One million motorists delay repairing accident damage on their cars

Ref:A0224

Published: 18 March 2013

New research has suggested that in excess of one million motorists are driving on Britain's roads with accident-damaged vehicles.
Tens of thousands may be unaware that the safety of their vehicles 'has been compromised by minor prangs', according to Steve Evans, CEO of Accident Exchange who commissioned the research.
With petrol and diesel prices rocketing at the pump, motorists have been watching their pockets over the last few years, with annual car travel having dropped by at least nine billion miles between 2006 and 2012 – or 2.9 per cent. Motortrades Insight estimates this has saved motorists around £1.6bn in fuel alone.
Accident Damaged Vehicles

And while the number of accidents on a yearly basis remains at a similar level, the percentage of these reported to authorities fell by 2.2 per cent, with repairs falling 21 per cent, according to data compiled by Trend Tracker.
The combination of 'crippling insurance costs' and squeezed household incomes have been behind the trend. And with motorists maximising excesses in an effort to reduce insurance premiums, the number of 'delayed repairs' is on the rise.
Mr Evans said: "The double whammy impact of losing their No Claims Discounts and paying increased excesses on insurance claims has seen the number of private settlements between fault and non-fault drivers rise. The innocent party is then choosing to pocket the money rather than seeking to repair what they see merely as cosmetic damage."
For a driver with a £500 excess, cosmetic damage caused by a car parking bump or lower-speed accident is often cheaper to settle privately rather than claim through their insurance policy.
Some insurers are offering excesses as high as £750, which can dramatically reduce monthly premiums, but one in three motorists admit that they could not afford to pay the excess they agreed to on their policy, according to a study by AXA in March of last year.
Mr Evans said the risk is that damage done by minor prangs is more than cosmetic and that the structural integrity of the vehicle may compromised, despite not being visible.
Components at the front of the car such as the 'crash box', radiator or airbag sensors, if damaged or moved even at low speeds, could compromise the effectiveness of the car's safety features in the event of another accident.
On some models in particular, hydraulic suspension parts at the front of the car can be shifted out of place and weakened by a minor bump, greatly increasing the risk of suspension collapse later.
The 'crash box' is a collapsible zone at the front of the car, specifically-designed to be weaker than the structure of the passenger compartment so that, in the event of a frontal impact, it absorbs the kinetic energy of the crash rather than the occupants.
At speeds of under 10mph, this safety feature could minimise repair costs but any weakening of the crash box could hinder its ability to dampen the effect of future collisions, decelerate the vehicle and protect those in the car from serious injury, according to a report by the European Aluminium Association.