Car accident - not our fault

trudiuk

Hi

I'm after some advice...

Somebody went into the back of the car whilst my partner was driving. They wanted to settle privately, but as my partner's back was jarred and he's suffered from back problems in the past we said no. We can't afford to pay physio costs and for him to have time off work (he;s in the probation period so only gets SSP) if it becomes a real problem. Through the insurance, if it becomes a probelm, at least we might get some help. We won't be 'suing' as accidents happen, and we're not the type to sue.

We're insured with Diamond, and they gave us two options.

1. to claim on our insurance and pay the excess, and then they will recover the costs and reinstate our no claims once the other party has admitted liability etc etc (insurnace mumbo jumbo to me)

or
2. Go through helphire toget the repairs done, and we don't have to pay out, but it seems reading through all the terms that we will have to pay out if they can't recover the costs.

What I've read online seems to say to steer clear of Helphire.

I've not had to claim through insurance before from being hit (only where I've been at fault). Is this what happens with other compaines?

Any advice on which option would be appreciated

dacouch

Do you have legal protection cover on your car insurance or are you members of a union?

Who are the other party insured with?

sharp910sh

Cannot you claim directly through their insurance?

trudiuk

we have legal protection, they are insured with saga.

is it better to go through there care insurance then? they contacted my partner but as he was in the supermarket they said will call back tomorrow

dacouch

You can claim for repairs and a replacement vehicle directly from Saga at no risk to you and without having to pay an excess of affect your no claims bonus.

You have three years to make an injury claim, I would not recommend you claim for injuries directly off them which your Legal Protection should fund.

However if you need physio you could ask Saga to fund this.

If you use Helphire, there's a good chance the repairs will take a lot longer than normal and they will place you in a hire car that will cost Saga about 2.5 times more than saga could source the same car for. The money Helphire make from the (Credit) hire car and the length of time their claims tend to take is no doubt just a coincidence

AdrianC

If there's absolutely no question of who's to blame, then go direct to their insurers. Given that they've already contacted you directly, and from the circumstances you describe, it seems safe to assume that the other driver has accepted liability.

Fluffi

I would claim through your own insurers even though they have admitted fault and accepted liability because I had a car accident a few years ago where a car pulled out in front of me at a roundabout (without looking) and I went into the side of their vehicle.

They admitted fault at the scene, there were witnesses and their insurance company started calling me immediately. It looked like a clear case of the other side at fault as they'd not given way (I was already traversing roundabout) and they admitted not looking (and being in a hurry).

I informed my insurance company as I thought I had to but I claimed through their insurance, got a hire car via them, negotiated on the settlement (my car was written off) and thought it was all done and dusted.

Several months later I got a letter from my insurer saying that the other side had *not* admitted liability and I was going to have to pay the excess on my own insurance (because I initially contacted them and they initially assessed my car even though I told them that I was going to claim via the other insurance).

In my experience the other party admitting liability is worthless. Insurance companies play all sorts of stupid games with their customers and each other. If I ever had any accident again regardless of fault I'd ALWAYS claim via my own insurers - even though I'd have to pay the excess and may not get it back.

Nodding_Donkey

I really don't see how your insurers can ask you to pay an excess when you haven't claimed off them. this sounds like an admin error.

AdrianC

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

I really don't see how your insurers can ask you to pay an excess when you haven't claimed off them. this sounds like an admin error.

The OP's insurer is asking for the excess to be paid _when_ they claim off them, to be refunded as/when the OP is held not to be at fault.

arcon5

Fluffi wrote: »

I would claim through your own insurers even though they have admitted fault and accepted liability because I had a car accident a few years ago where a car pulled out in front of me at a roundabout (without looking) and I went into the side of their vehicle.

They admitted fault at the scene, there were witnesses and their insurance company started calling me immediately. It looked like a clear case of the other side at fault as they'd not given way (I was already traversing roundabout) and they admitted not looking (and being in a hurry).

I informed my insurance company as I thought I had to but I claimed through their insurance, got a hire car via them, negotiated on the settlement (my car was written off) and thought it was all done and dusted.

Several months later I got a letter from my insurer saying that the other side had *not* admitted liability and I was going to have to pay the excess on my own insurance (because I initially contacted them and they initially assessed my car even though I told them that I was going to claim via the other insurance).

In my experience the other party admitting liability is worthless. Insurance companies play all sorts of stupid games with their customers and each other. If I ever had any accident again regardless of fault I'd ALWAYS claim via my own insurers - even though I'd have to pay the excess and may not get it back.

Well you engaged the services of your own insurer by having them inspect the vehicle. This is usually outsourced and costs money - they wanted the money back and when the third party insurer didn't pay they wanted to officially make it a claim against your insurance policy.

Sounds more like you mishandled this one

Nodding_Donkey

AdrianC wrote: »

The OP's insurer is asking for the excess to be paid _when_ they claim off them, to be refunded as/when the OP is held not to be at fault.

Sorry I was replying to fluffi