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Car insurance claim
Not exactly sure where to start with this but here goes. My OH had a car accident last week, she was the only car involved. Skidded on black ince into the perimeter fence of a car showroom, police, ambulance and fire service attended. Police report states that she did nothing wrong, wasnt speeding, was taking adequate precautions for the conditions, was sober and had all her particulars, there are 2 independant witnesses who backed this up. Today, we received a letter from the insurance company of the car showroom asking her to contact her insurance to deal with it. Heres the problem: she only renewed the policy the week before the accident and hadnt paid any of her premiums yet. The insurer also refuses to insure her on my car as her own no longer exists. My OH believes her insurer will insist we pay the full years insurance premium before they payout the damage, on top of the 400 pounds excess, we simply cannot afford this. Will the insurance pay out even though she was not to blame for the accident? do you think they will charge us for the full year? Would it be better if we simply accept responsibility and i try to arrange the damage to be fixed at my own cost? thankyou for any advice given.
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It's probably past the stage of paying for it yourself as the Police, Ambulance and Fire Service all claim costs after an insurance claim.
You won't pay the excess if you're not claiming for the car. You don't pay an excess for third party claims. If you're claiming for damage to the car they will deduct your excess from it. They will probably want the year's premium up front as well. How much is the car worth and is it a write off?0 -
Eh, of course she was responsible for the accident.
She was driving the car that hit the fence.make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
and we will never, ever return.0 -
The car was worth about £500 and it was insured third party fire and theft, so am i safe to think that the excess only covers the fire and theft part? It was written off but the police report states that the accident was caused by unavoidable circumstances and not the fault of the driver so i'm not sure her insurance would admit liability willingly (she hadnt admitted anything yet). We are not well off people and paying the annual premium all at once is beyond our means. Our biggest problem is that, as an outstanding claim, her insurance quotes have rocketed until it is sorted and we cannot afford them at all. Waiting however long it will take for the claim to settle is not an option either as she needs the car for work, she works minimum wage and i have 3 kids to look after and 2 disabled adults.0
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...Not exactly sure where to start with this but here goes. My OH had a car accident last week, she was the only car involved. Skidded on black ince into the perimeter fence of a car showroom, police, ambulance and fire service attended. Police report states that she did nothing wrong, ...
Sounds like the police officer needs further training if that really was stated by him. I'm sure the car showroom owner will have a different opinion when it comes to paying for the repairs to the fence at least, and I can't see a judge in the land not coming down on the side of the car showroom owner either, can you?...Heres the problem: she only renewed the policy the week before the accident and hadnt paid any of her premiums yet. ...
She will be expected to pay the full premium. The insurance is valid for a year and is costed for a year. An agreement to pay in stages works wonders when there is no claim, but the insurer will only pay out on receipt of their money, especially as the car appears to have been written off.
Look at it from the insurers side, say they pay for the damage caused before receiving any money. What chance have they then got to recover even the premium that should be paid? It's not as though they can cancel the cover as the car is now written off it seems."Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
Exactly. Accident happened, car written off, insurer pays out and the contract is complete. The full amount of the policy would obviously be due on completion of the contract.0
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It doesn't matter whether the accident was caused by bad driving or just circumstances - if she was the only one driving then it will always go down as "her fault" because, well, there's no-one else to take the blame. The God of Weather doesn't have insurance
She will need to pay the full year's premium but not necessarily up front... they may well be happy for her to continue paying instalments as normal, but she will have to pay up if she discontinues (cancels) the policy.
Will she be buying another car and putting it on the policy?Mortgage | £145,000Unsecured Debt | [strike]£7,000[/strike] £0 Lodgers | |0 -
Sorry, i've come across all wrong, i always intended to pay for the damage, i was just wondering how much i was looking at. I've personally never driven so making claims is all new to me, so forgive my ignorance, I never even knew that excess only applied to your own car. I didnt cause the accident or hurt anyone, i just have to deal with the mess. So i have to pay the full premium but don't have to pay the excess, thankyou.0
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She'll be to blame because she was driving the vehicle and she chose the speed to drive at, which was obviously too fast for the conditions in order to crash in such a big way. Even if she was driving at 1mph down a hill and the car slid and gained speed, she would still be at fault for choosing to take the vehicle out in such treacherous conditions in the first place. The police are happy to not proceed with criminal liability as nobody has an interest in punishing normal motorists who make mistakes in challenging weather (and who have insurance to cover such mistakes in order to right the situation) but this doesn't escape her civil liability.0
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...but the police report states that the accident was caused by unavoidable circumstances and not the fault of the driver ...
Let's hope not. That sounds like just the type of phrase an insurer will jump on as an exuse to say it was an uninsured event, leaving your wife personally liable for the cost of everything :eek:
If you were the showroom owner, who would you be looking to to cover the cost of repairs to the fence?"Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
...The insurer also refuses to insure her on my car ...... I've personally never driven...
Anyone else as confused as me now?"Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100
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