Sods law

[finlay666]

Got my new car yesterday, had to drive back from Inverness today, journey was going fine then I was involved in a low speed shunt with another car.

Mine has a damaged front bumper, bonnet slightly bent in a couple of places but that is it as far as I can tell.

Hers was a slight scratch/dent in the back bumper. Got the details that I could (she didn't have hers on her), seeing as hers is fairly minor and I have to get mine fixed myself anyway I was thinking about settling it privately, as I would rather not lose any chane of a NCB within 2 days of getting my insurance lol.

Anyone got any ideas? Pics of my car will follow soon

[stevie lee]

will this sort of shunt affect the airbag sensors? - if the cars got airbags that is. Because the bonnet is slightly bent, the sensors might be misaligned..don't know where the sensors are located, but this was my first thought..

any whiplash or smacked heads on windows?

can't comment on insurance, don't know much about it...

[staffsMike]

I'd avoid an insurance claim if the damage is less than around 10% of your insurance for the year. That is all you will get with 1 years no claim bonus anyway. Your excess will probably cover it anyway and if it's young persons thats upto £450 afaik.

It always happens when you are trying to keep it nice lol Some clusmy **** dropped some heavy metal objects onto my lovely laptop the other day, had it a year and it was as new My car got a crack in the windscreen 2 minutes after I drove it off the forecourt..meh.

[finlay666]

will this sort of shunt affect the airbag sensors? - if the cars got airbags that is. Because the bonnet is slightly bent, the sensors might be misaligned..don't know where the sensors are located, but this was my first thought..

any whiplash or smacked heads on windows?

can't comment on insurance, don't know much about it...

Airbags didn't go off, wouldn't drive it if they did tbh

bonnet is slightly bent, going to try and get it fixed tomorrow, shouldnt cost too much (a replacement and bumper is under £150)

No whiplash/smacked heads AFAIK, I made sure she was ok to drive first, mind she drove off very quickly after

Just spoke to her husband, he wants to have a look at it before acting further and doesn't really want to claim (probably due to excess being more than the cost) so will see how it goes and maybe sort it privately.

[Rave]

Just spoke to her husband, he wants to have a look at it before acting further and doesn't really want to claim (probably due to excess being more than the cost) so will see how it goes and maybe sort it privately.

If the accident was your fault (which it would appear to be?) then his excess doesn't come into it. It's just much easier to deal with you if you've accepted liability and are offering to settle up without the insurance company being involved.

I would recommend that you inform the insurance company anyway. If she does decide to contract whiplash and chase compensation, you could be in trouble if the insurance company don't know about it. I ran into the back of someone once and wanted to sort it out myself, but I informed my insurance company anyway; I got lucky as there was no damage to the other car and my insurance company didn't increase my premium or cancel my no claims as a result.

Anyway unlucky mate, live and learn eh.

[Lucio]

AFAIK you're only obligated to tell the insurance comapny when you make your declaration at renewal. The only time you're legally obligated to report it, is when a person is injured.

[Rave]

AFAIK you're only obligated to tell the insurance comapny when you make your declaration at renewal. The only time you're legally obligated to report it, is when a person is injured.

Well who's to say the other driver isn't? Just because she agreed that she wasn't hurt at the scene doesn't mean that she won't develop a stiff neck in the next couple of days (real or imagined) and fancy a grand or two worth of compensation for it. I'd say err on the safe side.

[Mblaster]

Well who's to say the other driver isn't? Just because she agreed that she wasn't hurt at the scene doesn't mean that she won't develop a stiff neck in the next couple of days (real or imagined) and fancy a grand or two worth of compensation for it. I'd say err on the safe side.

My brother had that exact thing happen to him, after barely touching the side of a car (no damage to either), the driver claimed she got whiplash from hard breaking... something that's pretty much impossible to do. Insurance claim dragged on for ages and ammounted in nothing in the end.

[schmunk]

Well who's to say the other driver isn't? Just because she agreed that she wasn't hurt at the scene doesn't mean that she won't develop a stiff neck in the next couple of days (real or imagined) and fancy a grand or two worth of compensation for it. I'd say err on the safe side.

+1

[stevie lee]

finlay666 - i think you misunderstood my previous post slightly - what i meant was that the airbag sensors might have been damaged, even though the airbags didn't go off, because the bumpers bent and the bonnet is bent, the sensors could have moved and might not go off when you do need them... they are right behind the bumper aren't they?

worth having a quick look in my opinion - I've had too many car crashes to take any chances... could just be my paranoia talking, but it's something i would check..


and what Rave is saying makes sense, tell your insurance anyway..

[hitman67]

Usually they are attached to the bumper mounting points on the chassis, so a minor bump won't set them off but if it's hard enough to transfer some of the force to the chassis it sets them off.

[finlay666]

Right well a quote to fix it is about £800! that is for everything though, so bonnet, bumper, some cam belt thing and the cam for it (full kit) and labour.

AFAIK I could get away with just the bonnet and the cam stuff so about £400 inc labour

So I have ordered a haynes manual and will see if I can do it myself as getting the parts should be do-able (local scrapyards and ebay)

If I tell my insurance company that I was involved but sorting it privately will that affect my no claims?

[kalniel]

If I tell my insurance company that I was involved but sorting it privately will that affect my no claims?

Nope. That can only be affected if your insurance have to pay beyond your excess level.

[GoNz0]

Usually they are attached to the bumper mounting points on the chassis, so a minor bump won't set them off but if it's hard enough to transfer some of the force to the chassis it sets them off.

mines under the back seat

[Lucio]

If I tell my insurance company that I was involved but sorting it privately will that affect my no claims?

It shouldn't affect your no claims bonus but it WILL affect your renewal premium. More importantly if you renew and don't tell them, you've invalidiated your insurance if they ever find out.

All in all, you have to be very careful what you say and do. The only "safe" way is to live up to the consequences and report it, every other path is dodgy at best, illegal at worst.

[finlay666]

It shouldn't affect your no claims bonus but it WILL affect your renewal premium. More importantly if you renew and don't tell them, you've invalidiated your insurance if they ever find out.

All in all, you have to be very careful what you say and do. The only "safe" way is to live up to the consequences and report it, every other path is dodgy at best, illegal at worst.

But will I have to do this now or when I renew?