Excess payments

dee.t0364

I had fully comp insurance and a neighbour reversed into my car leaving a small light damage to his own but £795.00 of repairs needed to mine. My policy excess was £250 of which i told the insurers i couldnt pay when my only income is disability allowance. They told me not to worry about the excess and they permitted me to get the repair quote. Then my insurers were told by the solicitors that the claim would more than likely end up being a 50/50 claim, so on that basis alone, without a final legal decision, they decided to charge me an extra £44.00 per month on my insurance payments which meant me having to pay £67.00 per month. This was to be paid up until the legal team agreed that my neighbour was fully responsible. The claim was agreed as 50/50 (both parties to blame) and i was sent a cheque for £370.00 from my neighbours insurers towards the cost of the repairs to my car. As it my insurers comprehensive insurance stated that they would pay an amount towards the repairs i assumed this would be sent by cheque. Assuming i was going to be paid the rest of the repair costs minus the excess i decide to cancel the policy to find a cheaper one. I havent had my car repaired because my insurers are saying that they will not pay anthing to me because i cancelled the policy. And now they have got a debt collector on my back for the 5 months insurance payments that i would of had to pay if i had stayed with them. How can they not pay towards the repairs when it is a guarantee of the policy but still get away with charging me insurance payments when i cancelled after the legal decision was made as 50/50. If i cancelled before the decision was made i could understand owing it but not if they are refusing to pay what they owe me. How do i stand?

Oscar_The_Grouch

Hi there

You have several issues here:

1. Accident Circumstances
You say your neighbour reversed into your car. I take it you were moving at the same time, or had moved and just stopped. If this is the case, then the 50/50 settlement is probably correct.

2. Repair costs
Your repair costs were £795. You have accepted 50% of the responsibility for the accident and the claim has been settled with the third party insurers paying 50% of your claim and your insurers paying 50% of the other persons repairs. What you could have done is claimed for the repairs from your own insurers, paid the £250 excess and claimed £125 (50%) back from the third party insurers. You can't claim off both your insurers and the other side for the same repair.

3. Cancellation
If you make a claim on insurance then you have "used the benefit" and all the premium is due, regardless of whether you cancel the policy or not. If the accident happened in one year and you cancel in the following year, then it is down to the terms of the policy to determine what premium is due.

4. Where do you stand
I think you've managed to make a bit of a hash of this. You've cancelled a policy without considering what the policy says and then ignored requests for payment until a debt collector has been instructed.

You need to get in touch with the insurance company and ask them to provide you with a breakdown of all the charges, including any fees, and details of what wording in the policy or terms of business they are relying on (with copies). Then you need to seek some advice. Technically you can claim some more money from your insurers towards the repair costs, but this is balanced out by the fact that you have been a bit of a muppet and ignored their request for payment.