Insurance Claim Question

[Martian O]

Are there any insurance guru's out there who can help with a claim question please.

My (elderley) father-in-law had a bit of a mishap last night in his automatic Audi A4. He was on his driveway about to put his car into the garage when he accidently put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake pedal! The car went through the garage door, out the side and then back in stopping as he demolished the back wall! Obviously he was shaken but is OK. The car is still currently stuck at the rear of the garage because he didn't want to try to move it as it looks like the garage may collapse.

He has contacted his motor insurance company to report it and asked their advice as how to go about getting the car removed and repaired. Their reply was that he would have to get the car out at his own expense, and then to get insurance quotes for the repair work to his car. He queried if his policy would also cover repair to the garage and they said no. Now I'm not an insurance expert, but wouldn't a fully comp policy cover this?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[marshalla]

Shouldn't he also be talking to his Building Insurance company ?

[Martian O]

That was my thought, but shouldn't his car insurance policy cover damage caused by the insured vehicle?

[gsfrontera]

I would say that both his buildings and car insurance companies will need to get involved here, as there is no way one will repair the others insurance risk.

ETA if thats your Ferrari in your profile I suggest you keep him away from it

[Martian O]

gsfrontera said:

I would say that both his buildings and car insurance companies will need to get involved here, as there is no way one will repair the others insurance risk.

ETA if thats your Ferrari in your profile I suggest you keep him away from it

Thinking about it, I don't think that he has buildings insurance!

[U T]

His car insurers won't cover his garage repair. His comp policy covers damage to his own car and damage/injury to third parties. The garage is owned by him so he isn't a third party. If he lived with his son and demolished his son's garage then they would pay.

Hopefully he does have buildings cover. All buildings policies give impact damage. Some will only cover him if he has accidental damage cover as well, because they exclude damage done to the building by the owner of the building unless they take out an accidental damage extension. But most will include it under the impact clause.

Hope this helps.

[Martian O]

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated.

[U T]

Blimey, there's a rarity.

OP asks a sensible question, gets sensible replies, and is grateful.

Is this the start of a worrying trend?

[Fer]

U T said:

Blimey, there's a rarity.

OP asks a sensible question, gets sensible replies, and is grateful.

Is this the start of a worrying trend?

So cynical for a member of 9 days.