Better to claim from insurance or not ?

makemineadouble

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

No no no. You don't understand.

Consider this.

Go to a solicitor, tell him your story.

He will say to you something like;


Based on what you say you are 100% correct and not to blaim...............

In other words, You are in the right but only if what you say is correct and provable.

You need to get a grasp of that. I'm not trying to shoot you down, but in an argument, someone else may try to. :A

I am trying to understand (I'm sure there must be a 'confused' icon somewhere !) but really do not see why there would be any doubt when a witness was present and is obviously willing to back up my version of what happened. Is that not what witnesses are useful for ?

cyclonebri1

Yes of course, but consider the fact the he maybe has a witness that says something else. People can get very devious in these situations.
I guess what I'm trying to say is never take it for granted that thing will go smoothly, ie, it ain't over 'till the big lady sings etc etc.

Most would say you are 100% in the right, I agree, just making the point of what happens and often happens often in these situations :beer:, which is why I said in my 1st post, "it's a no brainer". IE let the insurers sort it out if you are convinced you are 100% right, rather than deal directly with the guy as this is where it can go wrong. Eg, he may baulk at the final cost, may want to use "his" garage etc.

Hope you unserstand where I was coming from now?

Mankysteve

Heard of far too many who people who had accidents where one party has offered money for repairs then that party disappears. always go though insurance.

Cyclone is not trying to accuse you anything its a standard thing when giving out legal advice to say that.

makemineadouble

Thankyou Cyclonebri1 and Mankysteve and apologies for the delay in my return. As it happens, the driver who hit my car has stopped all communication so I felt I had no choice but to inform my insurance company anyway. I have sent them three quotes (they requested at least two) and as I feared, each of them is well over the value of the car. Am expecting them to get back to me very soon but am pretty sure they will consider my car a write off.

Can anyone please offer further advice about whether there is anything I can do about this. I have no idea whether the other driver's insurance company is even aware of the incident. Is it wise for me to call them to check ? I have already told my insurance company that I wished to go ahead with a claim but since read (after informing my own insurance) that I may be able to claim directly off other driver's insurance. I think this would be my preferred option.

Any further advice would be most welcome.

rev_henry

makemineadouble wrote: »

Thankyou Cyclonebri1 and Mankysteve and apologies for the delay in my return. As it happens, the driver who hit my car has stopped all communication so I felt I had no choice but to inform my insurance company anyway. I have sent them three quotes (they requested at least two) and as I feared, each of them is well over the value of the car. Am expecting them to get back to me very soon but am pretty sure they will consider my car a write off.

Can anyone please offer further advice about whether there is anything I can do about this. I have no idea whether the other driver's insurance company is even aware of the incident. Is it wise for me to call them to check ? I have already told my insurance company that I wished to go ahead with a claim but since read (after informing my own insurance) that I may be able to claim directly off other driver's insurance. I think this would be my preferred option.

Any further advice would be most welcome.

Won't do any harm to contact his insurance company. Just call them and say you wish to make a 3rd party claim against one of their customers. He could, of course, then kick up a fuss and say it never happened etc but as you have witnesses etc you should be ok. They should then sort it out for you. This way I *think* you can demand that they repair your car and don't just write it off, which you can't do going through your own insurance.

spadoosh

had a crash about 2 years ago, not my fault. And my saxo (£500) was written off. At the time i knew i wouldnt be able to replace the car for less or the same and was incredibaly angry at having to pay premiums circa £1000 so decided those twinges in my neck were worse than i first feared. total payout was about £3100 after insurance company spent 6 months cocking about.

Driver + 2 passengers = £££££££

possibly a bit late now though

makemineadouble

Thanks rev. Thought that may be the case. Don't know whether my insurance company will object to this idea as I have already told them I wished to go ahead and make a claim before I was aware that there was an alternative. Will give the other insurance company a call as soon as I can and go from there.

Regarding the suggestion from spadoosh, I realise (even more than before since this incident) that this scenario would almost be a blessing to the company that my insurance company have passed me on to. However, my passengers certainly would not go with this and I don't think I would either. I did have to be checked out by my gp after feeling nauseous for a couple of days and was just relieved that I was given the all clear ! My situation regarding value of car and replacement sounds quite similar to your own. Curious about the premium bit though. Will claiming make the cost of my renewal more even if they believe that I am not at fault ?

cyclonebri1

spadoosh wrote: »

had a crash about 2 years ago, not my fault. And my saxo (£500) was written off. At the time i knew i wouldnt be able to replace the car for less or the same and was incredibaly angry at having to pay premiums circa £1000 so decided those twinges in my neck were worse than i first feared. total payout was about £3100 after insurance company spent 6 months cocking about.

Driver + 2 passengers = £££££££

possibly a bit late now though

I think that is both illegal and unethical, you should be proud of yourself not. Glad the op disagrees with you :T

spadoosh

makemineadouble wrote: »

My situation regarding value of car and replacement sounds quite similar to your own. Curious about the premium bit though. Will claiming make the cost of my renewal more even if they believe that I am not at fault ?

Was merely commenting that paying £1000 for insurance on a car that has a value of £500 is basically stealing! My premiums were not affected if anything they have reduced quite a bit (now paying about £600), unsure why as i havent hit any of the major markers they look for when working out how much?!?

Quentin

spadoosh wrote: »

Was merely commenting that paying £1000 for insurance on a car that has a value of £500 is basically stealing!

Your post just demonstrates your misunderstanding of your insurer's risk!