Someone please educate me

eSo

Hi,

i Was involved in a non fault accident

Now having spent 2 days phoning my insurer, the third party insurer, the AIB ( no help - they cut me off) and CAB who were some help.

its actually very unclear which path is the best way to go. nobody wants to give me actual advice.

I am somewhat alone and really dont have anyone i can go to or trust that has enough knowledge.


Having gone through what i have so far, this is my understanding of what my options is and what may or may not be my next steps.

I would ask, having read the below, If i am wrong or have totally misunderstood something please correct me on this and offer me some guidance and where i am correct please reassure me so i can get an idea of what i should do.

Situation:

I was involved in a non fault accident and having done so to try and resolve privately this has failed and now going through insurer. details were exchanged and photos taken

My garage has advise this may be written off once it goes to insurers as although the damage is repairable, the value or my car may be somewhat lower than the repair cost.


I understand from the third party insurer this has been reported as a fault claim on their part - ( verbally) and that my garage will send them a quote of repair to see if they will authorised the repair or look to write it off.

my garage is also approved garage for my insurer and i understand they will give a estimate (at a discounted rate) to see if they will authorise repair OR write it off.

my way of thinking thus far is that IF the third party insurer authorised repair this is the best case scenario as I get my car back and with no impact on me.

However if their insurer looks to write it off - odds are they will offer me little and as I am not their customer, it may limit my power to actually complaint about the valuation and settlement ?

Having said that, it may be better to claim on my policy if its going down the ''written off'' route as this give me more le-way to fighting my insurer on the value as a customer and the financial ombudsman may assist if i cannot resolve.

however going through my insurer will mean they have to recover their losses through the third party which may take time and be pending on me.

so this is my understanding and what route i will look to take depending if it gets authorised for repair or written off -

Any comments on this would be great.

Also

my NCD is protected in that i can claim once without impact. - my RAC recovery was chargedable also, MY MOT was done in march as was my road tax for 12 months. - could this all be claimed back.?

thanks

dacouch

Which Insurer are you covered by?

Who is the other Insurer?

eSo

im AXA, they are CIS

Quentin

All your options remain open if you first approach the third party insurer and are unhappy with their offer (if the repairs are going to cost more than its value, then a write off is virtually certain).

If the third party offer is unacceptable then you can claim off your own insurer (whereby you have the option to take any dispute to the FOS).

Whoever you claim off, the write off value should be the pre crash market value.

Although this should take into account the car's condition, the cost of your MOT cannot be reclaimed. You will be able to "cash in" your road tax yourself.

All other expenses involved will be paid as part of the claim (either as uninsured losses (eg excess) which you claim off the third party if you claim off your own insurer, or included in your claim if claiming off the third party (nb items such as recovery etc. should be separate to the write off value)

eSo

Thank you so much, you response have made me feel reassured that what im thinking is ok. I just hope it works out.

eSo

I would also appreciate anyone elses input too

thanks

sithemadmonkey

To be honest, Quentin's more or less nailed it (he usually does).

FOS have written a guide on their approach to vehicle valuation disputes - http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

Might be worth using that as a guide/negotiating tool.

eSo

that is a great link- many thanks.

I wanted to ask, as i will look to see what the third party says first. is there a limit as to how far i go with the third party before i can decide to go to my insurer.

i think What i want to do if give thier insurer to the chance to see if either they repair or write off ( if write off, how much they offer)

if the offer is good enough i will consider accepting this and putting this to bed -

however i am concerned that if i go a certain distance I then may not be able to raise this with my insurer if things break down.

can i my insurer deny me a claim at any point if i have gone a certain stage with their insurer and if so - what is the point of no return.

Quentin

The PONR will be passed when you accept an offer.