Car crashed into - insurance question
Discussion
My car was in for work in April and I was given a courtesy car from the garage while mine was being worked on.
In reality, I barely used the car as I have another - mostly needed the courtesy car to get home but used it sporadically to and from work. The car was parked outside my house where, on a Sunday, it was reversed into damaging the wing, both driver-side doors, rear quarter, wheel, and side skirt, £2150 of damage. The driver of the other car drove off however, it was witnessed by a neighbour, caught on CCTV, and therefore reported to the Police.
Despite chasing, nothing was received from the Police until last week, some 4 months later, informing me that they had located the driver who was unaware that he had caused the damage but having reviewed the CCTV does agree he was the driver(?!) and was sorry.
The driver has now informed his insurance company who have made contact with me, although I am yet to reply. The repairs were sorted independently and neither I nor the garage went via our respective insurance companies to complete the repairs.
How can I go about being reimbursed for the repairs? Simple as producing the invoice(s)? Anything I need to be mindful of when liaising with the insurance company?
Edited to add: The Police, or specifically the case handler has now shared the details of the driver, name and address...
In reality, I barely used the car as I have another - mostly needed the courtesy car to get home but used it sporadically to and from work. The car was parked outside my house where, on a Sunday, it was reversed into damaging the wing, both driver-side doors, rear quarter, wheel, and side skirt, £2150 of damage. The driver of the other car drove off however, it was witnessed by a neighbour, caught on CCTV, and therefore reported to the Police.
Despite chasing, nothing was received from the Police until last week, some 4 months later, informing me that they had located the driver who was unaware that he had caused the damage but having reviewed the CCTV does agree he was the driver(?!) and was sorry.
The driver has now informed his insurance company who have made contact with me, although I am yet to reply. The repairs were sorted independently and neither I nor the garage went via our respective insurance companies to complete the repairs.
How can I go about being reimbursed for the repairs? Simple as producing the invoice(s)? Anything I need to be mindful of when liaising with the insurance company?
Edited to add: The Police, or specifically the case handler has now shared the details of the driver, name and address...
Edited by Joe5y on Friday 30th August 09:03
BertBert said:
cobra kid said:
Did you pay for the repairs? And why??
This!This is a classic example of why it does not pay to try to bypass the insurance company, it will often come back to bite you,
Insurance companies like to know of any 'incidents', whether claimed for or not. In fact they specifically ask this question at renewal.
It may or may not affect the premium but they want to be told.
Some insurance companies want telling at the time, others only require you to tell them at renewal.
However if you have not complied with the ins co's T&Cs or you have renewed your insurance recently, and not told them about the crash, you could be in for a whole world of pain.
If you lied on the renewal I'd be very surprised if they paid out on a claim for an incident that happened 5 months ago of which they knew nothing about. And it's not beyond the realms of possibilities that they could cancel your insurance now these facts have been unearthed.
It often comes up on PH about avoiding telling the insurance company and getting the repair done on the cheap to save money. This is why you should always tell them, you never know what the 3rd party is going to do.
Insurance companies like to know of any 'incidents', whether claimed for or not. In fact they specifically ask this question at renewal.
It may or may not affect the premium but they want to be told.
Some insurance companies want telling at the time, others only require you to tell them at renewal.
However if you have not complied with the ins co's T&Cs or you have renewed your insurance recently, and not told them about the crash, you could be in for a whole world of pain.
If you lied on the renewal I'd be very surprised if they paid out on a claim for an incident that happened 5 months ago of which they knew nothing about. And it's not beyond the realms of possibilities that they could cancel your insurance now these facts have been unearthed.
It often comes up on PH about avoiding telling the insurance company and getting the repair done on the cheap to save money. This is why you should always tell them, you never know what the 3rd party is going to do.
Yellow Lizud said:
This is a classic example of why it does not pay to try to bypass the insurance company, it will often come back to bite you,
Insurance companies like to know of any 'incidents', whether claimed for or not. In fact they specifically ask this question at renewal.
It may or may not affect the premium but they want to be told.
Some insurance companies want telling at the time, others only require you to tell them at renewal.
However if you have not complied with the ins co's T&Cs or you have renewed your insurance recently, and not told them about the crash, you could be in for a whole world of pain.
If you lied on the renewal I'd be very surprised if they paid out on a claim for an incident that happened 5 months ago of which they knew nothing about. And it's not beyond the realms of possibilities that they could cancel your insurance now these facts have been unearthed.
It often comes up on PH about avoiding telling the insurance company and getting the repair done on the cheap to save money. This is why you should always tell them, you never know what the 3rd party is going to do.
And yet people still do it Insurance companies like to know of any 'incidents', whether claimed for or not. In fact they specifically ask this question at renewal.
It may or may not affect the premium but they want to be told.
Some insurance companies want telling at the time, others only require you to tell them at renewal.
However if you have not complied with the ins co's T&Cs or you have renewed your insurance recently, and not told them about the crash, you could be in for a whole world of pain.
If you lied on the renewal I'd be very surprised if they paid out on a claim for an incident that happened 5 months ago of which they knew nothing about. And it's not beyond the realms of possibilities that they could cancel your insurance now these facts have been unearthed.
It often comes up on PH about avoiding telling the insurance company and getting the repair done on the cheap to save money. This is why you should always tell them, you never know what the 3rd party is going to do.
Joe5y said:
BertBert said:
cobra kid said:
Did you pay for the repairs? And why??
This!You paid out for the damage to the courtesy car because a) you didn’t want to claim on your insurance because it’s already expensive due to the cars you’re insuring and b) they wouldn’t have covered it anyway as you were only insured on it for 3rd party liability?
Now the other party’s insurer is aware, and you want them to reimburse you - cash in hand or some other mechanism - without it being recorded as a claim that you were involved with?
That sounds like you want to have your cake and eat it to be honest? If you pay out of your own pocket, or the person that hits you pays out of theirs, with the intent to bypass insurance, then that only works if there is no claim made. As soon as either insurer is aware of the incident the benefit is lost. Strictly speaking you’re obliged to inform your insurer of a claim regardless of involvement but everyone knows the “I’ll pay cash” system is intended to avoid that.
The “best” case scenario now I think is that the other party’s insurer pays you, or the place that did the work, on presentment of an invoice (hopefully you have one) and that when it is recorded on CUE that it links to the garage rather than yourself personally.
As said strictly speaking you’re supposed to inform your insurer of an accident “whether it resulted in a claim or not” (often the wording) so if they find out from this database in the event of a search - likely during a total loss claim - then you could be buggered for non-disclosure.
I can't quite see the problem here now it's clear what insurance was in place.
You have a third party who has admitted liability and got their insurance company involved.
You give them copies of the bills, they pay you. If they dispute the bills you negotiate with them and if that fails you take the (the other driver) to court.
You have a third party who has admitted liability and got their insurance company involved.
You give them copies of the bills, they pay you. If they dispute the bills you negotiate with them and if that fails you take the (the other driver) to court.
Joe5y said:
My car was in for work in April and I was given a courtesy car from the garage while mine was being worked on.
In reality, I barely used the car as I have another - mostly needed the courtesy car to get home but used it sporadically to and from work. The car was parked outside my house where, on a Sunday, it was reversed into damaging the wing, both driver-side doors, rear quarter, wheel, and side skirt, £2150 of damage. The driver of the other car drove off however, it was witnessed by a neighbour, caught on CCTV, and therefore reported to the Police.
Despite chasing, nothing was received from the Police until last week, some 4 months later, informing me that they had located the driver who was unaware that he had caused the damage but having reviewed the CCTV does agree he was the driver(?!) and was sorry.
The driver has now informed his insurance company who have made contact with me, although I am yet to reply. The repairs were sorted independently and neither I nor the garage went via our respective insurance companies to complete the repairs.
How can I go about being reimbursed for the repairs? Simple as producing the invoice(s)? Anything I need to be mindful of when liaising with the insurance company?
Edited to add: The Police, or specifically the case handler has now shared the details of the driver, name and address...
Don't get this.In reality, I barely used the car as I have another - mostly needed the courtesy car to get home but used it sporadically to and from work. The car was parked outside my house where, on a Sunday, it was reversed into damaging the wing, both driver-side doors, rear quarter, wheel, and side skirt, £2150 of damage. The driver of the other car drove off however, it was witnessed by a neighbour, caught on CCTV, and therefore reported to the Police.
Despite chasing, nothing was received from the Police until last week, some 4 months later, informing me that they had located the driver who was unaware that he had caused the damage but having reviewed the CCTV does agree he was the driver(?!) and was sorry.
The driver has now informed his insurance company who have made contact with me, although I am yet to reply. The repairs were sorted independently and neither I nor the garage went via our respective insurance companies to complete the repairs.
How can I go about being reimbursed for the repairs? Simple as producing the invoice(s)? Anything I need to be mindful of when liaising with the insurance company?
Edited to add: The Police, or specifically the case handler has now shared the details of the driver, name and address...
You were driving (presumably) on the Driving Other Cars part of your policy so you were insured by your own insurer.
You decided not to claim for a damage incident while you were in charge of the vehicle which would have been covered by the at fault driver's third party cover whose registration had been reported to the police.
Given that you have to report the incident to your insurers anyway why wouldn't you claim for the damage?
Edited by GasEngineer on Sunday 1st September 09:39
BertBert said:
I can't quite see the problem here now it's clear what insurance was in place.
You have a third party who has admitted liability and got their insurance company involved.
You give them copies of the bills, they pay you. If they dispute the bills you negotiate with them and if that fails you take the (the other driver) to court.
The problem is that the OP was trying to defraud his insurance company and got caught out.You have a third party who has admitted liability and got their insurance company involved.
You give them copies of the bills, they pay you. If they dispute the bills you negotiate with them and if that fails you take the (the other driver) to court.
Nobody spends over £2K of their own money if they don't plan on lying at the renewal.
I agree that it should have just been a case of speaking to the 3rd party insurance and taking their money, whatever they offered would be better than what they've got at the moment.
But it's not that simple, that horse has bolted. The OP knows that and that's why they started this thread.
GasEngineer said:
Don't get this.
You were driving (presumably) on the Driving Other Cars part of your policy so you were insured by your own insurer.
You decided not to claim for a damage incident while you were in charge of the vehicle which would have been covered by the at fault driver's third party cover whose registration had been reported to the police.
Given that you have to report the incident to your insurers anyway why wouldn't you claim for the damage?
It's because you can't claim from your insurance company on 3rd party only DOC cover for damage to the car you are driving, only for damage to third parties.You were driving (presumably) on the Driving Other Cars part of your policy so you were insured by your own insurer.
You decided not to claim for a damage incident while you were in charge of the vehicle which would have been covered by the at fault driver's third party cover whose registration had been reported to the police.
Given that you have to report the incident to your insurers anyway why wouldn't you claim for the damage?
Edited by GasEngineer on Sunday 1st September 09:39
Yellow Lizud said:
The problem is that the OP was trying to defraud his insurance company and got caught out.
Nobody spends over £2K of their own money if they don't plan on lying at the renewal.
I agree that it should have just been a case of speaking to the 3rd party insurance and taking their money, whatever they offered would be better than what they've got at the moment.
But it's not that simple, that horse has bolted. The OP knows that and that's why they started this thread.
I don't understand what you are asserting that the OP has done and why they have done it. Could you explain please?Nobody spends over £2K of their own money if they don't plan on lying at the renewal.
I agree that it should have just been a case of speaking to the 3rd party insurance and taking their money, whatever they offered would be better than what they've got at the moment.
But it's not that simple, that horse has bolted. The OP knows that and that's why they started this thread.
Your car is in the garage being repaired and they gave you a courtesy car, which one would assume is fully insured and therefore you report the accident to the garage and they claim of their insurance.
If however there was no insurance on it and you are driving it on your policy, then I suspect it wasn't insured.
It however you actually do have third party on it, your report it to your insurance.
Either way, you knew what you were doing and have been caught out, suck it up and fess up!!
If however there was no insurance on it and you are driving it on your policy, then I suspect it wasn't insured.
It however you actually do have third party on it, your report it to your insurance.
Either way, you knew what you were doing and have been caught out, suck it up and fess up!!
dundarach said:
Your car is in the garage being repaired and they gave you a courtesy car, which one would assume is fully insured and therefore you report the accident to the garage and they claim of their insurance.
If however there was no insurance on it and you are driving it on your policy, then I suspect it wasn't insured.
It however you actually do have third party on it, your report it to your insurance.
Either way, you knew what you were doing and have been caught out, suck it up and fess up!!
The OP has insinuated that the courtesy car didn’t come with insurance, so he drove it under DOC cover that he may have, or presumed he has - as many do - on his policy (in my experience DOC excludes hire vehicles as well).If however there was no insurance on it and you are driving it on your policy, then I suspect it wasn't insured.
It however you actually do have third party on it, your report it to your insurance.
Either way, you knew what you were doing and have been caught out, suck it up and fess up!!
Typically this is third party cover only, which means the damage to the courtesy car itself wouldn’t be covered, only damage done to others.
Notwithstanding that, the other party (who crashed into the car) insurer is now involved, so it has become a claim.
As I understand it the OP wants to be paid back, but doesn’t want to have to declare an accident come renewal.
Edited by Durzel on Sunday 1st September 14:32
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