bump in the car

[barnacharmer]

Just had someone go into the side of my car. It was at a relatively low speed and not my fault. They pull away into my driver's side. There's some damage above the tyre but I have driven it and it seems fine. They have offered to pay for repairs. It happened outside the other drivers house so i have no worries about getting the money. My car is 13 years old, I don't want the increase on my insurance or for them to potentially write off my car. Do I have to tell my insurers? The internet seems to say yes but won't that have the same affect as claiming? I'm planning to take it to a garage tomorrow to have it checked

Btw, I don't really have an AIBU but couldn't find chat in my rush to post

Yes you do have to tell them. Tell them you don't wish to claim. Theoretically this means you preserve your no claims but I would check with them first. And put everything in writing after. (Not a lawyer!)

You don’t have to if the other driver is happy to pay. Get a quote for repair and they will either pay it or dispute the amount in which case get insurance involved.
Out of 2 people that have driven into me one paid the garage directly, one refused to accept the quote- even though it was genuine and not that much-so went through their insurance who agreed instantly and sent us the check straight away anyway.

Even at low speed a lot of damage can be done. Someone drove into the back of my car earlier this year. I was stationary at a roundabout and they moved before I did, causing a low speed bump. There looked to be little, if any damage, but when the car was inspected properly at a garage there was a crack in the backing iron that holds the bumper. Repairs cost over £600 and it ended up going through the other party's insurance. Did you get the other person's full details?

You should tell your insurers because if they find out you didn't report something it could invalidate your insurance. Tell them it's a no fault (of yours) accident and no one will be claiming off your policy.

Yes you need to tell your insurers. I had similar last year. They drive into me, obviously their fault, they offered to pay and then after I sent a quote it all went pear shaped and they stopped answering my texts. I got in touch with my insurance, and they had put in a claim against me saying it was my fault. Luckily I'd kept texts from them admitting liability and had photos of the damage to both cars. What could have been a small job ended up being a replacement door, respray and a week's courtesy car.

I did get their details. I went into her house and she gave me a cup of tea and I took photos of her insurance documents. Her husband rang me. I told him that I would be taking it to the garage tomorrow and would let them know the quote then. He is worried about the combined money for repairing both cars and if it's too much will want to go through insurancebut I should know that tomorrow so it would still be less than 24 hours since it happened

i work in car insurance, you need to tell your insurer but just say your not claiming just making a notification on your insurance

@Foamybanana93 will it increase my renewal with them? Will I have to disclose to other insurers? (Can't remember how it's phrases on insurance websites)

so on comparison sites it does say any claims last 5 years regardless of blame and whether or not subject to an insurance claim, some underwriters we use may put the premium up slightly but not all insurers do this, it would show as a notification only

Believe me you do need to tell your insurers. My best advice to you is dont get involved with people offering to pay for repairs because often they are only doing it to save their own skins and you will come a poor second.

My advice is;

Write to your insurers and stress that you are informing them "for information only" and you do not wish to make a claim.

The next thing to do is gather all your evidence and contact his insurers and ask them if they would like to manage the claim. Is he admitting liability? do you have a record of it/evidence/witnesses ?

You can find out who his insurers are by visiting the askmid website on your mobile phone.

How old is your car ?

I don't have any witnesses or video. She admitted it was her fault straight away. From the position on both cars it couldn't be anything but her fault

Car is 13 years old. It's an 05 plate so not sure if it counts as 14 years. It wouldn't take much to write it off but it still runs well and I really dont want the piddling amount they'd pay or the faff of getting a new one