Insurance Misery

PersistentWorld

I was in a minor collision in Tesco carpark back in May this year. I began reversing and the driver in the bay directly behind me also did the same. I braked to a stop and began piping my horn as the other driver continued to reverse at full speed into the back of me. The driver got out, apologised for not looking behind her and we exchanged details. There was damage to her car, but absolutely no damage to mine.

On Friday I got a letter stating I need to accept 50/50 responsibility because there is no independent witness or CCTV.

First and foremost, my insurer didn’t request the CCTV despite me asking and having checked with Tesco they needed to do so within 48 hours as it has now been wiped.

Secondly, they aren’t willing to accept a sworn testimony of my daughter or wife (who were in the car) as they aren’t considered independent.

With the exception of a miracle witness coming forward, I have to accept fault for something I didn’t do, which will also result in a total loss of my no claims.

It’s a no win situation that’s absolutely infuriating, made worse by the fact the insurance company failed to request CCTV which I’m now baring the brunt of.

Is there anything I can do as these really feels like a bitter pill to swallow.

Quentin

You can appeal the decision via a complaint which you can escalate to the fos if you are unhappy with the response.

But with both sides telling opposite stories and no witnesses it looks a 50/50.

You can reimburse your insurer their outlay and reinstate any lost ncd if that is cost effective.

PersistentWorld

Quentin wrote: »

You can appeal the decision via a complaint which you can escalate to the fos if you are unhappy with the response.

But with both sides telling opposite stories and no witnesses it looks a 50/50.

You can reimburse your insurer their outlay and reinstate any lost ncd if that is cost effective.

So if it costs the insurerer £800 to rectify the damage to the drivers bumper, I can pay them that back to have my no-claims reinstated?

What would happen if I just said "No, I don't accept 50/50 responsibility" ?

InsideInsurance

An insurer has a legal right to make their own decision on liability irrespective of a customers wishes, though clearly it is bad practice to simply rail road every customer into the decision and explaining why it has to be done is better - that said some customers will never accept the explanation and the insurer will go against them if needs be.

If the third party insurer pays £800 for the repair then your insurer would pay 50% of that. The problem is that the repair itself is unlikely to be the only claim as you will have a claim for the excess and potentially for a replacement vehicle during the repairs, all of which your insurer would pay 50% of and if you wanted to "buy back" the claim you'd need to refund.

What about the damages to your own vehicle? Did you claim for those from your insurance? If you did then again you'd need to pay back 50% to get your NCD back but if you didnt then you'd be entitled to claim 50% of the repair costs from the TPI

Quentin

PersistentWorld wrote: »

So if it costs the insurerer £800 to rectify the damage to the drivers bumper, I can pay them that back to have my no-claims reinstated?

What would happen if I just said "No, I don't accept 50/50 responsibility" ?

Yes - your insurer will pay half of the total cost of the claim.

You cannot simply say "no". You have agreed to them dealing with claims against you as they think fit in the policy ts and cs

PersistentWorld

InsideInsurance wrote: »

An insurer has a legal right to make their own decision on liability irrespective of a customers wishes, though clearly it is bad practice to simply rail road every customer into the decision and explaining why it has to be done is better - that said some customers will never accept the explanation and the insurer will go against them if needs be.

If the third party insurer pays £800 for the repair then your insurer would pay 50% of that. The problem is that the repair itself is unlikely to be the only claim as you will have a claim for the excess and potentially for a replacement vehicle during the repairs, all of which your insurer would pay 50% of and if you wanted to "buy back" the claim you'd need to refund.

What about the damages to your own vehicle? Did you claim for those from your insurance? If you did then again you'd need to pay back 50% to get your NCD back but if you didnt then you'd be entitled to claim 50% of the repair costs from the TPI

I'm not claiming for any damage as there wasn't a single scratch on my car from where she hit me.

I'm going to put some posters up at the Tesco asking for any witnesses of the accident and see if any come forward. Hopefully my insurer won't mind waiting a week or so just to see if any do!

InsideInsurance

Obviously don't lie to your insurers but it may be more productive to say that you are trying to track down an independent witness rather than just you're putting posters up (there is a reasonable probability there were witnesses and you are trying to track them down)

PersistentWorld

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Obviously don't lie to your insurers but it may be more productive to say that you are trying to track down an independent witness rather than just you're putting posters up (there is a reasonable probability there were witnesses and you are trying to track them down)

OK thank you There definitely were some but at the time I just didn't think to get their details. And considering its a very small village, it shouldn't be hard to locate them

PHYTHIAN

I have to accept fault for something I didn’t do, which will also result in a total loss of my no claims.

My wife was forced to settle for a 50/50. As many have already said, unless you have independent witnesses, there's not a lot you can do. However the wife only lost 50% of her NCB...should be the same for you.

PersistentWorld

PHYTHIAN wrote: »

I have to accept fault for something I didn’t do, which will also result in a total loss of my no claims.

My wife was forced to settle for a 50/50. As many have already said, unless you have independent witnesses, there's not a lot you can do. However the wife only lost 50% of her NCB...should be the same for you.

Well I've just phoned Tesco again to see if anyone dropped off their details and they said someone did, but they can't find them at the minute! They've asked me to call back later but there's no gaurentee its for my accident Fingers crossed!!!