# Need some advice!



## Rayaan

So had an incident this week whereby a rented van scraped the side of my wife's car whilst it was parked in the street.

The guy knocked around and found us (Good man! and seems genuine) and we exchanged details. 

The van was a rental and has a £1250 excess on it.

I've already got in touch with my insurance company and told them about the incident but not put a claim through. I have a £450 excess and they say if I want to use my own bodyshop, I have to pay it all. No motor legal so can't claim it back as losses.

Now this guy wants to get the van and our car done privately so told me to take my car to any bodyshop and he will pay for it.

So I took it to the bodyshop and the quote is £1500, more than his excess yet he still prefers to do this as he says it'll save him money and me my excess.

Can anyone please advise?


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## cossiecol

Personally I would get a few quotes (assuming there around the same ballpark figure), hand it to him and get the money up front, then the ball is in your court.

If you pay for it then try to get the money off him what's to say that he'll pay it if there's no damage visible to your car (if that makes sense).

There's nothing stopping you from going private but cover yourself.


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## Rayaan

cossiecol said:


> Personally I would get a few quotes (assuming there around the same ballpark figure), hand it to him and get the money up front, then the ball is in your court.
> 
> If you pay for it then try to get the money off him what's to say that he'll pay it if there's no damage visible to your car (if that makes sense).
> 
> There's nothing stopping you from going private but cover yourself.


Obviously the benefits of going private are clear. I dont have to pay excess and neither will he, but it does mean that he has to pay more than his excess.

I've told him that I'll be using my dealership bodyshop who Ive used before with no problems and it will not change if he wants to go through insurance or privately. They are slightly more expensive than the usual.

Yes, Ive told him that I am happy to go privately providing he pays what is on the invoice first through cheque or bank transfer. I dont want to be dealing with cash


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## Lexus-is250

The issue is because you have reported it to the insurance company they will list it as a claim even though the claim gets cancelled by yourself. I had this issue a few years back and it will now sit on the data base for insurer's just showing closed, bit will still effect the following years premium. 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


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## Rayaan

Lexus-is250 said:


> The issue is because you have reported it to the insurance company they will list it as a claim even though the claim gets cancelled by yourself. I had this issue a few years back and it will now sit on the data base for insurer's just showing closed, bit will still effect the following years premium.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


I told them Im not claiming, Im filing an incident. I'll let you know if I want to claim later on. They said that its OK and I wont lose anything but will still have to report it upon insurance

I thought you had to report all incidents anyway, regardless of whether they were sorted through insurance or privately.


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## Sam6er

They want you to report incidents so that they can bump up your premium. Iv had this before. Truck driver hit me at low speed, caused a minor issue on my bumper, reported it but didnt claim for it, next renewal i got hit with an increase for that accident, even though not my fault and no claim made. i was told "statistically you are more likely to have another accident therefore we have increased your premium" all i can say is crooks! 3 cars increased premium over 5 years took quite a chunk of change from me I wont be ever reporting an incident again unless i am claiming for it. If you gave your insurance company the other guys details then he will probably face increased premiums too and will get stung when he goes to renew and doesn't declare that accident. 

Your guy has offered to pay for it, give him the quote, take the money (whichever form your happy with) and consider the matter closed, repair the car or pocket the cash is your choice.


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## Lexus-is250

Rayaan said:


> I told them Im not claiming, Im filing an incident. I'll let you know if I want to claim later on. They said that its OK and I wont lose anything but will still have to report it upon insurance
> 
> I thought you had to report all incidents anyway, regardless of whether they were sorted through insurance or privately.


It's worth a call to them to see if it's been logged on the national insurance database as that's what happened to me. I thought I'd closed it with no further action then got hit the following year by my then insurer's saying I hadn't told them about a claim.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


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## sshooie

As above, around 6-7 years ago I informed my insurer of some damage to a bumper caused by hitting a dog, I ended up paying myself but my policy still went up due to it being an 'incident'.

Insurance co's are barstards..


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## Rayaan

I agree, and I know our insurance premiums will go up. I took that into account but unfortunately, Id rather they go up a bit than be told that they'll reduce my claim in the future if I make one.

Will get in contact, send him the PDF quote and see what he wants to do. If he says he'd rather go through insurance now that the quote is higher than his excess, then so be it.


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## sshooie

Could you not just go via your insurer and he buy the claim from your insurer? that way you have the protection of your insurer for any issues (bodyshop etc.) down the line.


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## GP Punto

I think that the van drivers excess only applies to to his own damage, not a third party claim. 

It often gets so messy when people want to avoid using insurers, problems such as having the use of a car whilst yours is being repaired and the quality of the work. 

My concern would be that you give the go ahead for your repairs and then the van driver has a change of mind and wont pay.


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## Rayaan

GP Punto said:


> I think that the van drivers excess only applies to to his own damage, not a third party claim.
> 
> It often gets so messy when people want to avoid using insurers, problems such as having the use of a car whilst yours is being repaired and the quality of the work.
> 
> My concern would be that you give the go ahead for your repairs and then the van driver has a change of mind and wont pay.


Im not going to go ahead until the money is in my account. Unfortunately wont get a courtesy car anyway because im using my own bodyshop and not the insurance approved ones even if I went through insurance


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## kingswood

if ur not claiming id ring the insurance and say it was a misunderstanding and they was no accident - you was away, there was a mark on the car and the wife thought it was a scrap so she rang you and then you reported it. 

but it was just bird a bit like your insurance company. with no way to varify it surley they cant sting u next year


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## Rayaan

Flipping nightmare. Doesn't want to pay for it now so Ill just be going through insurance anyway


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## macca666

I don't agree with the way insurance companies work and think it's the biggest scam out there. I posted this year as my insurance went up quite considerably yet my circumstances remained the same with the exception I had another years driving with no accidents.

Unfortunately there's not much we can do other than shop around to try and find something cheaper which I couldn't and all companies were around the same price mark 

In relation to the original post if I remember correctly when you complete documentation or make your declarations is the question now not "have you had any claims or accidents within the last 5 years" What this means is that whether you inform your insurance at the time of the accident or not and whether you claim or not is irrelevant as if you don't declare it then you're technically making a false declaration.

Again I don't agree with it and think it's ridiculous but what can we do


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## Rayaan

macca666 said:


> I don't agree with the way insurance companies work and think it's the biggest scam out there. I posted this year as my insurance went up quite considerably yet my circumstances remained the same with the exception I had another years driving with no accidents.
> 
> Unfortunately there's not much we can do other than shop around to try and find something cheaper which I couldn't and all companies were around the same price mark
> 
> In relation to the original post if I remember correctly when you complete documentation or make your declarations is the question now not "have you had any claims or accidents within the last 5 years" What this means is that whether you inform your insurance at the time of the accident or not and whether you claim or not is irrelevant as if you don't declare it then you're technically making a false declaration.
> 
> Again I don't agree with it and think it's ridiculous but what can we do


Yep, technically you should declare all accidents regardless of damage.

However, if they are all settled privately then they have no way of finding out. Of course, if its through insurance then you need to declare even if not claiming


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