total loss ins.question
Discussion
Hi, My friends son recently had his car written off,stationary at the time and someone drove into the back of him,admitted liability, no problems.His insurance co. have now paid him out in full LESS his £500 excess, he questioned why they had deducted the excess & was told it is up to him to supply proof that the excess existed i.e.(copy of insurance document) to the other party's insurance co.& pursue the reimbursment himself.Surely as he was at no fault should not his own insurance co.pursue this themselves?.Would greatly appreciate your views.
Sounds exactly like my old conman company, sorry I mean insurance company. I had a no fault accident and offered me a paltry first offer minus £450 excess.
Car was worth nearly £4k and they offered £1750 minus £450.
I told them I wouldn't be accepting that offer and demanded they up the offer and claim the excess from the other party.They said they couldn't do that and it was up to me to pursue the other parties insurance company to recoup the amount and if that meant taking them to court then so be it.
I stood my ground and after eight weeks they relented.
They aren't my insurance company anymore I would like to add.
Car was worth nearly £4k and they offered £1750 minus £450.
I told them I wouldn't be accepting that offer and demanded they up the offer and claim the excess from the other party.They said they couldn't do that and it was up to me to pursue the other parties insurance company to recoup the amount and if that meant taking them to court then so be it.
I stood my ground and after eight weeks they relented.
They aren't my insurance company anymore I would like to add.
Edited by velocefica on Wednesday 6th January 20:56
chippiepat said:
Hi, My friends son recently had his car written off,stationary at the time and someone drove into the back of him,admitted liability, no problems.His insurance co. have now paid him out in full LESS his £500 excess, he questioned why they had deducted the excess & was told it is up to him to supply proof that the excess existed i.e.(copy of insurance document) to the other party's insurance co.& pursue the reimbursment himself.Surely as he was at no fault should not his own insurance co.pursue this themselves?.Would greatly appreciate your views.
andburg said:
smells strange
excess is there for a claim against your own policy not against someone else's
He did claim from his own policy though...excess is there for a claim against your own policy not against someone else's
OP What he needs to do is photocopy the letter from his own Insurers that accompanied the cheque that says here is our cheque or X amount net of your £500 excess. He then sends this along with a brief letter to the other drivers Insurers (Referencing their client eg accident date & their reg) asking them to reimberse him for his £500 excess as their client was liable as they hit your stationary car.
Your excess is, simply put, the part of your claim that your insurance policy doesn't cover. Your fault, somebody else's fault, nobody's fault in particular, it doesn't really matter - your own insurer dioesn't cover it, so you have to pay it before they'll repair your car, or it will be deducted from any settlement they send you.
What you can do if the accident was someone else's fault is claim your excess back from their insurers, in the same way that you could claim for any other losses which aren't covered by your own policy (eg personal injury, or damage to property that you were carrying in the car). As dacouch suggests this is usually a straightforward process, assuming there's no dispute over liability.
In practice where liability is clear cut some insurers might indeed offer to waive the excess and reclaim it from the other party themselves - but if they do it's a goodwill gesture on their part and not something which the terms of your policy require them to do, and not all insurers will do it.
What you can do if the accident was someone else's fault is claim your excess back from their insurers, in the same way that you could claim for any other losses which aren't covered by your own policy (eg personal injury, or damage to property that you were carrying in the car). As dacouch suggests this is usually a straightforward process, assuming there's no dispute over liability.
In practice where liability is clear cut some insurers might indeed offer to waive the excess and reclaim it from the other party themselves - but if they do it's a goodwill gesture on their part and not something which the terms of your policy require them to do, and not all insurers will do it.
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