To tell a white lie in this case?

[Sweetasstevia]

My car was dented and badly scratched today while I was parked near my Sons's school. No number or contact details were left but the damage is bad enough that I'm going to have to claim on the insurance as hit and run. The thing is that I parked on a bend which I know is frowned upon by the highway code and would exempt my claim with my insurers.....BUT this bend is really wide (big enough for two cars to park and one to pass and it's totally open in a residential street so no danger on another driver not seeing me. I moved the car a a few feet out of the bend before taking insurance photos (no CCTV on street). On the basis there is no way they are going to catch the guilty party Would I be totally in the wrong submit the claim?

YANBU. I would.

Yes, this amounts to fraud.

Yes. You parked on the bend and are therefore a total idiot. If you now claim on the insurance you will be an idiotic criminal, which isn't really something most people aspire too, generally.

YABU. That is all.

you would be better to just get a dent company out to repair it. They can do this quite cheaply as going through your insurance will just increase your premiums next year

I wouldn't. If they decided to randomly audit the claim and found out, you'd be in serious trouble for fraud.

Well, if you don't mind committing fraud, go ahead.

Why on earth would you post on a public forum about it???

Ok just went back and reviewed - I think my initial parking was ok - just know insurers will find any excuse they can not to pay out and even a hint of being near a bend will void it :( I've done a drawing - basically I'm parked on the outside edge of a lazy curve to the left (not a sharp or concealed bend). I was not causing any sort of obstruction to other cars or pedestrians. The damage was to the front of my car which was well out of the bend. I agree its not worth risking submitting a fraudulent insurance case and will probably end up paying for the repair in full myself - meanwhile the tosser who pranged me gets away scot free.

Live with the dents. It'll add character.

This is not a 'white lie.' A white lie is telling a friend that the humongous spot on her chin is barely noticeable, not committing insurance fraud. Bogus claims like this are part of the reason that everyone's premiums

Either tell the truth on your insurance claim or go to a company that sorts out parking dings. The latter will probably be cheaper as it won't cost you an excess or years of increased premiums.

YABU. Serves you right. Thoughtless, dangerous, inconsiderate parking.

Wrong that other driver didn't leave details, but maybe it was an emergency vehicle dashing to an incident and couldn't stop. Parking on a bend you takes your chances really.

If you're confident the parking was fine then tell them exactly where you were parked.

It sounds as though you were parked on a bend, two people tried to come round from opposite ways and one pranged your car because you hadn't left enough room/left them enough visibility to know to stop prior to the bend.

That's why other people's premiums are so high, fraud is fraud why is it OK for you lie and not others?

*to lie

I'm not debating the safety of my parking - I take safety very seriously and I parked in a very visible spot that posed no obstruction to anyone in fact the bend is one of the widest points in the whole road - it gets much narrower as you continue to the left. What I'm debating is that my claim in the original position gets rejected because of red tape and greed in the behalf of insurance companies rather than common sense.

Common sense says dont park on bends....

Well if you are certain that your parking was so safe then you won't have a problem with telling the truth to the insurance company and stop trying to steal.

What if there is CCTV and the insurance people check it?

Your drawing suggests you did park reasonably.

I would never recommend falsifying your claim, which was your original question - big risk is that they require more specific proof, find that your response is inaccurate and bending the truth. Then they will take issue and maybe refuse future insurance to you, and that will go for every other company in UK, becasue they are all networked, and they can check if you have been denied insurance.

The key point about this is taking the right decision about whether you should even risk making a claim. Even if your claim is accepted, your Insurance company doesnt have a third party insurance company to claim against. Therefore by you processing the claim through your insurance policy, they will most likely (I can't say 100% but most likely) pay up anyway, but it will be recorded as a "Policy-holder Fault" claim on your record - unless you can find a witnesses who took down registration plate details of the perpetrator.Then they can normally trace them through the DVLA computer system.

Your decision may be down to whether to claim or not:-

If you get an estimate for the repair, and the bill is not significant (maybe just over whatever your excess is? ), if so, you'd be well-advised to pay for it out of your own pocket. You should still report the incident to your insurance company, but clarify that you are doing this as a point of good practice, but that you intend to pay for the damage.

Even if you have a protected no-claims bonus, it will mean a hike in your premium next year and for some years to come. I know this from a recent experience - I know it sounds illogical (why bother protecting your NCB I asked them) but a claim will always affect future premiums.

In short, I'd only ever consider claiming on insurance, if it is many 000's of pounds worth of damage, because of the impact it has on your future premiums (for around 5 years).

So don't be misled if your Insurance company says "yes, of course we will cover the cost of your claim madam" - yes they may do, but then they don't tell you how much they will charge next year!

Even if you have a protected no-claims bonus, it will mean a hike in your premium next year and for some years to come. I know this from a recent experience - I know it sounds illogical (why bother protecting your NCB I asked them) but a claim will always affect future premiums

Sorry, what I meant here is, if you go ahead with a claim that isn't very large it will only be of marginal benefit to you - the long-term effects on your premium hike over 5 years will negate any near-term benefit you will gain from claiming the small amount on insurance.

I guess it all depends on whether you like to park your ethics in stupid places too...

red tape and greed in the behalf of insurance companies rather than common sense - these two accusations are probably a bit of a red herring, Insurance companies expect their policy holders to be truthful so it keeps claims down.

I'm not debating the safety of my parking - I take safety very seriously and I parked in a very visible spot that posed no obstruction to anyone in fact the bend is one of the widest points in the whole road - it gets much narrower as you continue to the left.

Then why did you move your car before photographing for insurance purposes? If you are confident that you parked safely there is no need to falsify the evidence

Happenstance, you said pretty much word for word what I was typing!