Non-fault minor car accident: risky not going through insurance?

[letsgomaths]

This weekend I was rear-ended at a roundabout, in my elderly-anticipating-expensive-MOT-very-high-mileage car; low speed, no injuries (I know they can sometimes take time to appear). Unsurprisingly, when I reported it to my insurance company, and sent photos, they declared the car a write-off because of its age, and have told me what they would pay out, asking if I'm willing to accept it; I haven't replied yet.

The other driver's parents have politely approached me, telling me the driver was young and newly qualified, and asking if I'd accept cash instead, no doubt to save them paying sky-high premiums later. (My insurer have confirmed they have insurance, so it's not the old dodge of being an uninsured driver.) I told them I haven't decided yet.

I have no experience of doing this: is accepting a cash settlement as risky as everyone says it is? Is it reasonable to ask for more than I would have received from the insurance company? I know that I would lose the possibility of a courtesy car, legal protection, and injury protection, but is it any more risky than, say, buying a used car privately (which I have done many times)? I'm sure the insurance company will try to talk me out of it if I suggest abandoning the claim.

I guess it depends on how much the car is worth, the cost of repairs and what they are willing to give you.

What's your plans?
To scrap the car & buy new or repair it?

Either way you have to ensure that you are back in the position that you are currently in, i.e. a car on the road.

It would be to scrap the car and buy a replacement - I was running the existing one into the ground, it had lots of small things wrong with it, possibly an expensive MOT just around the corner, and by chance it's the time of year when I need the car least, so I could do without it until I get it replaced.

I'm mostly wondering if private settlements can come back to bite later.

I think you'll find you can't abandon the report now, money or no money. The accident has still occurred. The young driver still needs to report to their insurers and I wouldn't want be colluding with their attempt to avoid higher premiums.

No point even thinking about it now - you've already reported it.

Not abandon the report, just abandon the claim. Is that possible?

I wouldn't tbh, have you spoken to your insurance company about cancelling it ?

Yes can definitely not claim. I reported mine but didn’t claim

I was going to say the same- nothing really against cash in principle but it’s too late I think. At the very least, the other drivers premium will still go up anyway.

Is it good to get your banger written off? I had a banger written off and they paid me £900. I bought it for £400 3 weeks prior. Hooray!!

I now wish my current old banger would just get stolen but no one seems to be tempted by it

Sorry what I should’ve said is that your insurance company, claiming against theirs, is likely to get you a lot more than your car is worth for the inconvenience of getting a new car. It doesn’t seem too likely that the other drivers family will give you ie £900 for a £400 car

Does their offer cover the cost of your car plus the increase in premiums you'll get as a result ?

I'd sniff around for quotes on your new car declaring the accident (as you have to) and see if it's suddenly more expensive than you expected.

Remember you will need to pay the cost of scrapping the car too potentially if you settle privately, I'm not sure what it costs

Usually you get paid for scrap. I’ve always been paid for mine, between 100-200£ depending on the price of scrap at the time

That's a fair point about cost of scraping, my parents paid to get a MOT failure up lifted when price of scrap was really low

And the lad will still need to declare it.

The accident will have already been registered on a database so, claim or not, both your premiums will be affected anyway.

Why does other party think this will keep their premiums down? They will still have to report the accident to their insurer (and state it was their fault) even if they don't claim on their insurance.