Car damaged when parked

secroy

Hello everybody.

I was flying away on holiday. I've made half of my trip to the airport with the car and left it parked on a street. As you can imagine that place is different to the address I've provided to the insurance company.

The car has been hit by another driver who takes responsibility.

My question is wether I may be in trouble for leaving the car at another address then the one in the insurance papers?

chris_m

Shouldn't be a problem, the address the companies ask for is where the car is normally parked or kept, not where it will always be parked.

If you couldn't take a car elsewhere there really wouldn't be much point in having it

ConMan

chris_m wrote: »

Shouldn't be a problem, the address the companies ask for is where the car is normally parked or kept, not where it will always be parked.

If you couldn't take a car elsewhere there really wouldn't be much point in having it

I agree, they can't really expect you to always have the car at the overnight address. However, they may want to investigate.

Quentin

You won't be in trouble.


But if the other driver is to blame you are better off claiming off his insurance rather than your own.


You won't have to pay any excess, your NCD (if unprotected) won't be (temporarily) reduced till the claim is concluded (which can be a pain if your renewal comes due and the claim is still open) and they will organise a replacement car whilst yours is being repaired at the garage of your choice.

secroy

The most painful thing is that I'm still abroad and can't really do anything until I return to the UK at the end of the week. I've been contacted by my insurer that an incident occured and the other driver (and his insurance) take blame.
A friend of mine was kind enough to make a trip to where I left my car and judging from the photographs I've seen I seriously doubt that anybody will even bother to think about repairing it.

I've already mourned the car and the incident and the only thing that is bothering me is the fact that it's been left at another place then the one that it's usually parked when I'm home.

Quentin

secroy wrote: »

The only thing that is bothering me is the fact that it's been left at another place then the one that it's usually parked when I'm home.

No need to be bothering about that. It's completely irrelevant.

When you get home put in a claim to the third party insurer. If you can't drive your car home hire a car and include this in your claim.

lizziesharples

Don't worry about the different address, that is fine. The only thing to really do is make sure you go through your insurance company if you think it is going to be a write off so that they can get the best pay out from the other company for you. You pay them to be on your side in this situation so don't leave it to a 3rd parties insurance who you know nothing of.

Quentin

lizziesharples wrote: »

Don't worry about the different address, that is fine. The only thing to really do is make sure you go through your insurance company if you think it is going to be a write off so that they can get the best pay out from the other company for you. You pay them to be on your side in this situation so don't leave it to a 3rd parties insurance who you know nothing of.

Going through your own insurer has disadvantages:


1) The claim means your NCD is impacted (unless protected) temporarily till the matter is concluded which can cause problems as you have a reduced NCD to take to any new insurer should your renewal come due before the claim is settled


2) You must pay your excess then go to the hassle of recovering it from the third party


3) The third party insurer will provide a replacement vehicle until the write off has been settled


You say your insurer would get the "best pay out" from the third party. Not so, your company will deal with your claim before turning to the third party to reimburse them.


You get the market value for your car prior to the incident, and may need to negotiate this whoever you deal with!

lizziesharples

It would depend on the insurance company as to whether the excess would need to be paid and the no claims reduced. If the other driver accepts full liability then many insurance companies wouldn't do this.

Also, if they have the third party admitting liability then they will also give you a replacement vehicle and charge this to the third party.

Negotiation will happen either way. However, when I take out my insurance I take it out with a company I trust and have usually had a long relationship with. This is the relationship I would trust when dealing with a claim rather than a third party insurer who I don't know and haven't used before.

JimmyTheWig

Presumably, OP, if they investigate they won't find that when crashed it was parked outside your actual house and the address you used for the insurance policy was that of a family member who lives in a safer postcode?

Quentin

lizziesharples wrote: »

It would depend on the insurance company as to whether the excess would need to be paid and the no claims reduced. If the other driver accepts full liability then many insurance companies wouldn't do this.

Also, if they have the third party admitting liability then they will also give you a replacement vehicle and charge this to the third party.

Negotiation will happen either way. However, when I take out my insurance I take it out with a company I trust and have usually had a long relationship with. This is the relationship I would trust when dealing with a claim rather than a third party insurer who I don't know and haven't used before.

Your previous post on this wrongly stated that if we claim off our own insurer for a write off they will get us a good price from the liable third party, which was nonsense!


Why do you think your insurer will provide you with a replacement vehicle? (Insurers aren't renowned for giving you anything not covered by the policy!)



And charging excess and reducing NCD is the norm when you make a claim! Your insurer is abnormal if they don't charge you any excess when you are not to blame!

You are lucky to trust your insurer so much you consider it worth while having a long relationship with.


Loyalty was worthwhile a long time ago.


Nowadays all being loyal to your insurer does is let them take advantage of you when it comes to renewal time!



Third party insurers nowadays are very happy to properly look after innocent third parties and most have a claims department especially for them to contact.


(And of course it's the only route for those with third party cover to go down!)


More and more insurers these days faced with a claim from a comprehensive policyholder not to blame where liability is clear cut sell the claim on to an expensive claim handler (involving credit hire and credit repairs), which the third party insurer would prefer to avoid, hence them being happy to sort out the innocent third party and save all that extra expense.