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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

This is dodgy right? Car Insurance

46 replies

0range99 · 16/04/2018 09:45

Eldest DC had a car accident at the weekend. No other car involved, no street furniture damaged, no passengers, just the car and driver.

If we claim, we wouldn't get much, as the car is old and there is a massive excess.

Someone suggested scrapping it and not making the claim.

I know people do this when they have a minor scrape / knock a wing mirror off, they get it fixed and don't claim and don't declare it at renewal.

Would it be unreasonable to do this?

OP posts:
Slievenamon · 16/04/2018 09:53

I don't understand the question. You think its dodgy to not claim on your car insurance when there wouldn't be any point claiming?

Jessbow · 16/04/2018 09:55

Someone opened my car door onto the pillar of my garage, it dented the door. I certainly didn't report the dent to my insurance company, so i suppose, to an extent, its does depend what exactly your eldest did ( hit something presumably) .
My car will eventually go to the car park in the sky with the dented door- why wouldn't it if i decided not to fix it?

BarbaraofSevillle · 16/04/2018 09:55

Technically you are supposed to declare this sort of thing to the insurance company, whether you claim or not. And you are correct that it doesn't sound like it is worth claiming.

Sounds like the best course of action is to scrap the car and cancel the insurance, or transfer it to a new car, if DC will be getting another one.

However it may be worth asking the scrapyard what reports and records they have to make, because they will be officially scrapping the car, and if it goes on record that it was scrapped due to accident damage, insurance companies in the future could find out about this and use the information to refuse to pay out.

When your DC is getting insurance in the future, they should read all the 'what previous claims have you had' options carefully, as there will be an option that matches the circumstances, eg accident, no third party involvement, no claim made.

This may still make their insurance more expensive, which seems incredibly unfair, but probably not as unfair as them refusing a claim because they found out about an accident that you didn't tell them about via their extensive network of weird and wonderful databases, because I think it is the case these days, that insurance companies know everything.

Rawhh · 16/04/2018 09:56

You don't have to claim but you do need to let your insurer know what has happened. If they found out down the pine that you didn't inform then that will invalidate any policy and can make it impossible to get any kind of insurance.

TheFairyCaravan · 16/04/2018 09:56

If you don’t say they’ve had an accident when you next buy insurance then it’s fraud.

nikkylou · 16/04/2018 09:57

You're meant to report an accident, but really i expect what this is there for, is if you make a claim in the future, you cant then claim the existing damage is part of it, iyswim. I don't imagine anyone tells their insurance unless they are planning on making a claim, or there is a third party.

Scrap it, tell your insurance you got a new car or cancel. In my first year of driving my car died about 4 months in, i just changed the car. They probably thought i was lying when i said why but i think i was just chatting. They dont ask, did you get rid of it as you crashed it?

Theres no third party, no damage to property, i expect this was a low impact so he didnt need it recovered and drove it home.

pumpkinpie01 · 16/04/2018 10:03

There really would be no point in putting a claim in, like you said you would get next to nothing back. As there was no one else and no other property involved then you can get away with not telling your insurers. Your DC would lose their no claims bonus and the insurance would go up a lot at renewal. (I work in insurance claims, lots of people damage their own vehicles and dont tell their insurers).

araiwa · 16/04/2018 10:14

Read your policy documentation- it will tell you what to do

clumsyduck · 16/04/2018 10:18

If you report it as an accident but don't claim then I assume that will still mean the cost of the policy will go up next year .

Personally in this situation if it was me if I'd only damaged my own car/property and the ar wasn't really worth repairing then I wouldnt report it

digestOfDigest · 16/04/2018 10:25

Dodgy to not declare when you next insure, yes.

I would do it and have. Not an accident that wrote off the car but one that required the door to be repainted.

dangermouseisace · 16/04/2018 10:27

I used to do car insurance claims.

I wouldn't bother telling the insurance company if you are not going to make a claim- all it will do is put your insurance up. If there is no-one else involved there is no point in reporting.

fannyfelcher · 16/04/2018 10:31

I would not be telling the insurance people. Where do you draw the line? is a scratch worth reporting? acid stain from bird shit left on a bit too long?

Seriously, keep the car for him and run it into the ground (while not telling any insurance people about the dent). Scrap yards do not keep records about why a car was scrapped, they may ask but you do not need to be honest. It will NOT affect your insurance. Even somebody that worked in insurance ( @dangermouseisace ) has sad it is ok not to report it. It was a ding, that's all and nobody else is hurt.

fluffyrobin · 16/04/2018 10:34

If you are going to scrap the car then of course you don't need to tell your insurance company!

If you have a limited budget it might be an idea to buy a similar car then it might be worth taking off retrievable things like tyres, windscreen wipers etc if still in good nick.

Original poster
0range99 · 16/04/2018 10:38

Sorry in my hurry to write it down, I missed out what could possibly be a massive drip feed.

It was more than a little dent, he rolled it so it is upside down in a field and completely undriveable.

Thank you all for your replies, they are so divided, which pretty much bears out my thinking - most people probably don't mention stuff if they are not claiming, but not telling them will invalidate the insurance.

OP posts:
SleepFreeZone · 16/04/2018 10:38

I didn’t even realise this was a thing! If you slightly ding your car then you are meant to tell your insurance company even if you’re not planning on claiming? Honestly I’ve been driving for over 20 years and didn’t know this 😬

SleepFreeZone · 16/04/2018 10:40

Bloody hell OP I hope he’s ok. That’s a horrible accident to have.

YeahAndThenWhat · 16/04/2018 10:41

What WHICH says

YeahAndThenWhat · 16/04/2018 10:43

Yikes, that’s awful. Poor lad. I think you have to mention it then but it’s going to wreck his insurance premium. How frustrating. Was it his fault?

IIIustriouslyIllogical · 16/04/2018 10:44

If you don’t say they’ve had an accident when you next buy insurance then it’s fraud.

They don't ask if you've had an accident - they ask if you've made a claim.

So no OP, I wouldn't be mentioning this to the insurance company - it only invalidates it if you lie about making a claim - they can find that out.

Bumblesnuff4Crimpysnitch · 16/04/2018 10:45

Legally you need to inform your insurance company of the incident, that you are scrapping the car and why you are scrapping it. This is all pretty basic stuff you agree to do when you take out the insurance policy.

dangermouseisace · 16/04/2018 10:46

Bloody hell Orange! Hope he is ok. That is more than a little ding though. I probably would tell the insurer about that, but say you are not claiming. That's a proper accident- not just bashing your wing!

IIIustriouslyIllogical · 16/04/2018 10:48

That WHICH article is about accidents where someone else is involved.

I was knocked off my bike earlier this year, the damage is less than my excess so I didn't make a claim. I did tell my insurer because someone else was involved & they may try to make a claim against me (which turned out to be the case).

I stressed it was for Information Only, if I hadn't have told them, I'd have been in trouble when the other person claimed.

In the OPs case, there isn't anyone else to claim (unless fences, crops etc were damaged) so it's her call...

IIIustriouslyIllogical · 16/04/2018 10:49

and why you are scrapping it

?? I've never done that for my old cars, just scrapped car, cancelled insurance....

pudcat · 16/04/2018 10:51

I think you will have to report it because the car needs recovering. The field must belong to someone. It's a wonder the police have not been called by passing motorists. Hope your son is OK

araiwa · 16/04/2018 10:53

What if landowner makes a claim for damaged property?

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