One in four drivers (24%) has stumped up their own cash to pay for damage they caused in an accident rather than use their car insurance cover, according to a survey.
Discount website myvouchercodes.co.uk said the most common reason for this is that motorists are desperate to keep their insurance premiums down by avoiding making a claim. It added that 11% cited an unwillingness to lose their no-claims bonus.
Around one in five motorists believes insurance excess costs are too high to make any claim worthwhile.
The survey also shows that 2% of people pay for vehicle damage out of their own pocket because they did not actually have car insurance at the time of the accident.
Of those who did not pay off another driver after an accident, 42% say they will think about doing so in order to keep their premiums down.
One in five drivers who had been at fault in an accident said they had lied about what happened in a bid to shift the blame on to the other person, while 4% of people admitted they had damaged a vehicle in the past but either failed to stop or had not reported it if the car was empty.
