CAR ACCIDENT- My car written off with baby in car - compensation claims help?

A_little_stressed!!

Got the coutnesy car today! She's a bit big, 55 reg! I'll be the one going 10mph, coz I'm still a bit nervous & also this car isn't cheap!
Had a headache all day, went to tescos & having trouble with bags!
Went to see my car today, my stomach went when I saw it, its a real mess, can't belive we were in that!
*ANY ADVICE? - I foned my insurers to see what happens to my exsisting policy, I just paid £500 at beginning of Oct, but they said I can't get the rest of the year back. Is that right? Can I claim that through the settlement or is it 'down the drain'?

BungleGirl

My partner got hit from behind a few months and has since had back problems requiring physiotherapy/x-rays etc. We were loath to make a compensation claim but then a friend said that they didn't bother claiming compensation for a back injury and wished he had because he suffered with for years and it got much worse.

We contacted a local solicitors (who we had used for other things) and they offered a no win no fee type arrangement. The good thing about this is that she knows the area/where the accident happened etc. we can also go in to see her/sign papers etc, go in to ask questions as opposed to sitting in a telephone queuing system etc.

They have been really great and the TPI has offered much more than even the solictor expected 'without pedjudice' type thing - i.e. take the money and if it turns out to be worse that is tough luck you can't get any more.

I really just wanted to point out that it is not just the big tv advertisers that offer no win no fee and we were much happier working with a local firm.

Astaroth

As to your own insurance policy - assuming the vehicle is a right off and the claim is settled on a non-fault basis - you have 2 options:

1) Change the vehicle on cover to the new one that you buy and let it run for the remainder of the policy. Your insurers may waive the admin fee for doing this but if they dont then you can claim it back from the TP/ TPI - this can be done whenever you get the new vehicle.

2) Cancel the policy - if this claim is settled as non-fault then you will receive a refund but until the insurer has their money back in their pocket they may not "trust" the fact they will to give you a refund. The other issue with doing this, even if your insurers do allow you to do it early, is that you have to tell your new insurer you have an ongoing claim which will load the premium and then have to correct it once the claim is settled which will require proof from your current insurers

If for some reason you are held partially liable for the accident or if your insurers are unable to get their money back then it does count as a fault claim and so option 1 remains available but you would not be able to get a refund under option 2

A_little_stressed!!

Hi just 2 update, still have courtesy car. Apparently the 3rd party insurers haven't responded to the valuation of my old car, so I get to keep this Bobby Dazzler for a bit longer! Really don't know what car 2 get now, want almost exactly the same as I had, but a little bigger (Babies R little baby stuff is BIG!)
I bet the cheque comes just B4 Crimbo so I'll spend the festive season car hunting!! Boo!
Thanks again every1 4 help so far!

BungleGirl

Glad to hear that the claim seems to be going through okay. I hope you are all feeing much better and that you have got your confidence back when driving.

I hope that you get to enjoy Christmas before the cheque comes through and you have to start the car hunting!

jacquesss

Hi,
Been reading the replies and have some questions...bit late i know, so i hope i'll get a response...
My wife recently had an accident where the Third Party admitted fault.
Our ONLY car was writen off by our insurance after the assessor did a valuation (we weren't given any other options).
Our insurance (Norwich Union through Marks & Spencer as broker) paid us the value of the car within a few days. Our insurer's solicitors (supposedly representing us) says we can claim nothing else apart from £150 excess and PERHAPS an uninsured loss of £10 per day for inconvenience.

Now this is the part where i struggle to exercise self control: :mad:

Having a 10month old baby, and my wife and i currently both unemployed due to circumstances, and having chosen fully comprehensive insurance specifically to avoid being stranded...as we now are, and having maintained an 8 year no claim bonus to keep costs down, and having been honest enough not to fake injury and add other losses, my wife and i are now denied any hired car while we're having our own car repaired with the measly £1254 payment from our insurer (our car has low mileage and only 1 door needs to be replaced, the rest is cosmetic repairs).
This just adds to the misery we've been going through since the accident, constantly having either to walk in the rain to the supermarket (with baby), missing paid daycare costs, looking at friends and family to occasionally provide a lift, using a baby seat that we aren't sure is safe when getting a lift with others, spending time writing letters like these, etc.
I called both HelpHire and Drive Assist and both says that as we've already been paid out by our insurance (as if we had a choice) we are no longer entitled to a hire car. And the same goes for "our" solicitors, Minster Law. The TPI's solicitors initially offered assistance with any hire car requirments and other losses, but our insurer told us to ignore them as our insurer will deal with everything. And now not even the TPI's solicitors will help us any longer as they say our own solicitors are now handling the case.

What went wrong here...is there a conspiracy between every insurer and their legal representatives? (that's a rhetorical question)
Does this mean that there is no way for a father to avoid a situation where his whole family is stuck without transport, even in an emergency...i mean why was the policy called "comprehensive" and do i have to add extra conditions to my policy in order to prevent this in the future?

Anyway, i don't expect anyone here to give me an answer, but what i would appreciate is if someone could provide me some really good legal advice and direction as to whether i can claim from the TP:
1. a hire car or taxi expenses for the 10 days our car is being repaired by ourselves
2. a new baby seat or a test to have our existing one certified as being safe

We're not out to make money from this incident, we just want to be in the same situation as prior to the accident.

Thx for reading though.
Jacques

choccybikkie_2

I was in a RTA last month. Other driver admitted full liability and the day after the accident a hire car was brought to our home (Bucks) from Birmingham.This was courtesy of the other drivers insurance.They also paid £200 into my bank straight away for new kids car seats(3 of them).They just for the model names and they researched retail price of car seats and they gave us full value!. Got my car back last week immaculate and agreed an offer for PI comp and recieved cheque straight away.

So, if other driver admits liability,make sure you contact their insurers.it should be them dealing with it.