Accident query...

I had a car accident when i was 18 and instead of telling the insurance etc i just paid to fix both cars as it was cheaper than the XS and got my years no claims. The police where involved and i went through a fence but i never had any come backs.
not claiming happens a lot nowadays as insurance XS and premiums are into the thousands for young drivers

According to the letter of the law, even though his accident is a non-reportable (meaning doesn't need to be reported to Police) as it is only his property that is damaged, he still needs to inform his insurance company.

However, if there are no witnesses, the police are not informed and its not in the papers then in reality, how will the insurance company find out?

Not that I am advocating this you understand??

Tell him to get the bike fixed and keep his gob shut.

As above.

Unless of course he enjoys a right royal shafting every year!

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Tell him to get the bike fixed and keep his gob shut.

That's what i did

[northwind]

Originally Posted by bluefishman

That's what i did

Me too, on a few occasions. It won't be economic to claim and they won't pay out a penny from the sounds of it as it's under the excess but they'll still record it and it'll still almost certainly weight his premiums. So yep, little white lie in the face of obvious crazy unfairness.

[Bibio]

so same applies if bike falls over while you are stationary coz you have slipped on something or if someone 'keys' your bike or car or if your bike falls over in the wind. personally i think its entirely up to the individual 'if' they claim or not and in no way can the insurance company's make you do so unless there is a third party involved. insurance company's are just that 'insurance'.

i would like to see it written in the small print that you have to 'legally' inform them if there is no third party involved.

[yorkie_chris]

He lowsided it on purpose. Not an accident any more

Insurance don't need to know.

[madcockney]

What you should and should not report is an interesting one. If I had to report every time somebody damaged, often deliberately, the mirrors on my car then I would be forever filling out forms. I think that the point here is when is it an accident and when isn't it. (I wish somebody would make a claim of damaging themselves on mine and other cars here as then we would have at least one name to report to the police. )

Several years ago when I was seeking contents insurance quotes I was asked by one insurer if I had ever made a claim, which I haven't. I was then asked if I hadn't made a claim, but could have at any time. I mentioned that a few years previously the electric to our area was disrupted due to a supply instance. I lost a small amount of food in the fridgefreezer, but never made a claim. I was told that it should be detailed as I could have made a claim and it could affect the insurers liability and hence the premium. (I assume that if this happens a lot even though not the insured fault then they have to load the premium accordingly.) The interesting point was that by not declaring this insurer stated that this could affect me if I should ever make any claim under the contents insurance. BTW I never went with them, and I do think they were being pedantic.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Bibio

i would like to see it written in the small print that you have to 'legally' inform them if there is no third party involved.

You'll usually get asked if you've been involved in an accident as well as if you've made any claims when you do an insurance app. That's where things get sticky.