Drivers paying to avoid insurance claims

24% of British motorists have previously “paid off” another driver following an accident in which they were at fault, instead of using their insurance policy.

In a study of 2,182 British motorists involved in accidents by www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk it found that just under a quarter, 22%, claimed to have “paid off” another driver after an accident because their excess was ‘too high to warrant going through the insurance’, whilst a further 54% said they didn’t want their premium to be increased.

2% of the drivers that had “paid off” another driver after a bump said that they had done so because they were uninsured in the vehicle at the time of the accident and wanted to avoid getting in to trouble. 11% did not want to lose their no claims bonus.

The study also revealed that 4% of the people asked admitted to having damaged another vehicle in the past and then either failed to stop or failed to report it if the car was parked with nobody in it.

19% of the drivers who had been at fault in an accident admitted to trying to lie about what really happen, to shift the blame to the other driver.

Of the drivers that had not “paid off” another driver following an incident before, 42% said they would consider it in the future; the main reason being so that their premium wouldn’t be affected.

Farhad Farhadi, personal finance expert at MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, said: “Insurance is one of those areas where, a lot of the time, companies rely on the honesty of the customer. It’s quite shocking to see that people have tried to lie about situations in the past in an attempt to shift the blame or keep their premium at a lower rate.

“A lot of road accidents must be going unreported, as the number of drivers who admitted to paying off another motorist was much higher than we expected. It’s very important in a situation such as a collision to do things properly, but if people are avoiding going through their insurance so their no claims bonus and premium won’t be affected, I can see why it’s tempting for many.”