You do not have to inform your insurance company of an accident. It is perfectly acceptable for you to pay for it yourself and forget about it. Some really poor advice on this thread
Yes, some very poor advice. You do have to report every accident to your insurance company, even if you were not at fault. Your insurance quotation is based upon the information given to them at the point of inception/renewal and if you do not provide them with any new information, such as being involved in an accident, then you can invalidate your insurance and driving without insurance is illegal.
You also have the following responsibilities:
If, as a driver, your vehicle is involved in a road-traffic accident/collision on a road or public place and one or more of the following occurs:
a person, other than yourself, is injured,
damage is caused to another vehicle or to someone else's property - including street lamps, signs, bollards etc.
an animal, other than one in your own vehicle/trailer, has been killed or injured (animal means any horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog).
YOU MUST:
stop (whether it's your fault or not) AND,
give your name and address, the vehicle owner's name and address and your vehicle's registration number to anyone with reasonable grounds for asking for those details.
If you don't give your name and address, you must report the accident at a police station or to a police constable as soon as you can, and in any case within 24 hours (this does not mean you have 24 hours in which to report the accident). If you fail to stop, fail to give your and the owner's name and address or the vehicle's details or fail to report the accident, you commit an offence/s.