Can someone explain car insurance to me like I am 5?

CateringPanic · 2023-09-08T07:42:21+00:00

Had an accident yesterday. A small one - someone reversed around a corner into our stationary car. No real damage just a bit scuffed up. I notified my insurance company because that’s what I thought you were meant to do however at the time I ticked the “unsure” box about claiming because there isn’t a lot of damage and the other party said they would prefer to simply pay for the cost of repair - fine. I got an email informing me I had an open claim so I had to ring them this morning to tel them I didn’t mean to open a claim and I was just letting them know at this stage. I was told that if I wanted the other party’s insurance to pay I would have to make a claim off of their insurance and call them - this is not how I thought it worked? I thought my insurance company would ring their insurance company and they would argue about it between them. I have now realised that I am nearly 31 and have absolutely no idea of what I am supposed to do if I am in a car accident. Can someone break it down for me?

Original poster

CateringPanic · 08/09/2023 08:42

DH admitted he doesn’t really know either - neither of us have ever had any sort of accident

OP posts:

Fizzadora · 08/09/2023 08:46

Don't know the answer, but they will still put your premium up at next renewal just because you told them.

Bluevelvetsofa · 08/09/2023 08:50

I thought like you, that you’re simply informing them, but not making a claim.
I don’t see how you can have an open claim if you’re not making a claim.

Original poster

CateringPanic · 08/09/2023 08:53

@Bluevelvetsofa yes I thought the reason you told them was in case the other person decided to claim against you - it means you’re covered.

I think opening a claim was an accident and the person I spoke to was very helpful and said she would change it to notification only and close the claim which I can see on the app she has done

but I still don’t understand the bit where I get the other person’s insurance to pay for the damage?

I’m quite happy not to go through his insurance. We were hit by an absolutely distraught 17y/o who I ended up reassuring it wasn’t a big deal and these things happen so I don’t need his premiums to go up unnecessarily…I just don’t understand!

OP posts:

Bluevelvetsofa · 08/09/2023 09:07

I suppose it depends on how much it will cost to repair the damage to your car. If it’s less than his excess, he (or his family) might choose to pay without an insurance claim. At 17, his insurance will be astronomical anyway.

Defender90 · 08/09/2023 09:10

Normally you would advise your insurance company and they would handle it all, contacting the other drivers insurer, getting your car fixed and all you would pay is your excess.

I've never (and I've had three no fault claims) had to contact the other persons insurance.

Shade17 · 08/09/2023 09:17

I suppose it depends on how much it will cost to repair the damage to your car. If it’s less than his excess, he (or his family) might choose to pay without an insurance claim.

It’s not their choice to make. OP, always go through insurance. You can do this one of two ways, either through your insurance who will manage the repair and claim from his or direct through his insurance, they’ll have a third party claims team. You’ve notified your insurer already so will have to declare a non-fault accident for the next 5 years anyway, there is no benefit to you of not going through insurance. By not using insurance you will have to do all of the running around getting quotes, arguing with them about the cost no doubt and be without a car whilst it’s repaired. You’ll also have a guaranteed repair and comeback if there’s a problem with it.

Ask for his insurance details and contact them direct. If they refuse just enter his reg into AskMID and pay a tenner and they’ll give you his insurer.

https://www.askmid.com/askmidenquiry.aspx

askMID- Enquiry

https://www.askmid.com/askmidenquiry.aspx

Original poster

CateringPanic · 08/09/2023 10:07

Thank you - I have his insurance details so that’s not a problem. I am honestly so confused about what the woman on the phone told me now 😵‍💫😵‍💫

OP posts:

Original poster

CateringPanic · 08/09/2023 10:10

@Defender90 I think our excess is going to be more than the cost of the repair. But I was confused about that too. Why do I have to pay the excess when it wasn’t my fault?

OP posts:

Pleaseme · 08/09/2023 10:21

I think you can claim the excess off the other insurance company if they admit fault. I slowly slid into the back of a neighbour ( snow ) no damage on her car that we could see but I cracked a light. I did report it to my insurance who contacted the other party direct as it was my fault they would of paid for repairs/ covered costs of excess. Luckily none of that was needed. It stayed as an open claim on my account for 3 months (Ithink) as that’s how much time they had to make a claim. Insurance did go up but not by much.

Pleaseme · 08/09/2023 10:23

I think you can claim the excess off the other insurance company if they admit fault. I slowly slid into the back of a neighbour ( snow ) no damage on her car that we could see but I cracked a light. I did report it to my insurance who contacted the other party direct as it was my fault they would of paid for repairs/ covered costs of excess. Luckily none of that was needed. It stayed as an open claim on my account for 3 months (Ithink) as that’s how much time they had to make a claim. Insurance did go up but not by much.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 08/09/2023 10:24

In the real world not MN the other car would usually ask to pay directly for any damage and you wouldn’t tell anyone’s insurance because, even though not your fault, your premiums go up! You take the other persons details and photos at the scene so if they disappear then you’d claim

MorvernBlack · 08/09/2023 10:32

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 08/09/2023 10:24

In the real world not MN the other car would usually ask to pay directly for any damage and you wouldn’t tell anyone’s insurance because, even though not your fault, your premiums go up! You take the other persons details and photos at the scene so if they disappear then you’d claim

This is what I've done apart from the one time that it was my fault and the other car was badly damaged.

My Dad was in a really bad accident, absolutely no fault of his own, the payout was 6 figures. But his insurance still went up (doubled in fact).

Auntieobem · 08/09/2023 10:46

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 08/09/2023 10:24

In the real world not MN the other car would usually ask to pay directly for any damage and you wouldn’t tell anyone’s insurance because, even though not your fault, your premiums go up! You take the other persons details and photos at the scene so if they disappear then you’d claim

That's what I tried to do once, until the driver at fault wouldn't agree to the quote I received amd when I finally went through my insurance the other driver had raised a claim against me (despite it being 100% his fault). Luckily I had photos, copies of texts where he accepted fault etc etc. Always go through insurance. It's what it's there for

Thatsmorethanhalf · 08/09/2023 10:49

You pay and keep on paying. As soon as you make a claim the price goes through the roof. The best solution seems to be to sort it out between you and third party. I had to make a claim to find this out as nobody explained this to me.

Passthecoffee · 08/09/2023 10:58

The first thing you need to ask yourself is if you are claiming for the damage or not?

If you're not claiming for the damage then your insurance company notes it for information purposes only.

If you wish to claim do you have accident management included with your policy? It is usually this element that looks after your claim, repairs your vehicle and claims directly from the third party insurers.

I've had my parked car hit before. When the third party reported it to insurers their insurance company rang me to arrange repairs or offer me a monetary settlement to deal with it myself.

AuContraire · 08/09/2023 11:04

Bluevelvetsofa · 08/09/2023 09:07

I suppose it depends on how much it will cost to repair the damage to your car. If it’s less than his excess, he (or his family) might choose to pay without an insurance claim. At 17, his insurance will be astronomical anyway.

The 17 year old doesn't pay an excess on the third party claim (OP is the third party). He only pays the excess on his own claim for damage to his own car.

His insurance will pay for the damage to the OP's car whether he claims for his own damage or not.

Contact his insurance and they will sort your car repairs out. It might take them a while though. It would be quicker to do it through your own insurance and then your own insurer will get their money back from the 17yo's insurer, eventually.

Shade17 · 09/09/2023 08:47

The first thing you need to ask yourself is if you are claiming for the damage or not?

Now the insurer has been notified your premiums will be loaded for the next 5 years anyway so you might as well get it fixed!

BigPussyEnergy · 09/09/2023 13:44

Whenever I’ve had a small ding it wasn’t worth the hassle and increased premiums of claiming through insurance so I’ve just swapped numbers with the other person and we’ve sorted it amicably between us. Most people are happy to do this even though it’s not proper (or legal, probably!)

Insurance is a scam and I don’t want to give them any reason to charge me more than the bare minimum next year.

Especially for a new driver who is already paying between £1k and £2k per year to insure their piece of crap car, it could make it totally uninsurable next year to claim via insurance.

Mummasals · 09/09/2023 13:50

Insurance solicitor here……if you want to claim for your damage, you can go through your insurer and they will arrange the repairs. BUT, you will usually pay your excess unless the other person’s insurance has admitted liability. They should then ask the other insurer to reimburse your excess when they ask them to reimburse the total repair bill. For that option, you’d click ‘yes, open a claim’

if you want to go through the other person’s insurance then you can contact their insurance (your insurance ought to be able to provide you with the insurance details by searching the MID). They will check with their policyholder to ensure they admit liability and if they do, they can organise your repairs. Benefit here is that you don’t pay your excess but it’s reliant upon the other driver admitting liability and, as you’re not their customer, your right to make a complaint isn’t as clear cut.

For this option, you click ‘no’ to making a claim via your insurer.

If the damage really is minor, you could get a quote for the repairs and ask the other driver to pay for them.

MrsB74 · 09/09/2023 17:55

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 08/09/2023 10:24

In the real world not MN the other car would usually ask to pay directly for any damage and you wouldn’t tell anyone’s insurance because, even though not your fault, your premiums go up! You take the other persons details and photos at the scene so if they disappear then you’d claim

This. I had my car hit by someone else who left me a note (it was parked up). We didn’t involve insurance companies as it cost around £250 which wasn’t worth the hassle once you factor in excesses and premiums rising. It’s all down to how much it costs to fix.