Accident in borrowed vehicle

magpiecottage

Regardless of who is at fault, I do not think it is the car owner's insurers. Their contract says they will insure it, whether comprehensively, third party or something in between, when the car is in the control of the person they have agreed to insure. This will normally be the policyholder of any other person they agreed to cover. (Anybody is a possibility but clearly not in thiis instance or the driver would not be using their any vehicle extension).

The driver's insurer has agreed to meet third party claims in respect of any incident when she is driving another car with the owner's permission (i.e. a claim by anybody they hit or the owner of anything they hit).

So if the other driver makes a claim against them, their insurer will deal with that. However, they never agreed to do anything else.

I have seen the LV= policy document. The manner in which it is stated seems to me very clear, fair and in no way misleading.

So I think the lesson is to check what you are and are not covered for BEFORE borrowing somebody else's car and, if you are superstitious, don't do it on Friday 13th! (There is another one next month - you have been warned).

Parking_Trouble

With all due respect I really think some of you (not all) lose sight of the customer experience and customer expectations because you are steeped in the processes and legalese of the terms and conditions.

The vast majority of consumers are swayed by Price, Meerkats, Pirates and Paul Whitehouse characters, not the small print of a non-negotiated contract.

In fact to really understand your T&C's fully you need to read the RTA - Which to the layman is pretty much unreadable.

@Magpiecottage I have looked at the LV= policy document. I cannot see where it explains the gotcha where they wash their hands of you for a non-fault claim. They couldn't really be less helpful despite this wording on the claims

Our claims service goes the extra mile - committed to doing the right thing for you, we aim to settle claims quickly and efficiently, even in the most difficult circumstances. If you ever need to make a claim, or need help with a claim you've made, just call our friendly UK based claims handlers using the numbers below.

We can argue the semantics but Joe Public even when covered for third party thinks they are at least going to get some sort of service when they make a "claim"

Anything in Claims FAQs about what happens when you are covered TP only?

http://www.lv.com/car-insurance/existing-customers/claim-faqs

No. What a surprise.

So spare a thought for the people that buy these products.

Anyway, back to the task in hand.

Estimate for the damage. Owner wants to use main dealer.
Then a nice polite letter to white car lady is required to point out the overwhelming evidence and give her a week to admit liability so she can pay for the damage, make a claim, admit liability to get DL to deal with it.

If she ignores that letter the next will be a Letter Before Action to give her another week or two before Small Claims court.

Quentin

What do you expect an insurer to do when you choose third party cover and cannot make a claim for your own damage?

There is no opportunity to "claim"

They make it clear what you get cover for when you use the DOC part of your policy

rudekid48

http://www.lv.com/assets/gi/pdfs/car/policy-document/21338765-lv-car-doi-a.pdf

Page 10 under driving other cars, it's quite clear - "The cover is for Third Party Only, so loss or damage to the vehicle you're driving isn't covered."

No cover = no claim. Not sure what you expect them to do?

rs65

Parking_Trouble wrote: »

@Magpiecottage I have looked at the LV= policy document. I cannot see where it explains the gotcha where they wash their hands of you for a non-fault claim. They couldn't really be less helpful despite this wording on the claims

Our claims service goes the extra mile - committed to doing the right thing for you, we aim to settle claims quickly and efficiently, even in the most difficult circumstances. If you ever need to make a claim, or need help with a claim you've made, just call our friendly UK based claims handlers using the numbers below.

It is pretty clear in the documents that damage to the vehicle is not insured - so there is no 'claim'.

Does the LV legal expenses not cover her here? It defines 'Your vehicle' as The insured vehicle shown on your schedule including when you drive another vehicle which isn’t yours

Parking_Trouble

rs65 wrote: »

It is pretty clear in the documents that damage to the vehicle is not insured - so there is no 'claim'.

Does the LV legal expenses not cover her here? It defines 'Your vehicle' as The insured vehicle shown on your schedule including when you drive another vehicle which isn’t yours

I read that earlier today and asked grey car lady to check if she took out MLE. I have a bad feeling she didn't because I would have thought LV= would have suggested that. But then perhaps the "no claim, no cover, no help at all" reaction may have kicked in

Parking_Trouble

rudekid48 wrote: »

http://www.lv.com/assets/gi/pdfs/car/policy-document/21338765-lv-car-doi-a.pdf

Page 10 under driving other cars, it's quite clear - "The cover is for Third Party Only, so loss or damage to the vehicle you're driving isn't covered."

No cover = no claim. Not sure what you expect them to do?

Even a tiny amount of help to point someone in the right direction would be welcomed.

No cover = No claim - these are your words. It would help if that was clearly stated in the policy document

It should say "No Cover = No Claim = No Help, so don't bother calling us".

Both LV and DL pointing you at each other and no one taking responsibility or helping. It's a really crap customer experience. No wonder so many people moan on here.

OnanTheBarbarian

As someone who has to interface with them daily (at least you are speaking to UK call centres with DL & LV), I can say that insurers are organisations bereft of sufficiently staffed claims departments and completely alien to the use of common sense or practical forethought.

Personally (and I don't mean this as a pitch from someone involved in claims litigation) I think you/ the vehicle owner have been more than patient, you have asked the negligent party's insurer for help and they have refused, you have no other policy to claim against and assuming you don't have the means to repair the damage or effect basic temporary repairs to make the car roadworthy, why should the vehicle owner have to sit this out with an unroadworthy car for upto 6 months + before you end up with a CCJ which will force the other party's insurer to pay the repairs or total loss figure + loss of use claim & any other uninsured losses + court fees etc?

They have had their chance, put your pride and preconceptions aside and get a CMC on the case. Once the credit hire clock starts, the other side will wake up and deal. At the moment you are not sufficient an annoyance for the dimwits to do anything.

Parking_Trouble

She has MLE so is trying their helpline

rs65

Parking_Trouble wrote: »

She has MLE so is trying their helpline

A brief read of LV MLE suggests they should help. Some MLE only cover whilst driving the insured car so maybe LV staff need a bit of training.

ps I hope it does cover this