Hit by French HGV driver

Joshbosh

Hi all I'm new to the forum and looking for as much info & help I can get.

Last night at a roundabout I was hit by a French coach.
I was on the inside lane of a three lane roundabout going right and leaving third exit and on my passenger side was a large coach, as I was driving around the roundabout the coach drove in to my lane and I was squashed between the coach and the barrier.
I have photos of the damage and all of the coach details.
The coach driver didn't seem too bothered and didn't take any photos.

Spoke to my insurance company today and after being bounced around between the insurance brokers and insurance company themselves I was told that I'd have to make a claim to have the damage on my car paid for on my own insurance and that I'd lose 2 years of my no claims bonus.

I was told that because the coach was a French vehicle, it would take roughly a year for any type of response from the coach drivers insurance and that my insurance company doesn't want to deal with it. So I'll be the most affected basically even though none of this was my fault.

This doesn't seem fair as I pay every month to be insured and when I need them they can't do anything for me!?

The accident was completely his fault and now I'm going to have to drive a damaged car around and pay for the repair myself, or lose my NCB and let my insurance handle it.

Has anybody here ever been hit by a foreign driver and had any luck?

Any responses would be great.

Josh.

InsideInsurance

Do you have comprehensive insurance or TPFT?

Claims against overseas drivers normally take longer. Claims against commercial drivers normally take longer. Unfortunately you have both so its compounded.

Assuming you have Comp cover then you would typically claim off of your insurance first, hence the loss of NCD and paying the excess, and then your insurers counter claim against the third party. Assuming this is successful then the NCD is reinstated etc.

If you have TPFT cover then you have no insurance for own vehicle damage from accidents and your insurance is only there to defend you against third party claims (the TP bit). For you to claim against the other driver you do it yourself unless you have Legal Expenses cover in which case they may appoint someone to assist you in doing this.

benje302

My wife was hit from behind many years ago by a foreign HGV. He gave her hisdetails and admitted it was his fault.

We called her insurance company and explained the situation.

Her car was taken in to be repaired, had a hire car for the duration and gother no claims back.

I can’t remember us having any difficulty getting it sorted.

Ben

Joshbosh

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Do you have comprehensive insurance or TPFT?

Claims against overseas drivers normally take longer. Claims against commercial drivers normally take longer. Unfortunately you have both so its compounded.

Assuming you have Comp cover then you would typically claim off of your insurance first, hence the loss of NCD and paying the excess, and then your insurers counter claim against the third party. Assuming this is successful then the NCD is reinstated etc.

If you have TPFT cover then you have no insurance for own vehicle damage from accidents and your insurance is only there to defend you against third party claims (the TP bit). For you to claim against the other driver you do it yourself unless you have Legal Expenses cover in which case they may appoint someone to assist you in doing this.

I have fully comp.

But I was told that if I made a claim on my own insurance to cover my damage that would be the end of it.
Nothing was mentioned about them following up the incident with the third party, or me getting my NCB back.

This did only happen last night, and since speaking to my ins company this afternoon, they have had no contact from the coach driver/company.

There was hardly any damage on his coach so I don't know if he'll even bother phoning his ins.

I don't know how this all works.

Thanks for the reply though, keep them coming!

cutandshut

I don't understand why everybody doesn't have protected no claims bonus. It doesn't cost much and saves all this kind of hassle.

Joshbosh

cutandshut wrote: »

I don't understand why everybody doesn't have protected no claims bonus. It doesn't cost much and saves all this kind of hassle.

You can only protect your NCB once you have 4 years NCB.
I would of had 4 in July..

victor2

cutandshut wrote: »

I don't understand why everybody doesn't have protected no claims bonus. It doesn't cost much and saves all this kind of hassle.

I certainly pay the extra to have my NCD protected - it does cost, but not as much as the discount you get!
However, a no-fault claim invariably causes your premium to increase at renewal. My brother had protected NCD and had his car keyed, so he claimed. The premium went up quite a bit at renewal and the insurers said it was because he had claimed. In response to his "but I have protected NCD", they replied "you should see the premium without your NCD!"

Anyway, good luck OP. Chase the insurers to recover your claim, but it is unfortunately going to cost you.

InsideInsurance

Joshbosh wrote: »

Nothing was mentioned about them following up the incident with the third party, or me getting my NCB back.

This did only happen last night, and since speaking to my ins company this afternoon, they have had no contact from the coach driver/company.

There was hardly any damage on his coach so I don't know if he'll even bother phoning his ins.

I don't know how this all works.

Most people dont know how insurance really works and the vast majority of these processes happen behind the scenes. To be honest, the first person you speak to when you report a claim are often the least trained/ experienced people in the claims department and very possibly dont understand the full process themselves.

Assuming they dont do something stupid then they will try and get their money back from the other insurer. Its been a long time since I was hands on claims handler but in my day the process of dealing with foreign insurers was terribly long winded involving pseudo governmental agencies and international letters.

If you go back to speak to them, ideally in office hours when the more advanced teams are also there, then they should confirm that they would attempt a recovery and reinstate your NCD assuming they make the recovery.

If you know who the TP insurer is then in theory you could contact them and see if they'll deal with you directly but the chances are fairly slim.

stator

You could potentially sue the driver for loss of your NCD and any hire costs, but since he's foreign it would be more difficult.

pooch

Joshbosh wrote: »

...
I was told ...that my insurance company doesn't want to deal with it. ...

I would suggest you make a formal complaint following the insurer's complaint procedure.

Whilst I have no doubt the insurer does not want to deal with it (it will cost them time & money to do so), they have no choice. It's what they offered you insurance for, and for which you paid your premiums using your hard earned cash.

It sounds like a certain employee needs additional training ...

loskie

I was rear ended in Germany by a lady in a car. Insured by Volksbank. My insurer was Zurich IIRC.
The whole thing was dealt with efficiently and quickly and even claimed back my excess no problem.
I was quite surprised