Third party insurance wont pay

crawfie

Hi
A delivery driver using his own vehicle reversed into my car whilst it was parked in its usual place at my place of work. Driver admitted liability as did his insurance company and they were happy with the quote and to pay for repairs.
Myself and the garage kept being messed around by them in confirming a date to book my car in and that they would be responsible for payment so after speaking to my own insurance, my motor legal company and the garage it was suggested that i ask for payment be made direct to me so i can arrange repairs at my convenience - this is called cash in lieu.
The third party insurer then emailed me offering their repair services which i declined as i wanted my own Ford garage to carry out repairs then 5 hours later i got another email saying - "Our policy holder was using the vehicle outside of the terms and conditions of their policy, and we are therefore automatically article 75 insurer"
I spoke with the Motor Insurers Bureau who said the TP insurer would be responsible but to date they are still refusing to pay anything and i dont want to make a claim through my own insurance and affect my NCB and i shouldn't have to. Have been advised to take them to court.
Any advice appreciated

Retrogamer

crawfie wrote: »

Hi
Have been advised to take them to court.
Any advice appreciated

If you don't want to claim on your own policy and the MIB or third party won't pay out then the only option left is court or perhaps no win no fee lawyers. The no win no fee mob are unlikely to go for it though as no one was injured.

InsideInsurance

crawfie wrote: »

Our policy holder was using the vehicle outside of the terms and conditions of their policy, and we are therefore automatically article 75 insurer

Logically this makes no sense in context to the rest of your post.

If they admit they are the RTA insurers of the vehicle why are they not dealing with the claim? What has been their rational for not proceeding given they've admitted their responsibility under the RTA?

It may be there is a slightly delay whilst they try to get an indemnity agreement out of their insured but the threat of credit hire/ repairs should resolve that issue.

I'd understand the issue should they simply say there is an indemnity issue and thus their policy is void and leave it to you to get judgement against their client and then go back to court to get them deemed RTA insurer but they've skipped that by their admission.

ChumpusRex

Section 75 insurer means that the TP insurer denies being RTA insurer.

In most cases, an insurer can't get out of paying a TP claim (for example if the driver is drunk or speeding). There is an important exception: the vehicle is being used for business use on a personal use policy. If that is the case, the insurer can deny that there was a policy in place and claim that the driver was uninsured.

Section 75 is an agreement between the MIB and insurers that in the above circumstances, the insurer will handle the "uninsured driver claim" on behalf of the MIB.

The catch with the uninsured driver MIB scheme is that it only pays out if there is no other way to recover the costs. For example, if you are a pedestrian and get injured - there is no where else to claim from.

If you have your own damage insurance, you may be expected to claim from that.

Aretnap

In a simple uninsured driver case you can claim from the MIB even if you have your own policy to cover damage to your car. They "recommend" that you make a claim on your own policy instead, but don't insist on it - see page 5.

What the MIB won't do is deal with subrogated claims. In other words you either claim from the MIB, and accept the fact that it might take a long time to settle, or you claim from your own policy, get your car fixed quickly, but take the hit to your no claims bonus (unless your insurer has an uninsured driver promise). Your own insurer can't subsequently recover the repair costs from the MIB and so preserve your no claims bonus.

I must admit though that I'm not entirely sure whether there are any differences in this respect between a simple uninsured driver case and a case where there's an Article 75 insurer.

[Deleted User]

How much will the repairs cost? You could take the driver to Small Claims Court directly. First step is to send him an invoice though. He will either pay it, try to get his insurer to pay it, or ignore it.

cycloneuk

Got a feeling the courier was delivering parcels for Hermes, am i right?

thenudeone

Send the driver a recorded delivery letter asking for payment within 14 days.

Follow it up with a small claims court claim against the driver and jointly against his insurer.

If the driver was using it outside the terms of the policy, that is a matter between him and his insurer and, as the MIB has said, does not affect the insurer's liability to pay third parties.

Don't mess about - just follow through with the legal action.