Bemused Insurance Claim
Discussion
Back in September last year I was rear ended by a bus whilst stationary at a roundabout. We exchanged details, bus driver said he was 'fiddling about with some controls as it was a new bus'. No big deal, low impact crash.
My car, which I had had from new, was a 2001 BMW 325 which was in pretty good nick. The damage done was an impact crush to the rear bumper and a dent in the bootlid that pushed the alignment out. The seatbelt, pretensioner light also came on (could have been on the way out before the crash). So, the assessor comes out, agrees the damage to which I said, 'are they going to write it off'. The reason I was interested was because I had ordered my new car and didn't really want the hassle of selling. Thinking that the car was worth about <£1500, if they offered by £1000, I'd take it. Sure enough, they agreed that they'd fix it! So, a transporter comes out to take it to my insurance companies approved repairer and I find myself given a Vauxhall (Vectra I think) while it is being fixed.
I get a call after a few days saying that the car is ready and arrange for it to be delivered back to me. Upon inspection, I see that they have damaged a trim in the boot while they gained access to the dent and that the seat belt light was still on. There was also a lot of filler dust in the boot (trivial but I thought they could have cleaned it). So, I rejected the car and it went back. I was told that their insurance company hadn't approved the repair to the seat belt pre-tensioner which was why it wasn't fixed. I said that they can't just change an agreement without both parties and eventually they approved the repair. Car was duly despatched back and it seemed ok. I then sold it for £1400.
Roll on to present day and I have my insurance company asking me for more information as they haven't been paid as the other parties' insurance co are disputing the amount of the claim. Unless they pay, my NCD is in the balance and I might also have to pay for the excess.
When the claim went in, I repeatedly asked that the other party had admitted liability as I didn't want to claim without this agreement (specifically to avoid this situation).
Don't know what the outcome will be yet as it is still going through. The object of this post is to warn you that even when it is a black and white case, you could still be royally screwed as I suspect my insurance company have loaded the claim (car hire, transportation etc). Why they agreed to repair the car in the first place baffles me!
My car, which I had had from new, was a 2001 BMW 325 which was in pretty good nick. The damage done was an impact crush to the rear bumper and a dent in the bootlid that pushed the alignment out. The seatbelt, pretensioner light also came on (could have been on the way out before the crash). So, the assessor comes out, agrees the damage to which I said, 'are they going to write it off'. The reason I was interested was because I had ordered my new car and didn't really want the hassle of selling. Thinking that the car was worth about <£1500, if they offered by £1000, I'd take it. Sure enough, they agreed that they'd fix it! So, a transporter comes out to take it to my insurance companies approved repairer and I find myself given a Vauxhall (Vectra I think) while it is being fixed.
I get a call after a few days saying that the car is ready and arrange for it to be delivered back to me. Upon inspection, I see that they have damaged a trim in the boot while they gained access to the dent and that the seat belt light was still on. There was also a lot of filler dust in the boot (trivial but I thought they could have cleaned it). So, I rejected the car and it went back. I was told that their insurance company hadn't approved the repair to the seat belt pre-tensioner which was why it wasn't fixed. I said that they can't just change an agreement without both parties and eventually they approved the repair. Car was duly despatched back and it seemed ok. I then sold it for £1400.
Roll on to present day and I have my insurance company asking me for more information as they haven't been paid as the other parties' insurance co are disputing the amount of the claim. Unless they pay, my NCD is in the balance and I might also have to pay for the excess.
When the claim went in, I repeatedly asked that the other party had admitted liability as I didn't want to claim without this agreement (specifically to avoid this situation).
Don't know what the outcome will be yet as it is still going through. The object of this post is to warn you that even when it is a black and white case, you could still be royally screwed as I suspect my insurance company have loaded the claim (car hire, transportation etc). Why they agreed to repair the car in the first place baffles me!
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