No Fault Accident - Insurance Question
Discussion
Wonder if anyone on here can help with advice on insurance?
My daughter has been in a car accident. Not her fault and indeed the other party's insurers have already been in contact to say they have accepted liability and supplied her with a hire car whilst hers is repaired..
However this is where my question comes in. She received an answerphone message today from the repair centre assessor who has said that the repair estimate is outside the insurers boundary and they will therefore not authorise the repair but make her a cash offer to effectively write it off. Problem is this. It's a Ford Ka about 11 years old so pretty certain the offer is going to be extremely low. Whatever the offer is I doubt it will be enough for her to buy another car which she needs to get to work (working the shifts she does there's no buses etc).
As it was not her fault - a fact accepted by the other insurers who have accepted liability can we demand they repair the car rather than write it off?
There is no mechanical damage just bodywork damage - unfortunately the person who crashed into her didn't apply their brakes on impact until they had gone down the whole passenger side and damaged every panel!
Any advice or help appreciated.
My daughter has been in a car accident. Not her fault and indeed the other party's insurers have already been in contact to say they have accepted liability and supplied her with a hire car whilst hers is repaired..
However this is where my question comes in. She received an answerphone message today from the repair centre assessor who has said that the repair estimate is outside the insurers boundary and they will therefore not authorise the repair but make her a cash offer to effectively write it off. Problem is this. It's a Ford Ka about 11 years old so pretty certain the offer is going to be extremely low. Whatever the offer is I doubt it will be enough for her to buy another car which she needs to get to work (working the shifts she does there's no buses etc).
As it was not her fault - a fact accepted by the other insurers who have accepted liability can we demand they repair the car rather than write it off?
There is no mechanical damage just bodywork damage - unfortunately the person who crashed into her didn't apply their brakes on impact until they had gone down the whole passenger side and damaged every panel!
Any advice or help appreciated.
You can ask the insurance company rather than demand. But they may offer an even more miserly amount for repair and you may need to supplement this.
If the damage is relatively cheap to repair then it was a mistake to use insurance on this one in the first place as the increased costs of her future premiums may well outweight the cost of the repairs.
Anyway, surely repairing a car would take longer than just taking the write-off cheque and buying a replacement. There's plenty of cheap runabouts similar to what she had before - though granted it's 'better the devil you know'.
If the damage is relatively cheap to repair then it was a mistake to use insurance on this one in the first place as the increased costs of her future premiums may well outweight the cost of the repairs.
Anyway, surely repairing a car would take longer than just taking the write-off cheque and buying a replacement. There's plenty of cheap runabouts similar to what she had before - though granted it's 'better the devil you know'.
AIUI, you cannot demand that they fix it, just because it inconveniences you having to buy another one.
However, surely if the car is worth £500 for example, they offer £500 and you just go out and buy another cheap car?
Just produce lots of evidence (ads) of what your car was worth and don't accept a lower offer from the insurance co.
However, surely if the car is worth £500 for example, they offer £500 and you just go out and buy another cheap car?
Just produce lots of evidence (ads) of what your car was worth and don't accept a lower offer from the insurance co.
Thanks for the information guys. Can't help but think she's caught between a rock and a hard place here and it all seems pretty unfair, but guess that's just insurance companies!
Yes her insurers have been told about the accident but are trying to 'step away' as the other side has accepted liability. Given her age she has a £250 voluntary and £250 compulsory excess meaning if she asked her insurers to get involved and they settle it with her any payout would obviously be minus a £500 excess I assume?
So at the moment we're not even dealing with her own insurers but the other sides. Just have to see what happens I guess...doesn't seem right that the innocent party ends up in a worse position than before the accident...
Yes her insurers have been told about the accident but are trying to 'step away' as the other side has accepted liability. Given her age she has a £250 voluntary and £250 compulsory excess meaning if she asked her insurers to get involved and they settle it with her any payout would obviously be minus a £500 excess I assume?
So at the moment we're not even dealing with her own insurers but the other sides. Just have to see what happens I guess...doesn't seem right that the innocent party ends up in a worse position than before the accident...
Muzzer79 said:
However, surely if the car is worth £500 for example, they offer £500 and you just go out and buy another cheap car?
I think the point is, that the £500 car you've owned for some time and know and love, is 'worth' a lot more to you than some random £500 car. For a Ka to have lasted 11 years it must have been well looked after.Buying cars at that end of the market can be an utter nightmare, and, sorry to be sexist, but especially for a girl who will just want it to work 100% without question.
gds65 said:
Yes her insurers have been told about the accident but are trying to 'step away' as the other side has accepted liability.
It has to be reported at renewal anyway.gds65 said:
Given her age she has a £250 voluntary and £250 compulsory excess meaning if she asked her insurers to get involved and they settle it with her any payout would obviously be minus a £500 excess I assume?
Excess is only an issue if her own insurer is paying. As it seems the 3rd part insurer will settle then the excess isn't relevant.If she has been deemed not at fault then she should not suffer any loss whatsoever.
Did she have a legal benefits add on to her insurance ?
If she did then ultimately they can pursue the actual driver for her losses and if they have admitted responsibility they will win if it did go to court which it wouldn't.
A few years back I was involved in a no fault accident resulting in 2 write offs. The other party was driving a company car and admitted liability so you'd have thought it would be an open and shut claim but his insurance steadfastly refused to cough up for my excess, the ultimate determinator of a no fault accident, plus other expenses such as car hire and storage etc. all coming to about £2k.
I had a legal benefits policy and in the end and nearly two years after the event the solicitor dealing with the case got really pi55ed off with it and sent the bill direct to the driver. Within a week we had an offer to settle on a 75/25 basis which we instantly rejected following which they caved in totally and coughed up the lot.
Even if she didn't have legal protection then a solicitors letter direct to the other party could work wonders.
Did she have a legal benefits add on to her insurance ?
If she did then ultimately they can pursue the actual driver for her losses and if they have admitted responsibility they will win if it did go to court which it wouldn't.
A few years back I was involved in a no fault accident resulting in 2 write offs. The other party was driving a company car and admitted liability so you'd have thought it would be an open and shut claim but his insurance steadfastly refused to cough up for my excess, the ultimate determinator of a no fault accident, plus other expenses such as car hire and storage etc. all coming to about £2k.
I had a legal benefits policy and in the end and nearly two years after the event the solicitor dealing with the case got really pi55ed off with it and sent the bill direct to the driver. Within a week we had an offer to settle on a 75/25 basis which we instantly rejected following which they caved in totally and coughed up the lot.
Even if she didn't have legal protection then a solicitors letter direct to the other party could work wonders.
Expatloon said:
If she has been deemed not at fault then she should not suffer any loss whatsoever.
Except when it comes to renewal time and it comes to the part where is asks have you been involved in any accidents.Yes it wasn't her fault but she will now be deemed to be at risk, or at a higher risk, and be charged accordingly.
i had a crash 3 years ago, someone hit me head on, wrote the car off, i got a hire car , then the womans insurers valued my car and paid me more for the car then when i bought it, i bought another car a few days after i got the money. but my insurance went higher as you have to declare a no fault incident, and even though its not fair, insurance goes higher, about £300 in my case
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