Car repair company asking for insurance excess after 2 years?

rrb23

Hi, I had a car accident 2 years ago and my car was sent to a crash repair centre by my insurance company. Because the accident involved 2 different cars hitting my car, the insurance company said i'd be charged for my excess twice, totalling £2000. However when I picked my car up from the repair centre they didn't charge me so I left with my car and assumed I'd hear from my insurer but I never did. Now I have received a letter asking to immediately pay £2000.. Not sure what I should do so any help would be greatly appreciated.

chanz4

So you never chased it, and you owe it cant see the issue?

savingforarainyday

Who was deemed to be at fault for the accident by the insurance company

I didn't know they could charge your excess twice for one accident??

erimus1

rrb23 wrote: »

Hi, I had a car accident 2 years ago and my car was sent to a crash repair centre by my insurance company. Because the accident involved 2 different cars hitting my car, the insurance company said i'd be charged for my excess twice, totalling £2000. However when I picked my car up from the repair centre they didn't charge me so I left with my car and assumed I'd hear from my insurer but I never did. Now I have received a letter asking to immediately pay £2000.. Not sure what I should do so any help would be greatly appreciated.

You could do with telling us a bit about the accident first i.e. who claimed off who, liability, what your excess was. If you were not liable then you always have the option to make a claim for your uninsured losses, which would include an insurance excess.

sistafromanothermista

I would speak to them firstly. Maybe say that as it has taken them so long in contacting you would they accept installments as you believed this to have been done and dusted, won't hurt to see what they say. x

chanz4

2 excesses are only normaly, where damage to a veichle are been claimed for but are not part of the same accident

rrb23

Sorry didn't really explain that very well.. It was icy and my car skidded up onto a pavement and into a lamp post, the car behind me did the same thing and went into the back of my car and they also hit another parked car, at first the insurance said I'd have to pay 3 lots of excess first for me hitting the pavement, then the car that hit me and then for the third car but at the time I said the parked car was nothing to do with me they just bounced off my car and hit the parked car and they changed it to 2 but the damage I did myself was minimal and would have cost less than the 1000 excess to fix but the second car made dents in the back and buckled a wheel, it was quite complicated but basically they class it as 2 accidents so 2 claims, me skidding off the road and then another car hitting me. I assumed they had dealt with the other drivers insurance company because they never contacted me.. I might ask if I can pay it monthly because other than that there's not really a lot I can do as I don't have £2000 to hand right now and it was my fault in the beginning but it doesn't seem right that they would charge the excess twice. I don't know if that's usual practice, it's annoying because if it was just the damage I had done I would have probably just got it fixed myself without going through the insurance which would have been cheaper. But also a bit worried if they can take my car or something if I say I can't pay it straight away?

tlh858

The first £1000 would be payable, for you hitting the lamppost.

The second £1000 for the other car colliding with yours would be payable initially, but this would normally be reclaimed from the other driver's insurance, as they were the ones causing that accident.
If this wasn't claimed it is either because your insurer 'forgot' to do this, or they don't deal with uninsured losses (your excess is an uninsured loss), or the driver of the other vehicle had no insurance.
If the other vehicle was insured, you should still be able to claim the £1000 from the other insurance company.
If no insurance, then your only option would be to claim against the other driver directly.