Insurance company waiting for me to give up

Helen_J_3

Hello
I'm insured with Hastings Direct (and for the record I will not under any circumstance be renewing with them).

On 30th September 2009 whilst I was parked stationary at some traffic lights a car bumped into me from behind. There was not a great deal of damage and no-one was injured but there was some scratching to my rear bumper and there was also damage to my exhaust which had to be replaced. We swopped numbers and details.

I rang my insurance company on the same day when I got home and reported the accident, although I made it clear I was not wanting them to pay for any damage as the accident was not my fault. They then agreed to act and get in touch with the driver who went into my car.

I didn't hear anything from them for at least two months and then they finally sent me an accident report form to send on to his insurance company.

I have rang them every month from the time I sent the form off to today to try and find out what's going on as my car has still not been fixed. Every time I ring they tell me that they cannot get in touch with the other driver's insurance and they cannot take that as an admission of liability until they do. I rang today telling them that I need this sorting, and once more they say they have sent letters with no response and tried ringing but get put on hold for 15 minutes+.

So after today's phone call I rang the other driver's insurance company myself (funnily enough getting through straight away without being put on hold) and asked them what is happening. His insurance company (Aviva) told me that they have been in contact with my insurance company. They also said they cannot accept liability until they get some information from the Police regarding a bus that the other driver claimed went into the back of him, which he claims then forced him to go into me. Surely this does not matter and whether the bus went into him or not I still claim off the person directly behind me?

I don't know exactly what to complain about to Hastings but I feel I've not been treated properly, (I paid £800+ for a year's insurance and have still had to do all the running about myself). I'm sick of this claim still being ongoing as it's been over 4 months and I want to sell my car soon and really need the scratching fixing.


Any help on this will be appreciated
Thanks

choc_mouse

I don't actually know but if a bus was involved and caused the initial collision, you might actually do need to wait for the bus company's side of the story. The insurance company for the driver that hit you might want to claim against the bus company for the losses caused to you too.

Did you notice if there was a bus? Doesn't sound like it by your account.

Helen_J_3

choc_mouse wrote: »

I don't actually know but if a bus was involved and caused the initial collision, you might actually do need to wait for the bus company's side of the story. The insurance company for the driver that hit you might want to claim against the bus company for the losses caused to you too.

Did you notice if there was a bus? Doesn't sound like it by your account.

Thank you for your reply.

There was a bus near the accident but it drove off and didn't stop to give any details. I also have a witness that says the bus never touched him as she was also driving near the scene, however I'm not sure if she could be classed as 'independant' as I knew her before that day.

What I don't understand is why the bus (it was actually a coach which was part of a company) didn't stop to give details if it was involved. The driver would have been covered by the company's insurance and probably wouldn't have had to pay anything himself. It just seems weird that we both pulled over and the bus just drove off even though according to the guy that went into me the bus was at fault. I am quite sure he is lying about this.

I told his insurance company that I was not aware that the bus was involved and they said 'we'll look into that' .

choc_mouse

OK - whether or not the bus was involved, it seems now it's out of the hands of you and your insurance company. Insurance can be a waiting game...

This probably doesn't help you now but if the driver claims the coach hit them and the coach just drove off, you/they should have called the police and reported the coach as failing to stop at an accident. I guess one could tell if there was a bus by looking for damage to the rear of the other driver's car.

Helen_J_3

choc_mouse wrote: »

OK - whether or not the bus was involved, it seems now it's out of the hands of you and your insurance company. Insurance can be a waiting game...

This probably doesn't help you now but if the driver claims the coach hit them and the coach just drove off, you/they should have called the police and reported the coach as failing to stop at an accident. I guess one could tell if there was a bus by looking for damage to the rear of the other driver's car.

He claims to have rang the police, I wasn't even aware that a bus was "involved" until I rang him up recently to find out what was going on. When he drove off we had a look to see if there was any damage to the back of his car and there didn't seem to be any particularly since he was supposed to have been hit by a big bus!

iamana1ias

Helen_J wrote: »

I rang my insurance company on the same day when I got home and reported the accident, although I made it clear I was not wanting them to pay for any damage as the accident was not my fault. They then agreed to act and get in touch with the driver who went into my car.

This was your mistake.

You should be dealing with the third party's insurer and not your own.

Astaroth

No, you should be dealing with your own insurance company, thats what you pay them for and it gives you FOS protection where as if you deal with the TPI directly then you have no protection from the FOS nor any of the "extras" that insurers offer their own customers (eg long warranties on repairs).

You really have 2 options, allow your insurers to deal with the repairs to your car and then they claim their costs back from the other party or alternativel deal with the matter yourself directly with the third party insurer (TPI)

If you are dealing with the TPI then ask them to deal with the repairs to your vehicle on a without prejudice basis as clearly you are an innocent party in the situation and they can recover both their clients repairs and your own from the bus company if/ when they accept liability.

choc_mouse

iamana1ias wrote: »

This was your mistake.

You should be dealing with the third party's insurer and not your own.

Could you elaborate? I've fortunately not had to deal with car insurance claims myself but I'm not sure I'm understanding this correctly? We're not supposed to let our own insurance know if we're in an accident?

rudekid48

Astaroth wrote: »

No, you should be dealing with your own insurance company, thats what you pay them for and it gives you FOS protection

Not necessarily.

You didn't say if you were Comp or TPF&T? If Comp then yes, you should be dealing with Hasti ngs to get your car repaired. If TPF&T then Hastings have no liability to repair your car or deal with the claim for you. They would only be liable to deal with any claim from the Third Party.

Helen_J_3

Astaroth wrote: »

No, you should be dealing with your own insurance company, thats what you pay them for and it gives you FOS protection where as if you deal with the TPI directly then you have no protection from the FOS nor any of the "extras" that insurers offer their own customers (eg long warranties on repairs).

You really have 2 options, allow your insurers to deal with the repairs to your car and then they claim their costs back from the other party or alternativel deal with the matter yourself directly with the third party insurer (TPI)

If you are dealing with the TPI then ask them to deal with the repairs to your vehicle on a without prejudice basis as clearly you are an innocent party in the situation and they can recover both their clients repairs and your own from the bus company if/ when they accept liability.

I asked for them to do this today as a third party on his insurance but the woman on the other end told me that they could not act or accept liability until they received 'information' from the police regarding the accident. I asked her what exactly she needed to know from the Police and she wouldn't say at first but eventually after I pursued she said it was regarding the bus. I told her that the bus was of no concern to me as I would still claim off the guy behind me and any problem he then had he could dispute with the bus but again got the same reply 'we cannot do anything until we get this information'.

I then complained about the amount of time it was taking to get this 'information' and she told me disputed claims take a while. Well it's already been 4 months and I really want this sorting before my renewal comes in April as I don't want the hassle of having an existing open claim on my insurance which may affect them releasing my no claims certificate?

Helen_J_3

rudekid48 wrote: »

Not necessarily.

You didn't say if you were Comp or TPF&T? If Comp then yes, you should be dealing with Hasti ngs to get your car repaired. If TPF&T then Hastings have no liability to repair your car or deal with the claim for you. They would only be liable to deal with any claim from the Third Party.

Yes I'm fully comp, I have claimed through them to act on my behalf but they are so hopeless I've ended up ring the other driver's insurance company myself to find out what's going on!