Liability settled - why won't they pay up?

chanz4

mrs smashed my car and another, only went up couple of hundred

junglejame911

Happygreen wrote: »

no, that's not what I meant at all. My experience is just the opposite. Although I had a witness there was no proof he was guilty of dangerous driving so they now try to pin it on me although I have 2 witnesses. The police actually warned us that ciminal proceedings might be more hassle than if it's just one insurance company dealing with another to sort out liability. ...In your case things should be straightforward. insurance companies can be very slow in paying out but you should not have a liablitiy stuck to your name! Did you have a lawyer though legal cover? A call from him would probably sort it out quicker but I would still keep on writing with all the details and dates - better than phoneing as it will be on record that they have the facts wrong.

Yes, guess I got lucky with the witnesses (although she did try to fake two witnesses which I think truely killed her case) I just went privately to a solicitors - might ask them to send a little letter. Hope you get your case sorted, it's not an experience I would want to go through again.

junglejame911

chanz4 wrote: »

mrs smashed my car and another, only went up couple of hundred

dacouch wrote: »

You mention you have protected no claims bonus but your premium went up by several thousand.

This seems unusual, how much were you paying before the accident?

Yea, that's why I was so surprised by this quote. I have since looked around and most other insurers will offer cover for significantly less (though still about 100% more than I was paying).

In conclusion, its a mugs game this insurance business.

Happygreen

A very frustrating one at times....I hope you get it sorted soon!

OnanTheBarbarian

You are "at fault" until your insurers get their money back as far as the allowance of NCD etc is concerned. - Something that works well for your insurers given the hike in premiums, they know that there will be a recovery of their outlay, but whilst they sit around and don't push for recovery of outlay with court proceedings, you will feed them a nice increased premium income.

Imagine your scenario being played out thousands of times and it's a nice little earner.

In my daily experience, insurers are pretty useless at pursuing recovery of their outlay. I would enquire with your current insurers what the hold up is with regards to the recovery of their outlay. Is there s dispute which is leading to the delay, or have they not even submitted their documentation to the other side yet?

Prothet_of_Doom

dacouch wrote: »

You mention you have protected no claims bonus but your premium went up by several thousand.

This seems unusual, how much were you paying before the accident?

When I had an accident which was my fault and wrote off my car, I had protected no claims, and my insurer wanted to double the premium at renewal.

On shopping around, I found that I'd been paying far too much anyway, and my premium with the accident claim against me, was lower with the new company than it had been before the accident with the old company.

[Deleted User]

Keep in mind that if your insurance goes up as the result of a no-fault claim you can recover the extra over what it would have been from the at-fault driver's insurance. Go on a comparison site and do quotes with and without the accident. Do the one without the accident first. Make sure you save the results, print them off etc. Tell the at-fault driver's insurance that you are adding the difference to the claim.