Car accident insurance claim - which insurer to go through

BabyBoots

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help me. I've never been in a car accident before, until someone drove into my car yesterday.

They were exiting a car park onto a main road I was driving on, and just drove into the side of my car, damaging it. They admitted it was their fault and seem to have told their insurer this.

I rang my insurer and said what had happened. They asked if I would like to claim it on my insurance or pursue a no fault claim. I said I didn't understand, that it wasn't my fault and I assumed the other driver ('s insurance) would have to pay. They said if it was a no fault claim I would not have to pay an excess or lose my no claims bonus, so I chose this option.

Today the other driver's insurer rang me and said if I wanted I had the option of claiming directly from them, and not involving my insurer. I said I was already having it treated as a no fault claim. They said this would still mean my insurance premium would go up, but if I claimed directly from them instead, it would't impact my premium. I said I had already begun the process with my insurer, but the other insurer said I could ring my insurer back and say I was just notifying my insurer, not pursuing the claim via my insurer.

I thought if my insurer were involved, they would fight my corner so to speak, to recover my losses, but the other insurer might try to settle for the least possible. I'm a bit confused, as I didn't know there were options as how to handle the claim - can anyone give me some pointers?

Quentin

The third party insurer has mislead you.


No matter which insurer you claim off, this claim will go on your record (as a "no fault" claim) and will be taken into account when your future premium is calculated.


That premium won't be affected by which insurer dealt with the claim.


As your insurer has assured you that you won't have to pay your excess and your NCD will not be affected then you have the extra advantage of having the FOS to turn to should you encounter any problems with your insurer over this.


(You cannot use the FOS should you deal with the third party insurer)


(Though I suspect your insurer may have passed you on to a claims management company, and are not actually going to handle the claim at all!)

BabyBoots

Thanks, yes I think you're right, they said the claim would now be dealt with by another firm.

What is FOS?

Quentin

Financial Ombudsman Service

tberry6686

Depending upon who the other insurer is it may be easier (and quicker) to go through them.

In my experience (2 no fault claims) going through the third parties insurers. The first one was Allianz and they were fine apart from being a little slow to get my car fixed (although I chose who to send the car to on advice from the main dealer, although not the cheapest repair place Allianz did not try and argue about it). The second one was Churchill and the whole thing was sorted within 4 weeks (including a PI claim) with them paying out more than I had expected (car was a right off but they paid out more than dealer prices for the same car (difficult to find locally) and offered more for PI than my solicitor thought the claim would be worth (about 50% more).

I've never actually claimed through my own insurers (within the last 10 years anyway) so can't give an opinion on there services.

Quentin

Now we know that the OP has been passed on to a claims management company the other side are now too late.


The claims management company look to have won!

magpiecottage

Even if it is not your fault, you are likely to have increased insurance premiums for some years as a result.

It is possible to claim against the other driver for this provided you have not already accepted full and final settlement.

BabyBoots

The third party insurer contacted me on Saturday to say their driver admitted liability and I could claim direct from them.

The claim handler my insurance had put me on to said tehy would call me on Monday between 9-10am to confirm if they had been able to verify the other driver admitted fault. They didn't call til 5pm, just left me a voicemail to say they had rung the 3rd party insurer but hadn't been able to speak to the right person. I rang the claim handler today to ask the progress, they said they hadn't tried calling the other firm for a second time, they would call them today, but did not have time to call me back today.

That makes me think they're pretty useless. From my initial call on Friday, it's now Wednesday, they haven't been able to ascertain the basic fact that the other insurer admitted it was thir customer's fault by Saturday.

Would you just ditch these people my insurance put me on to and deal with the other insurer? I just want my car fixed and my baby's car seat replaced ASAP and at no cost to me.

Quentin

have you signed anything with the accident management company?


If not contact them and tell them you want to cancel them and see if there is any cost involved already.


If not go to the third party who will help you (and accommodate you if you want the car repaired at a garage of your choice)