Car insurance claim

AndrewSmith

joAnn wrote: »

I was recently involved in a collision with a lorry that was not my fault. Serious damage was sustained to the body work and there is a possibility that the cost of the repairs are uneconomical, therefore resulting in my car being written off. The other driver is disputing the responsibility, even though he did apologise to me at the time. I had a passenger in the car who is actually my boss and I mentioned this to Elephnat who are my insurers. They have disregarded my passenger as a witness, is this correct?
Does anybody have any advice about how I may resolve this?
All comments are appreciated!
Thanks.

It is correct that a passenger in either vehicle cannot act as a wittness as they are not independant.

Did you take photos of the damage and vehicles in situ at the time? Is there any chance of CCTV footage from the area?

What are the circumstances surrounding the accident? Ask your insurer or accident management company if they have passed it over, whether they have or are going to compile a 'LOCUS REPORT' and can you have a copy. Also get your company to tell yoou on what grounds are the other side disputing liability.

Regarding your car, if the repairs of the car are more than 60% of it's pre accident value then it will be a total loss. The severity of the damage will depict which class of loss the vehicle is.

SolicitorMidlands

What crap - you can use passengers as witnesses. The court will decide whether to give weight to the witness' evidence or not.

They are not independent but they are still witnesses.

robram2

I too had an accident in Feb 2008 on my car which was brand new in Jan 2008! Only a small set of scratches on the bumper, but pretty annoying on a brand spanking new car.

Albany assistance is my legal team and BELL Insurance (AVOID AT ALL COSTS!) were my insurer. A YEAR later, and i've had NO correspondence from them at all. they even claimed they LOST my original statement.. though I have a letter saying "We acknowledge reciept of your statement.."

Typical.

I spent HOURS on the phone and took three days off work to get repair quotes, and to have them (6 months later) send an assessor out to look at my damage...

Still nothing, so I have sent them a letter of complaint and an invoice for my phone calls and time off work.. stated that I'd pursue legal action if the invoice wasn't paid for by 28th Feb...

Got a letter back apologising for my frustration, but not even a mention of the invoice.

How would I stand pursuing the small claims court process for my invoice if they don't pay by next week?

SolicitorMidlands

I would just issue the small claim online. Worst that can happen is it ends up at a hearing and the Judge doesn't award you anything.

I would also send a copy of the same to the insurance ombudsman.

caela_2

steve1097 wrote: »

I have a cliam ongoing for 6 months. a simle low value collision not much doubt as to who is at fault and yet it is still dragging on Albany assistance are supposedly dealing on my behalf but they last wrote to direct line (third parties insurer) in dec 2008. I have called numerous times since and they always tell me they will chase it up. Just called today to be told they still havent made contact. No correspondence from third party from day one yet they let it lie. They are a complete waste of space. I will be checking who deals with claims next time I renew my insurance

Hiya,

I have had a similar complaint with Albany. I was hit by a third party who was undoubtedly liable for the collision and I used Albany to pursue the claim. I phoned regularly to follow up and in a whole year, their entire efforts amounted to one dvla search, writing to that address, having mail returned as 'address incomplete' and continuing to write to that address, but inventing the rest of the address to compensate. I am not assuming this, they told me this. I have taken my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman and am now suing Albany for neglect, as they failed to take sufficient action to pursue the third party and fulfil their obligation. I suggest you do the same, we should not end up paying for their mistakes. The motor insurance bureau can also help you reclaim costs. Good luck.