Car hit while parked
Discussion
Hi all,
Hoping you could help with a slight quandary.
My car was hit while parked on the road. I was not present. Have contacted the other party and they have admitted liability.
Am I right in thinking my best bet is to contact the other party's insurer, and not my own, for now? I have asked the other party for their insurance details and they say that as the vehicle involved was a company-owned one, they will have to contact their employer to find out the details. And that their insurers will then contact _my_ insurers.
What is the best course of action? Should I provide my insurance details or not? Really don't want to be stuck with a claim on my insurance...
Hoping you could help with a slight quandary.
My car was hit while parked on the road. I was not present. Have contacted the other party and they have admitted liability.
Am I right in thinking my best bet is to contact the other party's insurer, and not my own, for now? I have asked the other party for their insurance details and they say that as the vehicle involved was a company-owned one, they will have to contact their employer to find out the details. And that their insurers will then contact _my_ insurers.
What is the best course of action? Should I provide my insurance details or not? Really don't want to be stuck with a claim on my insurance...
If at all possible get something in writing admitting liability.
Unless you're planning on hiding the issue from your own insurer I'm not sure what difference it makes whether their insurer deals with you directly or through your insurer?
[joke]And don't forget to claim for whiplash[/joke]
Unless you're planning on hiding the issue from your own insurer I'm not sure what difference it makes whether their insurer deals with you directly or through your insurer?
[joke]And don't forget to claim for whiplash[/joke]
Not sure what you mean by not having a claim against your insurance if you go through the third party insurers, a claim is a claim and from that point of view it doesn't matter if it goes through the third party insurers or your own insurance. The only reason I know of to go direct to the third party insurers is it can make it easier as you can deal directly and not have to wait for insurer x to talk to insurer y.
It's a couple of years since I last experienced anything like this but IIRC you are pretty much obliged to notify your own insurer of any claim, regardless of blame, at the earliest opportunity.
I wouldn't bother contacting the other person's insurer, let your insurer do that. As long as you have some details of the incident and contact details for the other party, that's all your insurer will really need for now.
I wouldn't bother contacting the other person's insurer, let your insurer do that. As long as you have some details of the incident and contact details for the other party, that's all your insurer will really need for now.
I had similar happen to me.
I called my own insurer who arranged for the car to be removed from the road to storage. They offered me an claims management company, which was essentially a credit agreement - they would sort repairs and claim from the 3rd party's insurer. If the 3rd party's insurer disputed the costs, I could be liable. I believe this is typically associated with exorbitant courtesy cars during repairs.
I called the 3rd party's insurer who sorted everything directly, with no need for me to expose myself to a potential liability.
All-in, pretty much hassle free. Non-fault claim recorded on my insurance; no discernible rise in premium.
Having said all that, it does help that the other party left contact details! In my case, they didn't have a choice, since they couldn't drive their car away and the Police attended (but the Mrs got a bit of a shock when a constable knocked on the door to say there'd been an accident!)
<re-lurk>
I called my own insurer who arranged for the car to be removed from the road to storage. They offered me an claims management company, which was essentially a credit agreement - they would sort repairs and claim from the 3rd party's insurer. If the 3rd party's insurer disputed the costs, I could be liable. I believe this is typically associated with exorbitant courtesy cars during repairs.
I called the 3rd party's insurer who sorted everything directly, with no need for me to expose myself to a potential liability.
All-in, pretty much hassle free. Non-fault claim recorded on my insurance; no discernible rise in premium.
Having said all that, it does help that the other party left contact details! In my case, they didn't have a choice, since they couldn't drive their car away and the Police attended (but the Mrs got a bit of a shock when a constable knocked on the door to say there'd been an accident!)
<re-lurk>
I had the following dealings with Aviva recently
Car hit in a Tescos car park at 10.30 Thurs
disussed with driver best way to go ins or he pays.. he said he would 'have a think' and let me know
11.30 Aviva rang, car booked in courtesy car arranged for Sat and car picked Mon for repair
Was advised to notify my ins just for reference
Car returned following Wed looking tickety boo
10/10 for Aviva
Car hit in a Tescos car park at 10.30 Thurs
disussed with driver best way to go ins or he pays.. he said he would 'have a think' and let me know
11.30 Aviva rang, car booked in courtesy car arranged for Sat and car picked Mon for repair
Was advised to notify my ins just for reference
Car returned following Wed looking tickety boo
10/10 for Aviva
kestonian said:
I had similar happen to me.
I called my own insurer who arranged for the car to be removed from the road to storage. They offered me an claims management company, which was essentially a credit agreement - they would sort repairs and claim from the 3rd party's insurer. If the 3rd party's insurer disputed the costs, I could be liable. I believe this is typically associated with exorbitant courtesy cars during repairs.
I called the 3rd party's insurer who sorted everything directly, with no need for me to expose myself to a potential liability.
All-in, pretty much hassle free. Non-fault claim recorded on my insurance; no discernible rise in premium.
Having said all that, it does help that the other party left contact details! In my case, they didn't have a choice, since they couldn't drive their car away and the Police attended (but the Mrs got a bit of a shock when a constable knocked on the door to say there'd been an accident!)
<re-lurk>
Top quality lurking! I called my own insurer who arranged for the car to be removed from the road to storage. They offered me an claims management company, which was essentially a credit agreement - they would sort repairs and claim from the 3rd party's insurer. If the 3rd party's insurer disputed the costs, I could be liable. I believe this is typically associated with exorbitant courtesy cars during repairs.
I called the 3rd party's insurer who sorted everything directly, with no need for me to expose myself to a potential liability.
All-in, pretty much hassle free. Non-fault claim recorded on my insurance; no discernible rise in premium.
Having said all that, it does help that the other party left contact details! In my case, they didn't have a choice, since they couldn't drive their car away and the Police attended (but the Mrs got a bit of a shock when a constable knocked on the door to say there'd been an accident!)
<re-lurk>
Hope you are still available if I ever need ask for help!
Thanks for everyone's help, especially the lurker
So, an update:
Rang my insurers today, made clear the third party has accepted liability. Made sure to ask which company the third party were insured with.
Was provided 2 options:
- Have this covered under my fully-comp policy (???).
- Have the claim handled by Albany Assistance Ltd., with no effect on my no claims bonus.
Was surprised not to be given the option to have my insurer sort it out between themselves and the third party's.
Anyway, they put me through to Albany Assistance, and I was asked about details of the incident, etc. Decided to Google this company while on the phone. Did not like what I saw. Made an excuse and hung up.
Phoned the third party's insurers direct, and again provided details of the incident. Was told they will confirm with the third party and then get back in touch with me.
Seeing as my insurer raised a claim on my policy, and then fobbed me off to another company, can I now ring them and have the claim changed to a 'notification'? I feel my interests will be better dealt with by the third party insurer direct, than these Albany Assistance fellows, but we shall have to wait and see.
So, an update:
Rang my insurers today, made clear the third party has accepted liability. Made sure to ask which company the third party were insured with.
Was provided 2 options:
- Have this covered under my fully-comp policy (???).
- Have the claim handled by Albany Assistance Ltd., with no effect on my no claims bonus.
Was surprised not to be given the option to have my insurer sort it out between themselves and the third party's.
Anyway, they put me through to Albany Assistance, and I was asked about details of the incident, etc. Decided to Google this company while on the phone. Did not like what I saw. Made an excuse and hung up.
Phoned the third party's insurers direct, and again provided details of the incident. Was told they will confirm with the third party and then get back in touch with me.
Seeing as my insurer raised a claim on my policy, and then fobbed me off to another company, can I now ring them and have the claim changed to a 'notification'? I feel my interests will be better dealt with by the third party insurer direct, than these Albany Assistance fellows, but we shall have to wait and see.
Edited by anoother on Wednesday 16th April 13:36
amstrange1 said:
No.
Forgot to mention: you will now get dozens of calls offering to manage your claim for compensation for injuries sustained during the crash, whiplash, compensation for loss of use of your car during repairs, extra wear on your shoes due to forced excessive perambulatory activity.
Followed by a good few telling you that they're from the government department for recording of car crashes / insurance industry association monitoring the efficiency of claims handling etc. etc. etc.
I've suffered no ill-effects from refraining from divulging any details. To date.
Mill Wheel, I'm here to help :-)
Followed by a good few telling you that they're from the government department for recording of car crashes / insurance industry association monitoring the efficiency of claims handling etc. etc. etc.
I've suffered no ill-effects from refraining from divulging any details. To date.
Mill Wheel, I'm here to help :-)
You did right to steer clear of Albany.
Let the 3rd party insurers deal with it, they'll be keen to get it fixed as quickly, easily and cheaply as possible.
You can call your insurers now if you want, but I would just wait until it's resolved, call them and let them know that you've made full recovery from the third party.
Let the 3rd party insurers deal with it, they'll be keen to get it fixed as quickly, easily and cheaply as possible.
You can call your insurers now if you want, but I would just wait until it's resolved, call them and let them know that you've made full recovery from the third party.
I was always under the impression that you should only deal with your own insurers. The reason being that if you let the 3rd party insurer repair your car and you are not happy with the work your only recourse is through the insurance company itself. As you are not their customer you cannot complain to the FSA, whereas if it is your own insurer and you are the customer then you can complain to FSA if it all goes wrong.
Thanks to everyone for the help.
The third party insurer wrote off my car (Cat D), valuing it at ~£300 more than it's actually worth. Oh, and they don't want to scrap it -- it's still mine. So whatever I can get at salvage is mine, too. The best result possible, as far as I'm concerned.
The third party insurer wrote off my car (Cat D), valuing it at ~£300 more than it's actually worth. Oh, and they don't want to scrap it -- it's still mine. So whatever I can get at salvage is mine, too. The best result possible, as far as I'm concerned.
anoother said:
Thanks to everyone for the help.
The third party insurer wrote off my car (Cat D), valuing it at ~£300 more than it's actually worth. Oh, and they don't want to scrap it -- it's still mine. So whatever I can get at salvage is mine, too. The best result possible, as far as I'm concerned.
No, no, no, no, no. All insurers rip you off on write off values and you'd have been better off going to an AMC, so that they could profit, whilst you sat there in their car whilst they racked up the bill. The third party insurer wrote off my car (Cat D), valuing it at ~£300 more than it's actually worth. Oh, and they don't want to scrap it -- it's still mine. So whatever I can get at salvage is mine, too. The best result possible, as far as I'm concerned.
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