bit of insurance claim advice
Discussion
After another vehicle hit me at the weekend (100% their fault - they simply didn't see me in their blind spot), I've been onto my insurance company and provided all the usual "notification only" information as I'm making my claim against the other parties insurance.
As I'm waiting for that insurance company to get their finger out, I'm left driving around in a car with damage (cosmetic rather than mechanical).
It's only been a few days since it happened, however the company dealing with getting my claim into the third party are saying they have sent my paperwork to this third party insurance company twice, who are saying they haven't got it yet.. as there are also a few other bit and pieces of info I'm getting back (which I'd rather not go into on here) - basically all telling me that this third party will drag their heels as much as possible.
I'm eager to get my car repaired quickly, so know that I could start the claim on my own insurance and then it would then be up to them to get the money back from the third party... however - I'm also eager not to affect my NCB and have to pay any excess if the third party don't admit liability..
which is lesser of both evils?
As I'm waiting for that insurance company to get their finger out, I'm left driving around in a car with damage (cosmetic rather than mechanical).
It's only been a few days since it happened, however the company dealing with getting my claim into the third party are saying they have sent my paperwork to this third party insurance company twice, who are saying they haven't got it yet.. as there are also a few other bit and pieces of info I'm getting back (which I'd rather not go into on here) - basically all telling me that this third party will drag their heels as much as possible.
I'm eager to get my car repaired quickly, so know that I could start the claim on my own insurance and then it would then be up to them to get the money back from the third party... however - I'm also eager not to affect my NCB and have to pay any excess if the third party don't admit liability..
which is lesser of both evils?
mtm81 said:
After another vehicle hit me at the weekend (100% their fault - they simply didn't see me in their blind spot), I've been onto my insurance company and provided all the usual "notification only" information as I'm making my claim against the other parties insurance.
As I'm waiting for that insurance company to get their finger out, I'm left driving around in a car with damage (cosmetic rather than mechanical).
It's only been a few days since it happened, however the company dealing with getting my claim into the third party are saying they have sent my paperwork to this third party insurance company twice, who are saying they haven't got it yet.. as there are also a few other bit and pieces of info I'm getting back (which I'd rather not go into on here) - basically all telling me that this third party will drag their heels as much as possible.
I'm eager to get my car repaired quickly, so know that I could start the claim on my own insurance and then it would then be up to them to get the money back from the third party... however - I'm also eager not to affect my NCB and have to pay any excess if the third party don't admit liability..
which is lesser of both evils?
I work in the industry so hope this helps. Without full details of the incident, I'd say liability could be contested here - doesn't sound like a rear end collision (you mention blind spot), so the third party could start saying you were incorrectly positioned etc. Clearly, this might not be the case but without further information it's hard to say whether your view it was 100% their fault is correct. As I'm waiting for that insurance company to get their finger out, I'm left driving around in a car with damage (cosmetic rather than mechanical).
It's only been a few days since it happened, however the company dealing with getting my claim into the third party are saying they have sent my paperwork to this third party insurance company twice, who are saying they haven't got it yet.. as there are also a few other bit and pieces of info I'm getting back (which I'd rather not go into on here) - basically all telling me that this third party will drag their heels as much as possible.
I'm eager to get my car repaired quickly, so know that I could start the claim on my own insurance and then it would then be up to them to get the money back from the third party... however - I'm also eager not to affect my NCB and have to pay any excess if the third party don't admit liability..
which is lesser of both evils?
Also sounds like you're using a third party company to deal with the third party insurers rather than your own insurer, which personally I would avoid like the plague. These companies are only out to extract as much cash from the third party as possible by placing you in expensive hire, claiming for injury and their fees etc. I'd actually say its likely to be the company you're using that aren't being pro-active, the longer they can delay things the more cash they get.
In order to progress this the way you currently want, liability has to be established. I'd be asking the third party insurers directly what their clients admission (if any) is. If there is any dispute, the normal process (statements, witnesses, sketches of the road etc) will be needed before it can progress. If you don't want to involve your own insurers, you either continue driving in the damaged vehicle or pay for repairs yourself (not a great option not just based on cost reasons).
The benefit of using your own insurer is that they will be able to assess the damage on your vehicle (which in turn could help with any liability dispute), initiate repairs and establish the third party position. There is nothing stopping you from doing this on a without prejudice basis, in other words you do not want any repairs to proceed until liability is established. Potentially, by the time the engineer has inspected your vehicle and assessed the cost of damage, liability might have progressed further.
Also regardless of the 'info only' stance you have taken with your insurer should your policy reach its next renewal without resolution of this claim in your favour your premium will be affected and if applicable your NCD will be reduced.
The question asked is 'Have you had any accidents. claims or losses in the last x years' and your answer is yes and if at the time its unsettled they will apply their fault claim ruleset.
The question asked is 'Have you had any accidents. claims or losses in the last x years' and your answer is yes and if at the time its unsettled they will apply their fault claim ruleset.
Hi,
many thanks for the reply.
Just for clarification - I contacted my insurance company broker, who use this "third party" company to deal with everything. I simply had an out of hours claim number to ring that was on my brokers website and it's progressed from there..
I suspect that this third party company are the type you mention.. :-(
I've already spoken directly with my insurance company and confirmed everything.. however my next question.
If I wanted to "take the claim" back from the third party and instead, go through my own insurance and then get them to proceed with the other insurer - what would be the process?
If this current third party company are, as you suggest, the ones interested in going slowly, should I be contacting the other parties insurance company directly myself??
I seem to have four parties I could speak to, and I'm not sure who, if anyone, I should be looking at doing what??
Broker?
Third Party Company used by the broker?
My insurance company?
Other vehicles insurance company?
Cheers!
many thanks for the reply.
Just for clarification - I contacted my insurance company broker, who use this "third party" company to deal with everything. I simply had an out of hours claim number to ring that was on my brokers website and it's progressed from there..
I suspect that this third party company are the type you mention.. :-(
I've already spoken directly with my insurance company and confirmed everything.. however my next question.
If I wanted to "take the claim" back from the third party and instead, go through my own insurance and then get them to proceed with the other insurer - what would be the process?
If this current third party company are, as you suggest, the ones interested in going slowly, should I be contacting the other parties insurance company directly myself??
I seem to have four parties I could speak to, and I'm not sure who, if anyone, I should be looking at doing what??
Broker?
Third Party Company used by the broker?
My insurance company?
Other vehicles insurance company?
Cheers!
In balance to the above, I was involved in an incident last year where the other vehicle didn't even hit me or anyone else, but I was able to claim off the driver's insurers using a firm of solicitors who established liability quickly.
It's worth giving the circumstances, as they're brief and it'll give a better understanding:
I was riding a motorcycle along a road on an industrial estate (to take it for an MOT test), which as usual had cars parked down both sides so I was going slowly (max 20mph). On the left side of the road was a small courier van, but parked pointing towards me (i.e facing traffic on its side of the road) - the driver pulled out in front of me, I braked, tried to steer too (I'm nowhere near as good a rider as I am a driver), which is difficult with a locked-up front wheel but I avoided him, hit the ground on my right side and slid on my hip and shoulder (with a heavy Harley Davidson on top of me) into the offside front wing of a car parked on the right side of the road. The van driver took responsibility, apologised and we exchanged details (I checked his licence too), I walked to the MOT centre, they collected the bike and I got a lift and went to hospital.
Like the OP, I didn't want to claim through my own insurance (where the excess is £1000, plus whatever increase in premium on a non-protectable NCD policy). When I called the van driver the next day he said his insurers had told him something along the lines of "well, if you didn't hit him it's your word against his". However, I got him to give me their details, reported the matter to the police (as required in injury-accidents) and contacted a solicitor I know, whose firm deal with a lot of these sort of claims (although she personally now deals with more serious medical negligence type claims rather RTA stuff), they got on to the insurers and within a reasonable time frame they admitted full liability. However, I was unable to ride (had no desire to either, and still haven't ridden since) so I didn't need repairs carrying out urgently, so to me 4-6 weeks was reasonable. My claim's not settled yet but only because I'm still not right physically but they made a payment for repairs to the bike, before it was even repaired, based on an accident assessor's report my solicitors sent them.
I notified my insurers at renewal (as one's obliged to) but it was of no impact due to not having claimed on my policy and the other party being 100% liable.
Another thing worth pointing out is that even if you have protected NCD (no claims discount) your premium will still go up! This is because the discount will be applied to a higher base premium as you're now a higher risk.
PM me if you'd like details of the solicitor's firm I used (i.e. not a "claims management firm"), they give a good, personal service.
It's worth giving the circumstances, as they're brief and it'll give a better understanding:
I was riding a motorcycle along a road on an industrial estate (to take it for an MOT test), which as usual had cars parked down both sides so I was going slowly (max 20mph). On the left side of the road was a small courier van, but parked pointing towards me (i.e facing traffic on its side of the road) - the driver pulled out in front of me, I braked, tried to steer too (I'm nowhere near as good a rider as I am a driver), which is difficult with a locked-up front wheel but I avoided him, hit the ground on my right side and slid on my hip and shoulder (with a heavy Harley Davidson on top of me) into the offside front wing of a car parked on the right side of the road. The van driver took responsibility, apologised and we exchanged details (I checked his licence too), I walked to the MOT centre, they collected the bike and I got a lift and went to hospital.
Like the OP, I didn't want to claim through my own insurance (where the excess is £1000, plus whatever increase in premium on a non-protectable NCD policy). When I called the van driver the next day he said his insurers had told him something along the lines of "well, if you didn't hit him it's your word against his". However, I got him to give me their details, reported the matter to the police (as required in injury-accidents) and contacted a solicitor I know, whose firm deal with a lot of these sort of claims (although she personally now deals with more serious medical negligence type claims rather RTA stuff), they got on to the insurers and within a reasonable time frame they admitted full liability. However, I was unable to ride (had no desire to either, and still haven't ridden since) so I didn't need repairs carrying out urgently, so to me 4-6 weeks was reasonable. My claim's not settled yet but only because I'm still not right physically but they made a payment for repairs to the bike, before it was even repaired, based on an accident assessor's report my solicitors sent them.
I notified my insurers at renewal (as one's obliged to) but it was of no impact due to not having claimed on my policy and the other party being 100% liable.
Another thing worth pointing out is that even if you have protected NCD (no claims discount) your premium will still go up! This is because the discount will be applied to a higher base premium as you're now a higher risk.
PM me if you'd like details of the solicitor's firm I used (i.e. not a "claims management firm"), they give a good, personal service.
Had an accident a couple of years ago, this was the process I followed with Admiral;
Got other persons insurance details (it was there fault, ran into back of me).
Called my insurer, told them I want car going to specific garage. They said "no problem, but you will have to pay your excess and you'll get it back when other party insurer accepts liability".
Car went off on a tow truck and I was passed to a 3rd party company called Albany. I think they handle cases where its generally a non fault claim.
Car got fixed, I paid excess at the counter.
Albany then chased the other insurer for a year whilst they played the usual insurance delay game.
After 12 months of continual chasing, I got fed up of waiting for Albany and called the other insurer directly and got my excess back.
Job done. 'No claims' unaffected as they claimed back from the other insurer.
So short answer, I'd go via your own insurer if you can as you will have more control and in all that time, I was only out of pocket of my excess (which I got back eventually) and the car was repaired where I wanted it.
Got other persons insurance details (it was there fault, ran into back of me).
Called my insurer, told them I want car going to specific garage. They said "no problem, but you will have to pay your excess and you'll get it back when other party insurer accepts liability".
Car went off on a tow truck and I was passed to a 3rd party company called Albany. I think they handle cases where its generally a non fault claim.
Car got fixed, I paid excess at the counter.
Albany then chased the other insurer for a year whilst they played the usual insurance delay game.
After 12 months of continual chasing, I got fed up of waiting for Albany and called the other insurer directly and got my excess back.
Job done. 'No claims' unaffected as they claimed back from the other insurer.
So short answer, I'd go via your own insurer if you can as you will have more control and in all that time, I was only out of pocket of my excess (which I got back eventually) and the car was repaired where I wanted it.
Edited by Paul O on Thursday 27th June 12:37
I had a non fault claim last year, I was insured with Admiral and they put it straight in the hands of Albany Assist, they are supposed to help you yet I found them to be one of the most incompetent companies I had ever dealt with, once I had had enough I contacted anniesdad on this very forum who supplied a courtesy car and dealt with the claim without any further hassle to myself, nice and easy.
If it is Albany Assist you are waiting on dump them ASAP would be my advice.
The other thing you must remember is regardless of whether it is a non fault claim, a lot of insurance companies still calculate your premium including non fault claims so don't think that not going through your own company will save you.
If it is Albany Assist you are waiting on dump them ASAP would be my advice.
The other thing you must remember is regardless of whether it is a non fault claim, a lot of insurance companies still calculate your premium including non fault claims so don't think that not going through your own company will save you.
OP - advice is not to use these third parties. The temptation is high,given you don't pay your excess, however so many of them scam people. I am sure there are one's that can be trusted, however I would pay excess and let insurer take it to the garage of your choice. They will probably give you a hire car.
Hi all
Was hoping someone could help me. A car crashed in to the rear of my car. I was stationary at the time. We swapped details however the other driver would not deal with me and asked her father to offer a derisory amount for me to go away! I contacted my insurance company and made a notification. One month later I still can't open my boot. My insurance company has the details of the third party and her vehicle. My insurance company suggested that I pay my excess and get it repaired and claim it back from the third party. How can I proceed with this? If the third party has not contacted their insurer how can I be sure that I'll get my money back.
Thank you
Damien
Was hoping someone could help me. A car crashed in to the rear of my car. I was stationary at the time. We swapped details however the other driver would not deal with me and asked her father to offer a derisory amount for me to go away! I contacted my insurance company and made a notification. One month later I still can't open my boot. My insurance company has the details of the third party and her vehicle. My insurance company suggested that I pay my excess and get it repaired and claim it back from the third party. How can I proceed with this? If the third party has not contacted their insurer how can I be sure that I'll get my money back.
Thank you
Damien
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