Car Insurance

[Mups]

Does anyone here know about the legalities of car insurance claims?

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago an idiot driver backed into me in a car park,  and damaged the wing of my car.
My insureres were very good and had my car repaired very quickly, and sent me a hired car free of charge in the meantime.

However,  now it looks like there is a problem brewing, and I am getting myself in a bit of a state about it.
Apparently the bloke that hit me was only insured for business use,  and at the time of the accident he was using it for pleasure.   
This is the excuse for his insurance firm to refuse to pay my insurers back for the cost of repairs on my vehicle.
Now my insurers have called in a solicitor to sort them out.

I don't doubt for one minute that now my insurers have got solicitors on to his insurers, that his insurers will now do the same.

What is worrying me sick,  is as I am fully comprehensive cover plus legal fees,  can any of this lot make me pay  their expenses?    
The solicitors keep sending me emails full of legal talk that I don't understand,  and are pushing me sign that I agree to it,   but I am worried about signing something before I even know what I am agreeing to. 
I really don't like the way this is going, and I don't know what to do.

[JBR]

I'm afraid I can't help here, Mups.  Regardless of any details (which I don't understand) if the other driver was to blame, he should be paying any costs.
Were there any witnesses who can testify that it was he who drove into your car and not vice versa?
There are so many dishonest people about these days.

[klondike]

Your car repairs will be covered by your fully comp policy. It was already determined that the other driver was to blame. There are provisions amongst insurers the handle uninsured drivers but I don't know any details.

What you could lose is your no claims bonus and possibly excess - note it is no claim not no blame. The insured status of the other driver is up to the insurance company as is recovering losses from him although if your own insurer wants the excess from you then it could be down to you to claim from his insurance depending how good your insurers are and it seems they are trying to wriggle out of paying.

No point worrying about it as whether you worry or not the outcome will be the same and there is little you can do other that follow whatever procedures they ask you to.

[Mups]

I'm afraid I can't help here, Mups.  Regardless of any details (which I don't understand) if the other driver was to blame, he should be paying any costs.
Were there any witnesses who can testify that it was he who drove into your car and not vice versa?
There are so many dishonest people about these days.

I seem to remember some people watching from a distance,  but once they saw the man come over to me and give me his details,  they all walked away,  so I have no idea who they were now.


Yesterday at 02:34:58 PM

Your car repairs will be covered by your fully comp policy. It was already determined that the other driver was to blame. There are provisions amongst insurers the handle uninsured drivers but I don't know any details.

What you could lose is your no claims bonus and possibly excess - note it is no claim not no blame. The insured status of the other driver is up to the insurance company as is recovering losses from him although if your own insurer wants the excess from you then it could be down to you to claim from his insurance depending how good your insurers are and it seems they are trying to wriggle out of paying.

No point worrying about it as whether you worry or not the outcome will be the same and there is little you can do other that follow whatever procedures they ask you to.

It worries me the way solictiors phrase things in their legal talk,  so unless you happen to be in the same business as them,  it doesn't make much sense to us ordinary folk.   Then they want me to sign to agreeing.
They even quoted in one part about their charges of between £200 -  £350 an hour!!
How the hell can anyone justify earning  £350 p.h.?   That's over £2500 for one day!!

[Michael Rolls]

They have their victims- sorry, clients - by the short and curlies

[Dextrous63]

I wouldn't sign anything unless you are explicitly advised to by your insurers.  It may be worth giving them a call to hear what they have to say, and while you're on the phone, set up a password for them to use if they ever call you up, which should protect you from any shyster trying it on.

You won't have to pay a penny for a no fault claim.  The other driver has accepted fault.  His insurers are naturally not going to pay out for anything they don't have to.  Your insurers will also look into making a claim against the other driver.

So, don't panic nor worry.  And don't sign anything. 

No idea who the lawyers who want £250 ph for.  Ignore them, unless instructed otherwise.

[klondike]

You won't have to pay a penny for a no fault claim.

You can still lose your NCB unfortunately and could be required to pay any excess regardless of fault although either or both may be recoverable if there is a successful claim from the third party. Hopefully your insurer will turn out to be the good guys and treat you fairly. Not all do as you can easily see from the others wriggling out of paying.

Not worth involving solicitors IMO. Better burnt by one bunch of shysters (the insurance company) than give another bunch (the legal profession) an opportunity to pick your bones

[Dextrous63]

I'm trying to work out if the offender is a sole trader or not.  Why would he only have a business only insurance (if it's under his employer's umbrella one then he'll be on bother and may get the sack) and in any case why was he driving for personal/leisure??  Complete tw@t.  If it were me doing the same dodgy nonsense, I'd have tried to sort out a deal with Mups to get the repair done and to avoid the insurers anyway.

[klondike]

As an aside on uninsured drivers a bloke rang my bell with a tale of woe yesterday. There had been an accident at the roundabout down the road the previous day and the driver of the other car had done a bunk and he was walking the route looking for CCTV.

I immediately said there was no chance of my cameras seeing anything of any use at the roundabout (it's 200 yards away} but he explained that he wanted a picture of the car as it went past mine to get the number. He showed me a picture he'd got from nearer the roundabout but couldn't see the number. I got him to WhatsApp me and promised I'd look. With a picture of the car and a time all I had to go on I thought there'd be no chance.

I looked at the recording around the time he gave and was amazed to see the he car go by. I pulled he video and got a snapshot and the number was readable. Gobsmacked I sent him the picture showing the number and a pretty poor one sort of showing the driver.

He got back to me later to thank me. He'd found the car was uninsured which was why it just drove off obviously.

The bit I found odd though was there was obvious damage to the car with the rear bumper partly detached.  I can't think of any obvious accident scenario where a car and the back of another bump where the driver whose car had hit the back of another would be chasing the other driver up when they've done a bunk. Odd.

[Mups]

I'm trying to work out if the offender is a sole trader or not.  Why would he only have a business only insurance (if it's under his employer's umbrella one then he'll be on bother and may get the sack) and in any case why was he driving for personal/leisure??  Complete tw@t.  If it were me doing the same dodgy nonsense, I'd have tried to sort out a deal with Mups to get the repair done and to avoid the insurers anyway.

I have no idea what the man does Dex,  but perhaps it was a works car?  
 I assume he had just been in the Co-op as it was the Co-op car park where it happened.    He just backed straight of his parking bay,  rather fast,  and without looking,  else he'd have seen me just behind him.

Perhaps in a way, I was lucky I was in my car and not walking past him!   

I will phone the insurers tomorrow and see if I can find out more.

[JBR]

I'm afraid I can't remember now whether I have already suggested this.  Do you have a dashcam?  Ideally, one which will look forward and also backward.
I'd definitely recommend it, because they record what they see (at least I think they all do) and if you make sure to save the recordings, they will usually prove who is at fault.  It is also important to download the recordings as soon as possible afterwards, before they are overwritten.

[Mups]

I'm afraid I can't remember now whether I have already suggested this.  Do you have a dashcam?  Ideally, one which will look forward and also backward.
I'd definitely recommend it, because they record what they see (at least I think they all do) and if you make sure to save the recordings, they will usually prove who is at fault.  It is also important to download the recordings as soon as possible afterwards, before they are overwritten.

No,  I've never had a dashcam, JBR,   and anyway,  its not who's at fault that is the problem,  no one is blaming me thank goodness.

It's my insurers who have called in solicitors because the other driver's insurers won't refund the cost of repairs.  His insurers are claiming the driver was only insured for 'business',  and he wasn't out on business at the time of the accident.

I spoke to the solicitors today,  and  asked them to send me a proper letter, on paper,  and not keep sending me emails where I need two lots of codes and passwords to even read them!    
I also asked them not to send text to my phone as well.   I am really pee'd off with all this technology where I can't even talk to a human being   (I didn't say them to them)!    
But I did say if they want to speak to me - just ring me.  That way I too, can ask a question if I want to,  instead of just pages of texts pestering me instead of another human to talk to.
They have agreed to do this for me.

They did say if worst comes to worse, I may even have to go to court eventually.  
Seeing as they are based about 150 miles away,  I can't agree to doing that either.   
However, they said it would be a court usually local to where I am, so that would be much easier for me,  if it  ever happens.
I feel a bit better about all this now I've got a few things ironed out,  so hopefully I will get some sleep tonight now.





 

[JBR]

I was thinking of the future actually, Mups.  If one day something happens, you will likely benefit from some useful evidence.

[klondike]

I can't see why any of this is your problem. Very odd IMO. If they are going to court then a reapair for a grand is going to end up costing someone multiples of that. Fortunately not you though.

[Dextrous63]

I agree.  It's nothing to do with you any more Mups.  How your insurers get their money back from the guilty party and/or his insurers is their problem.  

He accepted blame, your insurers proceeded on that basis.