Advice about a car insurance claim please

mcc100

Briefly, my girlfriend works at a supermarket and in March her car was hit twice by another driver whilst parked in the car park causing mainly cosmetical damage estimated at £500 - £600.

She was unaware of the incident but a witness to the collisions gave his contact details and details of the other car involved to the car park attendant who passed them onto my girlfriend.

To cut a long story short the driver of the other car are denying being involved and my girlfriend's insurance company say will only instruct a solicitor if she has her car repaired and sends them a copy of the bill. They also say that the chances of successfully claiming from the other driver's insurance are slim.

If she has the repair done then she will lose her no claims if her insurance company are not successful in claiming costs back from the other drivers insurance company.

Can my girlfriends insurance company refuse to instruct a solicitor until she has had the damage repaired?

Is it true that even with a witness statement it is unlikely that the claim would be successful?

It just seems that her insurance company would rather not get involved.

dacouch

Did the witness leave their details ?

warez22

I would have thought that if you have a independent witness statement, then your Insurance Company should start proceedings.

The Police can trace the owner of the vehicle through the registration number, which again is used in 'hit and run' cases.

Also does your girlfriend's work have cctv? I know that they wont access it for shoppers, but it might be different for employees of the Company.

Does your girlfriend have legal expenses cover? If she does, she can seek advice through them.

It doesnt sound right to me.

mcc100

Yes, the witness details are with the insurance company.

The police have said they are not taking the matter any further because no-one was injured.

No CCTV coverage unfortunately.

Basically the only evidence is from the independent witness who not only provided his details but also the car registration number, model, colour etc along with a description of the occupants.

To be honest my girlfriend is both livid and upset that someone can get away with damaging her car when there is a witness.

Can her insurance company instruct a solicitor prior to the damage being repaired?

We can't believe that they say they cannot.

Ian_W

mcc100 wrote: »

Can her insurance company instruct a solicitor prior to the damage being repaired?
We can't believe that they say they cannot.

With your car stationary and unattended, an independent witness should mean your case is strong, IMHO.

However, civil law works on the basis of awarding damages that place back in the financial position you would have been in had the civil wrong not happened. As you (and your insurer) haven't incurred any loss (yet) I'm not sure how they would quantify the damages they were seeking. Normally, your insurer would claim their costs and you would claim your excess and any out of pocket expenses that directly result from the collision (time off work, car hire etc), without your insurer having taken a loss I can understand them not wanting to incur the costs of a solicitor.

You could take action for all the repair costs(based on quotes0 either via legal exes if you've got them or through the small claims court yourselves.

mcc100

Thanks Ian W

My girlfriend has obtained a quote for the repair which is approx £570.

The problem is that her insurance company say that she needs to have the car repaired before they will instruct a solicitor to attempt to reclaim her costs.

If they are unsuccessful then she will lose her no claims bonus.

Her premium is over £200/year more if she loses her no claims so along with any excess it would not be worth making a claim.

She is in a catch 22 situation because the insurance company will not instruct a solicitor until her car is repaired.

Ian_W

mcc100 wrote: »

She is in a catch 22 situation because the insurance company will not instruct a solicitor until her car is repaired.

I understand your reasons but the insurers are also in catch 22 land too, as I see it. You've notified them of an accident but you haven't made a claim so they have no loss worth persuing.

If you don't want to risk her no claims then you'll have to persue the claim yourselves through the small claims court. I've not done it myself, but I believe you can start a claim against the other party online. Try by googling "small claims" or "UK court service" and read up about how to do it. You can't expect your insurer to do this unless you have legal expenses insurance, which you don't appear to have.

Either that, or let the other guy get away with it. I don't see why your insurer will act for you when you aren't making a claim on your policy but there is nothing to stop you making a claim direct.

Quentin

Ian_W wrote: »

If you don't want to risk her no claims then you'll have to persue the claim yourselves through the small claims court.

You don't "have" to use the courts in the first instance.

Start by writing to the third party insurers (or direct if you don't know the insurer) enclosing an estimate for the repairs saying you hold them responsible and asking that they agree to reimburse you for all costs associated with the incident (to include a hire car whilst yours is repaired), then take it from there.

If they ignore you then consider moving on to using the court (as long as you are happy you will win, and that the third party has the funds to pay you or is insured). Though if you are sure you will win were it to go to court, then you might as well go ahead and make a claim off your own insurance!

Ian_W

Quentin wrote: »

Start by writing to the third party

Take your point, as in letter before action, however, the other party has already denied involvement so I doubt it's going to change much.

To cut a long story short the driver of the other car are denying being involved

Though if you are sure you will win were it to go to court, then you might as well go ahead and make a claim off your own insurance!

Except the OPs insurer won't just concern themselves with the prospect of winning, on a relatively small claim like this I would have thought they would also consider the commercial viability of court. Is that incorrect?

mcc100

It seems that my girlfriend's insurers are quite happy to pay for the repair cost without pursuing the costs from the third party's insurers, despite the third party clearly being at fault.

The problem is that she then loses her no claims bonus.

mcc100

16 months after the original incident and the insurance companies have still not come to an agreement.

If she decides to proceed through the small claims court is she entitled to copies of all of the paperwork held by the insurance companies ?