Bumper bash...

N

Nangi

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Was hit by a taxi because I stopped at a red robot and the guy thought I was going to drive past. Interesting. Anyway the guy had no licence, the taxi wasn't registered, etc etc. Cops came, made a statement, got paid off, and that's that. Not even going to bother trying to get my excess back from the guy, will end up spending more than the excess going to court.

Excess: R2000 + R1500 because I'm under 25 (VW subsidized insurance). Got a quote from Danmar for interest's sake, R4.5k. Thinking: is the R1000 worth it for a clean record?
 
You have to inform your insurance of the accident in any case. If you have a claim later, it could be repudiated if you dont report the accident you had now.
 
Nangi said:
Was hit by a taxi because I stopped at a red robot and the guy thought I was going to drive past. Interesting. Anyway the guy had no licence, the taxi wasn't registered, etc etc. Cops came, made a statement, got paid off, and that's that. Not even going to bother trying to get my excess back from the guy, will end up spending more than the excess going to court.

Excess: R2000 + R1500 because I'm under 25 (VW subsidized insurance). Got a quote from Danmar for interest's sake, R4.5k. Thinking: is the R1000 worth it for a clean record?
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Just fix it yourself. Will probably still affect your insurance history though
 
Drifter said:
You have to inform your insurance of the accident in any case. If you have a claim later, it could be repudiated if you dont report the accident you had now.
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+1. Go through your insurance rather. You never know what may happen if the Taxi decides it's your fault and claims against u just to try his luck
 
falcon786 said:
Why?

It happened to a car of mine previously when my wife scratched it going out of the garage and no harm came of it.:confused:
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If the insurance company decides to investigate, and find accident damage that wasn't reported, they can repudiate ANY claims who make against the car in future....
 
AFAIK by law all parties are required to exchange their contact information and the accident needs to be reported to SAPS within 24 hours - not so? If you don't report it to insurance and you happen to have another accident, a future assessment might show this accident and insurance will turn around and perhaps cause problems.

Also (I am not sure how true this is), I heard the body shops report cars being sent in for repairs to insurance companies for "preferential treatment".
 
ToxicBunny said:
If the insurance company decides to investigate, and find accident damage that wasn't reported, they can repudiate ANY claims who make against the car in future....
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+1. Just let them know it happened, but that you won't be claiming from them.

The taxi driver can come back in a couple of months and claim damages against you, or say he was injured etc etc. Then you want your insurance company to at least know about the accident, then they can help you then.
 
ToxicBunny said:
If the insurance company decides to investigate, and find accident damage that wasn't reported, they can repudiate ANY claims who make against the car in future....
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Interesting,well that's the advise my broker gave me at the time.

But yeah in any event your statement wont make much sense in instances where a vehicle was bought pre-owned/second hand because insurance doesn't even bother inspecting your car if you buy it second hand so damage could be from previous owner,how would they even know?Its seems like a really long stretch.
 
falcon786 said:
Interesting,well that's the advise my broker gave me at the time.

But yeah in any event your statement wont make much sense in instances where a vehicle was bought pre-owned/second hand because insurance doesn't even bother inspecting your car if you buy it second hand so damage could be from previous owner,how would they even know?Its seems like a really long stretch.
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Go have a look at a few cases where Insurances companies have done just that...

And some insurance companies do require a vehicle inspection for pre-owned vehicles.

Trust me, its not a long stretch at all... it materially effects your premiums and the info on which the premium is built upon.
 
ToxicBunny said:
And some insurance companies do require a vehicle inspection for pre-owned vehicles.

Trust me, its not a long stretch at all... it materially effects your premiums and the info on which the premium is built upon.
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Yeah I'm with ABSA, all the companies on Hippo wanted to bill me between R1300 to R1850 per month,with ABSA no inspections and car hire,roadside assitance included they charged me R550 per month......I highly doubt it affected my premiums by much having them not inspect my cars all of which were bought pre owned with a couple k's on the clock.

I think the fact that a big company like Absa doesn't insist on inspections shows just much of a non issue they make this out to be for them.I'm sure there will be rare instances where the repair work done was really bad where they had to resort to something like that but as long as your neighbour is not repairing the car in his backyard and you do it at a decent panel beater you should be fine IMO.

But to settle this then if the OP has had his car inspected by his insurance at purchase it would be wiser to advise them of it as per your recommendation,if not then don't bother and don't take it to your neighbour to repair in his backyard!:p
 
Taxis :( Something must be done about them...

@OP I think you need a police case to claim from insurance. As mentioned earlier, these things could cover you if the Taxi driver tries anything funny. Plus from the sound of your story he hit your car at the back which is an almost 100% guarantee that you're not liable. So a record of the damaged part of your car is good to keep and all the better if it is on record.
 
falcon786 said:
Interesting,well that's the advise my broker gave me at the time.

But yeah in any event your statement wont make much sense in instances where a vehicle was bought pre-owned/second hand because insurance doesn't even bother inspecting your car if you buy it second hand so damage could be from previous owner,how would they even know?Its seems like a really long stretch.
Click to expand...

bought an elcheapo for running around.
short version
car was older making repairs/services cheaper than modern cars.
insurance inspected car
gave cover
some kyalami truck driver took it off the road
insurance found some old repaired work on other side of where truck hit. (remember they inspected it)
ibsurance said 2k for repair, 1k for paint. - would cost to repair it
I said huh?
They say it was not listed on their inspection sheet.
I gave them pics and a vid that I did during inspection. It damage was there.

What insurance wanted to do: (figures are thumb suck)
say car insured at 25k after inspection
minus mentioned 3k
minus 1k excess
And then only wanted to pay out 21k.
I told them that if they do that I will go to ombudsman as their agent is visible in vid looking at selfsame damage.
that if they had wanted to play like that they shoulda said 25k ninus 3k. We're insuring for 22k, and I'm not allowed to claim for this preexisting damage at a later date.
They did not like that. So now I call them every three months to drop the insurance value of my vehicles. (another elcheapo and a nicer one).
 
Venomous said:
bought an elcheapo for running around.
short version
car was older making repairs/services cheaper than modern cars.
insurance inspected car
gave cover
some kyalami truck driver took it off the road
insurance found some old repaired work on other side of where truck hit. (remember they inspected it)
ibsurance said 2k for repair, 1k for paint. - would cost to repair it
I said huh?
They say it was not listed on their inspection sheet.
I gave them pics and a vid that I did during inspection. It damage was there.

What insurance wanted to do: (figures are thumb suck)
say car insured at 25k after inspection
minus mentioned 3k
minus 1k excess
And then only wanted to pay out 21k.
I told them that if they do that I will go to ombudsman as their agent is visible in vid looking at selfsame damage.
that if they had wanted to play like that they shoulda said 25k ninus 3k. We're insuring for 22k, and I'm not allowed to claim for this preexisting damage at a later date.
They did not like that. So now I call them every three months to drop the insurance value of my vehicles. (another elcheapo and a nicer one).
Click to expand...

Touche...Point taken.Insurance can be a headache sometimes.
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
AFAIK by law all parties are required to exchange their contact information and the accident needs to be reported to SAPS within 24 hours - not so? If you don't report it to insurance and you happen to have another accident, a future assessment might show this accident and insurance will turn around and perhaps cause problems.

Also (I am not sure how true this is), I heard the body shops report cars being sent in for repairs to insurance companies for "preferential treatment".
Click to expand...

I recall the notification to the police only being necessary if someone was injured.

But insurance companies require that you get a police case number if you are going to claim.
 
SauRoNZA said:
I recall the notification to the police only being necessary if someone was injured.
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Correct but basically if somebody gets hurt police need to be called to the scene and no vehicles/parts etc should be moved ,if there are no injuries you can proceed to open a case at the station....

But insurance companies require that you get a police case number if you are going to claim.
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Not if you were the only party involved,I bumped a stray dog and they didn't need any case number.Just a description of the incident on their claim forms,If there was another car/pedestrian or even somebodies property then a police report is needed and you should report it within 24 hours.
 
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