Insurance question - if i fix my own car aswell, will my premium go up?

[jackfm]

Basically my girlfriend hit another car (ahe owns a clio too, so its on topic ). A car at a junction flashed her to go out, she double checked but did'nt triple check and she hit a 56 plate Ibiza on its front passenger wing. Women eh?

Anyway her little clio came out fine. snapped the number plate in two an a subsequent big scratch (possible cracked in places too) behind the number plate. Oh and it creased the plastic bumbstrip too but it's really unnoticeable. We're still waiting to hear about the other car.

But on the phone yesterday her insurance company advised her to just get her car fixed too because a claim is being made no matter what.

Now apart from a new numberplate, the damage is invisible so it will literally be a waste of time and money to fix it - i'm guessing they'll just give her a new bumper. What effect will this have on her insurance as it will obviously increase the pay out and involve another damaged car into it too.

She's panicking and has asked me to investigate :approve:

 

[Justin]

A claim is a claim at the end of the day, an extra few hundred for a new bumper would make much difference in the grand scheme of things, your insurance will still go up regardless

 

[Justin]

Wait, I've just re read it, do you mean your insurance only pays for the other car, and you sort your one?

 

[young_lew]

Wait, I've just re read it, do you mean your insurance only pays for the other car, and you sort your one?

I think he means he wants her insurance to pay for the other car and they (him and his gf) will pay for her car out of their own money to try and keep the cost of the claim down.

I think that whether she claims for her own car or not it's going to make very little difference come renewal time, therefore she may as well claim.

 

[jackfm]

no no sorry i've written it badly. The other car is being claimed as we speak. was just wondering if her car gets added in if it will make much of a difference...

 

[Ben.]

you might as well get it done mate

 

[Guppy]

Regardless mate.

If a claim has been made or just informed for info only the premium will go up as the car/driver has been involved in an accident which insurance companys will rate on.

 

[EllD90]

If she has an excess, she'll have to pay the excess if she wants to get her car fixed through insurance. Therefore if its just a number plate, she can just pay a tenner for a new one and save £250+ (guestimate for excess). However her insurance will still be affected come renewal, regardless of who fixes her car.

 

[iimushroomzii]

Just buy a new numberplate mate, saves the hassle of insurance

 

[Revels]

If she has an excess, she'll have to pay the excess if she wants to get her car fixed through insurance. Therefore if its just a number plate, she can just pay a tenner for a new one and save £250+ (guestimate for excess). However her insurance will still be affected come renewal, regardless of who fixes her car.

She'll still have to pay the excess won't she? Regardless of her car being fixed or not?

 

[Guppy]

If she doesnt claim for her own damage then no XS should be paid.

Thats the way we deal anyway.

Her NCB would be affected though if they arent protected.

 

[EllD90]

She'll still have to pay the excess won't she? Regardless of her car being fixed or not?

I thought this but was informed by a few people who work in insurance that this isn't the case.

 

[Revels]

Ahh okay, don't bother claiming then. Not because of the renewal price but like you said, for the sake of the excess.

 

[fUbAr]

My claim for over £3000, which I was at fault, put my insurance up £50.

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[young_lew]

So if two cars are in an accident and you decide to fix your car off your own back, you don't have to pay the excess?

 

[hopkinsgm]

Assuming the g/f of the OP is found at fault (and from the description in the OP, that seems likely), then it'll be a claim against her insurance to repair the damage to the Ibiza. Thus she'll end up having to pay the excess anyway.

 

[young_lew]

Assuming the g/f of the OP is found at fault (and from the description in the OP, that seems likely), then it'll be a claim against her insurance to repair the damage to the Ibiza. Thus she'll end up having to pay the excess anyway.

Thats what i thought, but EllD90's post seems to say otherwise.

If she has to pay the excess anyway she should certainly get her car fixed through insurance.

 

[EllD90]

When my brother had an accident with a 3rd party, his excess was paid direct to the company who was repairing his car, not the insurers. Think about it!

 

[fUbAr]

When my brother had an accident with a 3rd party, his excess was paid direct to the company who was repairing his car, not the insurers. Think about it!

This is the case with any repair claim, the excess gets paid to the garage.

 

[EllD90]

My post was referring to hopkinsgm, who thinks you pay the excess even if you don't get your own car repaired.

 

[fUbAr]

ah, I see now.

 

[hopkinsgm]

If a claim is made against your insurance then you have to pay an excess. This is how excesses work. This is the case whether the claim is for damage to your own car (if you are insured fully comprehensive) or to the third party's car (if you are found to be at fault).

From the original posting, it sounds pretty clear that the OP's g/f will be found at fault as it sounds like she pulled out into the side of a passing vehicle. Thus the third party will be claiming against the OP's g/f's insurance, and so the OP's g/f will have to pay the excess on her policy.

If the third party has fully comprehensive insurance, then they will probably claim against their own insurance in order to get themselves back on the road quickly. The third party will have to pay the excess on their policy for this. However, if it is established that the OP's g/f is at fault, the third party's insurers will then seek to recover the cost of the claim from the OP's g/f's insurers, which will include the cost of any repairs, hire car costs, personal injury claims, and uninsured losses (e.g. the third party's excess, any loss of earnings resulting, etc...). Having recovered the cost of the claim, the third party will then have their excess and any other uninsured losses refunded.

Note that this often doesn't happen quickly. I was involved in an incident a few years back and it took over two years to get the claim settled. I finally received a cheque for uninsured losses two years after I'd paid out the excess on my policy to have the repairs to my car carried out. It took that long for the insurers to agree whose fault it was - you'd think determining fault would be pretty easy when someone sideswipes a stationary car whilst driving through a red traffic light, but there you go... Worth noting that it was a fairly complicated case involving a foreign registered HGV. Thank goodness I wasn't third party or I'd have been without my car (or substantially more than an excess out of pocket) for that time.

 

[mark smith87]

You only pay the excess if your car is repaired after an accident. If you fix it yourself then no excess. It'll still affect your NCD if it was your fault though.