winter warning regarding your insurance cover

cheekycheeks000

be nice this is my first post:o
i live in a wee village on a hill, i couldnt get my car home on sunday night due to bad snow so i parked it at the local shop at the bottom of the village where on monday morning it was hit by another car luckily (or so i thought) she lives in the village too and had left her details on my windscreen.cut a long story short she is fully comp and now has a courtesy car at her door,we are third party fire and theft and because SHE HIT US when her car SKIDDED ON ICE we are not entitled to a courtesy car, we also have been informed that we need to wait for her insurance comp to contact us (which wont be until new year) then we need to submit 3 independent assesors results then wait AGAIN for them to decide which one to use then WE HAVE TO PAY TO FIX OUR OWN CAR ansd then submit a small claims through a lawyer to get the money back.and all this 4 days before xmas !!!!!!!!!!!!!BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!! apparently this is common policy for all accidents where snow involved...:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

cheekycheeks000

oh if anyone has any advice on this please feel free to let me know thanks.xx

Ian_W

Who has informed you of this ... seeing as how her insurers won't be contacting you until the new year?

Most of it seems complete TOSH!

mattymoo

cheekycheeks - the other person paid extra for a comp policy and is now reaping the benefit. You didn't - plain and simple.

To make a claim against the other person you need to prove that
a) she owed you a duty of care - yes, we all owe other road users a duty of care.
b) by act or omission to act she was negligent and that the standard of driving was below that of a prudent driver.
c) you suffered a loss as a result of that negligence.

This is the law of the land, not an insurance ruse to get out of paying.
You can prove (a) but you need to prove (b) before you can prove (c), and it has to be all 3.

There will be other factors as well - were the roads gritted? Was your car snow covered and therefore not visible (light reflectors)? Did you have any witnesses?

lisyloo

cheekycheeks - As mattymoo says you don't have insurance for your car.
Therefore you have to wait for her insurers to decide on liability and to get repairs done. They are normally pretty slow after all you aren't their customer.

If you want swift service and a courtesy car then you need to purchase insurance for YOUR car. This is called comprehensive.
At the moment your policy only covers the property of others (3rd party) and fire and theft.
If you want a guaranteed hire car thena lot of compamnies offer an additional add-on for a small fee (about £25 from memory).
This gives you a greater level of protection than just relying on a gargage courtesy car which is only provided under certain circumstances i.e. when they are getting paid for doing repair work.

There are some circumstances that are no-ones fault e.g. someone has a sudden heart attack or tiles fly off roof in extreme weather or someone skids on ice even.
It's possible that this lady is not liable for what happened i.e. if she did nothing wrong and it was a pure accident.
In this case she (or her insurer) doesn't have to pay for the damage.

Did you purchase the legal cover option?
If you did, then good, you can get some help and advice.
If you didn't then you are on your own in pursuing either her or the insurers.

JS101

It is very dangerous this time of year... I have been using minimal Anti-freeze in the morning because I have heard friends who have used a lot and once it is washed off it can provide extra skid on the roads. Hopefully this was not another instance of her using too much.

My advice would be to get into a credit hire vehicle, they should deliver you one today. Although maybe not because youre TPF&T. I always advise my clients to go fully comp.

Good Xmas spirit from the lady for leaving her details.

lisyloo

My advice would be to get into a credit hire vehicle, they should deliver you one today

I would be quite careful here.
Some credit hire companies make you liable for the costs IF the other insurer won't pay.
As liability is far from clear here, then you could end up with a bill for thousands of pounds worth of car hire if the case doesn't go as you hoped.
It has happened to people.

If you can find a credit hire company who will let you have a vehicle with no risk and no liability on your part, then go for it. However I would advise you to read the small print and no just go on what the delivery person says.
Others have been told there is no risk to them and have then had big bills.

I wouldn't do it in your situation.
I would stay at home, get family to visit you under the circumstances, get public transport and ask your friends/family to rally round with lifts where necessary.

olly300

JS101 wrote: »

It is very dangerous this time of year... I have been using minimal Anti-freeze in the morning because I have heard friends who have used a lot and once it is washed off it can provide extra skid on the roads. Hopefully this was not another instance of her using too much.
.

How can anti-freeze, which is an engine coolant and goes under the bonnet, cause people to skid?

lisyloo

I presume they mean the stuff you can put on your windscreen, which will end up on the floor once it's washed off.

Red_Cat

Anti freeze and coolant, whilst having some chemical similarities do different things.

Remember, coolant stops your engine overheating when warmed up and stops the coolant liquid freezing in winter (potentially cracking the engine cylinder block or head).

Anti freeze helps defrost ice on the car, making it easier to scrape off.

Wutang_2

I think the above needs to be posted in the Ice forum