Car Insurance claim are they pulling a fast one

solarstone

patgc wrote:

Well, still nothing to report. Phoned Privilege Friday only to find that supposedly they should have had a letter from the other Insurers dated 20th Jan but they hadn't received it and hadn't chased it up !!!!!!. Think I have been patient enough. Have today posted a strongly worded letter telling them that I am not happy and threatening them with the Ombudsman.

Me too. Sent one last Thurs, recorded delivery, having spoken to a particularly inept woman in the disputed claims dept. It arrived Friday morning. I threatened them with the Ombudsman, so we'll see where that gets me.

Don't expect anything too quickly. My other half used to work in insurance and the mail backlog was up to 4 weeks on occasions. (Not Privilege though it has to be said)

exil

Odd how people don't seem to be able to put themselves in the other man's shoes.

Let's accept for the moment the man has no history of fits. To be held at fault in an accident you have to have been negligent in some way - to have made an actual error - and he wasn't.

Clearly, you're not at fault either.

So - if you like, it's "God's" fault. And God is uninsured.

Think of this case. You're driving along and a deer runs across the road. Too late to brake, you hit it, lose control and hit another car.

Who was at fault? Not you - you weren't negligent. Not the other driver. No-one's at fault.

But someone still has to pay for the damage - and it's your insurer. (and the other driver's pays for his damage).

solarstone

patgc wrote:

Well, still nothing to report. Phoned Privilege Friday only to find that supposedly they should have had a letter from the other Insurers dated 20th Jan but they hadn't received it and hadn't chased it up !!!!!!. Think I have been patient enough. Have today posted a strongly worded letter telling them that I am not happy and threatening them with the Ombudsman.

Patgc I have just sent you a PM with details. I have virtually sorted my claim to satisfaction.

patgc

Thanks Solarstone,
Posted my letter 1st class on Monday, so will give them until the end of the week and if I havnt heard from them by the weekend will ring them and ask for the chap you spoke to.

Red_Elle

exil wrote:

Odd how people don't seem to be able to put themselves in the other man's shoes.

Let's accept for the moment the man has no history of fits. To be held at fault in an accident you have to have been negligent in some way - to have made an actual error - and he wasn't.

Clearly, you're not at fault either.

So - if you like, it's "God's" fault. And God is uninsured.

Think of this case. You're driving along and a deer runs across the road. Too late to brake, you hit it, lose control and hit another car.

Who was at fault? Not you - you weren't negligent. Not the other driver. No-one's at fault.

But someone still has to pay for the damage - and it's your insurer. (and the other driver's pays for his damage).

Having read all of these posts I have put myself in the other man's shoes. If I had a fit and caused damage to another car then I would expect and be happy to pay for any damage. It's not really my 'fault,' but it's less the fault of the persons whose car I have damaged. I would feel mortified about this situation tbh and I would take responsibility for it. If this person had had a fit and knocked someone over and injured them, should the injured person have to claim a personal injury claim? Doesn't seem very fair does it? If I knocked someone over/wrecked their car, I would do whatever it took to make things right despite the fact I didn't do it on purpose.

patgc

Having thought long and hard about the whole situation, I have come to the conclusion that if Privilege dont hurry up and sort this sorry situation out, I will have no alternative but to approach the driver of the van himself and see what he has to say. As you say, any fair minded person, would do all they could to offset any costs that the other person has incurred. I have had no contact with him at all, not even a 'sorry' which, had the boot been on the other foot and it was me, I would have made contact to at least apologise to all parties for the damage and to thank people for their help .

solarstone

patgc wrote:

Thanks Solarstone,
Posted my letter 1st class on Monday, so will give them until the end of the week and if I havnt heard from them by the weekend will ring them and ask for the chap you spoke to.

No probs. They still denied even having received my letter, though I sent it recorded and KNOW it got there last Friday at 09:07. Hope you get it sorted.

patgc

Had Privilege on the phone today in reply to my 'strongly worded letter'. Very nice lady who has now taken the case on personally. She was very apologetic and said that she will be referring the matter to their soliciters for their advice as this was not a 'normal' case. Reiterated the problem of proving negligence on his part. Agrees it has gone on too long and should have been sorted by now.. They are having trouble getting info from his insurers ( Elite ) She will write to them giving them a time frame to sort things out and threaten them with court action. She hopes we will have a conclusion by the end of the month (March).
Ok, will wait till end of March and see what happens.
Somebody told me the other day, that I should be careful of contacting the other party direct as it could be construed as harassment !!!!

losgiganteskid

patgc wrote:

Had Privilege on the phone today in reply to my 'strongly worded letter'. Very nice lady who has now taken the case on personally. She was very apologetic and said that she will be referring the matter to their soliciters for their advice as this was not a 'normal' case. Reiterated the problem of proving negligence on his part. Agrees it has gone on too long and should have been sorted by now.. They are having trouble getting info from his insurers ( Elite ) She will write to them giving them a time frame to sort things out and threaten them with court action. She hopes we will have a conclusion by the end of the month (March).
Ok, will wait till end of March and see what happens.
Somebody told me the other day, that I should be careful of contacting the other party direct as it could be construed as harassment !!!!

Certainly isn't harassment. The fact that you are getting no where (or somewhere very slowly) leaves me to believe you should have been dealing with the third party direct (see my previous posts) - remember, all claims of this nature are PERSONAL - the fact that the other driver has insurance or not is a matter of concern for him, not you. Had you dealt with the third party (a formal letter of claim) he would (or should) have sent this immediately to his insurers, and if you felt the insurers were not dealing with the matter, you merely contact the third party again, stating negotiations between yourself and the insurers had broken down and you were looking to him personally to settle your claim. This would have had the effect of pressure being put on his insurers both by you and their policyholder. The threat (or issue) of a County Court Summons would have brought matters to a head sometime ago.

patgc

I am all for writing to him but OH is a bit of a 'worrier' (drives me mad !!!) says wait until the end of the month , give this new lady a chance to try and do something and then if there is no conclusion, I could write to him.
Ho hum, dont want to cause a row with OH, so will wait. He is the type that likes to tread 'softly, softly,'. So I appreciate what you are saying and I DEFINATELY will write at the end of the month if nothing forthcoming.