Car Insurance and Personal Injury

Nagme

I never add Personal injury to my insurance, never thought it necessary as when queried the usual explanation is that if not at fault, my insurance would cover everything anyway.

I was involved in a collision last month. I now have my phone bills in, and the 80 minutes I spent on the phone (mainly to my insurance company!) has cost £10. Yet when I rang them to query being compensated, I was told I couldn't because I didn't take out the Personal Injury!

I feel annoyed as insurance should be just that - to recompensate you should you be in an accident. To be uncovered for related costs seems to make the insurance policy incomplete. Or is it just me?

InsideInsurance

Your insurance only covers for you what it explicity says it does in the policy book. For comprehensive cover that would be accidental damage to your car, theft, fire, malicious damage by others and any third party claims against you. Most will also add in a token amount of personal possessions cover and personal accident cover (small amount of cash for major injuries irrespective of fault).

There are a number of optional extras like courtesy/ hire car, legal expenses and breakdown.

I assume by "personal injury" what you really mean is legal expenses. If you are in an accident that is not 100% your fault then you are entitled to recover any other costs that arent covered by your insurance from the third party or their insurers. Legal expenses covers provides assistance from a legal firm to do this on your behalf. Without it you're on your own recovering things like your excess, car hire charges, loss of earning, injury or anything else.

Now if you are injured then life is simple as a no win no fee firm will take the case on as they get paid by the third party insurer but without injury you are in small claims territory where solicitor fees are excluded and so no win no fee arent interested.


At the end of the day not all is lost. Contact your insurers and get the details of the third party insurers (name, reference number, address) and then simply write to them with the reference number saying that you wish to claim your uninsured losses that are: and then list each type of cost (telephone, excess, hire car or whatever) and the value against each one. Enclose with the letter your evidence of that cost (photocopies) and assuming your insurers already sorted liability then a cheque for the monies or a letter explaining what they are contesting and why will come within a few weeks

Nagme

Thanks for the lengthy post; yes I do mean Legal Costs.

No I haven't recently sat down and read a car insurance policy, I wrongly expected common sense to prevail. (Why does an insurance company think it's appropriate to give their customers an 0845 number to call in the case of a claim?). I haven't had to make a claim for at least 15 years. I must seem naive.

Its a straightforward rear end collision, so 100% not my fault. I do have the insurance details of the other guy, plus printouts of the phonebill, so I will take that route as you suggest.

Although I suffered the next day with a sore back I seem to be fine now so there's nothing else to add.

InsideInsurance

Nagme wrote: »

No I haven't recently sat down and read a car insurance policy, I wrongly expected common sense to prevail. (Why does an insurance company think it's appropriate to give their customers an 0845 number to call in the case of a claim?). I haven't had to make a claim for at least 15 years. I must seem naive.

Your insurance is there to cover the damage to your car and establishing liability if you have comprehensive cover. If you have TPFT or TPO then they only are there to defend cases against you in an RTA and wont pursue the third party if you feel they are liable and evidently dont cover any of your losses.

Secondary costs, arent covered, otherwise they'd have to be equally covered in fault claims.

On the plus side 0845 numbers are covered in inclusive minutes with recent contracts so certainly check yours and possibly time to update. Outside of that use https://www.saynoto0870.co.uk which will most likely have an alternative number you can call, 0800 or geographic

arcon5

Probably no point even going through your own insurer then, rather contact the third party insurer directly.

Just whack a PI claim in, that should cover your £10 phone bill

InsideInsurance

arcon5 wrote: »

Just whack a PI claim in, that should cover your £10 phone bill

No insurer, where liability is resolved, is going to quibble over a single £10 claim, though they may make it £10 to cover all miscellaneous expenses.

If the OP is claiming £10 for phone calls, £15 for postage, £5 for photocopying, £50 for trips to the garage, photocopier, postbox, £50 for their own time handling the claim etc then there will be a bigger fight to be had

ianders

Hopefully the FCA will extend the new government rules to banks and insurance companies which ban the use of 084 and 087 phone numbers for customer services and helplines.

Aretnap

Bit late now, but next time try http://www.saynoto0870.com/ (opps, see someone already posted it)

Or just find the "calling from outside the UK" number which is usually hidden away on the website somewhere, and use that.