Need Urgent Advice

[Petes 16V Sport]

Got policy details, name and number of the driver who went in the back, hes apologetic, so its all good, but how do we go about claiming on their insurance now?

Sorry if it sounds a bit stupid, its just never happened to my mum or me before!

My mums really shook up and its her birthday, so im dealing with it for her style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[Snoopy]

You can either phone up your insurance company and give them all the details, and get them to sort it all out - you'll need to pay the policy excess, although you should get that back if you can persuade them it was the other drivers' fault.

Or you can phone up their insurance company and try and deal directly with them - a lot more hassle but if you can persuade them to pay for the repairs you won't need to pay the excess.

Either way you need to let your insurance company know about the accident.

Bad luck, but don't worry, it'll all be sorted out style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[moreno510]

Yeah, let your insurance know, and they should deal with it all on your part

depending on the company, if its obviously not your fault, then the insurance will not need you to pay excess, but even if you have to you should be able to claim it back

[Snoopy]

You'll need to pay the excess to start the process of getting the car repaired - it'll take a few days for the insurance companies to decide whose fault it is. If they decide in your favour then you'll get the excess returned though.

Bear in mind that honesty and decency has all but evaporated in this country today - all the guy who hit you needs to do is say you reversed into him, and if you don't have any witnesses it'll go to a 50/50 claim and you'll lose your excess and your premium will go up next year. style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad.gif" />

[Petes 16V Sport]

cheers guys, they seemed apologetic though, there were 2 other people in my mums car, and one in his, so hopefully with a bit of luck everything should get sorted.... style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> have to wait till monday now though

Pete

[The subtle modder]

how did the accident happen? if anyone was injured whiplash ? etc then the accident needs to be reported within 24 hours to the police for any future injury claims to be made

good luck and keep on the insurers when you start it as they will sit back and relax if you let them

wayne

[Nicki]

You don't have to pay the excess anymore Snoop...

When numpty woman hit me, I phoned my insurance company the following morning (the accident happened at night). I answered all the questions about the accident they asked & passed all the details I had about the other driver on to them. (The other driver did not have her insurance documents with her at the time, but after a 5 minute phonecall with the police whist stood at the side of the road, they checked her out & told me she was insured).

Basically, you can do one of two things:

If you want to get it sorted quickly, you can choose your own bodyshop, pay your excess, get the car fixed & then reclaim your excess off the other driver, assuming they accept liability for the accident.

Or you can do what I've decided to do - rather than coughing up my excess & then having the hassle of reclaiming it (a couple of months usually by the sounds of it), my claim has gone straight to a solicitor. The solicitor dealing with the claim waits until the other driver admits liability & then you're given a choice of recommended bodyshops to use for the repairs. You don't have to pay out any money at any time this way.

I've gone down this route as I cannot afford to pay up my excess & be a couple of months without the money.

If, once the other driver has admitted liability, I don't want to use one of the recommended bodyshops, I don't have to. I can still use a bodyshop of my choice, but I will then have to pay my excess. The thing to remember is that by this point, liability of the claim is already settled, so it should only take a couple of weeks (at most) to reclaim my excess.

Only problem I've got at the moment is that the woman who hit me has not declared the accident to her insurers. They've sent her a claim form for completion (mine is already completed & already returned). If she fails to return a claim form (or to respond to her insurers) within 6 weeks of them sending the claim form to her, then liability is automatically placed on her.

[BigMon]

Insurance = style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":angry2:" border="0" alt="angry.gif" /> . The whole process seems to treat both parties as being guilty regardless of who was actually to blame. It's a giant friggin' racket.

[Slyclone]

If you choose the bodyshop that you want and dont take your car to the insurances recommended bodyshop you can lose the right to a courtesy car. Excess is normally paid on collection of the car AFTER the damaged has been repaired

[Petes 16V Sport]

cheers guys, the insurance companies are dealing with it now, and we've spoke to the guy that went into the back of my mum, and he says it was his fault, so with a bit of luck everything shud be fine style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[Petes 16V Sport]

quick update, my mums speaking to a solicitor tomoro about it, the other party seem to be saying they have told they're insurance about it when they havent (as far as zurich know (coz its thro a subsid), and my mum hasnt gone thro her insurance because she wont be able to afford her cars without her no claims! now the people who went into the back of my mum seem to be ignoring our phone calls, so not so gud its a nightmare lol

[Nicki]

my mum hasnt gone thro her insurance because she wont be able to afford her cars without her no claims!

Errr... if someone went into the back of her, its not her fault so why would she lose her NCB?

[Petes 16V Sport]

coz only witnesses were in the car with my mum and in the car with the guy who went in to her, surely she needed an independant witness... todays update is the person rang us later on that nite, and all seems fine, were not bothering our insurance just in case though.

[csi_bha]

its usually the person who hit the back of your mums cars fault, but the insurance cos can decide it is your mums fault, or 50/50 depending on what actually happens.

Your mums insurance renewal will still go up, as you have to declare the accident whether or not you made a claim through your insurance.

[Petes 16V Sport]

yeah but apparently theres a body you can write to, and if you have an accident that wasnt your fault... such as in this case, and your renewals go up disproportionately to previous years, they will force the insurance company to lower the premium (run by government) as they're not allowed to put a premium up if the accident was not your fault.

[lunalupi]

Ooo, any more info on that Pete? I've got a claim that wasn't my fault and all the companies I've spoken to put my premium up, and won't come down even when I query it and point out strongly that it wasn't my fault, there was nothing I could do, and that all money was recovered from the other party - grrrr!

Good luck getting the claim sorted style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> Hopefully the insurance companies will get it all done for you without too much stress

Edited March 9, 2006 by lunalupi

[moreno510]

My car got written off in an accident that wasn't my fault and my premiums never went up

so i don't know what you lot are talking about, theres absolutely no cause for it at all

Your mums insurance renewal will still go up, as you have to declare the accident whether or not you made a claim through your insurance.

Not with any insurance company i've ever had a quote from

[Fran]

If it wasn't your fault then the premium shouldn't go up. My loop was involved in 3 accidents which weren't my fault and my premiums never suffered as a result.

The last 2 - due to the circumstances of the accidents, my excess was waived.

I don't think your mum will have much to worry about style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[Crusoe]

think most companies load up your premium a bit if you are involved in an accident, even if it isn't your fault (it might still go down the next renewal but not as much as it would have done). Statistically your accident was probably near where you live and on roads you use regularly so the chance of you having another accident increases as there is obviously at least one accident prone person driving around you.

[Petes 16V Sport]

Ooo, any more info on that Pete? I've got a claim that wasn't my fault and all the companies I've spoken to put my premium up, and won't come down even when I query it and point out strongly that it wasn't my fault, there was nothing I could do, and that all money was recovered from the other party - grrrr!

Good luck getting the claim sorted style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> Hopefully the insurance companies will get it all done for you without too much stress

cheers, apparently you need to badger your insurance once they get the money back from your claim, to wipe the claim off your account, as if they recovered the money totally, you should get your excess back and the claim should disappear, knowing insurance companies, out to make as much as much money as possible, ill try find someone you can contact.

Pete

PS my mum rang their insurance today, they're sending out an engineer to look at the car, then taking it to a approved garage near where I live, and going to do the repairs, even giving us a courtesy car! Its pretty good considering my mum didnt get her insurance company involved at all, and fought it all herself! style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/cons.../complaints.htm

^^^ there you go, good luck style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[lunalupi]

Thanks hun style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> And I'm glad you got all the claim sorted so easily.

[csi_bha]

cheers, apparently you need to badger your insurance once they get the money back from your claim, to wipe the claim off your account, as if they recovered the money totally, you should get your excess back and the claim should disappear, knowing insurance companies, out to make as much as much money as possible, ill try find someone you can contact.

Who told you that? thats a load of old rubbish!

Claims made, whether they are your fault or not have to be declared if they are within 3 or 5 years - depending on the insurance company - some ask for details of the last 5 years, others of the last 3 years.

[Petes 16V Sport]

only claims you made yourself... my mum hasnt made a claim with her insurance and is all being sorted out via the other persons, as they admitted full liability, therefore she will not have to declare any claim as she has not made one.

Same goes for if you initially make a claim through your insurance company, and blame is given to the other party, the claim gets cancelled, as it wasnt your fault, only in 50-50 cases do you keep the claim.