Car insurance - claim through third party or go private?

Natbag

Ah I didn't know you could reimburse your insurance company for losses to reclaim your NCD, makes sense though.
It would be a lot less hassle, and like you say I wouldn't be at risk of losing out financially at any point, I think I'm just finding it hard to say no, I'm too nice lol!
Going to talk it over with my husband at lunch and see what he reckons, I just don't know what to do.
Thanks so much for your help, I will keep you updated.

Quentin

You are the one who has suffered in all this - and yet you are the one being asked to run around getting multiple quotes etc - and have you got his agreement to pay all costs associated with the incident!

Were the blame reversed, do you think this bloke would do lots of running round for you?

Natbag

Probably not! I think I will go through my insurer, I just need the guts to tell him so!

Quentin

You don't have to tell him! (Though you may have to contact him to get the reg details for your insurer). In any case all you need say is you have passed it on to your insurer to deal with.

One thing to bear in mind if you do claim on your own insurance rather than direct off his insurer:

You will have to pay your excess, (so will need to pursue the third party for this and your other uninsured losses) and your NCD will be reduced pending the outcome of the liability issue - which may have an impact if your renewal is due before the issue is concluded.

As you are blameless, then claiming direct off the third party insurer is less hassle for you assuming there is no argument over liability, though using your policy to claim off is what you have paid for, so in the end you decide.

vaio

With clear cut third party liability it’s odds on that if you go through your own insurance they will just sell your details to a credit hire firm which just adds another firm making £££ out of your claim and, as you’ll find if you look at other threads on here, might well cause you hassle/money further down the line.

Natbag

I'll have to tell him to get his vehicle reg and insurance company name won't I?
My insurer said I won't lose my XS or NCD if I'm happy to wait until they have admitted liability to get the repairs, which I am as I have the written proof, and my insurance isn't up until August so that should be ok. They said it could be sorted very quickly. Fingers crossed.
vaio - what does that mean please? How would it affect me later?

Natbag

Oh I Googled it, and I don't think that will apply if I go through my insurance company will it - their own repair centre near me provides a courtesy car of their own as part of my policy, no private hire agreement involved. And I would only agree to any repairs if the costs are covered in full by the other party and I don't pay my XS upfront, which I have been told is fine - if there is any doubt I won't go ahead.

Quentin

Natbag wrote: »

I'll have to tell him to get his vehicle reg and insurance company name won't I?

Yes.

But you are obliged to inform your insurer about the incident anyway irrespective of whether or not you make a claim, so it's not an issue.

As you are going to let your own insurer sort this out, all you need is the reg details (your insurer will find out who is his insurer from that).

lisyloo

How would it affect me later?

If you agree to a credit hire firm who have very high charges, then the other insurer might well refuse to pay them on the basis that they are excessive.
There is usually a clause in the contract that makes you liable if the other insurer doesn't shell out (to find this you need to read all the small print not what the sales rep tells you).
So they could come back to you several years later with a bill.
This has happened to people and there have been threads on this.

If you are talking to someone or being offered a car, then make sure you know who is offering it.
Is it on credit hire where they hope to claim the money back? If so are you potentially liable?
Or is it a courtesy car provided through your policy.

You need to be clear on who you are talking to at all times and which company they represent because insurers pass on your details to gain commission.
Many people often assume or are led to believe the caller is from the insurance and they are entitled to the service (which they assume means under theri insurance policy) when sometime it's a seperate company altogher and the paper work you sign makes you potentially liable when the other insurer refuses to pay the (in some cases) exhorbitant charges.

Natbag

Thanks lisyloo.
The courtesy car I've found out would be through Nationwide, so a separate company, it's only about £25 but even so I would decline it and just suffer a day or two on the bus - if it's a day when I'm at work it's do-able.
Don't want that coming back to bite me on the behind in years to come!