I Scratched Someone's Car - Should I Tell My Insurer?

The scenario is familiar. A tight parking space, a slow manoeuvre, and a faint mark left on the next vehicle's paintwork. The owner is not at the scene, or is at the scene but does not seem unduly bothered. The driver who caused the scratch faces a sequence of decisions that have legal, contractual, and financial consequences. The first decision is whether to leave details on the windscreen and call the police if the owner cannot be found. The second is whether to settle the repair privately with the other party. The third, and the one this guide addresses, is whether to tell the insurer.

The short answer is that a notification is almost always required by the policy wording even when no claim is intended. The longer answer is that the impact of that notification on the policyholder's premium and No Claims Discount depends on several variables, and on whether the report is filed as a "claim" or "for information only".

The legal duty under section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988

The starting point is the statutory duty. Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires the driver of a motor vehicle involved in an accident to stop and, where personal injury or damage is caused to another vehicle, property, or animal, to give their name, address, the vehicle owner's name and address, and the vehicle registration to any person reasonably requiring it. If those details cannot be exchanged at the scene, the driver must report the accident to the police as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event within 24 hours.

The "reasonably required" language matters. A scratch left while parking in an empty supermarket bay, with no one in sight, triggers the same reporting duty: the driver must wait a reasonable time, leave a note with their details, and then report the matter to the police within 24 hours if the owner has not appeared. Driving away without leaving any details is a separate offence: failing to stop and failing to report, carrying up to six months' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, and an obligatory licence endorsement of five to ten penalty points or disqualification.

The contractual duty under the motor insurance policy

Every UK motor insurance policy contains a "notification of incidents" clause. The wording varies between insurers but the substance is consistent: the policyholder must notify the insurer of any incident involving the insured vehicle that may give rise to a claim by or against the insurer, whether or not the policyholder intends to claim. The notification window is usually stated as 24 hours, 48 hours, or 7 days, with some insurers using "as soon as reasonably practicable".

The duty is contractual rather than statutory, but it has statutory teeth through the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 and the Insurance Act 2015. A breach of the notification clause can entitle the insurer to refuse a later claim, to recover money already paid out, or to cancel the policy. Whether the insurer exercises any of those rights depends on the materiality of the breach, the policyholder's reasons for the delay, and the prejudice (if any) caused to the insurer by the late notification.

Notification only versus claim notified

Insurers distinguish between an incident reported "for information only" and an incident reported as a "claim notified". A notification-only report is logged against the policy but does not by itself trigger an indemnity payment or a hit on the No Claims Discount. The insurer may treat the notification as preserving its right to investigate if the other driver later makes a claim.

A claim-notified entry is a more serious record. It signals that the insurer is being asked to pay or to indemnify and triggers the loss-of-NCD step at renewal. Most insurers ask the policyholder at the notification call whether they want to claim, whether they are settling privately, or whether they are reporting only. The answer determines the path the file takes inside the insurer's claims system, and it affects the data feed sent to the Claims and Underwriting Exchange (CUE) database run by the Motor Insurers' Bureau.

The No Claims Discount and the practical impact

A No Claims Discount is built up year by year, capped at five years of step-ups under most insurer schedules, although some insurers allow more. A protected NCD is preserved against one or two claims in the policy period, depending on the protection level paid for. An unprotected NCD typically drops by two or three years on a single fault claim.

A notification-only report against a scratch incident, with no claim made and the other party not claiming either, usually leaves the NCD intact. The insurer may apply a small renewal loading, typically in the region of GBP 20 to GBP 80, depending on the underwriting model, to reflect the recorded incident. If the other party subsequently claims, the NCD position changes: the insurer will treat the notified incident as a fault claim once it has paid out, and the NCD drops accordingly at the next renewal.

Settling the repair privately

A private settlement is a contractual agreement between the two drivers to pay for the repair without involving either insurer. The driver who caused the scratch obtains a written quote from a body shop, agrees the figure with the other driver, and pays the body shop or the other driver directly. The other driver provides a signed acknowledgement that the matter is settled, ideally with a brief description of the damage and the date.

The mechanics are straightforward, but two risks remain. First, the other driver can change their mind and claim against the at-fault driver's insurer later, citing additional damage discovered after the private settlement. Second, the at-fault driver's insurer can refuse to deal with the late claim because the notification window has passed. Both risks point in the same direction: notify the insurer "for information only" at the time of the incident, so that the file is open and the insurer cannot later argue prejudice from the delay.

When you cannot avoid claiming

Three situations effectively remove the choice. The first is where the other driver has already reported the incident to their own insurer, who will then contact the at-fault driver's insurer through the Insurance Industry's MID and CUE data systems. The second is where the damage is more extensive than first appeared and a body-shop quote pushes the cost beyond what a private settlement can practically cover. The third is where personal injury is alleged, even minor whiplash, which makes the claim a Civil Liability Act 2018 small-claims matter and requires the insurer to handle it on the at-fault driver's behalf.

In each of these cases the at-fault driver should engage the insurer fully, accept the impact on the NCD, and rely on the insurer's panel solicitors and engineers to manage the claim. Attempting to settle privately once a third-party claim has been registered with another insurer is not effective because the file has already moved into the formal claims process.

What the notification call to the insurer looks like

The call is usually a routine one. The policyholder gives the policy number, the date and time of the incident, the registration of the other vehicle, the names and addresses exchanged at the scene, a description of the damage, and a statement of intent: settle privately, claim, or notify only. The insurer logs the file, issues a claim reference number, and may take photographs by email or app upload. The whole call usually takes between 15 and 30 minutes.

The policyholder is entitled to ask, at the end of the call, what impact a notification-only entry will have at the next renewal. The insurer will not always give a numeric answer, because renewal pricing is driven by a multi-factor underwriting model, but a fair indicative range is the low double-digit pounds on a typical comprehensive premium. The exact figure depends on the rating model, the postcode, the vehicle, and the rest of the policyholder's history.

A worked example

A driver in Glasgow scratches a parked Ford Focus while reversing out of a supermarket bay. The owner of the Focus is not in the car. The driver waits 10 minutes, leaves a written note with full contact details under the windscreen wiper, photographs the scratch and the note in place, and reports the incident to the police within 24 hours by calling 101. The Focus owner phones the next day. A body-shop quote for a smart-repair touch-up comes in at GBP 240. The two drivers agree on a private settlement at that figure, the at-fault driver pays the body shop directly, and the Focus owner signs a one-line acknowledgement that the matter is settled.

On the same day, the at-fault driver also calls their own insurer to notify the incident "for information only", giving the registration of the Focus, the body-shop reference, and confirmation that no claim is intended. The insurer logs the file, issues a reference number, and confirms the NCD will not be affected. At the next renewal the premium is GBP 35 higher than it would have been without the notification, but the NCD is intact, the file is closed, and the risk of a late third-party claim has been removed.

Frequently Asked Questions

If the scratch is tiny and I left no note, am I in trouble?

Leaving the scene of an accident without exchanging details, or without reporting the matter to the police within 24 hours where details could not be exchanged, is an offence under section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. The size of the damage does not change the duty. The risk of prosecution is highest where the other party photographs the at-fault vehicle's registration and reports it to the police.

How long does the notification window actually last under my policy?

Most insurers specify between 24 hours and 7 days, with a small minority using "as soon as reasonably practicable" with no fixed deadline. The exact window is in the policy schedule and the IPID (Insurance Product Information Document). A delay beyond the window is not automatically fatal but it gives the insurer grounds to question the file at any later claim stage.

Will telling my insurer for information only make my premium go up?

Usually yes, by a small amount. A notified incident without a claim typically lifts the next renewal premium by a low double-digit figure. A claim that the insurer pays out, with a loss of NCD steps, can lift the renewal by significantly more. The exact impact depends on the rating model and the rest of the rating sheet.

Can I just pay the other driver in cash to keep it off the insurance record?

You can settle privately, and the cash payment is lawful, but the contractual duty to notify your own insurer remains separately. Settling privately does not waive the notification obligation in the policy wording. The lawful structure is to settle privately and notify the insurer "for information only" so that the file is open if anything changes.

What if the other driver claims weeks later after I thought we had settled?

A late third-party claim is the main reason for notifying "for information only" at the time. If the file has been open since the date of the incident, the insurer can defend the claim normally and the policyholder is protected. If the file has not been opened, the insurer may argue that the late notification prejudiced its position and can refuse indemnity or take a recovery action against the policyholder personally.

Does a notification-only incident appear on the CUE database?

Yes. The Claims and Underwriting Exchange (CUE), operated by the Motor Insurers' Bureau, records all motor insurance incidents notified to insurers, including those reported for information only without a payout. The record remains visible to UK insurers for at least five years and is part of the rating data for any future quote with any insurer.

How We Verified This

Statutory references were taken from the Road Traffic Act 1988 (sections 170 and 145), the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, the Insurance Act 2015, and the Civil Liability Act 2018 on legislation.gov.uk. The CUE database framework was checked against the Motor Insurers' Bureau public statements and the ABI consumer guidance on data sharing. The Financial Ombudsman Service decisions database was used to check the materiality test for late notification claims. The duty-of-notification clauses are standard across UK motor insurers and follow the model wording in the FCA's Insurance Conduct of Business Sourcebook (ICOBS).

Sources

• legislation.gov.uk: Road Traffic Act 1988, section 170 (duty to stop, report, and produce details)
• legislation.gov.uk: Road Traffic Act 1988, section 145 (minimum third-party cover)
• legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012
• legislation.gov.uk: Insurance Act 2015
• legislation.gov.uk: Civil Liability Act 2018
• gov.uk: stay safe driving guidance
• FCA: Insurance Product Information Document
• Financial Ombudsman Service: decisions database