Car Insurance - problems with Hastings

Spardus

Hi, new time poster here looking for advice.

I recently had a crash in my car, non fault, other driver admitted liability and I spoke to his insurance after going to A&E as I had injured my back and neck.

They told they would sort it out, send out an engineer , vehicle for me to use etc. I knew someone at a repair centre and they did a valuation which came to ;
Rear Panel
L.R Bumper Moulding
Rear Impact Damper
CTR Bumper bracket
L.R Panel bracket
R.R Panel bracket
Rear Number plate

With paint and other charges it came to £774.61 incl VAT
In the mean time Hastings gave me a hire car at their expense to use.

I told Hastings about the valuation and they were not interested and wanted their own engineer to have a look, I couldnt take another day off work but he came out and called me and said he had looked all over it and deemed that the car was just needing a new bumper and it was fine. I told him about my valuation and he contacted them and they came to an agreement about price work to be done (not much cheaper to repair)

After doing so the hire company called to say they need to arrange my hire car to go back as my contract had been terminated, they didnt know why.
I phoned Hastings and they said the car was '' mobile '' and the engineer had said it was '' safe to drive '' i explained i did not feel safe in a car that needed that work done to it but they were not willing to budge but said that i need to give the car they gave back, drive my damaged vehicle and when the garage could have my vehicle repaired they would pay for 24 hours of a hire car again. I called the garage and they said it would take more than 24 hours as they would need to fit it around other jobs.

Re-calling Hastings and informing them of this they more or less said that it wasn't their problem and that any additional days would be at the garages expense as their engineer deemed that the car would be 24 hours and no longer.

So really im looking for advice on what to do hear (sorry about the long post) i phoned the FOS and they said because its third party and i have no contract with Hastings they could not look into it and Hastings were not willing to budge, I have had to call an 0845 on my mobile and have to take time out of work which i really cant do especially this time of year to sort this mess out with cars left and right. It is causing me an extreme amount of stress which is effecting my work and home life and not to mention I am driving around in car that although their engineer said was '' mobile and safe '' even though he spent 10 minutes looking at it and the customer service agent said '' ive seen the pictures, it looks fine '' that i have to drive in a car that i feel unsafe in.

What do i do here?
Is there anything I can do at all, any help would be extremely helpful. I am already pursuing injury claim on top of this so at the moment i am stressed to high heaven.

Thank you so much, sorry again for the wall of text.

spacey2012

Do what you feel is neccasary and ignore his insurance, you have no contract with them as the FOS explained.
Just send your bills to the other driver and issue a LBBCA if they dont pay them.
Let them worry about their insurance and spending the time dealing with them.
You need 2 quotes as well, this eliminates arguments.

I do take it you informed your insurance, if not Hastings will do it for you, just to stir the pot.

InsideInsurance

Was it their approved repairer that you went to or a garage of your own choosing?

If you use your own garage rather than theirs they are much more likely to play hardball. Doesnt your mates ARC offer courtesy cars? If it does just book it in for when one is available and then the hire car becomes a none issue. If your garage are not going to do the work efficiently because its mates rates or squeezing a mate in etc then the insurer wouldnt be liable for an extended hire charge.

Spardus

Thanks for the quick reply

I am not sure what an LBBCA is if you could explain please?

I informed my insurance first, forgot to put that part in my Insurance being Quinn. The engineer was sent by Hastings. The engineer said they would be fine to send my car their but in the mean time untill my car is taken their to be repaired I have to keep using my own vehicle as they would not be willing to pay for a hire car/courtesy car. That while the repairs are happening they would source a hire car but would not pay anymore than 24 hours as this is the amount of time they feel it needs to take and that the garage should pay any extra if it is not done in that time.

The garage have been helpful its one of my choosing i had it evaluated at but their independent engineer also looked at the following day and it isnt mates rates or squeezing me in they just have to obviously book it in for repair and it goes through the whole process. Im not bothered how long it takes to be honest i just need something to use in the meantime but as mentioned Hastings are playing hardball and not willing to fund it for more than 24 hours.

I really don't know what to do or who to turn to, especially seeing as far as im concerned they want the car back tomorrow and i have either no transport or have to use my own car which i really dont want to do as its been involved in an accident and needs replacing parts. Quinn told me also that usually if its more than 70% then they would probably write it off, car valued at 1000 and repair being 774..... Hastings seem to be screwing me either way.

I just dont know what to do , its stressing me out no end.

InsideInsurance

There is no reason why you cant drive a car just because its been in a relatively minor RTA (and £774 is a TINY price for a repair) as long as the garage has said its safe and there are no sharp edges - my last car I drove for 6 months after an RTA with the damage to the OSF door and wing and that was a £1,500 repair job - the garage just checked the wheel/ steering hadnt been damaged

And your garage providing a courtesy car?

Spardus

£774 of £1000 worth of car i thought would have been a write off.

The garage I spoke to said to me if you don't feel safe don't drive it, which i don't. My issue was if someone else drove into the back of me on a weak area of the car.

The garage are not providing me with a courtesy car, i have barely spoken to them its just the insurance going through them and the independent engineer sent out that has dealt with them, they haven't even arranged a day to have it booked in yet.

rs65

Just drive your car meantime, and book it in for repair when the guy can repair it in 24 hours.

Buzby

The issues you listed are purely cosmetic, so whilst a hire car would be nice, it certainly isn't a necessity. Most professional repairers operate their own fleet of loaners so the cost for this is inbuilt into the repair charge.

sithemadmonkey

If the car is drivable (and from the sounds of the repair list it is) then you don't need a hire car, and therefore you wouldn't be mitigating (minimising) your losses if you used one. Note that the garage only said not to drive the car 'if you don't feel safe', not 'under any circumstances' - if they felt the car was unsafe then they would have straight-up told you not to drive it.

When a Third Party insurer (Hastings in this case) deals directly with you, they will only provide for you what they would have had to pay out for if you'd gone through your insurer or claims management company, and they wouldn't have paid a claim that included a hire car when yours was drivable. They're also not going to pay for a hire car for more than 24 hours if they reckon that one of their regular garages would be able to fix it in that time - in other words, it's not their problem that your chosen garage is slower than theirs!