Excess Charges for Car Insurance

talksr

I recently had a problem with a man backing into my mum’s car whilst I was in charge of it. I was not in the car, and it was parked so the blame lies with the man and not me.

We notified the insurers but did not make a claim as the guy said he would probably pay privately. Since then, we have received a letter from our insurers stating that the policy caries a £550 excess with it. This is a standard £250 excess + a £300 excess if a young or inexperienced person was in possession of the car, which obviously makes the £550.

My question is, do we need to pay this even if the other driver was at fault?
The wording of the letter seems to suggest this, but I think £550 is very high considering it was not my fault.


:mad:

dunstonh

My question is, do we need to pay this even if the other driver was at fault?

It sounds like the other party is going through the insurance. In which case, yes you do have to pay it.

I think £550 is very high considering it was not my fault.

Its the excess you agreed when you took the policy out. By buying a policy with a high excess you chose the risk. That risk has now gone bad and you have to pay it. However, you can claim it back through your legal expenses cover along with your no claims bonus (which will be reduced whilst claim is in process).

talksr

dunstonh wrote: »

It sounds like the other party is going through the insurance. In which case, yes you do have to pay it.



Its the excess you agreed when you took the policy out. By buying a policy with a high excess you chose the risk. That risk has now gone bad and you have to pay it. However, you can claim it back through your legal expenses cover along with your no claims bonus (which will be reduced whilst claim is in process).

The other party isnt going through the insurance, it is just a letter saying, we are sorry to hear you have notified us of an incident, please be aware that there is a 550 excess carried on the policy. I don't think the policy has legal protection, but I was, and so was my mum that the excess only needs to be paid if you are to blame.
In this case, if the guy has reversed into my parked car, that makes me not the one to blame.
Insurances are so confusing, all I want is a cheap deal that covers everything, it seems I have missed out on some key areas with this. I deliberately set the exess to £250 as I can afford this, however these sneaky extra charges for younger people just take the p*ss, even more so if you were not even driving the vehicle.
Thanks for your comments by the way. :money:

dacouch

You pay the excess irrespective of blaim if you claim off YOUR OWN insurance, if its not your fault you can then try and claim it back from the other people.

How old are you Talksr and have you held a full licence for a year or more?

talksr

dacouch wrote: »

You pay the excess irrespective of blaim if you claim off YOUR OWN insurance, if its not your fault you can then try and claim it back from the other people.

How old are you Talksr and have you held a full licence for a year or more?

Ok, how can I claim this back? Do I ask my insurers to do this for me?
I am 22 and have been driving for 3 years, no past claims, no endorsements, clean record etc.

dacouch

Is your car being repaired by your own insurers?

talksr

dacouch wrote: »

Is your car being repaired by your own insurers?

Not at present. I have simply registered with the insurance company that there has been an incident and that I am waiting to hear from the person who hit me.

dacouch

Ok, how Insurance works is if you claim from your OWN Insurance policy then you pay whatever excess you have and can then try and claim it back from the other Insurer if they are at fault.

If you claim directly off the other drivers policy you will have no excess to pay.

You could try contacting the other Insurer, if their client has reported the claim to them and they accept they are at fault they will normally have no problem paying for your repairs (Generally through one of their approved repairers). They will normally arrange a loan car if your car is not driveable and you need a car, if it is driveable they will normally just arrange a loan car whilst yours is in being fixed.

If you go through the other drivers insurance your no claims bonus will not be affected (If you claim through your own policy your Insurers will reduce your no claims bonus UNTIL they or you have recovered the costs from the other drivers Insurance).

If you want to find out who the other driver is Insured with and the phone number for their claims department you can do it here https://www.askmid.com If you post up here the name of the Insurer we can advise you how easy it is normally to get the car fixed through them eg Direct Line are normally very helpful when dealing with the other drivers claim if their client is at fault

talksr

Thanks for such a detailed and useful post. This has helped lots with my understanding.
Just paid that site you mentioned a visit but it says:

askMID single enquiry is not currently available Access to askMID Single Enquiry is not currently available. Until further notice, this service is currently only available during office hours. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

askMID Administrator

So I will give it a go on Monday.
Does it matter that the guy does not know I am going to claim through his insurance? Should I tell him, or should he just be expecting it really seeing as he reversed into me?


QUOTE=dacouch;22771565]Ok, how Insurance works is if you claim from your OWN Insurance policy then you pay whatever excess you have and can then try and claim it back from the other Insurer if they are at fault.

If you claim directly off the other drivers policy you will have no excess to pay.

You could try contacting the other Insurer, if their client has reported the claim to them and they accept they are at fault they will normally have no problem paying for your repairs (Generally through one of their approved repairers). They will normally arrange a loan car if your car is not driveable and you need a car, if it is driveable they will normally just arrange a loan car whilst yours is in being fixed.

If you go through the other drivers insurance your no claims bonus will not be affected (If you claim through your own policy your Insurers will reduce your no claims bonus UNTIL they or you have recovered the costs from the other drivers Insurance).

If you want to find out who the other driver is Insured with and the phone number for their claims department you can do it here www.askmid.com If you post up here the name of the Insurer we can advise you how easy it is normally to get the car fixed through them eg Direct Line are normally very helpful when dealing with the other drivers claim if their client is at fault[/QUOTE]

dacouch

If he has not reported the incident to his Insurers then they will want to make contact with him (Usually by letter) to ask him to confirm the incident took place so they can ensure they were at fault etc. If he has not reported this to his Insurers it can delay it, so it could save some time by letting him know and asking him to report it to his Insurers.

If his Insurers try and stonewall you that he has not reported the claim and they are getting no reponse then there are other things we can recommend you can do.

Once they are aware of the incident and accept they are at fault they should get things done quickly for you and will probably arrange a replacement car if needed or while yours is being repaired.

Which Insurer is the other driver with?

talksr

THanks for your help. What you have put is really useful. I have just used the askmid site and it is saying::
Insurer: Aviva Insurance UK Limited
Claims Contact: New Claims - Aviva, PO BOX 6, SURREY STREET, NORWICH, NR1 3NS

dacouch wrote: »

If he has not reported the incident to his Insurers then they will want to make contact with him (Usually by letter) to ask him to confirm the incident took place so they can ensure they were at fault etc. If he has not reported this to his Insurers it can delay it, so it could save some time by letting him know and asking him to report it to his Insurers.

If his Insurers try and stonewall you that he has not reported the claim and they are getting no reponse then there are other things we can recommend you can do.

Once they are aware of the incident and accept they are at fault they should get things done quickly for you and will probably arrange a replacement car if needed or while yours is being repaired.

Which Insurer is the other driver with?