I plan on taking the local authority to small claims court for rejecting my claim against them for a pothole that caused a little under £400 of damage to my car. The pothole was reported to them 18 months before the accident. The council quietly removed this report from the website after they rejected my claim but I have a screenshot of the report. They said the pothole was not considered dangerous and it's impact was graded as "negligble" despite dsshcam evidence showing my car entering the hole. I'm not here to discuss the specifics of the case though happy to if asked, buts it's been raised on another forum that I should have told my insurer? Apparently it's classed as an accident and any accident you have to report. I did not know this as I did not believe it to be an accident, if I called my insurance every time my car went over a pothole (plenty of them about) their phone would never stop ringing.

Is this true or do I only need to tell them if I'm making a claim or if asked at Renewal