Help? declaring an incident but no claim.

[Isa0324]

Hi, I had a driver hit me when parked at a car park in sainsbury today . no damage happened he literally just touched me slighly. i stated to him i won't be claiming, so we both left it at that. me trying to be a good samaritan i called my insurance to make them aware of the incident and told them i won't be claiming as no damage happened.
Now, i have realised that all accidents must be declared. i wish i knew this as i would not bother notifying them.

now when running quotes, the insurance goes up by £300 with what happened today.

this is crazy, nothing happened, and if anything he hit me!

Anyway i can call them and get this cancelled ?

Thank you

 

[John]

You can't "untell" them sadly and you are now technically and statistically more likely to be involved in an accident.

I wouldn't declare something like that in future.

I'd put it down to experience this time.

Shop around for the best quote and I would guess next time around the quotes will fall back into line.

 

[Isa0324]

even windscreen chips you have to declare? whats the claim value i need to put on there £10? ( excess )

 

[Gazwould]

Naïf .

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Similar happened to me a while back. Only inform the insurance company or Police etc if you intend to claim.

 

[Spider10]

I had the same someone reversed into me dealt with it, no claim but did tell them just to be honest now i have to declare it on every insurance quote, i had MS cancel 1 policy just because I never mentioned it, it's the same with points pending i let them now so obviously it went up ,i was never convicted so never got the points but insurance never went back down

 

[Dryce]

Anyway i can call them and get this cancelled ?

Speak to them. It may make no difference. But sometimes common sense applies.

Don't get too upset about quotes until your renewal - you may be able to talk to them.

I don't think many here would have reported the 'accident' because (a) they wouldn't have thought it necessary if there was no consequence and (b) insurers have a habit of penalising their clients for no-fault accidents because they associate any incident with increased risk.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

A few years ago my car was hit while I was parked up, (I wasnt even in the car). my policy went up for the following 5 years as "im statistically more likely to make another claim" so I was told on the phone.

Its logged as a non-fault claim,

 

[Grockel]

A few years ago my car was hit while I was parked up, (I wasnt even in the car). my policy went up for the following 5 years as "im statistically more likely to make another claim" so I was told on the phone.

Its logged as a non-fault claim,

It's a shame in the above case that, after five years of not making a claim, you don't get your additional premiums back for proving the insurers wrong. But I guess for that to work you'd have to stay with the same insurer....

 

[Dryce]

A few years ago my car was hit while I was parked up, (I wasnt even in the car). my policy went up for the following 5 years as "im statistically more likely to make another claim" so I was told on the phone.

The statistic is self fulfilling depending on interpretation.

So if I bet once on a roulette wheel every day and yesterday I won then the chances of me winning again don't change. But the chances of me winning more than once over a given period of monitoring have just gone up.

There are good reasons that an insurer might consider you a higher risk for a 'no-fault'. But I still feel that the insurers are a bit arbitrary.

 

[Isa0324]

Speak to them. It may make no difference. But sometimes common sense applies.

Don't get too upset about quotes until your renewal - you may be able to talk to them.

I don't think many here would have reported the 'accident' because (a) they wouldn't have thought it necessary if there was no consequence and (b) insurers have a habit of penalising their clients for no-fault accidents because they associate any incident with increased risk.

It is what it is, i have to put it down on experience, i called them ( my insurance ) again today explaining the above and all she said is you are required by law to report everything, then i told her well next time i'l make sure i won't be. she then says that not something you say to your insurance company, then i told her explain to me how me being honest result on receiving Quotes at £300 more!

I think something needs to be done about this! I don't think it's right . now i'm scared of even getting in an accident and not being my fault as i know that by claiming, by policy will go up the next year.

I also also heard horror stories, was really trying to cover myself incase he decided to claim by saying I reversed into him, As this happened to my friend's mother. they came to an agreement that its nothing and leave it at that. two weeks down the line she got notification the other driver is claiming she reversed into them.

Does anything know whether i have to report windscreen chip repairs. my insurance said you don't have to. but i think you do.
( even that makes the prices go up )

You live and learn.

A few years ago my car was hit while I was parked up, (I wasnt even in the car). my policy went up for the following 5 years as "im statistically more likely to make another claim" so I was told on the phone.

Its logged as a non-fault claim,

 

[John]

It is what it is, i have to put it down on experience, i called them ( my insurance ) again today explaining the above and all she said is you are required by law to report everything, then i told her well next time i'l make sure i won't be. she then says that not something you say to your insurance company, then i told her explain to me how me being honest result on receiving Quotes at £300 more!

I think something needs to be done about this! I don't think it's right . now i'm scared of even getting in an accident and not being my fault as i know that by claiming, by policy will go up the next year.

I also also heard horror stories, was really trying to cover myself incase he decided to claim by saying I reversed into him, As this happened to my friend's mother. they came to an agreement that its nothing and leave it at that. two weeks down the line she got notification the other driver is claiming she reversed into them.

Does anything know whether i have to report windscreen chip repairs. my insurance said you don't have to. but i think you do.
( even that makes the prices go up )

You live and learn.

Sometimes discretion is the better part of valour!

Everyone has the same potential issue with premiums going up due to claims. That's the wonderful world of insurance for you.

As for the situation example you describe, that is a potential pitfall of not reporting such incidents. In that situation, you are making a judgement whether to report or not and are taking a risk in not doing so.

At least if that does happen and the third party tries it on, you will have already done the right thing.

It would be worth taking photos of damage (or even areas where there is no damage) on both cars at the time for future-proof.

You don't have to report windscreen chips or replacements to future insurance companies as they are not counted in the same way as the claims you should report.

 

[Jockcl500]

Hi, I had a driver hit me when parked at a car park in sainsbury today . no damage happened he literally just touched me slighly. i stated to him i won't be claiming, so we both left it at that. me trying to be a good samaritan i called my insurance to make them aware of the incident and told them i won't be claiming as no damage happened.
Now, i have realised that all accidents must be declared. i wish i knew this as i would not bother notifying them.

now when running quotes, the insurance goes up by £300 with what happened today.

this is crazy, nothing happened, and if anything he hit me!

Anyway i can call them and get this cancelled ?

Thank you

I would not have reported anything on this as there is nothing to report, if you had been in the shop and seen nothing, looked at the car on return what would you report, if someone walked into the car and no damage was visible, it would be the same conclusion, no damage so nothing to report.
For insurance, everything can be taken to the extreme, how much would they have you report, hail stones hitting the car.

 

[T5R+]

Personally, do not report if other party offers to settle. I can estimate the cost of a minor versus major and so give the other party 48hours to "hand over the cash" - as will take my car to a person that I know/trust as fits with my diary with no upselling required.

Couple of examples over the years..........

• chap took out my nearside mirror (obliterated) and we agreed £450 pounds as panel work intact. I bought the parts off EBay and had the bodyshop spray and fit them. Sent the lad £300 back - nice enough lad and student at local University.
• a well to do lady reversed into the nearside front corner of my car whilst I was in my hotel room. We agreed £500, She then contacted her insurance company, which totally hacked me off resulting in me making a £2300 claim on my car - where I dealt directly with her insurer.

The reason that I avoid reporting minor issues - have 4 individual vehicle policies and know that each one will get "loaded" over the next 5ish years EVEN THOUGH I have never needed to make an "at fault" claim in over 3 decades.

 

[Weds]

A few years ago my car was hit while I was parked up, (I wasnt even in the car). my policy went up for the following 5 years as "im statistically more likely to make another claim" so I was told on the phone.

Its logged as a non-fault claim,

I had exactly the same, it was my first claim in 40 years driving, I told them that statistically my next accident will be in 40 years time and I'll be dead... They still loaded up 2 other cars on the multicar policy including my wife's..

 

[Jibbajabba]

I used to live in several countries and UK seem to be one of the few where you get actually punished by getting hit ... So odd ...

 

[John]

I used to live in several countries and UK seem to be one of the few where you get actually punished by getting hit ... So odd ...

In a country where criminals seem to be treated as the victim, it's perhaps not all that surprising.

 

[Jibbajabba]

That's true - and the fact you can actually drive cars without a full license. In Germany I had to go to a proper driving school at 18. Both theory and practical driving that included motorway, night and A-Roads. That was 4000 German marks in the 80s / 90s. Which was about £2000 back in the day (so approx. £4500 in todays' money). I also remember the premium actually going down each year - here it just goes up no matter what.

Worst was the discussion I had with an insurance company - I think it was Elephant - where I insured an old 2010 Audi A4 and had LPG put in. They increased the premium by 20% but told me that none of the conversion is insured. So they increased the premium but yea - if the system breaks during an accident - it would not be covered. And when I questioned the increase I was told by the agent - and I quote - "I know it is silly, but we do this because we can".

In other stories when I moved to Ireland and I tried to insure a car in 2001 and they didn't accept my no claims from Germany - they quoted me 15000 for the first year, 8000 for the second lol

Anyway - sorry, I am going off topic here..... back to topic ...

 

[Datadogie]

I did similar a few years back. The next following five years you have to declare the (none damage) bump. I since had a car rear-end me in the works van. I kept quiet about that.

 

[wongl]

I had a similar incident a few years ago. I think the insurance ombudsman should ban this kind of practice given the loss of no-claim bonus will increase premium anyway. If no claims, there should be no increase in premium as all this proves is that one is no more costly to insure!

Kind of llke 'good accident' vs 'bad accident'.