Advice please on Insurer's reaction to report of a bump
Discussion
Posting on behalf of a friend (yes, really!), and hoping others might be able to offer industry-aware or past-experience advice.
Friend's car (an older but mechanically sound and recently serviced BMW Z4) was parked on their driveway, which has a neighbour's driveway directly alongside with no physical barrier betwen the two. Neighbour is getting on in years, and apparently struggles with reversing their car due to stiff back/neck and generally declining physical shape. Cue one particularly badly executed maneuvre a few days ago, and they catch friend's (stationary and unoccupied) car as they're reversing back, causing scruffs/scratches to the edge of the bumper, denting/scratches to the wheel arch and to the door, which now looks slightly misaligned.
Friend calls insurer, explains the situation, and immediately the insurer wants to declare the car a write-off, and starts brow-beating friend about how they can begin taking possession of the car. Friend finds the situation very bizarre, since at this point insurer has neither seen pictures of or inspected the damage in person. Insurer went on to say "it's your lucky day, we can provide free rental car from Enterprise while this is all sorted out", to which friend replies "I don't need a rental, the car is perfectly drivable". Insurer then replies "if you continue driving the car you will be uninsured", which they later amended to "you will no longer be comprehensively insured".
Friend is now unsure what to do, as they've found the insurer's rush to write-off and general attitude very offputting, and are worried that if they go ahead with the claim and the car is written-off, the insurer will be awkward about buying it back (which friend will 100% want to do).
Your thoughts please!
Friend's car (an older but mechanically sound and recently serviced BMW Z4) was parked on their driveway, which has a neighbour's driveway directly alongside with no physical barrier betwen the two. Neighbour is getting on in years, and apparently struggles with reversing their car due to stiff back/neck and generally declining physical shape. Cue one particularly badly executed maneuvre a few days ago, and they catch friend's (stationary and unoccupied) car as they're reversing back, causing scruffs/scratches to the edge of the bumper, denting/scratches to the wheel arch and to the door, which now looks slightly misaligned.
Friend calls insurer, explains the situation, and immediately the insurer wants to declare the car a write-off, and starts brow-beating friend about how they can begin taking possession of the car. Friend finds the situation very bizarre, since at this point insurer has neither seen pictures of or inspected the damage in person. Insurer went on to say "it's your lucky day, we can provide free rental car from Enterprise while this is all sorted out", to which friend replies "I don't need a rental, the car is perfectly drivable". Insurer then replies "if you continue driving the car you will be uninsured", which they later amended to "you will no longer be comprehensively insured".
Friend is now unsure what to do, as they've found the insurer's rush to write-off and general attitude very offputting, and are worried that if they go ahead with the claim and the car is written-off, the insurer will be awkward about buying it back (which friend will 100% want to do).
Your thoughts please!
Read the policy documents to see what they actually say, phone the insurer back and ask to speak to an adult about what's happened rather than a call centre op following a script. Seems unlikely, unless they're demanding the car be inspected before its driven again I fail to see why it won't be insured(notwithstanding what the policy docs say).
davek_964 said:
As above - I wouldn't be talking to my insurers, I'd be talking to the neighbours insurers
And another vote for this.I did it a few years ago.
No excess,
the insurers have no claim to your car,
Clarity of who's fault,
No worries what might be written in your policy agreement with your insurance.
First Direct paid out more for my old car than my agreed valuation policy and I kept the car
Should be dealing with the neighbours insurance co. direct. They'll want it sorted as cheaply as possible so no hire car would be very attractive to them. As long as it is safe for you to drive yours of course. No sharp edges that harm anybody should you crash! Need to check with your insurers re the level of insurance. As suggested, speak to an adult there but claim against the neighbours insurance for the damage! Good Luck!
Had a similar situation recently after a minor bump while on holiday.
Insurer put claim straight through to Copart, who were only interested in writing it off.
I declined their offer, got a quote from a repairer, got that approved by my insurer and had it repaired. They paid the repairer direct.
My top tips would be don’t let them take the car or leave it with them, get your own repair quote and give it to your insurer.
Insurer put claim straight through to Copart, who were only interested in writing it off.
I declined their offer, got a quote from a repairer, got that approved by my insurer and had it repaired. They paid the repairer direct.
My top tips would be don’t let them take the car or leave it with them, get your own repair quote and give it to your insurer.
this is my username said:
Had a similar situation recently after a minor bump while on holiday.
Insurer put claim straight through to Copart, who were only interested in writing it off.
I declined their offer, got a quote from a repairer, got that approved by my insurer and had it repaired. They paid the repairer direct.
My top tips would be don’t let them take the car or leave it with them, get your own repair quote and give it to your insurer.
I would be giving it to the 3rd party insurer, the OP’s ins co have already shown their hand, I woukd leave them totally out of the equation Insurer put claim straight through to Copart, who were only interested in writing it off.
I declined their offer, got a quote from a repairer, got that approved by my insurer and had it repaired. They paid the repairer direct.
My top tips would be don’t let them take the car or leave it with them, get your own repair quote and give it to your insurer.
OverSteery said:
davek_964 said:
As above - I wouldn't be talking to my insurers, I'd be talking to the neighbours insurers
And another vote for this.I did it a few years ago.
No excess,
the insurers have no claim to your car,
Clarity of who's fault,
No worries what might be written in your policy agreement with your insurance.
First Direct paid out more for my old car than my agreed valuation policy and I kept the car
No excess, no fault - great!
But Admiral who insured the responsible person decided my 3 Series was a Cat N a couple of weeks before they bothered to tell me, made an insulting offer and only increased it by about 10%.
Still it did mean I got to keep it for 22% of their valuation. Just keep your car away from Copart at any cost!
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