Insurance company waiting for me to give up

Helen_J_3

Also when I rang Hastings (my insurer) today they said they had had no contact with the other party's insurer (Aviva) and whenever they try to ring they never get through and get put on hold for 15 minutes.

However when I rang Aviva afterwards I got through straight away and did not have to hold, and they told me they had been in contact with Hastings!

I honestly don't know who's lying and what's happening and I'm considering going to the Ombusman?

Anihilator

At the end of the day Hastings cant do anything until the other insurer accepts liability and pays out as per your instructions.

iamana1ias

choc_mouse wrote: »

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?

Not what I said.

It's often easier in clear cut cases to go directly to the TP insurer to make the claim, and merely inform your own insurer.

rudekid48

Helen_J wrote: »

Hello
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.

Here's your problem then.

Hastings are doing exactly what you asked them to do! You need to claim under your own policy, get your car repaired and then Hastings will deal with the other Insurer to recover their costs.

Why would you not want them to fix your car? That's what you have paid the insurance for !!

Helen_J_3

rudekid48 wrote: »

Here's your problem then.

Hastings are doing exactly what you asked them to do! You need to claim under your own policy, get your car repaired and then Hastings will deal with the other Insurer to recover their costs.

Why would you not want them to fix your car? That's what you have paid the insurance for !!

I don't want them to fix my car while the other insurance doesn't admit liability because then it will go down as a claim on my insurance and I want a no claims bonus, but until they admit (and who knows when that will be) it will be a claim.

My main complain is not that they won't fix my car but the fact that they keep lying to me when I ring up and that they haven't kept me informed! If they had told me in October/November that it was being delayed because the others wouldn't admit liability then I could have pursued it with the driver himself then and maybe had it fixed by now.

raskazz

Astaroth wrote: »

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'm really not sure this is right. If the insurer of the vehicle which hit the OP dealt with repairs on a without prejudice basis then I'm fairly sure that they cannot then recover from the bus company - surely they cannot acquire any right of subrogation as they were under no legal obligation to indemnify the OP. Hence why they are not offering to intervene.

The only way that this could happen is if the insurer of the vehicle which hit the OP came to an agreement with the insurer of the bus, to the effect that the insurer of the bus will reimburse them if it is subsequently proven that the driver of the bus was at fault for the whole accident. Again, something which is not likely to happen quickly.

raskazz

Helen_J wrote: »

I don't want them to fix my car while the other insurance doesn't admit liability because then it will go down as a claim on my insurance and I want a no claims bonus, but until they admit (and who knows when that will be) it will be a claim.

My main complain is not that they won't fix my car but the fact that they keep lying to me when I ring up and that they haven't kept me informed! If they had told me in October/November that it was being delayed because the others wouldn't admit liability then I could have pursued it with the driver himself then and maybe had it fixed by now.

Problem is that Hastings have not repaired your car so have no legal basis on which to pursue the third party insurer. Until they have incurred a loss they have nothing to recover so the third party insurer will not have any reason to communicate with them.

Your options are:

1) Claim from Hastings then leave them to sort things out with the other insurer(s)
2) Deal with the third party direct either by yourself or through a claims handling company

If you want your car repaired anytime soon then option 1) is preferable.

Helen_J_3

raskazz wrote: »

Problem is that Hastings have not repaired your car so have no legal basis on which to pursue the third party insurer. Until they have incurred a loss they have nothing to recover so the third party insurer will not have any reason to communicate with them.

Your options are:

1) Claim from Hastings then leave them to sort things out with the other insurer(s)
2) Deal with the third party direct either by yourself or through a claims handling company

If you want your car repaired anytime soon then option 1) is preferable.

Right yes this makes sense basically they're being lazy because they've not lost anything yet.

Thank You

Helen_J_3

raskazz wrote: »

I'm really not sure this is right. If the insurer of the vehicle which hit the OP dealt with repairs on a without prejudice basis then I'm fairly sure that they cannot then recover from the bus company - surely they cannot acquire any right of subrogation as they were under no legal obligation to indemnify the OP. Hence why they are not offering to intervene.

I was under the impression that if someone went into the back of someone else it is ALWAYS the fault of the person behind, so as to prevent false and complicated claims.

After all, even if this bus went into him, I can just argue that he shouldn't have been parked so close behind me? If he had left a reasonable gap then even if a bus went into him it would not have meant him going into me?

raskazz

Helen_J wrote: »

Right yes this makes sense basically they're being lazy because they've not lost anything yet.

Thank You

I can feel your frustration but as I say, they are not being lazy - the problem is that they have no basis in law on which to approach the other party's insurer. All they can do is politely say 'will you please fix Helen_J's car please?'. A request which the other insurer will quite happily ignore.