claims management company

cosmeticjunkie

Had a car accident this morning where another driver drove into the back of my car as I was stationary at a roundabout.

I got the drivers details but he keeps calling me to say that he will fix it and not to go through the insurance. The other driver dosen't seem to have English as his first language and I have found it very hard to understand him. I have said that I will go through insurance as I believe my car will be costly to repair mainly because it's an Audi.

I contacted his insurance company ( co-op) this morning to see if they would deal with me as a 3rd party but they refused and told me to cantact my Insurance. I explained that I have informed my insurance but as I have a high excess wanted to deal with them directly or I would have to use a claims management company. They still refused.

I have told my insurance company but have said that I don't want to claim through them due to the high excess.

So my question is can anyone recommend a claims management company that will handle the claim for me. My car is still drivable.

Thanks

kingstreet

cosmeticjunkie wrote: »

I contacted his insurance company ( co-op) this morning to see if they would deal with me as a 3rd party but they refused and told me to contact my Insurance

That's surprising. Most insurers prefer to deal with the third party claimant directly because it usually means they'll fork out less if there's no-one else involved increasing the cost of the claim.

I'd ring them back and tell them you wish to claim against their policyholder and don't take no for an answer.

InsideInsurance

They have no obligation to deal with you directly and a few insurers wont deal with TPs directly.

Assuming you have comprehensive insurance you will still have problems when using a claims management company because they cannot offer you credit repairs

BertTheRaccoon

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Assuming you have comprehensive insurance you will still have problems when using a claims management company because they cannot offer you credit repairs

news to me old chap.

Caselaw states there is no obligation for a Claimant to avail himself of the benefits of his fully comprehensive policy. The policy is there for the benefit of the claimant and not the tortfeasor. The claimant must just act "reasonably", which given that he has already tried to throw himself at the mercy of CIS and they have been stupid enough not to help, i'd say it's fair game the Claimant makes his own alternative arrangements now.

Odds are, if you go to the Audi dealer for an estimate, they will put you in touch with an accident management company whilst your car actually gets repaired by an Audi dealer. I would suspect the Audi dealer will probably have a relationship with a company called Accident Exchange.

Quentin

You can usually get a recommendation for a claims handler from a local bodyshop

InsideInsurance

Lee_Jones wrote: »

news to me old chap.

Caselaw states there is no obligation for a Claimant to avail himself of the benefits of his fully comprehensive policy.

Not saying you have to use your own insurers but the ABI Credit Repair agreement, unless it has changed recently, does stop the scheme from being used if you have comprehensive cover.

Obviously some companies operate outside of the ABI agreements but then some of these can make the regular ambulance chasers look a good deal

cosmeticjunkie

Thanks for the replies. I've just phoned my insurance company back and they have agreed to waive my excess so I'm going to use them to fix the car and deal with it all.

alanfp

InsideInsurance wrote: »

They have no obligation to deal with you directly and a few insurers wont deal with TPs directly.

... but the DRIVER does have an obligation to deal with you, surely. Your claim is against HIM. But under the terms of his policy he probably has to forward all communication to his insurer, I would think.

The alternative is to get a quote, get him to give you the cash (which I think you said he wanted to do) and then get the job done wherever you like. (Not wishing to teach my grandmother etc, but obviously get the cash BEFORE payiong out for the repair!)

alanfp

cosmeticjunkie wrote: »

I've just phoned my insurance company back and they have agreed to waive my excess .

I assume you're going to get that in writing before paying out any money ...not that I don't trust what insurance companies say on the phone

Quentin

cosmeticjunkie wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I've just phoned my insurance company back and they have agreed to waive my excess so I'm going to use them to fix the car and deal with it all.

Are you sure they aren't just passing you on to a claims handler firm?

Also check that your insurer won't (temporarily) impact on your NCD before agreeing to this!

cosmeticjunkie

My insurance is Privilege insurance and they put me through to their damage management team. They have instructed a bodyshop company to contact me and arrange for the car to be repaired.

My insurance is due to re-new and the 24th of this month and I asked if this would have an impact and they said no as it's a non fault accident. Although I guess that may change if they can't recover from the 3rd party. I have photos and a witness so I don't see how he can dispute liability but you never know.