dealer is chargin £450, the local bodywork centre will charge a lot less. As your car is 2003 it is unlikely a non main dealer repair will affect the price of your vehicle.

The main thing to work out is, at the moment you will lose 2 years NCD for £300. Is this worth it? If you take the vehicle to a local garage the repair costs could reduce to £300 for example, so after your excess payment, you will be left losing 2 years NCD for £150...

Hope this helps