In order to avoid resorting to making car accident claims on their insurance, nearly one out of every four motorists have instead paid out of pocket for any damage they may have caused in an accident, a new survey has discovered.
Approximately 25 per cent of people who have been the cause of an accident told the survey that instead of making a traffic accident claim on their car insurance, they instead paid the costs of the damage to the other driver’s car directly.
The most often cited reason motorists decided to pay out of pocket for any damage caused in road accident claims turned out to be a desire to ensure their insurance premiums did not increase. 11 per cent of respondents also stated that a desire to preserve their no claims bonus was the most important factor to their decision.
Slightly over one out of every five drivers additionally stated that it was simply not worthwhile to claim on their policy because the excess was too high on their insurance.
However 2 per cent of respondents stated that since they were not insured at the time they became involved in a car accident, they had no choice but to pay for any damage done themselves.
Even among those who actually did file a car accident claim, 42 per cent of them stated they were considering instead paying the other driver off in the event of another accident sometime in the future to ensure their premiums stayed the same.
Twenty per cent of drivers who were at fault during a traffic collision admitted to lying in order to make the other driver seem to be the responsible party. Additionally 4 per cent of respondents stated that they had pranged and run, whether or not the other vehicle was occupied at the time.