Hit by a hire car

Dan-Dan

Hi

My wife has been hit from behind by someone whilst pulling out of a junction

The other driver didnt have any insurance details etc , obviously i suppose , so we have just rang the hire company who took some details and said their insurer will call us , arrange the repair etc etc

The woman on the phone basically said there isnt any need to contact our own insurers

Is this correct , am i missing something?

Urgent advice welcome!

JustinR1979

What does your insurance policy advise?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Dan-Dan wrote: »

Hi

My wife has been hit from behind by someone whilst pulling out of a junction

The other driver didnt have any insurance details etc , obviously i suppose , so we have just rang the hire company who took some details and said their insurer will call us , arrange the repair etc etc

The woman on the phone basically said there isnt any need to contact our own insurers

Is this correct , am i missing something?

Urgent advice welcome!

You were advised wrong.


You need to contact you own insurers, but its down to you if you want them to head up your case, or whether you want to head up the case with the hire companies insurers and inform your own isurers you've been hit by this vehicle but your informing for information puposes only and that it wasn't your fault. (if the hire companies insurers then become difficult you can instruct them to take over) alternatively you could use a claims management company to act on your behalf but be wary that if the insrers decide to fight it and say your at fault and find you at fault you could be had for those costs.

Dan-Dan

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

You were advised wrong.


You need to contact you own insurers, but its down to you if you want them to head up your case, or whether you want to head up the case with the hire companies insurers and inform your own isurers you've been hit by this vehicle but your informing for information puposes only and that it wasn't your fault. (if the hire companies insurers then become difficult you can instruct them to take over) alternatively you could use a claims management company to act on your behalf but be wary that if the insrers decide to fight it and say your at fault and find you at fault you could be had for those costs.

Thanks

Obviously what i`m trying to avoid is as many costs as i can , seems too good to be true that the other partys insurers will just settle and sort , just like that

McKneff

Dan-Dan wrote: »

Thanks

Obviously what i`m trying to avoid is as many costs as i can , seems too good to be true that the other partys insurers will just settle and sort , just like that

That is exactly what should happen. Full stop.


But you must inform your own insurance company of the incident and tell them it is for information only.


It has happened to me 3 times now over the years.

Dan-Dan

McKneff wrote: »

That is exactly what should happen. Full stop.


But you must inform your own insurance company of the incident and tell them it is for information only.


It has happened to me 3 times now over the years.

OK , thanks McKneff , typically our policy ends on 2/11 and we took a new one out with a different company , yesterday !

DoctorFoster

Dan-Dan wrote: »

OK , thanks McKneff , typically our policy ends on 2/11 and we took a new one out with a different company , yesterday !

Ring the new insurance too if the quote was given prior to the collision. That policy hasn't started yet but they may want to re assess the risk.

force_ten

you still have to inform your insurance company even if the other insurer is going to handle the claim with no involvement from your insurance company

it will still go down on your record as a non fault accident which could ultimately affect your insurance premium when it comes to renewal, and if you change insurance the accident will have to be declared

enfield_freddy

if you are supposed to be put in the same position as before an accident , if the fault was 100% the other persons and you inform your ins co and they "load" your premium for "x" yrs , should you not be awarded "x" yrs x the loading?

dacouch

The hire company will be paying many tens of thousands in premiums a year, they either self insure (Insure themselves) or due to the size of their premiums will want to keep their premiums down.

They generally have a department to deal with claims against them, as they have a fleet of vehicles they will generally arrange a replacement vehicle. They also tend to either have their own accident repair garage or discounted rates from a local supplier.

By handling the accident in house they get to reduce the overall costs and also control the costs. If they don't you're likely to end up with a credit hire company who will multiply the cost of the claim to them by two or three times.

Dan-Dan

dacouch wrote: »

The hire company will be paying many tens of thousands in premiums a year, they either self insure (Insure themselves) or due to the size of their premiums will want to keep their premiums down.

They generally have a department to deal with claims against them, as they have a fleet of vehicles they will generally arrange a replacement vehicle. They also tend to either have their own accident repair garage or discounted rates from a local supplier.

By handling the accident in house they get to reduce the overall costs and also control the costs. If they don't you're likely to end up with a credit hire company who will multiply the cost of the claim to them by two or three times.

This is more or less what they just told me , basically , they can do exactly the same job as our own insurance company but for a third of the cost , with no material difference to us , other than we dont have to recoup excess

The other party has already admitted liability (as they did at the scene) so thats good

I asked the woman on the phone , quite specifically "do we have to tell our insurance company whats occured?" and she categorically stated , No...