Non Fault Car Insurance Claim - Driver at Fault Not Contacted His Insurance Company!

LP1993_2

I was in a small car accident nearly 4 weeks ago where it was not my fault (he pulled out of a t-juntion onto a main road and straight into the side of me).

I contacted my insurance company and notified them of the accident straight away. They stated that I need to pay £500 excess to get my car fixed, then I can claim the money back from the other driver's insurance. I don't have that amount of money to spare so I said I would wait until he claimed liability (thinking it would take a week and a half, max).

Anyway....
He has STILL not claimed liability! I have contacted my insurance company loads of times and they have tried to contact him but they are stating that he is not answering their calls. They also can't (or won't) waive the excess until he is contacted.

My dad and I went up to his house last night to ask why he wasn't contacting his insurance company but he has said he has (we don't believe him though). He then said he would call today and yet again, this hasn't happened.

Any tips on what to do and how to go about quickening up the process? I need my car fixed soon because even though it is driveable, it's worrying to drive it as it pulls slightly to the right now!

Thanks!

rudekid48

Have you got his insurance details? If so you can contact them yourself to pursue a claim...

molerat

You either contact his insurers or an accident management company. There is no need to go through your insurers. His company would probably be happy to deal with it all as it will cost them less.

Quentin

If you haven't got his insurance details you can get them off askmid.

Then do as advised and contact them direct and ask for their innocent third party claims department.

Cancel your claim with your own insurer now (you can always open it up again if liability is disputed).

Visiting the third party with your dad in tow "mob handed" is not good - he cannot be forced to contact his insurer, and you are leaving yourselves open to a charge of harrassment.

magpiecottage

Have you asked for details of his insurance? Has he provided it?

LP1993_2

He told me who his insurance company was, yes.

I'll phone them tomorrow, thanks for your help!

Quentin

magpiecottage wrote: »

Have you asked for details of his insurance? Has he provided it?

If a third party is reluctant to volunteer insurance details you can get them from Askmid without any hassle, rather than the stress of "forcing" them to tell.

Askmid also give the relevant insurers number for third parties to ring.

thenudeone

Find a credit hire company who will be only happy to charge an inflated daily rate and find the most expensive garage to arrange the repair, which his insurers will [probably] eventually be forced to pay for, since he has refused to engage in measures to reduce the costs.

LP1993_2

So I took your advice and called his insurance company up today. They said that the claim is logged from my end (obviously) but he has not contacted them. The woman I spoke to said that she didn't think it was taking a long time and that all insurance companies take this long! I don't know if that is true or not but I think it is too long already!

I have heard from people that contacting the financial ombudsman may help speed the process up, is this true?

I just want my car fixed!

I also tried calling my car insurance company today but "unfortunately they were having an unexpected technical issue".

Once (HOPEFULLY) this is resolved, I am definitely moving insurance companies. The service I am experiencing is attrocious!

BertTheRaccoon

The third party's insurer won't do anything with you until they have received confirmation from their policyholder that the incident happened and that they do not dispute blame.

I would call them back tomorrow and ask them if they have spoken to their insured and if they haven't or say they have sent him a claim form, tell them that there is an invention called the telephone and they have 24 hours to revert to you and confirm they will deal with your claim in full and make arrangements for your car to be assessed and provide you with any replacement vehicle needs or you will be off to speak with a credit hire company.

Quentin

LP1993 wrote: »

So I took your advice and called his insurance company up today. They said that the claim is logged from my end (obviously) but he has not contacted them. The woman I spoke to said that she didn't think it was taking a long time and that all insurance companies take this long! I don't know if that is true or not but I think it is too long already!

I have heard from people that contacting the financial ombudsman may help speed the process up, is this true?

I just want my car fixed!

I also tried calling my car insurance company today but "unfortunately they were having an unexpected technical issue".

Once (HOPEFULLY) this is resolved, I am definitely moving insurance companies. The service I am experiencing is attrocious!

You have 2 ways of getting this resolved quickly:

1) Put in a claim to your own company and pay your excess etc

2) Use a claim handler

The FOS usually won't help at this early stage - claims do take months to get settled, though your delay is down to the driver not the insurance company, and you not pursuing the issue.

You have waited a month to get going! (Your own insurer has no incentive to spend too much time on this as they have not received a claim, and thus have nothing to pursue for)