Car Insurance won't defend my claim

poshrule_uk

Hi

Earlier this year my girlfriend was involved in an accident under my policy. The liability side of the claim has been ongoing and I believed my insurance company were looking to hold the other party responsible. Out of the blue several weeks ago, my insurance company sent me a letter saying they were going to hold me responsible as the third party had a witness. At the scene of the accident neither me or the third party obtained a witness (I know its possible they could of gone back and asked around for one) but I believe they have made this up and got a friend or someone to back up their already fabricated version. I called the insurance company to explain my concerns and asked if they check the validity of the witness. They advised a claim investigator would be hired to intervew the third party people involved. Today I receive a letter saying they are going to deal with the third claim on a WP basis as the other party are threatening legal action. This has annoyed me as I feel they are being bullied into not looking inot something which I feel is legitimate and would more than likely prove me right.

What are the next steps I can do to persue as my insurance company have said I need to persue any action on my own accord.

Help this make sense, if you need more info then please ask.

Thanks

Steve

Oscar_The_Grouch

Hi Steve

Unfortunately, it comes down to economics - it's cheaper for them to pay the claim than to defend it.

Unless there is absolute evidence that the witness is fabricated, the balance of probabilities rests with the other party. It may be worth speaking to your insurers and asking whether they actually interviewed the TP witness. If not (and even if they think they may want to, they are under no obligation to) you may want to offer to pay for the investigator to interview the witness yourself if they can give you the cost of this.

It all really depends on how much money you want to throw at the case. If your girlfriend was not injured, you may decide to put this down to experience and allow your insurers to pay the claim. If she were injured, the investigator fees may be worth paying out in the short term if it will help you prove her case.

huckster

Yes, I agree with your Insurers. If you want to dispute the 3rd parties witness information, you may have to instruct solicitors. Perhaps they can threaten to take this matter to court and this may prompt the witness to withdraw their statement to Insurers. Obviously you don't have the witnesses address, so the letter would have to be sent via the 3rd party insurers.