# Hit by binwagon



## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Sat in front room working when binmen turn up. Seem to hang around outside for a while until one comes and knocks on door. Thought I was being told off for putting the rabbits straw in with garden waste:lol:
Turns out he's caught the back end of my car pulling back in!!

Driver very very apologetic etc, waiting for a call from council now but presuming I'll have to inform my insurance? 
Damage isn't horrendous, suspect it'll look a lot better once I clean it but boot and bumper have a deep gouge in. Car has done 170k worth little so I'm debating whether they'll write it off!!


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Pic of damage.









Sent from my ELE-L09 using Tapatalk


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

Some years ago I had damage to my car from a piece of wood that blew off a roof. The council accepted responsibility and took care of getting it repaired. I don't think I informed my insurance company.


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

Check your terms, but generally insurance companies require you to report all accidents, even if no claim is made.

Unfortunately in some instances having a no fault accident can result in premiums increasing in future years, unfair though that is.


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## RS3 (Mar 5, 2018)

Id avoid telling your insurer if you can and hope the council just pay the invoice.

Decent of them to come and knock though.


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

fatdazza said:


> Check your terms, but generally insurance companies require you to report all accidents, even if no claim is made.
> 
> Unfortunately in some instances having a no fault accident can result in premiums increasing in future years, unfair though that is.


Yep, had them before and not convinced it doesn't affect premiums. Why ask for non fault accidents if it doesn't?



RS3 said:


> Id avoid telling your insurer if you can and hope the council just pay the invoice.
> 
> Decent of them to come and knock though.


I did wonder if I wasn't sat in front room what would have happened. Took a couple of minutes to come and knock!

Will wait for their call before telling my insurer although, as I said we know how costs for a simple looking repair can rocket so if expensive I might have to.


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

Hopefully they’ll sort it no problem, I’d ask about them paying for maybe a smart repair ? Don’t need to go through insurance and have costs escalated up, gets it’s sorted and no need to inform insurance, but it’s if it can be done via a smart repair and if they’re happy to do it ??? 

A mate was sat in his brand new leaf and the wind caught the door of the police car that had parked next to him - they were apologetic and advised their sergeant, mate spoke with them - no scratch or anything, just a ding with a PDR would easily remove - so you’re looking what, under £100. They wouldn’t go for it, was a straight - go through our insurance, even though this would escalate the costs…


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

Council paid for a suspension work on my mums very old Citroen C3. The drive needed doing right at the bottom where the road was and was crumbling away and due to the turn in being a right angle probably put the components under more stress. It was pretty unavoidable and technically is their land, they sorted the road/drive and although the claim process is a lengthy one with paper work, estimates or invoices she did eventually get a cheque from them. Best of luck. Even being hit my an uninured driver when my policy states it covers uninsured drivers put my insurance up.

Have just got renewal as with same insurer since the 2018 accident and has jumped nearly £200 since then. Got a price of £420, They had duplicated the accident twice on the paper work, got in touch and brought it down to £339 but probably will be going else where as had a comparison site quote of around £247


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Just had council lady on the phone. She's taken details, waiting for report from the driver and said council insurance will be in touch. She said it's up to me if I tell my insurance, only thing is it would be quicker. So if I needed it repaired quickly she'd suggest going through mine.

No issue from my point of view about the speed, cars still driveable and have the wife's if I need it. Just thinking of any issues regarding claim history when renewing, we know what insurance co's can be like and if it's on some database would it flag up in the future?


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## Rappy (Oct 2, 2020)

If they are going through there insurance, then it will be logged 

Basically, your insurance will go up. I have had this a couple of times due to non fault claims.

1st time was parked in a motorway services, when the driver of a flatbed transit hit me & went to drive off 

2nd time in the snow a guy skidded out of a junction & hit me on a main road 

The insurances excuse, you are driving at peak times, so are obviously high risk


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## wish wash (Aug 25, 2011)

You have to declare it with insurance for 5 years


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

wish wash said:


> You have to declare it with insurance for 5 years


Yeah, I'm thinking I'll let them know as I don't want any shocks in future years if I needed to claim! Bit of a pain but that's why we have insurance.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Personally i'd wait until you know how the council will deal with it. I would think they have a set limit under which they deal with claims themselves to protect their own insurance premiums.

If the council pay themselves and don't involve their own insurers, then nothing will be recorded on the claims database.

Technically any accident should be reported, the conditions in your policy normally state something similar to - 
_
"Claims procedure

You must report any accident, injury, loss or damage to us as soon as possible so we can tell you what to do next and help resolve any claim"_

This would mean that if you caught your wing mirror on a post reversing out the drive, you would need to inform your insurers as it would come under "any damage", but in reality you would just pick up another wing mirror and replace it yourself.

Some insurers do make a premium loading for non-fault accidents. They never used to (unless you had a load of them) but nowadays every rating factor is fined tuned. Despite the fact that someone may have been sat in their living room at the time like yourself, a policy with no claims is still more profitable than a policy with non -fault claims, as non-fault claims usually involve the setting up of claim, appointing and paying an approved repairer, vehicle inspections, then a recovery team to recover money from a third party insurer, so there is quite a lot of resource and cost involved.


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## RS3 (Mar 5, 2018)

But this:

"Claims procedure
You must report any accident, injury, loss or damage to us as soon as possible so we can tell you what to do next and help resolve any claim"

does not insist on you telling them for sake of recording the incident, it says it should be reported to help you resolve any claim. This implies that if you don't need help, it doesn't need reporting.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

For the sake of pedantry, here is an excerpt from a different policy wording:

_*5. Claims
If you or your car are involved in any type of incident, accident, claim or loss
regardless of fault you must:
a) tell us as soon as possible.* If your car has been stolen, you must advise
the police and co-operate fully with their investigations;
b) give us full control of the claim including the uplift storage and repair of
your car. We may take over, defend or settle the claim, or take up any
claim in your name; you must not negotiate regarding any claim, settle
any claim without our written permission or admit liability for any claim,
unless we ask you to do so;
c) co-operate with us fully, including:
i) giving us consent to proceed with the repair to your car as soon as
possible after we have obtained an estimate from our approved
repairer;
ii) providing us with any formal documentation, including the V5
registration certificate for your car, personal identity requests or
driving licence for any named driver of your car;
iii) upon our request, send to us, unanswered, as soon as possible any
documents you receive such as notice of prosecution, coroner's
inquest, fatal accident inquiry, court summons, claim or letter. If the
accident has been recorded by your dashboard camera, you should let
us have copies of the accident recording as soon as possible.
d) if the damaged car is provided by us under Section A - (Damage to your
car), Section B -(Fire and theft) or J - (Courtesy car upgrade), the car will
be referred to our approved repairers._


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Shiny said:


> Personally i'd wait until you know how the council will deal with it. I would think they have a set limit under which they deal with claims themselves to protect their own insurance premiums.
> 
> If the council pay themselves and don't involve their own insurers, then nothing will be recorded on the claims database.
> 
> ...


Thanks Lloyd, I'm presuming they're going the insurance route as lady from council this morning said she would send details to their insurance company and they would be in touch. No request from her about a quote first etc.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

That's rotten luck. At least the bin man admitted fault. The majority would drive off these days.


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

On the whether to declare to your insurer point or not complete no brainer, you don’t want to be on the wrong end of an insurer seeking to void a policy ab initio on the ground of material non disclosure. Just not worth the risk. You are just reporting for notification purposes only and not making a claim, let the Council/their insurers sort it out. Come renewal time hunt around and do the usual comparison. Chances are premium will be loaded but may be able to mitigate that either by moving or negotiating/price matching.

Anyway, loads more recent structural reforms to PI claims so wait for the insurers to throw the extra savings they make from that to your premiums. Must go, awaiting the squadron of flying pigs to go over the house…


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## SarahAnn (Apr 6, 2011)

When my ex partner lived with me, we were swapping our cars around and he parked outside of the house just for a few minutes while I got my car out. We never park on the road, always on the drive. The daughter who visits her mother backed out of their drive across the road straight into the side of his 3 month old merc. God knows how she didn't see it when she came out of the house and got into her car. Thankfully she knocked and told him.

Hers is a mobility car so she rang them straight away and they said no need to tell your insurance, let us deal with it. They had it booked in straight away and it was sorted. It wasn't just a smart repair either. She had caved the side in. No damage to her Kuga. She said her reverse sensors hadn't gone off so she kept reversing!!! She is so fat, she can't turn her head!

I always thought that you had to inform your own insurance even when not your fault but her insurance were saying no need. It's a bit confusing.
I think that I would ask Shiny if I needed advice in the future :thumb:


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

If any insurer is involved, you should be informing your own Insurers. In the case with the mobility above, what they should have said is there is no need to claim on your own insurance, as they will deal with the repairs, not that you shouldn't inform your insurers at all.

Insurers report any incident (that may or may not lead to a claim) on the Claims & Underwriting Exchange - a shared database operated by the MID. Insurers cross reference to this at quote stage and at claims stage to identify undisclosed incidents.

Some scenarios that may help - 

- Chap hits your wing mirror, offers you £100 to fix it, you are happy, settled 100% privately: no need to tell your insurers unless you really want to, it won't be noted on CUE so will not raise its head again

- Chap hits your wing mirror, tells his insurers, his insurers offer to deal direct with you and pay your costs so you don't need to claim on your own insurance: inform your insurers of the incident for "report purposes only" and be clear you are not claiming on your policy and there will be no TP counter claim as the TP insurers are dealing with the claim. This should be noted on CUE as a non fault incident.

- Chap hits your wing mirror, but insists insurance deal with it and his insurers do not offer to deal with it direct with you: inform your insurers you want to make a claim, your insurers pay for the repair, you pay the excess, your insurers claim back the reapir costs from the TP insurers and you claim back your excess. This will apear on CUE as a "fault" claim until your insurers recover their losses and will then be noted as non fault.

Again for the sake of pedantry, there are a lot a variables to this, but in summary, if any insurer is involved, be sure you report it to your own in line policy conditions and disclosure, even if it is just for "report purposes only".


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## SarahAnn (Apr 6, 2011)

Thanks Lloyd. Thanks for that. Hopefully, fingers crossed, touch wood etc etc, I will never need to claim on mine but I know that's why we have it.
He's my ex so I don't care if he gets in trouble at his own renewal time 

Thanks for that full explanation


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

What would you guys recommend regards my insurance or the other parties dealing with repairs?
I had the 3rd parties insurance on telling me they will sort repairs etc but I'm thinking as they're paying are they likely to want it done as cheap as possible!


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## mike13 (Feb 25, 2011)

If it was me, i'd let my own insurance deal with it, you're paying for that service. It might result in a slightly higher premium but it will hopefully be dealt with correctly to your satisfaction.


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## Rappy (Oct 2, 2020)

Darlofan said:


> What would you guys recommend regards my insurance or the other parties dealing with repairs?
> I had the 3rd parties insurance on telling me they will sort repairs etc but I'm thinking as they're paying are they likely to want it done as cheap as possible!


You are 100% correct :thumb: had this on one of my cars. **** poor repair & loads of overspray & drinks spilled in my car 

You can take your car to be repaired anywhere. My other one went to Audi. OK I had to pay £200 out of my own pocket for a £2800 repair, but it was repaired once & zero issues.

The other, cheaper option was returned 4 times & in the end I just removed the overspray myself from alloys & wheel liners & the insurance gave me £100 back as compensation.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Darlofan said:


> What would you guys recommend regards my insurance or the other parties dealing with repairs?
> I had the 3rd parties insurance on telling me they will sort repairs etc but I'm thinking as they're paying are they likely to want it done as cheap as possible!


You can still choose who repairs the car if you have a preferred bodyshop.

I've only ever had one claim and that was someone bumping into me whilst stationary. The third party insurer, Direct Line, were very easy to deal with. Their own preferred bodyshop was the one I'd have chosen anyway.

I think dealing with the third party is the best method. Too often now your own insurance company will put you down the accident management route for a non-fault claim. They get commission and the accident management companies unnecessarily send the bill soaring with excessive fees.

I wouldn't assume they want to fix your car too cheaply, they probably want to avoid you ending up with an accident management company.


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

My experience was very good. I was sent to a coach works/builder. All them years ago they were the people that always did the best work.


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Just a couple of updates on this!

1- The claim for damage to my car has put my wife's insurance up by about 30odd%. Renewed at £114 but she forgot to add my claim as I'm a named driver on hers. Had email yesterday saying premium will now be £152. Comparisons can get £147 so not worth cancelling and moving.

2- I'm still fighting for £70 back that I paid Enterprise Car Hire. When I collected the hire car the guy mentioned £70 for some kind of insurance excess so I wasn't liable for anything. Stupidly I believed him when he said people claim it back from insurance.  Neither insurance Co seem bothered as they're saying the charge was optional. 

3-The body shop still have not got the parts to replace those they damaged or lost whilst they had my car. Email last week the guy said parts were due in and he was about to ring me with an update. Informed him the bumper needs looking at again as where it meets the rear side panels it has popped out from the clips-needless to say he's not returned my call. I've given him till this Friday to reply then I'm back to insurers to say not happy with repairs and want it going elsewhere.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

I think you will struggle with the £70. As the insurers have said, it was an optional cost, presumably to waive the excess. There's a duty to "mitigate a loss" in an insurance claim, which basically means to keep the costs down to a necessary minimum.

Might be worth having a word with Enterprise as they are giving out duff info, but i doubt you will get anywhere with them.


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

Darlofan said:


> Just a couple of updates on this!
> 
> *I'm still fighting for £70 back that I paid Enterprise Car Hire. When I collected the hire car the guy mentioned £70 for some kind of insurance excess so I wasn't liable for anything. Stupidly I believed him when he said people claim it back from insurance.  Neither insurance Co seem bothered as they're saying the charge was optional. *
> /QUOTE]
> ...


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