property damage - claiming directly off insurer
Discussion
So to round off the year I had a car take out my fence whilst also removing a lamp post and a speed awareness sign in the process...plod in attendance, road blocked e.t.c.
I initially asked my home insurance to deal with it (as hadn't been contacted a week later) and they insisted on a £250 contribution from me as my share of the incident cost (Aviva), pretty pissed about this I said I'd find and deal directly with the insurer and after spending £10 on AskMID discovered that the driver was insured with.... Aviva
Anyhoo - called and registered my details as a 3rd party and was told to get a quote for the fence repair.... upon asking about the £10 it cost me to track them down was told "it's not our policy to pay for this type of expense"
So here's the question... I'm pretty arsey most of the time and don't see why I should be out of pocket £10 - I've said I'll email them a receipt and they can put refusal to pay in writing to me.
When they refuse (and assuming no further issues with quote for fence), do I issue a small claims against the driver for the £10 or the insurer?
also... am I being an arse over £10?
I initially asked my home insurance to deal with it (as hadn't been contacted a week later) and they insisted on a £250 contribution from me as my share of the incident cost (Aviva), pretty pissed about this I said I'd find and deal directly with the insurer and after spending £10 on AskMID discovered that the driver was insured with.... Aviva

Anyhoo - called and registered my details as a 3rd party and was told to get a quote for the fence repair.... upon asking about the £10 it cost me to track them down was told "it's not our policy to pay for this type of expense"
So here's the question... I'm pretty arsey most of the time and don't see why I should be out of pocket £10 - I've said I'll email them a receipt and they can put refusal to pay in writing to me.
When they refuse (and assuming no further issues with quote for fence), do I issue a small claims against the driver for the £10 or the insurer?
also... am I being an arse over £10?
Presumably Aviva’s request for £250 was simply your deductible when you were potentially claiming off your own policy.
Claiming off the guilty party’s insurer ( even if it is the same one ) makes more sense but not sure I would stress too much over £10.
It will cost you £35 to lodge the claim with the small claims court which if you don’t win you will lose that £35.
Appreciate you’ve done nothing wrong but better to lose £10 than £250 and you get a nice new fence for that.
Claiming off the guilty party’s insurer ( even if it is the same one ) makes more sense but not sure I would stress too much over £10.
It will cost you £35 to lodge the claim with the small claims court which if you don’t win you will lose that £35.
Appreciate you’ve done nothing wrong but better to lose £10 than £250 and you get a nice new fence for that.
lard said:
and they insisted on a £250 contribution from me as my share of the incident cost (Aviva), pretty pissed about this
Basically, they insisted you keep to your part of the bargain made when you took out your policy, in so much as you agreed to pay the first £250 of any claim for property damage, probably in return for a reduction in the premium. TwigtheWonderkid said:
Basically, they insisted you keep to your part of the bargain made when you took out your policy, in so much as you agreed to pay the first £250 of any claim for property damage, probably in return for a reduction in the premium.
fair point, I was mistaking it with motor insurance where excess is refunded when recovered from other party but am mixing up my insurance industries no doubt!Turkish91 said:
Yes you’re being an arse over £10 however I completely get your point.
Personally I think I’d just bask in the enjoyment of the fact that your tenners worth of detective work revealed the drivers insurance also being with them
there was an "ah ha!" detective moment when the details came through Personally I think I’d just bask in the enjoyment of the fact that your tenners worth of detective work revealed the drivers insurance also being with them


lard said:
fair point, I was mistaking it with motor insurance where excess is refunded when recovered from other party but am mixing up my insurance industries no doubt!
You would have got your excess back. Your home insurer initially pays it out as if it's a normal claim - for which you must pay an excess - and then they would recover their outlay from the other insurer, along with your excess.
PistonBroker said:
lard said:
fair point, I was mistaking it with motor insurance where excess is refunded when recovered from other party but am mixing up my insurance industries no doubt!
You would have got your excess back. Your home insurer initially pays it out as if it's a normal claim - for which you must pay an excess - and then they would recover their outlay from the other insurer, along with your excess.
ETA: it’s surprising how many don’t tell their insurer about their accident, even if the Police attended.
PistonBroker said:
lard said:
fair point, I was mistaking it with motor insurance where excess is refunded when recovered from other party but am mixing up my insurance industries no doubt!
You would have got your excess back. Your home insurer initially pays it out as if it's a normal claim - for which you must pay an excess - and then they would recover their outlay from the other insurer, along with your excess.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
PistonBroker said:
lard said:
fair point, I was mistaking it with motor insurance where excess is refunded when recovered from other party but am mixing up my insurance industries no doubt!
You would have got your excess back. Your home insurer initially pays it out as if it's a normal claim - for which you must pay an excess - and then they would recover their outlay from the other insurer, along with your excess.
KungFuPanda said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
PistonBroker said:
lard said:
fair point, I was mistaking it with motor insurance where excess is refunded when recovered from other party but am mixing up my insurance industries no doubt!
You would have got your excess back. Your home insurer initially pays it out as if it's a normal claim - for which you must pay an excess - and then they would recover their outlay from the other insurer, along with your excess.
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