Are there no regulations to get insurers to deal with claims

[rob07]

I was involved in a non fault accident. The third party admitted full fault and during the process of personal injury claim the third party insurers have accepted liability. However as I am pursuing them for damages to my car without going through my insurers,it seems they have virtually no obligations to reply to me or deal with the car claim. With over 20 emails sent they have only replied twice and that was many months ago,ever since I rejected their pay out offer. I cant go to the ombudsmen until I get a "final response" from them,and I cant go to the small claims court as it is a substantial claim. My own insurer's said the third party insurers have up to six years to deal with the claim !! Surely this cant be correct.

[andburg]

if they're not playing ball then perhaps go back and open a claim with your own insurer

[AlwynMike]

Join the club!
Chap ran into the back of me in August. Or rather ran into the back of the caravan I was towing.
Admitted liability etc.
His insurers took on the claim.
They were very unsure about the caravan repairs, but agreed to estimate. It was only then they started with the car claim.
Caravan hasn't been repaired yet due to parts non availability (2 year old caravan).
Luckily the caravan is useable, if untidy with bits hanging off if.
The car is driveable as the damage was to the towbar etc.
So I have a car I can use, and a caravan I can use. But not together as I am not keen on pulling 1500kgs with something that's bent!
Hence I've missed holiday breaks, which they aren't interested in.
It's come to the stage that neither the insurance company nor the management company are replying to my emails.
Contacted my own insurers 2 weeks ago. They could "see" the incident on the insurers database. Car went for an estimate a couple of days ago and the prognosis is a repair will be done within a month.

No excess to pay as its the other guys fault.
Have to declare the accident anyway, so I wish I had gone with my in insurance to start with, although they wouldn't cover the caravan.

In some ways, the guy was lucky. He was doing some demon overtaking of the HGV that was behind me, and possibly the car behind that too. He didn't see the oncoming car, or thought he could tuck in. He couldn't. So he used my caravan as a brake to stop him having a head-on.

So OP. Yeah. Get your insurance to sort it.

[vaud]

AlwynMike said:

Hence I've missed holiday breaks, which they aren't interested in.

Did you insure for consequential loss?

[DaveH23]

It sounds like you have claimed direct from the 3rd party.

Remind yourself you pay money every year to an insurance company of your choosing to provide you a service for situations like this.

Use them.

[Jap90s]

PHONE THEM !

I'm thinking of opening up a business sorting out people's problems, a mate has had similar with an accident

I called his insurer and made more progress in 10 minutes than he's made in 3 months

I made a complaint at the same time and got him £300 compensation for the poor service, I fully expect for the claim to be agreed within 7 days

[rob07]

I specifically chose not to use my own insurers as they would write my car off, where as the third party insurers may wish to do that but do not have the authority to do so. To have a car which eventually is repaired but classed as a write off considerably lowers its value and this is a loss which the insurers will not compensate me for. In my case I was rear ended whilst staitionary at traffic lights and have been without the use of my car for 8 months.

[Jap90s]

rob07 said:

I specifically chose not to use my own insurers as they would write my car off, where as the third party insurers may wish to do that but do not have the authority to do so. To have a car which eventually is repaired but classed as a write off considerably lowers its value and this is a loss which the insurers will not compensate me for. In my case I was rear ended whilst staitionary at traffic lights and have been without the use of my car for 8 months.

Makes no difference - call them

I've sorted out loads of claims for friends

[SydneyBridge]

Check if you have legal expenses insurance on any insurance, if so, they should instruct a Solicitor to deal with the matter. The solicitors will get the details of the claim together and issue Court Proceedings if necessary

[alscar]

rob07 said:

I was involved in a non fault accident. The third party admitted full fault and during the process of personal injury claim the third party insurers have accepted liability. However as I am pursuing them for damages to my car without going through my insurers,it seems they have virtually no obligations to reply to me or deal with the car claim. With over 20 emails sent they have only replied twice and that was many months ago,ever since I rejected their pay out offer. I cant go to the ombudsmen until I get a "final response" from them,and I cant go to the small claims court as it is a substantial claim. My own insurer's said the third party insurers have up to six years to deal with the claim !! Surely this cant be correct.

I would be calling or email them today and either verbally or in writing be polite but firm and ask for a simple update whilst simultaneously mentioning “ TCF “ ( treating customers fairly ).
At the same time ask them to refer themselves to their Complaints dept - or you can cc them in on your email.

[ooo000ooo]

When i caused an accident i had paper work sent directly to me with the insurance company copied in, including a court summons.
Certainly helped me focus on ensuring my insurance company were sorting stuff out.
Maybe they will listen to their customer when they start complaining about having to take time out of their day to deal with it?

[sixor8]

I'm trying to deal with an elderly relative's car insurance (I am a nominated alternative contact) and I can't get them to even reply to the insured person, or me!

We've sent several emails and a letter to swiftcover about a claim from last September that seems spurious, no response. Even a phone call gets batted back as they'll look into it... It is for an 'incident' in a supermarket car park that the insured driver (my relative) denies having any knowledge of. It's been over 4 months and in the online area, it is still showing as 'open' and 'under investigation.'

[MustangGT]

rob07 said:

I specifically chose not to use my own insurers as they would write my car off, where as the third party insurers may wish to do that but do not have the authority to do so. To have a car which eventually is repaired but classed as a write off considerably lowers its value and this is a loss which the insurers will not compensate me for. In my case I was rear ended whilst staitionary at traffic lights and have been without the use of my car for 8 months.

You do realise that your own insurance company does not have the authority to write your car off without your consent as well?

[SeekerOfTruthAndPies]

DaveH23 said:

It sounds like you have claimed direct from the 3rd party.

Remind yourself you pay money every year to an insurance company of your choosing to provide you a service for situations like this.

Use them.

This. If it is a non-fault claim from the third party, then your insurance company won't write your car off as they aren't paying out. You are however also paying them for other services - liaising with third party insurers is one of these services. At renewal time you'll have to inform them/others anyway, as one of the standard questions is whether you've been involved in any accidents - regardless of fault - in the last x years. You're creating work and headache for yourself when others could be helping.

[OutInTheShed]

rob07 said:

I specifically chose not to use my own insurers as they would write my car off, where as the third party insurers may wish to do that but do not have the authority to do so. To have a car which eventually is repaired but classed as a write off considerably lowers its value and this is a loss which the insurers will not compensate me for. In my case I was rear ended whilst staitionary at traffic lights and have been without the use of my car for 8 months.

If it's been rear-ended to the point where you've not driven it for 8 months, it probably should either be written off or have a bloody great flag on it to alert any future purchaser.

If your main concern is not losing money when you flog your dodgy motor, you don't deserve much sympathy TBH.

The reason these cars lose value is that people with any sense don't want to buy them, because a very high % are 'never the same again'.

[OutInTheShed]

SeekerOfTruthAndPies said:

This. If it is a non-fault claim from the third party, then your insurance company won't write your car off as they aren't paying out........

That's all wrong.

Your car is insured by your insurer, they will pay out. That's your contract with them.
They will attempt to recover the cost from the other party.
You can possibly recover the excess and uninsured costs from the other party.

[AlwynMike]

vaud said:

Did you insure for consequential loss?

There has been no financial loss as nothing was booked/paid for.
Had I paid for site fees etc, I could claim them back, but I didn't.
The TP management company did say that they would look into alternatives - a motorhome rental would have been a similar price to a tow car - but nothing came of that for the dates I was taking off. But that was when communications were merely poor rather than non existent.
My insurance have offered a hire car which I have declined....but if thus carries on into the spring, then I'll be rethinking that decision.

[mmm-five]

OutInTheShed said:

That's all wrong.

Your car is insured by your insurer, they will pay out. That's your contract with them.
They will attempt to recover the cost from the other party.

Only if you choose to claim through your own insurer - there's no legal obligation to do so, and in some cases can be simpler/cheaper for the 3rd party insurer to handle the claim directly (for example, by providing you with a 'normal' hire car instead of a 'credit' hire car).

But if the OP's car is undriveable, I'm not sure why he hasn't DEMANDED (or asked nicely for) a hire car whilst the claim is settled. (ETA: looks like one has been offered but the OP has refused it - so it's his own fault that he doesn't have a vehicle at the moment)

In the meantime, I'd be asking for their complaints procedure.

OutInTheShed said:

You can possibly recover the excess and uninsured costs from the other party.

That's the same whether you go direct to the 3rd party insurer or your own.

BTW, OP, if your car is repaired it will not be recorded as a 'write off' - however there may be a chance that it's listed as insurance repaired on some vehicle history checks. But if it's repaired with new parts, it might end up being in 'newer' condition than before the accident.

[Jonmx]

MustangGT said:

rob07 said:

I specifically chose not to use my own insurers as they would write my car off, where as the third party insurers may wish to do that but do not have the authority to do so. To have a car which eventually is repaired but classed as a write off considerably lowers its value and this is a loss which the insurers will not compensate me for. In my case I was rear ended whilst staitionary at traffic lights and have been without the use of my car for 8 months.

You do realise that your own insurance company does not have the authority to write your car off without your consent as well?

They will however get Copart to come and collect the car, drag the arse out of matters and strongly suggest you agree with them to write off the car.

[rob07]

I would appreciate if any one can clarify what regulations or obligations the insurers have to deal with a third party motor claim. I have been advised that for the personal injury claims the regulations are quite specific and to quite short time scales, but I cant find any information for third party car claims.