This would be the only thing making me think twice about this as it sounds like the police did get involved.
Car accident - insurance question
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This would be the only thing making me think twice about this as it sounds like the police did get involved.
Soldato
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Are you sure?
Man of Honour
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Generally the insurance policy will say you must declare all accidents even if you do not claim (or words to that effect) so strictly speaking you're breaking your contract with them by not declaring. As for the fraud angle - by not declaring a material fact you are denying the insurance company all relevant information to calculate the premium hence it's arguably fraudulent since information is withheld (and not incidentally it's almost certain to result in a more favourable outcome for the person withholding the information).
The risks may be small but that's up to the individual I suppose.
I knocked down a road sign and crashed into a tree in my old car, and then had to cut a branch off of the tree to free the car because it was impaled on it.
I fixed the road sign as best I could (came back the next day and dug in the posts again) and cleared away any debris. I didn't claim for it for the same reason, and repaired the car myself.
The difference is though that there was only one witness, and no police accident record. I'm not sure if insurance companies have access to that information? I doubt they would request it without a reasonable suspicion that the car had been involved in a crash though. If you phone up and say you scrapped the car because of mechanical failure, they won't have any reason to suspect otherwise anyway.
I fixed the road sign as best I could (came back the next day and dug in the posts again) and cleared away any debris. I didn't claim for it for the same reason, and repaired the car myself.
The difference is though that there was only one witness, and no police accident record. I'm not sure if insurance companies have access to that information? I doubt they would request it without a reasonable suspicion that the car had been involved in a crash though. If you phone up and say you scrapped the car because of mechanical failure, they won't have any reason to suspect otherwise anyway.
Well... technically it is a mechanical failure. There may have been some outside influence, but is that really relevant? 
If they ask about any accidents... just claim she did it on purpose, therefore it wasn't an accident
If they ask about any accidents... just claim she did it on purpose, therefore it wasn't an accident
Interestingly, she just told me the police man on scene advised her that as she was not claiming with her insurance company, she didn't have to inform them..
Given that the police have been involved, it would be wise to advise the insurer. But she doesn't have to go into details. Just say that the car was so severely damaged by a tree that she's writing it off and leave it at that. She does need to state that she does not intend making a claim, but she should reserve the right to do so (in case a medical issue arises).
Soldato
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Don't tell them. This is one of those instances where "doing the right thing" will cause nothing but aggro. Sod their future underwriting and stats, they'll manufacture those at will to guarantee a profit anyway.
If anything, unessecary claims hinder the bigger picture for everyone.
No damage to public property or a third party, no foul imo.
If anything, unessecary claims hinder the bigger picture for everyone.
No damage to public property or a third party, no foul imo.
Problem is while the odds are low - there are legally binding (and have stood up in law) contract terms in effect and if she has a subsequent accident and it does come to light she could end up liable for the costs of a subsequent accident which could be significant.
So I guess its upto the individual whether they think the odds are worth it.
Soldato
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If they were keeping the car and having it repaired, I would agree.
The only remaining factor in any given future claim would have been mechanical damage to the current vehicle. Such as, "did such and such part fail because of a prior accident." That kinda thing.
I'm still trying to work out how you'd ditch a diesel Clio off a roundabout. That's impressive lol
I'm a 2nd gear slowey on and off them. Don't take chances with those horrid things.
What a total load of nonsense.
In what way?
Most car insurance has a term in the contract that you inform the insurer as soon as is reasonably possible after an accident regardless of fault or intent to claim, etc. and failure to adhere to a term can (and in this case has been tested in court) be used to deny cover on subsequent claims whether related to the original accident or another one - you aren't exactly going to end up in jail for not reporting an accident but you could end up having to pay out from your own pocket somewhere down the line.
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Well, if it was logged with the police ( he said he had an incident number), they might be able to.
Don't get me wrong, it is highly unlikely and everyone is saying that ,but there is still a small risk though and it is up to the OP whether he thinks the risk outweighs the gain ( like with most things in life).
Yes, if he had no witnesses or witness statements or a police incident number then of course he shouldn't mention it as they definitely wouldn't be able to prove anything then.
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My great aunt worked for Royal Insurance for 40 odd years dealing specifically with this exact thing. It is worth considering even if the chances are (especially in this case) quite low - it generally comes as quite a shock to people when it does happen.
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By calling the police who have the incident logged in their system, as mentioned in the OP.
Unlikely, yes, impossible, no.
Unfortunately it is one of those things where people who do the right thing inevitably get screwed and those that don't rarely get into trouble for it.