To not bail DD out with car damage

Yes. If a young person is adult enough to drive a car, they should be adult enough to sort it out when things go wrong, like accidents.

Only a child would expect mum and dad to bail them out. And a child should not be driving a car.

If it was my dd I would be telling her to go through the insurance that's what it's for at the end of the day.

Why does it matter what sex I am? Genuinely interested why you mentioned that?

The owner of the other car has also probably missed the boat on telling their own insurers within the contacted time frame now.

They were very foolish for not insisting that the OP’s daughter hand over her insurance details immediately.

Oh yes sounds like you re a perfect male driver!

Maybe other cars didn't drive over that ice patch in the car park.

That ever occur to you?

Her options

1. Do nothing. The other party will either go to their own insurers to pay for repairs Or get your insurance details to claim direct against your insurer. Your insurer will want to know why you haven't reported it.
2. claim against your insurance. You will only have to pay the excess if you are claiming for your own damage.
3. pay the £600, but you do not have £600.

It was avoidable…… did every other car crash that day?

This is my opinion:

As a mum I understand you want to teach her a lesson, yes she should be saving.

As an 18 year old that got themselves into debt as they were scared to ask parents for help after getting themselves in a situation and borrowed from a loan lender - I say that you help her this time (maybe go halves with ex) but I would say she either needs to now start seriously saving. Wether that’s giving you a couple hundred a month to save on her behalf or being a grown up and having a savings account.

That's not the same as something being a legal requirement (as in, you'll go to jail if you don't comply). It's just a civil matter.

It's really unfortunate that this has happened to your DD, more experienced drivers also fall foul in icy weather. BUT, what your daughter has to recognise is that she has signed a legally binding contract with the insurer that she will advise them within an appropriate timescale of any incident that they would class as a material fact (which is information that would affect their assessment of the risk she poses as a driver). Hitting another vehicle is of course absolutely a material fact and if she doesn't tell them, she will be in breach of the contract she has with them.

If they find out at any point that she failed to disclose that she hit another vehicle, she will find her current policy voided (and no money back) and also that she will find it exponentially harder to find another insurer. It's also possible that the other driver will announce that it has cost much more than they initially thought to repair the damage to their vehicle and demand more. The stress of all this just isn't worth it.

It's harsh but I don't think your DD sounds mature enough yet to be driving, especially if she doesn't understand the implications of insurances and damaging third party property. She's certainly got no business booking holidays when she doesn't have the money to cover her motoring costs!

OP as your daughter will not even talk to you about the whole point of saving for this type of expense or how insurance works, I'd tell her she can sort it with her dad. And you're not covering half the insurance cost for her. She doesn't get benefits without responsibilities too and treating you with this level of disrespect isn't OK. Some just like to learn the hard and expensive way.

You sign a legally binding contract with your insurer. One of the questions asks you to declare any claims whether insured or not. Fail to comply & your policy can be voided.

there is a law that if you don’t follow reporting timelines they don’t have to pay a claim. Luckily this is £600 & not a high performance sports car she hit & wrote off

And push a load of cost onto her poor mum for the premiums that will double. Not telling the insurer benefits the parents only

I’d lend it. It isn’t as if she’s spent the money knowing she would need it. It’s a £600 expense she wasn’t expecting.

That's the point of having savings - to meet expenses you're not expecting. What if her car failed its MOT and needed money spent?

I didnt call her a spoilt brat, i just said to op not to allow it

If she gets ‘found out’ she may not be able to renew her insurance.

I’m a dinosaur and ‘in my day’ the only theory questions were a couple of random ones after the practical test. Does the current Theory Test cover any aspect of Insurance ? If not, perhaps it should….??

I can, sort of, understand a level of ignorance but it's no defence.

My 18 year old daughter spends every penny she earns and is having the best time of her life and I am so so happy that she is!! These are their best years and I want her to enjoy every minute that she can. I’d happily bail her out and just get her to pay me back each month. Getting her to claim on insurance will just mean she can’t save next year as her insurance will have rocketed so a bit mean if you ask me!!

Also how is her confidence it can be knocked after an accident, no matter how mild.

I wonder if the other driver has insurance given they are so keen to break the law by not going through insurance

This more than most - it’s probably breaking the terms of the policy, which could have serious ramifications.

I’m not arguing that telling them is the wrong thing - I am trying to tell the OP that she and her daughter should read the contract and find out the position. Actually reading it doesn’t seem to have occurred to either of them.

Really? What law is that then? Act, paragraph, please.

And I don’t mean a civil contractual obligation between a driver and their insurers.

Insurance companies are all money-grabbing bastards; there is no need to enrich them unnecessarily.

Owning up to making a mistake later rather than straight away is always more awkward but a life lesson that needs learning.

Just a shame her father is being such a dipstick (no pun intended, oh, OK, maybe I did)

Because she is a new inexperienced driver who skidded on ice rather than reckless I would pay and agree a strict repayment scheme. She can’t be earning much.

The car she hit? Did it happen to be another young persons car? That person if young will also likely have a high excess and probably why they don’t want to go through the insurance: if they also never took out legal cover, recovering the excess can be a faff.

she needs to report it to her insurers either way.