Non fault claim

Blueberries

Hi,


Around 2 weeks ago, someone bumped into my car whilst I was waiting to enter at a roundabout.
My car's bumper and boot are damaged, and the garage said it would cost around £1500 to repair.




My insurance, Lloyds, has informed me that as this was a non fault claim, my excess would be recovered, but I still have to pay it upon the car repair completion.
I was quite surprised as I thought that the Lloyds (or Covea) would recover this money straight from the other person's insurance, and that I would have nothing to pay.


Could someone please confirm that what they are doing is normal? In 10 years of driving I never had an accident, and this is my first ever claim. Maybe I am just a bit naïve, but I would like to have your honest opinions as to whether it is ok to pay my excess first, and have it recovered later?
Lloyds told me it could take from 2 days to 2 weeks, depending on Admiral Insurance, and longer if they are not compliant. All your views will be welcome as this palava has got me quite nervous.

Nodding_Donkey

I think that at one time you always paid the excess first and claimed it back under uninsured losses. The better (i.e. more expensive) companies now seem to do this for you.

OnanTheBarbarian

An excess is an "uninsured loss" so your insurers do not recover this, they merely recover their own outlay.

If you have motor legal protection, contact them and they will recover the excess and any other losses not covered by your motor policy such as lost earnings if you have been off work, compensation for injury etc etc.

If you don't have legal cover then ask your insurers for the name, address and policy or claim ref number for the third party insurers and write to them with your excess receipt and ask them for your money back.

If the third party insurers admit liability quickly, you may be able to ask your insurers if they will waive the excess, but it would be purely at their discretion.

The final option for you is to not actually claim off your own policy and instead direct your claim to Admiral, but if they are messing about because their insured is not speaking to them or if there are any other problems, there could be a delay before they will deal with you.

InsideInsurance

Yes, your uninsured losses include your excess and are payable by you. If you have Legal Expenses cover your insurers will appoint someone to assist you in recovering these losses from the third party insurer.

It could take anywhere from 2 days to 2 years (rather than weeks) in practice its often measured in weeks or months and rarely days or years.

The alternative, assuming nothings be done by your insurers yet, is to claim directly from the third party insurers and thus avoid having to pay anything yourself up front but this is dependent on both the third party having registered the claim and admitted liability.