Non Fault Accident what rights do I have?

honeyblue_2

Hi
Have had a smallish impact to car rear. Local garage advises replace bumper, tailgate repair, panel? repair, one scratched light, & rear member under car rear is bent.
Other driver is 100% liable as too close braking. My car is 9 yrs, maybe £1000 value now, low mileage & I am fully comp.
This is my first "accident" after 10+ yrs No claims.
I am getting 3 bodyrepair Estimates sorted, but my Insurer (rather their broker company) isn't being as friendly as I'd hoped.
Legally, can I insist on using my bonafide garages, whatever cost?
Or, do my insurer have to approve the cost?,
If the cost is too high to approve, my insurer seem to insist their engineers look to repair the car, but my fear is they then call it a writeoff....& I just get a cash some based on value?
Or could I salvage it back off them with the cash they give me? then get my garages to repair it?
I don't understand why my insurer is being negative, but maybe I'm missing something. To me, this is a NonFault accident, the other driver is 100% liable, surely his company will be the ones paying all the costs, not me, or my insurer (or their broker company). I'm not interested in courtesy car, medical etc, I would just like my car, good little runner, low mileage, back on the road, No claims intact etc.
Any advice on whether I have legal rights on insisting on my garages repairing, or if not, can I insist legally on salvaging my car back from my insurers with cash etc would be hugely appreciated. Thank you.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

call your insurer and tell them you no longer wish for their assistance, and to only record this accident a non fault accident, you can then deal direct with the thirdpartys insurers, as the thirdparty hit you, you could request on a repair at a garage of your choice, as you have got the repair quotes, pass this over to them, but bare in mind, they may wish to write off your vehicle and give a payout instead, to wich case look at the going rate for your car on autotrader,ebay as your the accident "victim" you can requet to be put back in the same position as to before the accident wich would be to replace you car for like for like at the going rate of value of the vehicle.

neilmcl

If its a non-fault claim then your insurance wont be paying anything. The claim will be made against the third-party insurer. You always have the option to have the car repaired at a repairer of your choice, regardless of the fault, but bear in mind if you have a courtesy car as part of the policy you insurer may not let you have this if you use an unapproved repairer, but again as it's a non-fault accident claim a replacement vehicle against the the thid-party insurer. In fact it may actually be a good idea to contact the the thid-party insurer directly and just deal with them.

honeyblue_2

thought this would be simple as NFA & other driver liable, but like everything else..it never is!
Have been online & on phone since yesterday...it seems awful that a good car, that simply needs a few things repairing has to be scrapped & another car bought...what a sad waste of resources

I do have the other drivers number, chatted with him earlier & he's a decent chap to deal with....just unlucky as cars ahead of us braked whilst pulling away from lights due to object falling off van into road, and we all braked whilst in the boxjunction!

I think I should wait for my 3 quotes, then contact my insurer & see what they say to the price....if they insist on their own repairer that probably means they might write t off? Do yo uknow if they insist on writeoff, can I then salvage car back with cashback too (someone told me this at garage) OR
if my insurer are looking negative...maybe put them on hold as it were...contact the other driver, and see if his insurer will pay for my repairs (pass quotes to them) I suppose cost to him/his insurer may be the same whatever happens?
I don't want to do anything dodgy, & am not interested in silly medical whiplash claims, just would like same car back on road.

And my Insurance renewal is 29th/30th, so this will complicate policy prices I have been told (I do have my current Insurer on auto renewal unless I change before then)
Thanks

Cannot give you an Iron Maiden lyric back....except to say Run to the Hills!!

honeyblue_2

Thats what I thought. As I am nonfault, then me/my company don;t pay a bean..they just make sure that 3rdparty pays my repairs/costs etc, incl. medical if i have whiplash but feel ok & don't want any of that unless badly hurt which I'm not.
The courtesy car in the policy doesn't really interest as I can get by without a car for a few days - tram & friends - IN fact my insurer did say that - if i use other garage I get no courtesy car & miss out on their 5year repair guarantee...but 1 of MY garages can do courtesy cars if needed,
In your experience, depending on my quotes, & what my insurer says to their "cost", will 3rd party insurer be happy to deal just with me as it were? Will costs to 3rd party.his insurer be the same if I do that?
And then maybe I get my insurer to report it as a NFA to help my policy renewal price (if possible!)
thanks

Cash-Cow_3

I would deal only with my own insurer not the third party. It could turn into a nightmare dealing with them. Sort it all out with your own insurer and then all that you have got to claim back is likely your excess. If you have legal protection they will even claim this back for you. If its a writeoff you may be able to buy back the salvage and repair it yourself but to save yourself hassle only deal with your own insurer.

honeyblue_2

So you would say just deal with my insurer.... give them my 3 Estimates when they come in to me....if they accept an estimate then great, car repaired back on road....
if they don't, they may insist their engineers look at car....and they can insist on writeoff??....
can I legally insist on salvaging my car back from my insurers repairers with a lump sum off them too? (which I can use to fund repair...not after profit, simply want to keep the same car)
I do have legal protection I know...family member told me to that way I'm covered legally for some things?

What I still don't understand is ......other driver is 100% liable, me & my insurers are not paying out as i am not at fault, ...it is 3rd party/insurer who will pay for my repairs, costs, medical or whatever.....so why is my insurer bothered how much my repairs will cost? Surely the cost is all to the liable 3rd party? I guess there must be a reason!!
I must be losing braincells & cannot work this out despite reading up on it
thank you

Quentin

honeyblue wrote: »

What I still don't understand is ......other driver is 100% liable, me & my insurers are not paying out as i am not at fault, ...it is 3rd party/insurer who will pay for my repairs, costs, medical or whatever.....so why is my insurer bothered how much my repairs will cost? Surely the cost is all to the liable 3rd party? I guess there must be a reason!!
I must be losing braincells & cannot work this out despite reading up on it
thank you

Whoever you decide to claim against won't repair your car if it's uneconomical.

If you claim direct off the third party, and they decide it's a w/o, then they will let you keep your car as part of the settlement.

victor2

Just deal with your insurers. Does sound like they could easily write it off so they'll just pay you the market value for it. Almost certainly you can buy it back from your insurers at scrap value if that happens and it can be economically repaired.
Different circumstances, but I know someone who hit flood water and wrote his ageing car off. He loved that car, bought it off the insurance company for very little and got a new engine installed, as the existing one was wrecked, with the rest of the insurance payout.
Car is then identified as an insurance write-off, which could make it difficult to sell, but maybe that isn't a great concern to you.
Unfortunately, your insurance premiums will almost certainly increase as a result, even though it's not your fault.

Cash-Cow_3

honeyblue wrote: »

So you would say just deal with my insurer.... give them my 3 Estimates when they come in to me....if they accept an estimate then great, car repaired back on road....
if they don't, they may insist their engineers look at car....and they can insist on writeoff??....
can I legally insist on salvaging my car back from my insurers repairers with a lump sum off them too? (which I can use to fund repair...not after profit, simply want to keep the same car)
I do have legal protection I know...family member told me to that way I'm covered legally for some things?

What I still don't understand is ......other driver is 100% liable, me & my insurers are not paying out as i am not at fault, ...it is 3rd party/insurer who will pay for my repairs, costs, medical or whatever.....so why is my insurer bothered how much my repairs will cost? Surely the cost is all to the liable 3rd party? I guess there must be a reason!!
I must be losing braincells & cannot work this out despite reading up on it
thank you

If you try and claim off the TP you might have to pay to have the car repaired first and then claim the invoice back. Do you really want to tbe £1000 out of pocket? I take it not so go through your own insurer. Whatever happens then you are only out of pocket no more than the excess.

Try and claim off the TP and what would happen if they dispute liability? You could be out of pocket for months (years). You are fully comp - use it!!!!

It is possible that your insurer and the TP have a 'knock for knock' agreement (if these still exist - been a while since I was in the insurance game). What this means is that each insurer pays for their own insured's costs then leave it to the insureds to fight it out between them over who claims back their excess and therefore who gets to retain their no claim discount.

BTW the last accident I had my insurer told me where to get it repaired. I was unable to choose. Insurance companies often put their repairs through approved repairers as they get better rates.

birkee

Just play it straight... it's the safest way.
I've had two parked cars (yes, parked and unoccupied, and normal roadside parking, not in an awkward position) hit by other drivers, and in both cases, the matter was settled with no effect on my insurance premiums.

They (3rd party insurers) will probably let you buy your current car for it's scrap value, if they write it off.
Know what you mean though, about being of more value to you. My Focus is 2005, (Not the one damaged above) bought brand new, and is jusssst coming up to 12k miles, and has been serviced every year by the main dealer.
Sometimes it does make sense to repair.