Car Insurance claim - what do I do now...

BellaLulu

Hi
I'd really appreciate any advice from you guys...........

So last week I parked my car overnight in the basement carpark of the building leased by my employer. This carpark is 3 stories down, and to access it you have to drive the car into a car lift. My car was the only car parked there, and overnight there was a burst water mains and by 7am the next day my car was flooded up to the windscreen.

My employer says they have no liability - I have to claim through my own car insurance, and potentially my insurers can try to reclaim from the landlord's insurance. Of course this screws up my no claims bonus...

More worryingly, the car lift is potentially out of action for up to 6 weeks so there is no way of bringing the car up to ground level. My insurance broker is checking whether a visual inspection will be sufficient for the claim, or whether the insurance company needs to retrieve the car and have it inspected properly. I am worried that there will be some time limit, after which, if the car cannot be retrieved that the insurance company will refuse to process the claim.

In the meantime I am left with no car and no idea when/if I will get reimbursed. I feel betrayed by my employer and totally on my own.

I'd really appreciate if anybody has any thoughts on this subject.
Thanks
BellaLulu

InsideInsurance

To be able to claim off someone else you would need to show negligence - ie they had failed to do something a reasonable/average person would do or have done something a reasonable/average person wouldnt do.

You say it was a water main which would mean it is unlikely to be the landlord as it is the water company that maintains the mains. The only time you could really pin it on the landlord was if they were doing construction work to the building and had punctured the mains.

What do you think they have done wrong to cause the main to burst?


You've already registered the claim from what you say and so the insurers cannot penalise you for the fact the car is currently irrecoverable. If they want it quicker then they will have to deal with the relevant parties to get it out quicker.

Buzby

If indeed a main, then you may well be in the fortunate position of your insurers being able to recover the cost from the utility company on an ex gracia basis. The fact the lift isn't working isn't material to your claim.

I have friends who were in a similar situation where a 18" wafer main ruptured and resulted in their car being a write off, plus those of 4 neighbours.

Just let your insurer deal with it in its entirety.

rs65

BellaLulu wrote: »

My employer says they have no liability - I have to claim through my own car insurance, and potentially my insurers can try to reclaim from the landlord's insurance.

Thats what your insurance is for.

My insurance broker is checking whether a visual inspection will be sufficient for the claim

What other type of inspection is there?

I am worried that there will be some time limit, after which, if the car cannot be retrieved that the insurance company will refuse to process the claim.

No need to worry about that. I don't know any insurer who would take that approach.

In the meantime I am left with no car and no idea when/if I will get reimbursed.

Do you have courtesy car benefit on your policy?

I feel betrayed by my employer and totally on my own.

Why betrayed? What do you want them to do?

Aretnap

rs65 wrote: »

What other type of inspection is there

I assume the question is whether the insurer will be happy to send a bloke to look at a car sitting in four feet of water and say "yup, that's a write off", or will they want to get it out of the car park, into a garage and try to repair it. No idea what the answer is, but it could make a big difference to how quickly he can get back on the road, especially if he doesn't have cover for a courtesy car or the money to go out and but a replacement before the settlement cheque arrives.

rs65

Aretnap wrote: »

I assume the question is whether the insurer will be happy to send a bloke to look at a car sitting in four feet of water

I was assuming the water was now gone - but maybe not.

Pretty good chance it will be written off anyway.