Car Insurance Claim

dth99

The wife had a prang this morning, we spoke to our insurers (Elephant) and they started the claim process. The other insurers (Norwich Union) called me a little while and told me that they have accepted liability and would we rather deal directly with them rather than through Elephant and they said that they would pay for a hire car and all the repairs at a BMW garage.

Elephant told me I could go whichever way I wanted tom, but a little voice syas stick with Elephant as Norwich Union are going to stich me up. Any suggestions on which way to go?

Thanks.

vicshippers

Same as with anything else I guess, as long as you are clear on what you want and what you want them to do then they cant stitch you up. Believe it or not some companies do have very good customer service staff, and do not exist purely to extort customers!

cogito

Accept NU's offer. It's easiest all round.

lisyloo

One adavntage of going direct is that there should be no claim on your own policy.
So no excess and no "fault" claim pedning until monies are received (this can easily go past your renewal date and you will have to try and get it back).

Downside -as you say NU might stitch you up.

If it's only repairs and a hire car, then how much can they stitch you up?
Is there any sign of any injuries?

If it's failry straightforward repairs and it's a reputable garage then I'd be tempted to go direct.
If there might be injuries and you might need representation then I would not go direct.

We have gone direct before (it was our own insurer as I hit my husbands car :eek:) but it was absolutely fine.
We had a choice of garage and a decent hire car similar to the previous one.
We would have been happy with an inferior car but we had a very nice Saab.

sarahg1969

I can't see how or why NU would stitch you up. It's just easier from their point of view to arrange a hire car and repairs - they deal direct with the garage and get it sorted as quickly as possible from their end (no quicker for you, but easier and quicker for them). NU do this all the time, even to the extent that they would arrange physiotherapy for a claimant if it was needed.

lisyloo

I can't see how or why NU would stitch you up.

Personally I think NU are a good company.
However if you have a personal injury claim (might not be relevant in this case) then you really need your own representation, otherwise how would you know what offer was reasonable?

Quentin

sarahg1969 wrote: »

NU do this all the time.....

Isn't it just a ploy to try and cut out claim handlers hitting them hard on behalf of the innocent drivers that their client's have negligently banged into?

lisyloo

err....... yes, or another way to put it, they are trying to stop being scammed by vermin who want to charge outrageous car hire prices.
The insurer can of course defend it but we both know that it would be a lot of cost (time) for the insurer to defend in court.

cogito

There really isn't a downside. It keeps the matter out of your own insurer's hands, you've no excess to recover. Also, suppose Elephant slip up and overlook recovering their layout (slip ups like this do happen). The first you know of it is when you get your renewal notice showing an increased premium.

Quentin

lisyloo wrote: »

err....... yes, or another way to put it, they are trying to stop being scammed by vermin.......

Or, by frantically contacting the innocent (possibly still shocked) third party on the day of the incident, and pressing them to let them deal with the problem, are they trying to divert the third party from claiming every penny they are entitled to (which a claim handler would ensure they got)?

Why do you call them "vermin"?

sarahg1969

lisyloo wrote: »

Personally I think NU are a good company.
However if you have a personal injury claim (might not be relevant in this case) then you really need your own representation, otherwise how would you know what offer was reasonable?

The OP was talking about repairs and a courtesy/hire vehicle. Of course, when it comes to PI, you are better off being represented.