Insurance claim stress!

Tombowman12

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum and I'm after a bit of advice!

On January 2nd 2015 I was involved in a minor traffic accident at a local petrol station.

Basicly, I had pulled up to a pump in my nissan Navara. Turned off the ignition. Removed my seat belt, checked my mirror for other cars, Coast was clear so i opened my door. As I was just stepping out (foot was just out of the door apparure) another vehicle collided with the Edge of my open door.

It scared the hell out of me as it narrowly avoided my leg, I got out and the other driver was shaken too. He apologised and said he didn't see my door. He also said he only passed his text in November 2014. We backed out of the forecourt into parking spaces. He wouldn't give me any details until he had called his dad as he didn't know what to do (I thought that was fair enough) when his dad arrived he started shouting at me saying it was my fault and that I had opened my door into him and I wasn't looking etc etc!

We exchanged details, he left with his son about 10 minutes after he had arrived and took him to work. A witness approached me and gave me his number, said he'd seen everything and that my door was open when he hit me.

Now the stressful part. Accident exchange have given me a hire car, I've had it since the 4th of January. They said my witness statement would be enough evidence and everything will be sorted!

Now 2 months down the line, the other parties insurance are disputing liability and the witness statement, saying I opened the door into them and that I am at fault

Now the kid admitted liability at the scene. The father told him to "shut up" and turned on me.

I'm getting married in the next 6 moths, I have NO free cash for my excess or to have my insurance rocket because of some stupid kid and his father who wasn't even there.

Now I'm getting fed up with waiting. My vehicle is at my work (I do bodywork) the MOT has since expired and 2 moths tax is wasted.

Can I cancel the claim with the hire truck? It's cheaper for me to find a 2nd hand door and do a makeshift fix until I can afford to repair it properly.

OnanTheBarbarian

You need to speak with AX about the current situation.

You have signed a credit hire agreement and are liable for the charges and if you do anything that prejudices the position of AX, they could turn their sights on you for recovery of some of the charges.

If you don't have the money to put your own damage claim through your insurance then fair enough, that will mean either the current situation continues or you do look at going down the temp repairs route.

Presumably there is no A pillar damage and a used door would just bolt on and fit?

The problem with doing a temp repair 3 months down the line is that it gives the other side ammunition to say "why didn't you mitigate the problem earlier and avoid £10K of hire charges?" Which could weaken the position with AX and have them making a nuisance of themselves with you.

Have you seen the witness statement? Does it confirm your vehicle door was open before the other party appeared?

It will be too late now to get any CCTV from the garage I would wager.

You will be coming upto 85 days of hire now so AX will probably need to have you sign another rental agreement and this is usually the point when they will review how to continue.

Further down the line, you will be asked to hand over copies of your bank statements to prove you did not have the money to hire a vehicle yourself and this will possibly also help to establish you did not have the means to fund your excess and use your own insurance.

The fact the vehicle is now out of MOT would continue to support the unroadworthy status of the vehicle.

Speak with AX about your concerns though. Bottom line is that so long as you co-operate with them and don't take any action that spoils the party, you won't have any bother with them.

They are very litigious when it comes to recovering their hire charges from insurers though and even if the liability situation gets resolved in your favour, you still stand a good chance of a day in court to help them recover every last penny of their rental charges.

Quentin

If you cancel the claim now and do your own repairs expect to get the bill for all costs your claim handler has incurred including the hire charges

OnanTheBarbarian

PS if the vehicle is in storage and out of MOT, you may aswell SORN it.

Tombowman12

Thank you for your replies

I have made them aware of the face I cannot afford my excess. If I knew it was going to be such a hassle and take so long, I would've considered the temp fix.

The problem there is I have been led to believe that "it's getting sorted this week" every time I speak to them. Then something new pops up. It seems to be the other party (Hastings) that are dragging it out.

I have read through the term and conditions and I have done everything they have asked. Never lied or given them false information.

There is one term that basically States - m
Without their agreement, if I were to cancel or void the claim, I would be liable for the charges.

My claim handler knows that I can't afford the charges, let alone my excess right now. I also can't afford to have my insurance premium increase because of this stupid kid.

I only have 1 year NCB as I have been on company insurance my whole life. Insurance for my truck wasn't cheap in the first place.

Tombowman12

Also, I'm not sure about A pillar damage. I haven't had the door off to have a proper look, you can't see much with the door on.

This is the main reason I went through insurance as I know this is a difficult job to repair

OnanTheBarbarian

I would just continue with the arrangement in place then. As frustrating as it is, you don't have a lot of other options. Hastings are a bit of a shower, but will probably come to their senses eventually.

Tombowman12

Over 2 months though?

I have heard that they are slow in paying out. But this is ridiculous! I'm stressed to the max!

From day 1 AX have told me and assured me that I am not at fault.

OnanTheBarbarian

Nothing unusual in insurance claims I'm afraid.

So long as the independent witness is fully supportive that you were in the process of alighting from your vehicle and didn't just fling the door open into the path of the approaching car, it will all come good in the end.

Insurers and common sense are rarely on the same page I'm afraid.

OnanTheBarbarian

Nissan Navara 2.5 double cab daily rate of hire is £68/ day + VAT, so the other side will be in for a reaming in due course

Tombowman12

Ah ok. I guess I'll have to find some more patience as my current stock pile is wearing thin!

They've given me a toyota hilux as its the closet thing they had. £144/day