I was sat stationary at some traffic lights on red the other week when someone failed to stop and went into the back of me. Before they hit me I was waiting a minute so absolutely nothing I could do. They got out and admitted liability and stated they may pay cash for the damage.

Anyway, the damage after dismantling the rear of the car is a hairline crack, a couple of chips; some paint damage to the rear bump and the structural bar behind is bent. I’ve checked the mounting points and they are OK (luckily I only had the handbrake on 1 notch) so all in it will take around £300 to repair.

Now, I’m not sure which way to go. I insure two cars: this damaged car is very cheap to insure and one of which is expensive (TVR) and it’s my first year. I know from quotes that it will affect my sports car insurance and what is worse that only a couple of insurers do track day insurance included, which saves me £100’s a year. I have 6 years NCB on my run around and none so far on the expensive car as it’s my first year.

After searching google, I’m still very confused on what will be affected, and it seems one person says yes, the next says no. Is it down to the policy wording? If so that means I could re-insure next year to find my choice is limited.

If I claim directly off their insurance I presume I would, if I didn’t have protection, loose my no claims bonus. Because I have no claims, I presume my cheap insurance will be fine ONLY if I stay with the same insurer. But for the sports car insurance and if I move, I will be back to 0 NCB.

Obviously I’m not going to ring up my insurers at the moment because I don’t want to give them any excuses to charge me more! I’ve read the excuses about how I’m now at more risk but let’s face it, that’s just manipulating of statistics for monetary gains. I have considered going to an accident management company and may still.

Thanks.

Hi there,

Mmm, tricky one!

I'm assuming that you have all the details of the other driver (name, address, insurance ect). Have you yet presented him with the estimate?

If not, do so but only give him a copy, not the original. Were there any witnesses, especially who may of heard the TP admitting liability (which may invalidate HIS claim anyway).

The problem you have is at some point in the future when you re-new your policy(s), you will be asked 'if you have had any claims or accidents in the last 3 years'. By not reporting this accident (even if you don't make a claim and the TP does come across) to your insurers, you may invalidate your policy.

Do you use the same insurance co to cover both cars? Some companies give a favourable deal for doing so. If you have to make a claim, then when liability is resolved, your NCB should be unaffected. If your TVR is insured with a different company, you could get your relevant insurers to confirm they have sucessfully claimed off the TP.

Maybe insuranceguy will come in and give his opinion on this but I'm a little reluctant to advise you either way to be honest although my gut feeling would be to get the TP to pay up, get your car repaired to your satisfaction and then (AHEM!) forget it ever happened. BUT that is just my OPINION and not a suggestion.

I realise that your opinion is potentially bad advice legally, but I appreciate the honesty and its my decision so dont worry.

Ive done some checking and basically my insurance costs will rise next year by a minimum of £250 if I go through insurance, because of something completely out of my control! And that’s with all my NCB intact which Im pretty sure will be the case. If not (albeit unlikely) then it will more than double if I simply loose 2 years. Thats more than £750....

Im going to contact them tonight and see what the score is. I HATE being dishonest, which is one of the reasons for posting and understand that in life sometimes things are unfair but this just takes the biscuit. I was effectively parked!

Again i'm hoping insuranceguy or Mossey will come in and give their views as I belive they actually work in the industry.

OK first off you are contractually obliged to report this accident to your insurers, but I do understand your concerns about a possible affect it might have on your future premiums.

If you are absolutely 100% positive that the other party will pay up for your repairs or are absolutely sure that they will not change their version of events when they inform their insurers then the thing to do is to fill in your accident report form and mark it 'For Record Purposes Only'

Marking your report with these words (in capitals across the top of it) satisfies your legal requirements but excludes your insurer from acting on your behalf in any way. They know they will not pay out so they mark your NCB as allowed on their records.

Ideally the other person (or their insurer) pays for your damage and life goes on, when renewal comes around if you stay with the same company you don't have to tell them again about this accident because you have already notified them of it and you shouldn't incur any increase in premiums as a result of it (there may be an across the board rise in all premiums but not anything that affects you personally because of this accident). Because you marked your accident report form 'For Record Purposes Only' you are free to claim directly off the other party or their insurers and not involve your own insurer at all.

If you are hunting around for new quotes you disclose this accident under the 'had any accidents claims or convictions' question as a none fault, for record purposes only accident. This tells the new insurer that you were no way to blame and your NCB confirms that you have a claim free record.

Insurers accept that accidents do occur that are not the fault of one party and as such do not penalise them for it financially, the reason they ask about accidents and claims is to check that all accidents have been reported incase of any later claim that may then reduce the NCB they allowed at policy inception date.

It's a common misconception that just because you have been involved in a no fault accident that your premiums will rise as a result, yours shouldn't so don't worry about it.

Mossy

similar situation for me. A guy slid into my car whilst I was stationary. He accepted liability and because he was an employee of a garage, they fixed my car at their cost (very nicely too). I didn't want to go through the insurance because I was worried that for a small claim for an accident in icy conditions both insurers might just possibly have called it 50/50 (The guy could have changed his mind about his responsibility).

.... so all seems OK doesn't it, but now of course it comes to insurance renewal time and my insurers want me to tell them about any accident fault or not. Worse than that I have a motorbike insurance policy and they will no doubt expect the same. And another policy for my daughter's motorbike, and I'm a named driver on my wife's policy .... oh yes and I'm a named driver on my other daughter's car policy.

And if I now tell them about the accident am I obliged to tell them the 3rd party's name .... which would seem to be extremely bad faith on my part since thyey fixed things well for me.

What would you do?

Thanks

Mike

similar situation for me. A guy slid into my car whilst I was stationary. He accepted liability and because he was an employee of a garage, they fixed my car at their cost (very nicely too). I didn't want to go through the insurance because I was worried that for a small claim for an accident in icy conditions both insurers might just possibly have called it 50/50 (The guy could have changed his mind about his responsibility).

.... so all seems OK doesn't it, but now of course it comes to insurance renewal time and my insurers want me to tell them about any accident fault or not. Worse than that I have a motorbike insurance policy and they will no doubt expect the same. And another policy for my daughter's motorbike, and I'm a named driver on my wife's policy .... oh yes and I'm a named driver on my other daughter's car policy.

And if I now tell them about the accident am I obliged to tell them the 3rd party's name .... which would seem to be extremely bad faith on my part since thyey fixed things well for me.

What would you do?

Thanks

Mike

You are legally obliged to tell them about the accident because you did have one. The reason they ask this question is NOT so they can load your premiums up, but simply because if a person is involved in an accident and liability hasn't been agreed then you might be carrying a potential claim or been allowed NCB that you are not entitled to.

Strictly speaking you should have told them about the accident on a 'For Record Purposes Only' basis and advised them you were sorting it out personally. When you do tell them about it inform them that the third party paid for all repairs, you shouldn't be required to name them.

Your insurers will not have reason to write to or contact the third party because you haven't claimed off your insurers so they don't need to write to the third party to get any money back

Mossy

I guess you also are saying I need to tell every other insurer that I am primarily or secondarily involved with ? I got a really good deal on the multibike policy after some hard negotiation. In your experience is that company likely to hike it's renewal premium back up to what it wanted first time round?

Thanks by the way Mossycat. I'll keep you posted on what happens although that might be over several months by the time all the affected policies come round for renewal.

Mike

.... another thing Mossycat - in the 'for record purposes only' information that I give them. How much detail would you recommend? I don't particularly want to give them chapter and verse, on the other hand I need them to be satisfied that there was an accident, it wasn't my fault and it's been sorted.

Mike

Keep it brief.

Ie I was stationary, hit from behind, other driver admitted liability and because damage was minimal he paid for repairs. Repairs have now been completed.

That would satisfy me

Mossy

In your experience is that company likely to hike it's renewal premium back up to what it wanted first time round?

 

Mike

The honest answer to that is YES they might try (depends who they are), but if they do then you need to be firm about the fact it was a no blame no claim accident.

Mossy

@ the OP, as you have all your NCB on your run around, and none on the TVR, I hope you also got prices with the NCB swapped over?

Not only should this give a cheaper overall price on its own, but also you would be more likely to get an introductary discount on a "run of the mill vehicle".

this idea of only being able to get NCD on one of your vehicles has always puzzled me. Surely NCD is personal - ie it's not about the vehicle. And since you can't be driving both vehicles at once, your NCD ought to apply to any number of vehicles you choose to insure. Motorbike insurers seem only interested in NCD's related to motorbikes - they won't give you a big one because you haven't claimed on a car insurance, but nor will they refuse to give you one because you are already using your no claims history on a car policy.

Mike

@mike, I currently insure 3 cars & a motorbike. TBH the system works fine for me as with seperate NCB build up any claim on one policy has little if any effect on the others.

Currently pay a yearly rate of £660 for a grand voyageur, Subaru Impreza & a Focus (with a newly qualified driver). Total NCB available to me is 6 yrs, 3 yrs & 0 yrs. However a multi car policy certainly helps with the cost.

hmmmm .... reported the accident via email as a 'for the record' event, and they have emailed back today saying:

"Please contact our Claims Team on 0871 984 3333 at your earliest convenience to record the incident detailed in your e-mail."

.... what should be my response (it wasn't/isn't a claim)

Mike

hmmmm .... reported the accident via email as a 'for the record' event, and they have emailed back today saying:

"Please contact our Claims Team on 0871 984 3333 at your earliest convenience to record the incident detailed in your e-mail."

.... what should be my response (it wasn't/isn't a claim)

Mike

Well I am told I am pretty pedantic, but my reply would be an email saying:

"The incident is DETAILED in my email which you have on record. No need to re-enter it onto record. Thanks for your concern."

hmmmm .... reported the accident via email as a 'for the record' event, and they have emailed back today saying:

"Please contact our Claims Team on 0871 984 3333 at your earliest convenience to record the incident detailed in your e-mail."

.... what should be my response (it wasn't/isn't a claim)

Mike

They cannot accept a notification of a claim via email, the reason they are asking you to contact them is simply to enable them to record the incident properly.

There will be a few questions they will need answers to that your email wouldn't have covered, they will all be standard questions (date time of accident etc)

Just ring them and answer the questions asked, if the third party didn't give you a name and simply arranged repairs to your car then you can't really give them any details of who hit you

Although you are completing an accident report form (claim form) you are not making a claim on your policy, stating it's for record purposes only will enable them to instantly allow your NCB.

Mossy

They cannot accept a notification of a claim via email, the reason they are asking you to contact them is simply to enable them to record the incident properly.

 

There will be a few questions they will need answers to that your email wouldn't have covered, they will all be standard questions (date time of accident etc)

 

Just ring them and answer the questions asked, if the third party didn't give you a name and simply arranged repairs to your car then you can't really give them any details of who hit you

 

Although you are completing an accident report form (claim form) you are not making a claim on your policy, stating it's for record purposes only will enable them to instantly allow your NCB.

 

Mossy

OK Mossy - will do, but I prefer to do most things in life via email as I then have a record of what I said and what the other person said. They may well have a telephone recording of what I say to them, but I won't have one. Also your first sentence starts 'They cannot accept notification of a claim ..." , did you mean to say 'incident' or 'accident' as this is definitely not a claim?

.... By the way, already carole Nash - the insurers of my bike are wanting more details of the incident - I had hoped they would just record it. At least they seem prepared to accept details by email though

Mike

OK Mossy - will do, but I prefer to do most things in life via email as I then have a record of what I said and what the other person said. They may well have a telephone recording of what I say to them, but I won't have one. Also your first sentence starts 'They cannot accept notification of a claim ..." , did you mean to say 'incident' or 'accident' as this is definitely not a claim?

.... By the way, already carole Nash - the insurers of my bike are wanting more details of the incident - I had hoped they would just record it. At least they seem prepared to accept details by email though

Mike

Yes I did mean to say incident/accident I accept you are not making a claim, apologies for that.

Nash are not the 'insurer concerned' so they will accept details by email, your insurers however are simply covering all their bases by getting you to report the incident in a way that answers all their questions.

Mossy

OK after a bit of passing around I did manage to get this logged as 'notification only' ... at least that's what the lady said she was doing on about 6 occasions when I pointed out to her that the questions she was asking me and the statements she was reading out were not relevant as they relate to claims which this was not.

She did say I could have done it through their website, but my guess is that I would have had to go through the 'claims' entry point, and I would have been very nervous about the system identifying it as 'notification only'

It will be interesting to see if the very competitive renewal notice for 20th Feb is not superceded by a higher priced one.

Mike

Mike

Just got another call from someone called Adam about my 'claim' .... It WASN'T a claim Adam. he went through the whole series of questions again and said they needed to keep the claim open (it wasn't a claim Adam). I asked him how long and he said about 30 days. I pointed out the policy is due to renew in less than 30 days, and he said he'd put a note on the file to try to get it closed off before then.

aaaargh

Mike

I fear this is spiralling out of control. I just got an email from the guy I spoke to and it starts:

Dear ,

"Thank you for notifying us of your claim. Your claim reference number is: 12345678.

Please find below some important information about your claim."

This is how I propose to respond by email:

"Hi Adam,

I am not sure how many times I need to repeat this, but it is not a claim. The information is provided to you for RECORD PURPOSES ONLY. The matter has been dealt with by the 3rd party and they have organised and paid for the repairs to my car. I do not wish Swiftcover to be involved in this matter in any way shape or form."

.... is this OK?

Mike

Yes thats all you needed to do

I'd now ring up and speak to the claims manager and tell him it was for record purposes only, it was simply to comply with your terms and conditions, the matter has been finalised and since it is marked for record purposes only they do not need to leave anything open for 30 days. Insist he closes the claim file (I know you're going to say it wasn't a claim but that's what they will call it). Also ask him to confirm your NCB has not been affected by this notification.

Mossy

Mossy - this Adam guy said the reason they need to leave it open is that a 3rd party was involved and its possible they might get a claim from them

Can't I do what you say by email ..... my blood pressure is getting too high with the phone calls?

Thanks

Mike

Mossy - this Adam guy said the reason they need to leave it open is that a 3rd party was involved and its possible they might get a claim from them

 

Can't I do what you say by email ..... my blood pressure is getting too high with the phone calls?

Thanks

Mike

Yes you can do it by email (I can imagine how frustrating this must be).

The reason I suggested ringing and asking for claims manager was because Adam doesn't seem to grasp why he doesn't need to leave a file open, and it's probably been more than 30 days since the accident anyway.

Try an email and see what joy (if any you get).

Post back if you get stonewalled

Mossy