Failure by car insurer to inform me of payout against me

Fwoggie24

Hi,

I had a minor collision - think 5 mph into the back of someone at a roundabout last July. A week and a half later my insurance company wrote to inform me the other party was claiming for whiplash and damage to the car. I called them up 2 days later to say I was contesting it on the basis that it was such a low impact crash - there wasn't even a scratch on her car, something she agreed with at the time.

They informed me that they'd pass on my disagreements - she hadn't even got the name of the road where it happened right - and she had until 3 months after the crash (ie October) to follow up otherwise the claim would expire. I never heard any more about it.

2 weeks ago I got my renewal notice and they've dropped my NCB from 4 years back down to 1 year, with the result that I'll need to find an extra £230 over what I was expecting to pay.

I called to enquire and it transpires they forked out £651 to the 3rd party for damage to the car. Given that I couldn't see even a scratch I've requested an engineers report which so far has taken 1 1/2 weeks with no joy. I've put a complaint in that nobody informed that they were intending to and then actually did pay out as I would have vigorously contested it.

I'm really miffed with Churchill for doing this as I don't have £230 spare. How do I go about following this up further, or am I wasting my time?

geri1965_2

You're probably wasting your time. Your insurers are entitled to deal with the claim as they see fit - I'm sure they wouldn't have paid out without any evidence of damage.

dacouch

I agree with Geri, you hit someone in the rear which is normally a fault claim.

Your Insurers are entitled to settle the claim how they want and they will settle it on the basis that saves them money overall.

As you have discovered if you have a claim against you then you lose some of your no claims bonus.

It may be worth considering repaying your Insurer for the claim as they will reinstate your no claims bonus which sometimes saves you money in the long run. Not all Insurers allow you to do this and bear in mind their may be a claim later on for her excess and / or other losses such as hire car or injury.

If you have another accident like this in the future take photos of your car and her car so you can prove there was no damage. It could avoid something like this happening

Quentin

Fwoggie24 wrote: »

there wasn't even a scratch on her car, something she agreed with at the time.

It's a mistake to rely on this sort of thing whether you are involved as a victim or it was your fault.

Even though an impact may not cause a scratch, it doesn't mean no damage has been done.

The impact's energy has to go somewhere. eg. Sometimes a bumper's internal compartments have absorbed it. But that means the bumper needs replacing (even though not "scratched"), otherwise next time some clown goes into it, then the bumper won't be able to absorb the impact, and much greater damage gets caused. There are other ways impact causes damage not immediately apparent.

So if someone hits you, never say "no damage done" and drive off. Get their details, then get your car inspected by a professional who can decide whether or not any damage has been done.

Clive_Woody

One other thing to consider is that not all damage is obvious, cars have crumple zones and even low speed impact can cause damage to these. Also in modern cars their may be a lot of technology at the rear end (parking sensors, cameras etc) which may have been damaged. Just because the bumper wasn't hanging off doesn't mean there was no damage.

lisyloo

I don't have £230 spare

Well you have several choices then:

1) drive much more carefully than you have been doing to reduce your chances (although you can never reduce your chances to 0% you can improve them).
2) put some money by to budget for this eventuality.
3) Find an alternative to private transport as this is one of the costs you may meet in future.

cherub2008

Clive_Woody wrote: »

One other thing to consider is that not all damage is obvious, cars have crumple zones and even low speed impact can cause damage to these. Also in modern cars their may be a lot of technology at the rear end (parking sensors, cameras etc) which may have been damaged. Just because the bumper wasn't hanging off doesn't mean there was no damage.

My Ka has just been repaired after being hit from behind at approx 10mph. The only visible damage was a cracked rear number plate but when inspected later, the bottom of the boot was buckled and a new rear panel was needed.The bumper had done its job.The total cost of repairs was approx £1000. Never rely on superficial damage at the scene.

Fwoggie24

I was looking at it more from the insurer's inability to inform me the claim process was going ahead. I take all of you guys' point on the lack of noticeable damage not meaning there is no actual damage, thanks. I thought they had a duty of care to at least tell me they were going to do this. If they had, I could have easily budgeted for the eventuality...

Quentin

Have you checked the market - you may find a cheaper quote (which you can combine with cahback from Quidco etc) than the renewal price.

Fwoggie24

Bell Insurance is offering me 7,000 miles a year for £587. Bit steep that but that's my postcode for you I've got a 9 year old Corsa, no points on my license, only this single claim, do 7,000 miles of which 2,000 is business, am 30 and have driven for over 10 years.

But hey. :-/

SolicitorMidlands

Insurers should out of courtesy let you know they will be admitting liability for an accident. Although I know so many of them don't bother and deal as they see fit.

If you advised them this was low velocity I am suprised they didn't argue it. Although 600 pounds worth of damage isn't consistent with that argument really.

If your complaint has not been dealt with refer to the ombudsman for a response. It probably won't get you anywhere though but at least you will have made a point to them.