Car Ins: 0% my fault, but Admiral still making me pay my excess

triyamoto

Long story short, my car was parked by the side of the road and hit by a Van at 40mph+ - he wasnt concentrating.

The car was written off, and my insurance company - Admiral - have made me an offer minus the £500 excess that i have on the policy, even though it's 0% my fault!

They said that because the other guy's insurance have yet to be reported of the incident (the guy's van was a company vehicle, and the smash only happened this week, so the incident has to go through the company's fleet manager etc before it heads off to their insurance co), I will have to pay my excess, and then that will be claimed back after the other insurance admit thier client was 100% liable.

I have asked Admiral to stall the claim until we hear back from the other insurance co, as I am worried that if I pay my excess now, there will be less desire on thier part to pursue the claim.

However, they have said that if the other insurance co deny thier client is 100% at fault, the settlement on the value of the car has to be done before they can counter-claim and start legal proceedings.

Does anyone have any advice about this and if I am legally able to demand that my excess is not effected (and no-claims bonus for that matter)?

Quentin

You cannot "demand" that your excess is not to be paid. (It's not covered by your insurance, and you agreed to this when taking out the policy). Likewise your NCD will be affected till your insurer is paid in full their outlay.

If you don't want to pay it then reclaim it, you will have to cancel your claim and pursue the third party direct.

little_miss_muppet_face

Rather than going through your own insurance, go through the 3rd parties insurance, that way you will not have to pay excess.
Im sure they will admit liability considering your car was parked,
same thing happened to me a while ago, a van reversed into my car, i was worried they would deny but they were very good and i received repair on my car very quickly.

Christopher7

Unfortunately when you claim through your own insurance policy, regardless of fault, you have agreed to pay the excess. Sometimes an insurer will agree to waive this in non fault cases but this at their discretion.

An insurer will only categorise your claim as non fault when they are in possession of written confirmation from the other side that they accept 100% liability.

As an Admiral customer, you should have an LEI policy, get your LEI provider on the case now, all they need is written confirmation from Admiral that an excess is to be deducted from your settlement and they can get about claiming this back from the other side. You might find they get the excess cheque quicker than Admiral pay the total loss settlement.

I wouldn't transfer the claim to the other sides insurer as suggested by others, they have a tendency to pay the value of the car minus the salvage value and leave you to dispose/sell the damaged vehicle and settle any storage costs that may be accruing.

Quentin

Christopher7 wrote: »

An insurer will only categorise your claim as non fault when they are in possession of written confirmation from the other side that they accept 100% liability.....

No. It doesn't work like this.

Your insurer will only record the claim as "non fault" after it has received payment of its outlay from the third party (entirely dIfferent issue to getting "confirmation of liability").

Till your insurer gets paid, the claim is left "open" on your file. (And can mean your NCD is impacted till the claim is marked "closed")

Steve1981

Quentin wrote: »

No. It doesn't work like this.

Your insurer will only record the claim as "non fault" after it has received payment of its outlay from the third party (entirely dIfferent issue to getting 2confirmation of liability").

Till your insurer gets paid, the claim is left "open" on your file. (And can mean your NCD is impacted till the claim is marked "closed")

and in some instances does for the full 3 years that its reportable

Christopher7

Quentin wrote: »

No. It doesn't work like this.

Your insurer will only record the claim as "non fault" after it has received payment of its outlay from the third party (entirely dIfferent issue to getting "confirmation of liability").

Till your insurer gets paid, the claim is left "open" on your file. (And can mean your NCD is impacted till the claim is marked "closed")

Apologies Quentin is correct, but only when the insurer has suffered a loss. If they have no outlay, then confirmation from the other side that they accept 100% liability will suffice and any NCD will be reinstated.

Moving back to the real issue, if you want to get your excess waived or reimbursed, act now. Speak to Admiral, ask them to push the other side on the who was liable, if Admiral get confirmation that the other side accept 100% liability, they may waive the excess.
Also get your LEI provider on the case. Pass them confirmation that the excess will be deducted or ask them to speak to Admiral for confirmation of this and then get them to send this to the third party insurer. Keep chasing the LEI provider every couple of days.

Quentin

Christopher7 wrote: »

......Moving back to the real issue, if you want to get your excess waived or reimbursed, act now. Speak to Admiral, ask them to push the other side on the who was liable, if Admiral get confirmation that the other side accept 100% liability, they may waive the excess.
Also get your LEI provider on the case. Pass them confirmation that the excess will be deducted or ask them to speak to Admiral for confirmation of this and then get them to send this to the third party insurer. Keep chasing the LEI provider every couple of days.

The OP doesn't want to pay the excess, and has asked his insurer not to pay his claim till the other side has agreed liability!

But then his insurer has no claim to pass on to the third party, and nothing will happen!

The OP needs to either chase the third party directly (in which case no excess will come into it), or pursue his claim with his own insurer, and chase the third party for the uninsured losses!

thefishdude

basically you have to take what they will give yoiu, then they will claim there costs back from other side and when other side admits full liability and pays up they will send you a second cheque for your excess. are you using albany assistance (admirals company that deals with no fault claims) and also have albany assistance provided you with a courtsey car? if so this will be a pain in the !!! as they will give you a nice one wich the other side will more than likely deem to be to excessive at som point like what s happening to me and i have just had to send off details of bank accounts credit cards and wage slips to prove that i could not afford to get my own car. now there is no chance you have t pay anything but its still a load of hassle

olly300

OP if you have the company's details I suggest you get on the phone. You may be able to get the name of the fleet manager and talk to them directly to get insurance policy nos etc. (Even though you may be angry be polite.) I managed to when someone went into my empty parked car last year. Though in my case there was an independent witness another vehicle that was damaged so they had no choice to admit liability.