Hello
Today my brother scratched the side of his car which left a pretty big damage. He has full cover car insurance is he able to make a claim and say it was his fault and just pay the excess?
Claiming On Car Insurance - At Fault
Berigood on 17/09/2015 - 01:01
Last edited 17/09/2015 - 10:34 by 1 other user
Last edited 17/09/2015 - 10:34 by 1 other user
Comments
Yes, can claim under full (comprehensive) cover even it was his mistake.
Check if it is worth to make the claim or pay for the fix yourself.
I liked to speak to the claim accessor because of expertise and neutral.
Can lodge the claim first then withdrawal before the car is fixed if cheaper to pay yourself.
Eg. Repair cost (paid privately) = Insurance excess (as per full cove policy) + Increase of full cover premium (next 2 years, depend on policy) + Insurance of Green slip cover premium (normally next 2 years. Speak to the insurance company. Depend on amount/tyoe of incident, sometimes I called insurance company and explained it was at fault but minor car accident with no other car involved. They can adjudt the premium in my case),
The down side of ANY accident is that you HAVE to declare it on next year's renewal, (Have you had any accidents in the last 2/6years?)…even if you payed for the repairs yourself….speaking from experience here. If you do not, you run the risk of having your next claim dis-allowed.Today with computers keeping records and Smash Repair/Insurance Co's collaboration the insured is always 'at risk'.
Do not make any direct enquiries to your Insurance Company giving your details about the incident…they keep records of all enquiries.
I'm not sure how you can determine it to be an accident? You can pretty much make up any reason to justify a repair "I was buffing the paint on my car and it went through the clear" or "I didn't wash the bird sh!t off for a prolonged period and it damaged the paint" so I decided to get it fixed.
If you don't claim it's not an issue.
Today my brother scratched the side of his car which left a pretty big damage
That sounds like it was deliberate.
So no need to declare it as an accident.
Get a quote for the repairs first, then only go to the insurance company if the cost is significantly higher than the excess to allow for increased premiums in the future.
By "full cover car insurance" if you meant comprehensive insurance then yes, he can report it to his insurance provider, who will (after some investigation) hopefully approve his claim. He would then have to only pay any applicable excesses for the necessary repairs.
But be warned. By reporting an at-fault incident, your brother would have to pay considerably higher premiums from then on, for a very long time, should he proceed to make an insurance claim. It may be cheaper in the long run to do the repairs at his own cost if finances allow.