Minor Prang - Rear shunt - inform or not?

DorsetDude

DorsetDude

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This should probably be in the WAMT thread..

Got a minor bang up the rear end (of the car) on the way in this morning, while waiting at a junction, not my fault obv. 2 of us pulled over, couldnt see any damage even though I felt it alright in the car. Had another look once journey over and just maybe, the plastic black sort of "under bumper" below the rear fairing might have a tiny scuff on it. Paintwork at rear all seems fine no dents or scratches. Cars only 4 years old.
Bloke who pranged me said (i know they always do) he'd be happy to pay for it if only minor to keep insurance out and Id like that too as its a pain every renewal having to declare it etc.
I think getting a body shop to check it out might be a plan just to be sure anyway.
But, really I think insurers should be informed anyway and probably asap unfortunately. another annoyance is exchanged all details of policy, name, address and forgot to get phone number. Doh.

What do the wise inhabitants of OOF think? I really would prefer to keep it off the books but only if the car really is undamaged or only needs a minor fix.

After all that I still got to work 15 minutes quicker than on my normal route!

Cheers
 
Report but tell them you won't be claiming, for your own safety.
If the TP decides to put in a claim you will be covered, even though it's not your fault.
If you don't who knows what he may say to his insurers.
A good insurer should just note it and do nothing I've done it before and it's never affected my
insurance, but if anything kicks off at least they know about it ;)
I was a witness to accident where a landrover ran into the rear of a mini, the guy in the landy jumped out
and accused the mini driver and rolling back but said "as he had no damage let's forget it" Mini did have a fair dent,
I stepped in much to his annoyance :) but you can see what I am saying
 
I'd keep it off the books if really that minor. You'll only be unnecessarily loading your insurance for the next 3-5yrs even though it wasn't your fault.
 
I'd say that if no one else was involved too, but also remember that failure to advise the insurance company of an accident can invalidate your insurance,
and as contact details have been exchanged you never know what the other person may do once they have thought about it.
 
nilagin said:
I'd keep it off the books if really that minor. You'll only be unnecessarily loading your insurance for the next 3-5yrs even though it wasn't your fault.
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My thoughts too, esp after reading this . and guess who I'm with, yep, Admiral. However the car must be pristine.

I've just looked the guy up and he might be a legal officer who works extremely close by.
 
Guess it depend on your insurer then, mine was Direct Line, no action taken by them at all and same when it happened to my daughter too
 
Report it to your insurer, and then to the Daily Mail. You might even make a few quid out of it :)
 
the risk is that in the event of making a claim for another incident - ( or having one made against you) will result in your insurance company trying to avoid paying out on the basis of undisclosed imformation
 
No sense in trying to ignore it

My minor nudge left virtually nothing [ a slight scratch on the other car ] to see other than a broken number plate - but I declared it - took it into the garage and found I needed a new bumper [ damage to the inside and car behind the bumper ] and a new reversing camera sensor - Insurance paid up

OK - it will cost me at Insurance renewal but that's cheaper than if the other guy had turned nasty
 
I was involved in a very minor bump a few weeks back, when a young driver turned right , out of a side street through a gap in queuing traffic on the inside lane of a two lane section of road. , There was a "Keep Clear" painted on the road junction , but the lane I was in was clear and flowing. I'd stopped in time, but she keep coming, and our car touched gently. No damage at all. The young Romanian lass, was a bit shook up, and was convinced she was in the right, and kept pointing to the "Keep Clear " painted on the road, telling me I should have stopped at the Keep Clear. Even a policeman who walked past a few minutes later couldn't convince her the "Keep Clear" didn't mean Stop, but meant no queuing on junction. Although there was no damage at all, I reported the incident to my insurers, just in case. What I didn't want, was the lass getting home and her dad or boyfriend convincing her that she had whiplash or any of that nonsense. That was a few weeks back, and not heard anything since.
 
kennethwfd said:
the risk is that in the event of making a claim for another incident - ( or having one made against you) will result in your insurance company trying to avoid paying out on the basis of undisclosed imformation
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How can they try to avoid paying out on the basis of undisclosed information, if they are unaware you have failed to disclose information.
 
Not at fault accident. Should not affect your NCB/ premium. Persnaly would get it checked out. Wife got hit in the back (Octava)Estate, hit by a Clio. Didn'tlook much damage looking at it, hwever was assessed by an approved repaired and putting her car as it was pre accident was close to £2,500. It's the bits you cannot see. Ironically sae insurer for both parties.
 
As other have said, there maybe damage to the crumple zones of your car, such as the internal material of your bumper, which may not work as well should such another incident occur, or should you reverse into something.

On the other side, should you declare it, whilst it will not have an impact on your no claims discount, your personal risk profile will be increased for the next 5 years.

Swings and roundabouts, so do what is best to keep your mind settled, which as you've posted about it, I would say your not happy leaving it as is.

Edit - just love predictive text
 
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nilagin said:
How can they try to avoid paying out on the basis of undisclosed information, if they are unaware you have failed to disclose information.
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Perhaps the damage will be found by the repairer of a subsequent collision and is clearly not caused the later collision.
Maybe the other party decides to report after all (whiplash claim?), or the accident is discovered as above.

Perhaps quite remote, but that's the risk you take - save money now but leave yourself exposed to an unlimited risk in the future.
 
I had a similar about 2 years ago my car was a bit older and had a few bumper wounds anyhow, I rang it in and had it all logged, I then got a letter outlining all the info that had been provided and that no action would be taken. Its important to remember insurance works both ways and you may take your car for a service 6 months down the line and the mechanic finds something you cannot see.
 
Been to local bodyshop garage they cant see anything damaged at all, not a scratch even. Reckons that as the "bumpers" are plastic it probably folded in a teeny bit and back out again no problem. Spotted a tiny flake of paint that has lifted near the reg plate which probably was there already and spotted evidence of some previous bodywork repairs. £175 to spray all that. So I think I'll tell the bloke it just needs a spray and thats it. If I can contact him that is.

Thanks all for input so far. If i hadnt been in a no fault prang 3 or so years ago and had to put up with all the insurers cr4p I almost certainly would declare it without a thought. But not these days.
 
Mr Bump said:
I had a similar about 2 years ago my car was a bit older and had a few bumper wounds anyhow, I rang it in and had it all logged, I then got a letter outlining all the info that had been provided and that no action would be taken. Its important to remember insurance works both ways and you may take your car for a service 6 months down the line and the mechanic finds something you cannot see.
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Your probably with a reputable insurance company! i.e not admiral or hastings. Good name for replying to this thread by the way! :D
 
Llamaman said:
Perhaps the damage will be found by the repairer of a subsequent collision and is clearly not caused the later collision.
Maybe the other party decides to report after all (whiplash claim?), or the accident is discovered as above.

Perhaps quite remote, but that's the risk you take - save money now but leave yourself exposed to an unlimited risk in the future.
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If the damage is truly that minor, there is no proof of how or when the damage was done. You could also argue you were unaware of the damage. A repairer won't give two monkeys about any prior damage. They will just give an estimate for the repair it's gone in for.
 
But that's assuming the damage IS minor. As other posters have said, often there's more damage than meets the eye.
 
The best one I had was when a guy ran into the back of my car quite slowly. As we were queuing anyway, I got out and reached into the rear footwell for my trusty D3 and 70-200mm, that I had been using about an hour earlier. So fired off a dozen shots of him, his reg plate and the cars.

The look on his face was awesome. ;)

No argument ........... :)
 
nilagin said:
How can they try to avoid paying out on the basis of undisclosed information, if they are unaware you have failed to disclose information.
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True, but if they become aware of information you did not disclose...

you should find somewhere in terms and conditions of your motor insurance regarding this. Or to be blunt,one firm has stated that people do lie to obtain cheaper insurance. One issue of having even a no fault accident can lead to you being classified as "accident prone"
 
nilagin said:
How can they try to avoid paying out on the basis of undisclosed information, if they are unaware you have failed to disclose information.
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IF the other party reports it to THEIR insurer, the companies may well compare notes. Unlikely that they'll tell Keith about the communication until (should shift happen again) he needs to claim in a year or 2 and they tell him that he's not covered since he didn't disclose.
 
Nod said:
IF the other party reports it to THEIR insurer, the companies may well compare notes. Unlikely that they'll tell Keith about the communication until (should shift happen again) he needs to claim in a year or 2 and they tell him that he's not covered since he didn't disclose.
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No chance, as soon as my lot found out they'd want to up my premium straight away. They wouldn't wait on the off chance I might make a claim and then refuse to pay years down the line. Slightly illegal for one thing I strongly suspect.
 
DorsetDude said:
No chance, as soon as my lot found out they'd want to up my premium straight away. They wouldn't wait on the off chance I might make a claim and then refuse to pay years down the line. Slightly illegal for one thing I strongly suspect.
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Your choice then.. end of,,,,

should anything else occur.. hope you have the assets to cover the liability. Insurance is what it says on the tin
 
DorsetDude said:
No chance, as soon as my lot found out they'd want to up my premium straight away. They wouldn't wait on the off chance I might make a claim and then refuse to pay years down the line. Slightly illegal for one thing I strongly suspect.
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It's very rare for an insurer to decline a quote anyway, if there are undisclosed modifications to the car, or any prior damage etc that they became aware of, industry standard is to backdate the quote to when you should have told them. So any payout would be minus the additional premium you should have paid in the first place. The only time they'd refuse to pay out, is if the undisclosed information would have led them to declining the quote in the first place.
 
Having been on the other side I'd give the other party the benefit of the doubt and give them the chance to pay up.

Paying £200~£350 for a respray for you is probably a lot cheaper than excess and increased premiums for 5 years.
 
Lynton said:
Your choice then.. end of,,,,

should anything else occur.. hope you have the assets to cover the liability. Insurance is what it says on the tin
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Afraid you've lost me there a bit. Assets to cover what liability?
 
Llamaman said:
But that's assuming the damage IS minor. As other posters have said, often there's more damage than meets the eye.
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Seeing as the bumper may have a scuff mark. I'm willing to bet there is no other damage.
 
DorsetDude said:
Afraid you've lost me there a bit. Assets to cover what liability?
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Ok an example. You do not notify your insurer. For whatever reason 3rd party suggests you are at fault and then a legitimate or phoney injury claim... cost easily rack up to £50K.. not declared it to insurer. Some would potentially repudiate based on not informed even if not at fault.
 
Lynton said:
Ok an example. You do not notify your insurer. For whatever reason 3rd party suggests you are at fault and then a legitimate or phoney injury claim... cost easily rack up to £50K.. not declared it to insurer. Some would potentially repudiate based on not informed even if not at fault.
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That does sound bad. However even paranoid little me gets the feeling that the other party really don't want to involve the insurers(Ive seen his insurance cert so its not because he's uninsured, just common sense really). I am reluctant but would if I had to. Its a £175 repair, less than his insurance excess almost certainly and by him paying direct we (well I more precisely) save the hassle of unscrupulous insurance companies slapping on premium hikes for no reason. In his case he is at fault so would expect a premium rise anyway. By neither of us bothering we both do better out of it. No brainer really.
Fingers crossed it all pans out.
 
DorsetDude said:
That does sound bad. However even paranoid little me gets the feeling that the other party really don't want to involve the insurers(Ive seen his insurance cert so its not because he's uninsured, just common sense really). I am reluctant but would if I had to. Its a £175 repair, less than his insurance excess almost certainly and by him paying direct we (well I more precisely) save the hassle of unscrupulous insurance companies slapping on premium hikes for no reason. In his case he is at fault so would expect a premium rise anyway. By neither of us bothering we both do better out of it. No brainer really.
Fingers crossed it all pans out.
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Yep if the damage is as described a bit of a no brainer... when i was about 25 (a while back) I shunted a merc at an empty roundabout. He stopped for no traffic, i didn't. Fairly minor damage, however he insisted on no damge to his car, no need for plod etc ( Thinking back, 60ish year old guy sunday afternoon, played golf at same place as me.. probably had a few in the 19th afterwards)
 
Bear in mind that the other party in this little bump has three years in which to manufacture a very nice little personal injury claim.
Not informing your insurer now, entitles them to tell you to sod off if that happens.
 
As long as the other party doesn't suddenly remember his neck hurts and he can't work... ;)


Edit: Ruth beat me to it.
 
viv1969 said:
Bear in mind that the other party in this little bump has three years in which to manufacture a very nice little personal injury claim.
Not informing your insurer now, entitles them to tell you to sod off if that happens.
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As i said above. Declare it now.
 
Even though you were at no fault, if you declare it, your insurer is likely to load your premium slightly at next renewal + it will probably be something you should declare for 3 - 5 yrs after if you decided to shop around for insurance. :mad:

You are supposed to declare to your insurer even very minor stuff, even if it wouldn't be worth claiming for, like someone kicking a wing mirror off, slashing a tyre, or someone nicking something from your vehicle.


Sounds like you shouldn't have a problem tbh, but, is it worth the risk of any comeback for 3 years? :thinking:
 
viv1969 said:
Bear in mind that the other party in this little bump has three years in which to manufacture a very nice little personal injury claim.
Not informing your insurer now, entitles them to tell you to sod off if that happens.
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Seeing as the other party was at fault, they'd only be making a claim for injury on their own insurance, not Keith's, so it wouldn't matter.
 
And I'm going to have a copy of the bill, paid for by third part,y for the minor repairs to the rear of my car. Fairly strong evidence that he didn't want to report it at the time I'd say. Also I never mentioned but he didnt have front number plate on the car so would probably get done for that if it went official as obviously Id be obliged to mention it. My gut feeling is its all above board, he's agreed to pay for the repairs already, I have emails (in which he mentions he doesnt want to involve insurers), all I need now to do is sort getting the car booked in.
 
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