Car Insurance: Should I Claim or Pay myself?

sk5000

Hi,

Ran into the back of someone and caused roughly €3000 damage to his van, plus around €1000 to my own (decided to buy a new car as wasn't worth fixing).

Thankfully he isn't look for a payout and only want's the van repaired in full.

Wondering would I be better off paying for repairs myself or going through my insurance?

Im 27 yo male with 1 years no claims and only had full licence for 1 year...

When i added a claim of €3000 to AXA online quote it only raised the premium by €300, worried however if i go through insurance that wouldn't be true and my premium would skyrocket?

Thanks

Pkiernan

sk5000 wrote: »

Hi,

Ran into the back of someone and caused roughly €3000 damage to his van, plus around €1000 to my own (decided to buy a new car as wasn't worth fixing).

Thankfully he isn't look for a payout and only want's the van repaired in full.

Wondering would I be better off paying for repairs myself or going through my insurance?

Im 27 yo male with 1 years no claims and only had full licence for 1 year...

When i added a claim of €3000 to AXA online quote it only raised the premium by €300, worried however if i go through insurance that wouldn't be true and my premium would skyrocket?

Thanks

Insurance.
Thats what its for.

Eggs For Dinner

Make sure you notify your insurer as soon as possible. You are obliged to do so. Nothing to stop the other driver putting in an injury claim upto 2 years down the road.Trying to settle these matters privately rarely works out well

coylemj

sk5000 wrote: »

Thankfully he isn't look for a payout and only want's the van repaired in full.

That's until his mates (all of them) remind him of the bottomless pit of compo money called 'whiplash'.

Even in the (highly unlikely) event that he doesn't develop muscular pains, he will probably provide you with an inflated estimate to fix the damage. For which he will be prepared to accept cash.

And even if you hand over the cash, he can still lodge a claim for whiplash. At which point his van will have been repaired (or traded in for an upgrade with your cash) and your insurance company will not reimburse you the money. So for you, it will be a 'lose lose' scenario'. Because you will be at the loss of your no-claims bonus and the money you paid him.

Don't deal with him, notify your insurance. If he does settle for the damage alone, ask your insurance company if you can pay it order to avoid having a claim on your record.

eastie17

Agree with coylemj, if it was a few hundred euro I'd say pay yourself. 4K make a claim, you HAVE to tell them anyway and they stick it on your record for 3 to 5 years even if theres no actual claim.

Yuser.

A lot depends on your bonus protection too

If u have it it may be well worthwhile making the claim

You'll still have an accident on your record

First step is to notify the insurance of everything and cover your back, don't pay anything off the record

drogon.

Well the thing is, today it is 3k. What is the chance he could ask for more later ?

Was he actually in the van when this happened ? just thinking about other injury claims down the road too.

Yuser.

My bad didn't spot you've only a year no claims