Lying re car accident

[Crikeyalm]

DP son has written off his car but so insurance doesn’t go up is not telling insurance company he has had accident , his dad is going to buying him a new car and they will just insure this . Aibu to thinking this is awful ?

I’ve just seen that he wrapped it round a lamppost, in that case, it DOES need to be reported to the police and his insurance

Why do posters keep saying there isn’t going to be a claim and no one else was involved when the OP has said their son hit a lampost?

Regardless whether you are going to claim you are obliged to report any accidents to your insurer. Not doing so invalidates your insurance. It’s really not worth the risk.

No longer having the car is one thing but damage to road side property/street furniture has to be reported to the owner or if not present police within 24 hours. To not do so is an offence. In addition to CCTV many people have ring door cameras.

https://www.askthe.police.uk/faq/?id=36a7242c-09bc-ec11-983f-6045bd11228a

It's fraud, nothing less. EG, you tell them and ins is higher as higher risk, you dont tell them, you lose insurance co moey and lied

You are right OP, it's awful and no way to educated your child

Wasn't there a recent post on here where ops DD crashed the car into a light left it in a carpark round the corner went home to bed and police turned up on the doorstep. He could be done for criminal damage! Could cost him a lot more for not coming forward as he left the scene so police might presume he was drinking !

Absolutely nothing wrong with this if they are shouldering the costs. Why would you tell insurance.

How's the lamppost?

If there was ANY damage to the lamppost the council will be investigating who caused the damage and pursuing for costs. This could end up VERY expensive!

@Capmagturk but what about the costs of fixing the lamp post?

Um, because he hit a lampost and it is an offence to not report an accident involving street furniture!

He is obliged to tell the insurance company about the crash and if he doesn’t declare it moving forward and is found out, his insurance could be invalidated. However, he’s an adult and it’s his decision to commit fraud or not.

When he takes out insurance and answers “no” to the question about whether he’s had any accidents or claims in the past 5 years he’ll be commenting fraud. Prick.

Lets clear something up.

If you have a single vehicle accident, you are not legally obliged to report it to your insurance, and you can scrap the car and replace it. This is perfectly acceptable to do.

If he hit a lampost, he DOES need to report it to the police and his insurance. THAT is the issue here.

If he hadn't hit the lampost, i'd be telling you to mind your business because scrapping it and not reporting it is absolutely fine.

If no one else involved he is quite right.

Crashing into a lamppost if the road is not icy or snowy and not swerving to avoid another vehicle or a wild animal suggests to me that the OPs son was either driving too fast for the conditions, or recklessly, or was driving whilst tired or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Or perhaps has an undiagnosed medical condition which needs recognition and if possible, treatment.

It's not just about fraud.

I don't use the word accident to describe a car crash, that is assuming that it could not have been prevented.

Because you are required to. The insurers need to reassess your risk, which will obviously go up if you’ve had an accident. In this case it was bad enough to write off his car. If he gets found out, i.e. by a passerby who witnessed it, the council whose lamppost he has damaged, someone’s ring doorbell, he will be at risk of prosecution and his insurance will be invalidated.

Have you read the thread? He hit a lampost. Needs to be reported to the insurance and police.

OP - he is a 25 year old grown man. I think the “daddy told me not to tell anyone and it would be ok” excuse isn’t going to go down well when the police and insurance start asking questions about why he drove into a lampost.

https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/18667710.man-crashed-lamppost-failed-report-accident-sentenced/

I think given the details of the accident it should absolutely be reported both to police and insurers. It sucks that his premiums will go up but denying any accidents in putting in details for a new policy is insurance fraud. IF there is damage to the lamppost that gets traced back to your son it will certainly be more complicated and expensive to get insurance in the future, he could easily end up being refused insurance at all.

If there's damage to the lamppost, which there will be if the car isn't repairable, then it's very likely he'll get found out. Have known of a few similar incidents.

He's being stupid. It'll be so much worse if he gets caught. CCTV, dashcam, witness, doorbell. There's so many ways he could have been spotted without realising.

Depending on how the lamppost is would determine how I’d deal with this

I dont agree with you at all - it is a condition of insurance. I have an 18 year old who has only very recently put their car into a tree ie no-one else involved. The claim for repair is being made through insurance, and we all know that will impact premiums. It was a close call as to write off or not.

It is highly likely that the teenager in the OP was not experienced enough to cope with the road condition(s) that caused them to have this accident - so severe it wrote the car off (be it weather, animals, other road users). Next time it could impact other drivers/passengers and this is why the insurance quite rightly need to know.

Sorry OP - I think your DP is a fucking tosspot. His child could kill someone - next time. Teenagers need to know there are consequences to actions. What consequences is that driver going to get?

If the accident didn't cause any damage to someone else's property, then no-one will know. The car was just a banger that failed. Sold/given away for scrap. Insurance aren't going to know if you are not making a claim. They are a bunch of scammers anyway.

Not a teenager he is 25!