Help needed - Reclaiming my excess

Blueberries

Hi there guys!


I will need your help and advice regarding recovering my £400 excess.
I posted around a month ago, asking is it was normal for and insurance to ask to pay the excess first and have it recovered later. Some of you said it was ok. However, I have realised today that Lloyds and Covea insurance lied regarding this. After insuring me that they would recover the excess a month ago, I did call today for a catch up, and they told me that my policy does not include legal cover, which means they can do nothing for me.
Covea told me that I could go to the third party's insurance directly to recover it myself. Lloyds told me there is nothing I can do! (Lies!).


Is it correct that I contact the third party insurance and claim it from them? Or should I go to the small claim court? In case of Small Claim Court, do I need to make it against the third party insurance or Lloyds?


How can I also get back my no claim to 6 years (I had to renew my insurance and Lloyds have decreased it to 3 years now and have increased my premium). They told me that I have to accept to close the claim in order for them to consider increasing my no claims back, but again, they're not sure it is possible.


ANY kind of help will be greatly appreciated, as this whole story has left me really shaken. It was my first accident and I feel really lost.


Thanks.

rs65

Blueberries wrote: »

Is it correct that I contact the third party insurance and claim it from them?

Yes.

Once you have recovered it, send proof to your insurers and ask for your NCB to be reinstated.

dacouch

You simply write a letter to the third parties Insurer containing the relevant information to allow them to link it to their client eg include the accident date, registration number and third parties name (If known include their claims number and / or policy number).

The letter should enclose a photocopy of the receipt from when you paid your excess.

You start the letter along the lines of...

"I enclose a copy of my receipt for payment of my £400 excess and would ask that you arrange immediate repayment of this to me as your client was liable for the accident due to xxxx"

Where XXXX is you insert the reason their client is at fault eg they ran into the back of your car etc.

Allow 2 or 3 weeks and then chase it up if you have not received it.

What I would do though first is politely ring the other parties Insurers and explain to the person you speak to you want to recover the excess and how is the quickest way to arrange payment. They may suggest emailing or faxing it through for their attention.

Babbawah

IME, you should never have allowed your insurer to persue the claim with the 3rd party.

This is a classic example of how the claims management firms can actually help the motorist.

You are also in for a big shock with regards to the NCB.

Whilst all sorts of terms and conditions, coupled to payments made for extra insewerance, might make you feel that your NCB is protected . . . none of it will protect your actual premium !

You will only fully understand this when you think it's all sorted and it comes time to renew your premium.

Good luck.

Blueberries

Many thanks for your help guys. I will contact the 3rd party insurance tomorrow by phone. I do hope it will not be too much hassle to get my excess back, as Covea was a complete nightmare.

dacouch

Blueberries wrote: »

Many thanks for your help guys. I will contact the 3rd party insurance tomorrow by phone. I do hope it will not be too much hassle to get my excess back, as Covea was a complete nightmare.

When you receive the repayment of your excess, ring your own Insurers as they will normally want to see a copy of the letter that accompanies the cheque. This is because you recovering your excess proves you were not at fault so they can adjust their records to the effect that the accident was non fault

flashg67

I've just paid my excess for a non-fault repair and find it very odd that the insurance company seem happy to make sure they get their costs back, but won't also pursue your excess unless you have paid extra for their legal service. It seems to be done mostly by their in-house teams anyway.
The previous time this happened to me, the insurance company took 6 months to reclaim and pay me the excess.
I've often thought twice about whether to pay for the legal cover - seems like a lesson learned that it is a must have!

dacouch

flashg67 wrote: »

I've just paid my excess for a non-fault repair and find it very odd that the insurance company seem happy to make sure they get their costs back, but won't also pursue your excess unless you have paid extra for their legal service. It seems to be done mostly by their in-house teams anyway.
The previous time this happened to me, the insurance company took 6 months to reclaim and pay me the excess.
I've often thought twice about whether to pay for the legal cover - seems like a lesson learned that it is a must have!

This is because your excess is an "Uninsured Loss" basically it's something you pay and are responsible for.

There are a few companies that will try and recover this for you while they recover their own losses. This can be a blessing or a pain as some Insurers can take a long long time to get round to chasing their money and / or some claims can be more complex so can take a long time to iron out all issues.

Having said that some Legal Protection Companies can take a long time to recover excesses eg Albany are very slow.

It's often quicker to just chase it yourself (As explained in earlier post). Most claims staff are pleasant enough so if your polite to them they'll get it sorted as quickly as they can

Blueberries

Just a quick follow-up (this might help other people). I spoke to the 3rd party claim claim department, I already had a Claim Reference number, as they sent me a letter a few days after the accident.


I explained that one of their customers bumped the back of my car and gave all his details, date etc... The lady said that it was our insurance that needed to contact them, but when I explained that I already paid the excess and had the invoice and receipt, she said to send a scan of them to their email address.


She explained that this will be reviewed and I should receive a cheque after that. When I asked her how long it might take, she said it will depend on how long the review will be.
But I should expect something in the post in 2 or 3 weeks.


Not sure what she meant by review, but this is where it stands now... I'll send them a scan of the receipt tomorrow.

InsideInsurance

Blueberries wrote: »

Not sure what she meant by review, but this is where it stands now... I'll send them a scan of the receipt tomorrow.

She means review? Not sure what you dont understand about it?

Unfortunately not everyone in the world is honest and people have been known to create fake receipts, alter values on them etc. There can also be honest mistakes where you and your insurer have both asked for the excess to be reimbursed because your insurer changed their mind and decided to assist you rather than leaving it to you to do but not tell you.

They may decide to contact your insurers to confirm the excess value and that it hadnt been waived etc

The couple of claims systems I've seen are totally rubbish and so checking if there are liability or indemnity issues is not a 5 second job but a case of reading through the notes to ensure the checks were done and there have been no developments since they were last done.

Finally after that is all done the handler normally then raises a payment request which another person then has to authorised which is often done by reviewing all of the same things again

dacouch

Blueberries wrote: »

Just a quick follow-up (this might help other people). I spoke to the 3rd party claim claim department, I already had a Claim Reference number, as they sent me a letter a few days after the accident.


I explained that one of their customers bumped the back of my car and gave all his details, date etc... The lady said that it was our insurance that needed to contact them, but when I explained that I already paid the excess and had the invoice and receipt, she said to send a scan of them to their email address.


She explained that this will be reviewed and I should receive a cheque after that. When I asked her how long it might take, she said it will depend on how long the review will be.
But I should expect something in the post in 2 or 3 weeks.


Not sure what she meant by review, but this is where it stands now... I'll send them a scan of the receipt tomorrow.

That's good news.

It's always worth trying a polite phone call rather than write as you often find someone who is willing to help as you have found.

As Inside has explained, they need to check everything is correct before they issue a check.

Insurers have shareholders and they have to ensure everything is done correctly, check and documented so if someone reviews the file in the future they can see the employee handled the case correctly.

You may find it goes through quicker.

I would suggest you give them a call between five and seven days after you email the excess receipt. Be friendly on the phone and say along the lines of "Hi, I'm just checking my email of the 12th Feb has been received and you have everything you need". When they confirm they have it they may give you an indication of when the cheque will be sent, if not ask if they have any indication of when it will be sent. You often find the person you speak to will fish it out and deal with it there and then if everything is in order.