Hi fellow ozBargainers,
I recently got into a car accident, other party has already accepted liability.
I have comprehensive insurance myself and the question I have is, should I claim my own insurance or should I claim the other party's insurance to have my car fixed?
Reason for the question is ultimately about what would happen to my car insurance premium moving forward.
Thanks in advance
Berry580
You need some drama in the title if you want this to make popular forums page.
Lacks mandatory MS Paint diagram. SMH.
5/7 post.
Depends if other party has better or worse insurance than yours.
How exactly do you claim on the other person's insurance? Are you not supposed to contact your own insurance company? Do you have to find out details of the other person's insurance company and negotiate repairs or payouts with them directly?
The at fault guy is allowed to either - provide you with a claim number through his own insurance (Which they may have provided if admitted liability).
or
wait until you receive a quote to fix/write off car.
You yourself don't have to have insurance if not at fault.
You can't claim on someone else's insurance.
You have to claim on yours, and your insurance company will pass the bill along to the other person's insurance company. That will not affect your insurance premiums, it will affect theirs. Of course the risk is that the insurance companies won't be happy that the other person has accepted liability, and they'll make a different decision.
That is not correct at all.
You do not need to use your insurance at all.
The other party is at fault. You deal with there insurer to arrange fixing the car.
And exactly how do you do that? Always been contacting my own insurance company for the 3 not-at-fault accidents and always everything worked out flawlessly.
go to your repairer, get them to quote.
Tell the insurer who it is.
Tell them you need a hire car.
they will arrange the rest
Same as if you didn't have insurance. You'd claim against the other party and their insurance.
Unless you've been provided the particulars of their insurer it's generally much easier to organise it with your own insurer, who will then pursue the guilty party for costs.
You get to choose to a certain extent when the other party is at fault. You can claim directly against the other driver, but they can defer to their insurance. You can then claim direct from their insurer. Both these options take a little more work than using your own insurance.
If you claim a bit at fault with your insurer something in their algorithms will deem you higher risk so your insurance premium may increase. The increase might be less than your usual yearly increase but it’ll be there. There’s a reason new insurers ask if you’ve been involved in not at fault incidents, it changes your risk profile.
There’s a reason new insurers ask if you’ve been involved in not at fault incidents, it changes your risk profile.
I renewed my comprehensive insurance recently and, when shopping for quotes, was never asked if I've been involved in a not-at-fault incident (NRMA and Allianz).
The other parties insurance has already called me and advised fault is already admitted and asked how I'd like to proceed.
I've already been provided with his claim number as well.
Is your car a write off?
so go ahead and arrange the rest
Ring your insurance and ask them about your options, they will know more then the average ozbargaininsurancespecialist.
Even better, you're sorted. Ask for a rental car.
Find a repairer of your choice and let them know where you're sending it to.
Consider yourself lucky the other party is courteous and honest. A large proportion of people who drive recklessly on the road are absolute a-holes who wouldn't hesitate to tell their insurance company that you're the one at fault.
Just speak to your own insurance company. They'll repair your car and send the repair bills to the other party's insurance company. Ask for a rental as well.
Claim through your own insurance, your premium wont go up if not at fault.
Which insurer do you use?
Some insurers ask if you have made any claims on your insurance and therefore you can't get as good as quote from them
Will making a claim affect my no-claim bonus or increase my premium?
Insurers generally will not reduce your no-claim bonus if you were not the at-fault driver and you provide your car insurer with the at-fault driver’s details. However, depending on your insurer, your premiums may increase after you make a claim, regardless of whether you were not at fault.
https://www.canstar.com.au/car-insurance/claim-not-at-fault/
Also, I've been trying to get new quotes and all the insurers I've enquired asks the following question or similar:
How many motor insurance claims, regardless of fault, have you had in the last 3 (or 5) years?
Sounds like I need to get ready to just turn around and bend over next year when I renew my insurance.
For reference, I was involved in a not-at-fault accident earlier this year and claimed through my insurance. My premium went down, not up, when it came to the renewal. It was still the best on the market and went down because of age going up, I did some research for other companies to switch but they were all a lot more expensive.
Not sure what will happen with your premium, but it can definitely can go down or stay similar, even after claiming not-at-fault through your insurer.
Which insurer are you with?
Thanks
Bingle
@doweyy: I did a quote and for bingle and non at fault incidents did not increase premium cost for my quote!
Big thank you!
claim my own insurance
Yes. That is what you pay them for.
If only insurance companies had a phone number you could call and ask! What a shame!
Unless your with bingle…just call your insurance.
Claim on your own insurance who will chase the at fault insurer for you. So don't do the work them for free. You are not at fault so it won't affect your premium next year.
When you get into an accident, you notify your insurer and they handle everything. There is actually no need to contact the person you had an accident with and definitely not their insurer.
