Claiming back car insurance excess when not at fault?

kirstiex

Hi

My car was written off 4 weeks ago when someone drove into the back on my stationary car at speed - 50 mph to be precise!

The car was badly damaged and the roof cut off to get me out as I suffered neck injuries.

My insurance co. have assessed my car and come up with a pre-accident value which quite frankly wouldn't buy me a 3 wheeled car and they've now had the cheek to deduct the £100 excess we have on the insurance. Whilst I'm also disputing the settlement cost, I wondered if I can claim back this £100 as the accident was not my fault. If so how do I go about claiming and from whom??

Also, I put a whole tank of fuel in the car the morning of the accident - £60 worth. I've asked if I can claim this back (still have the receipt) but they said no. Does anyone know if I can dispute this.

This whole situation makes me extremely cross as none of this was my fault and I'm the one out of pocket not to mention 3 weeks off work.

If anyone can help or offer any advice it would be appreciated!

huckster

If you don't have the legal expenses cover with your car Insurance, just contact one of the 'car accident claims management companies'. They will handle getting your uninsured costs back, as well as take forward any claim for personal injury.

If you google for these companies, there are lots of them. Don't go anywhere near Drive assist, as they have a poor reputation.

Not sure about petrol. If you have a receipt, they might pursue this for you, along with the excess and any other costs.

kirstiex

Thanks Huckster - yes I'm pursuing a personal injury claim via the legal services dept of our insurance co. It's still in the early stages of claim so do I ask them about claiming back the £100 excess and fuel?

huckster

kirstiex wrote: »

Thanks Huckster - yes I'm pursuing a personal injury claim via the legal services dept of our insurance co. It's still in the early stages of claim so do I ask them about claiming back the £100 excess and fuel?

Yes speak to the legal services dept regarding this.

spark_deals

kirstiex wrote: »

Hi
My insurance co. have assessed my car and come up with a pre-accident value which quite frankly wouldn't buy me a 3 wheeled car

Ask your insurers to buy similar car for the evaluation they are offering, rather than written off payment. Ask them to put you in pre-accident position.

corbyboy

huckster wrote: »

Yes speak to the legal services dept regarding this.

I have always wondered why you have to have legal cover to do this.

Surely if the other insurance company has admitted liability (by paying the repair costs) then they can't refuse to pay out the uninsured losses?

oscarward

my vehicle was written off in January.

I spoke to a solicitor about recovering the cost of the fuel in the tank (like you I had just put £70 of diesil in) and was told the engineer who surveyed the car and arrived at a write off value should have taken the fuel in to consideration.

As I had already accepted the valuation and got a cheque it was a bit late.

c'est la vie.

lisyloo

I have always wondered why you have to have legal cover to do this.

You don't have to have legal cover for this.
You could write to them yourself.

Surely if the other insurance company has admitted liability (by paying the repair costs) then they can't refuse to pay out the uninsured losses?

They can certainly take months to pay.
They can lose your correspondance.
They can certainly query/negotiate the payment for an injury.

Reasons to have it are
1) To save yourself hassle especially if you might be in hospital etc.
2) To have legal advice for example if you need to threaten them with court to get them to pay up.
2) To have legal advice on the level of compensation for your injury (most people would not have a clue what is reasonable).

For some cases you can use a "no win/no fee" solicitor, but they aren't interested in all cases. For example they like personal injury cases as they get their fees paid (at £250 per hour or whatever) but they wouldn't be interested in claiming back £150 excess for you as they would get nothing out of it.

You certainly don't have to have it.
It's an optional extra in most cases (unless included).

But dont forget that not everyone is literate, savy, internet enabled.
Some people might even be disabled and it might be difficult to get to a post pox.
Certainly you could be without a car or in hospital following an accident. You might be relying on family/friends and a solicitor ot visit you in hospital.

But no you don't have to have it.
If you are savy and don't mind the hassle and are prepared to chase then you can certainly do it yourself for an excess.

Quentin

corbyboy wrote: »

I have always wondered why you have to have legal cover to do this.

Surely if the other insurance company has admitted liability (by paying the repair costs) then they can't refuse to pay out the uninsured losses?

You don't have to have legal cover to do it - it's all part of the marketing of so called "legal expenses" cover. (Really uninsured loss recovery), and as you say, having admitted liability it should be straightforward getting them to cough up.

But in your case you have a solicitor acting for you over your uninsured losses (including your personal injury), so you may as well get them to sort out reclaiming your excess (and any other miscellaneous expenses you have incurred as well as the personl injury).