Hit by Bus - Leave Claim to Insurers or DIY?

Lentilist

I was driven into by a bus the other day - there hopefully shouldn't be a problem about the bus driver's liability, but I'm not sure how to proceed with the claim.

I spoke to the bus company and they said how they deal with the claim depends on whether or not I'm handling the claim myself or via my insurers - this is what I'm not sure about.

I know I have to tell my insurer about it on renewal, but I'm wondering whether I should bother telling them now - I can get a quote from a body shop myself and that sort of thing. My question is how is liability etc. decided if I handle this myself?

Does anyone have an opinion or advice?

robpw2

I would got to your insurers ,

vax2002

A lot of bus companies do not have insurance, despite urban myths it is not against the law not to have Insurance with a insurance company, it is against the law not to have third party liability, this can be achieved by lodging £100,000 with the bank of England and underwrite yourself.
This is what a lot of bus companies do, so any claim is often dealt with quickly by the bus company themselves if you claim directly from them.
If you claim via your own insurance they will swing the cost reduction team in to action which will look at disputing the liability.
The advice has been tendered.

Lentilist

Thinking about I don't know how you could handle it yourself regarding liability, inspection etc. I wonder if she was referring to claims management companies or something.

Lentilist

vax2002 wrote: »

A lot of bus companies do not have insurance, despite urban myths it is not against the law not to have Insurance with a insurance company, it is against the law not to have third party liability, this can be achieved by lodging £100,000 with the bank of England and underwrite yourself.
This is what a lot of bus companies do, so any claim is often dealt with quickly by the bus company themselves if you claim directly from them.
If you claim via your own insurance they will swing the cost reduction team in to action which will look at disputing the liability.
The advice has been tendered.

Thank you - that makes more sense in light of what was said, I know the Post Office do/did "insure" their vehicles like this.

I'll try to find out if that is the case with this bus company (Arriva).

jd87

Why on earth would you want to deal with it yourself? This is what you pay your insurance for! Like you said, you will need to tell the insurer anyway, your premium will be going up anyway, nothing at all to be gained by not telling them.

neilmcl

I'm assumming they've admitted liability, in which case they're probably asking whether you'll let them deal with the damage outside of an insurance claim, their own excesses are likely to be high, or you'd prefer to go via you insurance. Why not ask them to confirm what exactly they're offering.

vax2002

I do know someone who works at arriva, I will call and see what advice they offer...

Lentilist

Thanks everyone, no liability has been admitted so far, only spoken them to confirm the details of the incident.

vax2002

No I wont, they wont answer the phone...