Scratch on his car. Will I lose all my no claims bonus? Please help, I'm so worried.

[Carworriesss]

Today I tried to go into the next lane and as I did I scraped the car in front of me. He was stationary stuck in traffic jam and I was going about 1mph. He asked me to pull over which I did and he took my details. He said "I'm not the type to claim wip lash". Which made me think why would he even say that as he was stationary. He also asked me how many no claims I have and I told him I've never had an accident etc. Why would he ask that? Do you think he was up to anything?

I'm so worried that my car insurance will shoot right up after I've finally for it at a good price. What is likely to happen? Do I loss all my no claims from the past 10 years? I'm so worried. This has never happes before :(

Don't claim

This happened to me (well similar) - I notified my insurer (as per my policy) but told them I wasn't going to claim as I was paying myself and they said that was fine. I didn't lose my no claims bonus.

If you don't go through your insurance (or at least tell them) and he comes back in a month and says you damaged his car, you'll invalidate your policy.

Yes this is why I told mine, also in case she (in my case) came back and said actually it's not £300, it's £2k for a new door or whatever.

People often seem unaware you can tell your insurer but not make a claim.

Seems pretty reasonable of the guy. Most paintwork of any ilk on a car is going to cost £250 unless it can be done by a smart repair. If he has had an estimate and happy for you to pay repairer its pretty much as straight forward as it gets.

By informing your insurance i am not sure, even if you settle everything yourself, will not be effected. I wouldnt risk it for £250.

Sounds like you got lucky and bumped into a decent guy

I would ring the company on the invoice and have a chat.
Check it's a real company.

Depending on the damage it could be a bit steep. If it was very minor it can be fixed for a lot less.

When I did a similar thing I had it fixed for £60 by a company that came to the house.

Perhaps ask him to get 2 quotes and go with the lowest one.

What's your excess OP? You will probably find its around that sort of figure, so you will pay that out even if you do go through a claim.

If I had a decent car, I wouldn’t be happy with a smart repair. They’re not on par with a proper body shop at all. £250 sounds reasonable to fix a scratch tbh.

Realistically he's gonna say stuff this go through the insurance. He's doing her a favour she's not doing him one.

That sounds reasonable and I would accept.
For the future. Every year you are insured you build up no claims discount. So your premium is a bit cheaper. If you have an accident and claim you lose it. You can (and most people do) pay extra to protect the NCD.

It's worth pointing out that even if an accident is not your fault and you don't lose the NCD your premiums will still go up the following year. harsh but true.

Always take photos at the time.
My sister bumped a car in a car park. She couldn't see a mark and there was no-one around so she left a note. The person rang and said there was damage but he had a "mate with a garage". Tried to get her to pay £2500. She told him to go through insurers and he turned very nasty.

This.

No she won’t, unless claiming for her damage as well.

If it was over £250 then I would probably go through insurance but not sure it'd worth it since I would lose my no claims and insurance would be more expensive (which is what I'm worried about).

You still need to tell your insurance company - it's a condition of your insurance and if they find out later that you had an accident and didn't inform them, it'll invalidate your policy, which will make it really expensive to get cover in the future.

what difference does him being stationary make to whether he could get whiplash or not?
I agree that if this incident was as described he is highly unlikely to have got it, but it's perfectly possible to get whiplash in a stationary car, it's the speed of the car going into you that matters!

Pay him the £250. It's a good price
Don't tell your insurer because they'll set you
A claim and your premiums will increase even if he never contacts them
It won't invalidate your insurance if he does so don't worry that's just stuff they say to get you to report early which helps them reserve vista better

I think you missed the part about me going about 1mph.

I'm still unsure about paying the 250 or going through the insurance.
What would be the most cost effective?
Mine is not too bad so wasn't planning on getting mine fixed so apparently I wouldn't have to pay excess.

If you pay him the £250 and he then decides he’s got whiplash and makes a claim against your insurance you'll be in a whole world of pain

go through insurance

He wouldn’t be able to claim whip lash anyway. Maybe 20 years ago, you could just say it and get the money but not anymore. You need real medical evidence. So, if you go through insurance, he can’t inflate the claim with that crap. It will just be for the scratch on the car.

I would just pay the invoice he sends over. But if you don’t want to then you need to call your insurer.

Go through insurance.
What happens if you give him £250 and then he comes back and says it's worse than they originally thought? If you go to your insurers then, they'll see you havn't reported an accident.