Wife + Bump = Advice

LOAM

LOAM

LOAM

Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2004
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Quick question chaps, wife was driving home when a young girl (who was behind, in the inside lane which was about to become a bus lane) undertuck the missus and then proceeded to just move lanes without looking. She hit the wifes front wing with her front wing and only stopped after much horn blowing. The girl admitted fault to the wife but thats not worth anything as there were no witnesses etc.

To cut a long story short our ancient golf (96N) is undamaged bar a lot of black paint / scuffs on the side of the front bumper. It will likely cut out and if not we dont really care and wont be claiming but the question is should we let our insurance people know whats happened and that we accept no responsibility in the unlikely event the other party decides she wasnt actually to blame. The other girl didnt take any details from the wife bar her mobile number.
 
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If it were me I'd probably inform my insurance company but stress it was for information purposes only! (some insurers will accept this whereas others will treat it as a pending claim and affect your no-claims bonus accordingly)

The main issue here is that if you don't report it and some ways down the line this girl tries to make a claim, your insurers can actually refuse to deal with the claim at all! (and if she is going to try it on, she will most likely claim for injury too which makes it a very expensive proposition to deal with yourself!!)

Bear in mind that the third party just needs to have recorded the reg number on your car to be able to trace the insurer and make a claim!

Tough spot to be in!
 
As mentioned, report it for info only.
If you have pics or anything that further prove your position, that'd be good. Without witnesses, it might be hard to argue either way on the fault though, in which case it may end up a 50/50 split.
 
telewebby said:
even if you report it for info only they will still count it as a claim

Alex
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No they won't.

What they will do is note it down if they're the sort of insurer who ask if you've had any incidents/accidents rather than if you've had any claims.
 
I wouldn't report it to my insurance company, why take the risk when the cars worth basically nothing and there's no real damage done.

Similar thing happened to me about a year ago, a young girl went into the back of me in a ka at very low speed , tiny scuff on my rear bumper, she needed a new bumper as she'd sheared a bunch of retaining clips off.

She was aware she was in the wrong, my cars probably worth 2k, and hers much less, so we agreed to put it down to experience and we went our seperate ways. much less hassle than getting the vultures involved.
 
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Last time I reported an incident for information only, the insurance company contacted the 3rd party directly and started a claim without my knowledge.
 
Thanks chaps we spoke to her dad today first thing, they arent doing anything as there's not a mark visible on her car apparently. both of us have subsequently been to busy today to do anything else with it anyway.
 
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mattyfez said:
I wouldn't report it to my insurance company, why take the risk when the cars worth basically nothing and there's no real damage done.
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I wouldn't do this in case a personal injury claim comes out of the woodwork and if you haven't reported it then your insurer can refuse to deal with the claim because they weren't informed of the incident when it happened!

Pyscho_Si said:
Last time I reported an incident for information only, the insurance company contacted the 3rd party directly and started a claim without my knowledge.
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Unfortunately this can happen, although it tends to be the more unscrupulous brokers in my experience as opposed to the insurer directly. If it is the insurer then they should be keeping you informed and generally only do it to avoid the third party jumping into credit hire and running up thousands of pounds in hire charges!

LOAM said:
Thanks chaps we spoke to her dad today first thing, they arent doing anything as there's not a mark visible on her car apparently. both of us have subsequently been to busy today to do anything else with it anyway.
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Fair enough but be aware that all it takes is for her car to have a mark and a mysterious witness to support her claim and you could be in for some heartache!
 
Aye, we will inform them tomorrow but only for information etc. Will reiterate that no one is claiming etc etc.
 
StevieP said:
Unfortunately this can happen, although it tends to be the more unscrupulous brokers in my experience as opposed to the insurer directly. If it is the insurer then they should be keeping you informed and generally only do it to avoid the third party jumping into credit hire and running up thousands of pounds in hire charges!
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It was directly insured with LV.

Total value of the claim including a hire car was £400. Luckily my renewal actually decreased by £200 a year so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
 
Wife + Bump...

Kids surely? :p

Sorry had to lol

yeah be aware they could decide to claim despite whats agreed now mate.
TBH If its only minor I'd never inform my own insurance company tho, they'll just load yer premium at some stage for it even if you don't claim
 
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