wife's car hit from behind
 

My wife's car was hit from behind in Sainsbury's car park the other day.

We've reported it to the insurers etc and gave them all details of the other driver etc. The other driver just gave me a call and told me he wants to settle the claim outside of insurance.

As we've already reported the incident to the insurance company, will we still have to declare the accident at renewal time (and hence face a hike in insurance costs), or can we just not claim and not face a hike?

The reason I'm even entertaining the idea is that I find it unfair that we have to pay higher insurance costs for a couple of years just because another driver doesn't know how to park :(

If I still have to declare the incident I'm just going to let him know that we want to settle through insurance, but I'd like to avoid the cost if possible (then again, he might not want to settle outside of insurance when he sees how much a main dealer bumper + fix-up is...)

i made a claim which i later withdrew as i wasnt happy with the 50/50 decision from the insurance company, i was told that i would still have to declare that you started the claim, the insurance company also informed me that they could close the claim incase the other party made a claim aswell.

ps. if hes looking to settle away from insurers then hes obviousley either not got any insurance or hes had alot of crashes before in which case you should definatley continue with the insurance claim to get the idiot of the roads!!

if the person admits liability it will not effect your insurance as you will be claiming on his insurance and they will pay out and you get your car repaired. similar happend to me over a year ago, because it was his fault and they admitted liability and i was t,p,f,t it was his insurance who paid thats why you have insurance to cover the unfortunate.

so are you saying some guy did ya wife from behind, then he rang you to tell you, quality




sorry couldnt resist

LOL :D

Cool, so it may not end up costing the earth then, hopefully :)

As gaz says it shouldn't affect you at all.

Just make sure you declare it when getting quotes in future, as insurers do check :thumb:

Let your insurance company know most will give you advice on how to go about settling outside the insurance, after all it saves them money.

IMHO I have only be successful in doing this once, and this was due to the woman would lose her insurance altogether if she made a claim. The damage was £580 for the insurance which she paid in full within the week.

Get an estimate, agree that the work has to be done at a garage of YOUR choice not his/hers uncle that can fix it for £50!