Non fault accident - Their insurers want to settle with me

BritishBeef

Hi there.
I was involved in an accident that wasn't my fault last night. They reversed their car into their drive and didn't see me as I was driving past and swung out into my car. There was a witness who saw it all.

I haven't informed my insurer yet but have already received a text message from the other party's insurer:

'Admiral ref.******* - We are sorry to hear you have been involved in an
accident with our insured. We would like to help with any damage caused
to save you claiming with your insurers, paying an excess and we will
also supply a free replacement vehicle to suit your needs - Please call
03303335531 ext 25256. Please note SMS responses are unmonitored'

Does this mean he has already admitted liability to his insurer? Is it safe to settle with his insurer and not inform mine so that I don't get stung with increased premiums? I have protected NCD.
Do I HAVE to inform my insurer?

Any help greatly apreciated

robbies_gal

you do still have to inform them but thell them youre claming through the third party

foxy-stoat

You have to declare the accident - what the third party insurers are trying to avoid is you going through am accident claims company - credit repair/credit car hire and possibly fake whiplash claim.

Looks like they have assumed that its their driver's fault, so there will be no fight - You may or may not have increased premiums but for 1 non fault accident the additional cost, if any, will be small.

jackr5

My wife had a similar scenario a few years back, she did declare it with her insurers even though they were not involved.

Her insurance premium was not affected (well, it may have been but the next year was cheaper than before so it's hard to tell!) and being honest makes it easier when you have to fill out the forms on comparison websites when you're looking for your next deal.

Quentin

BritishBeef wrote: »

Hi there.
I was involved in an accident that wasn't my fault last night. They reversed their car into their drive and didn't see me as I was driving past and swung out into my car. There was a witness who saw it all.

I haven't informed my insurer yet but have already received a text message from the other party's insurer:

'Admiral ref.******* - We are sorry to hear you have been involved in an
accident with our insured. We would like to help with any damage caused
to save you claiming with your insurers, paying an excess and we will
also supply a free replacement vehicle to suit your needs - Please call
03303335531 ext 25256. Please note SMS responses are unmonitored'

Does this mean he has already admitted liability to his insurer? Is it safe to settle with his insurer and not inform mine so that I don't get stung with increased premiums? I have protected NCD.
Do I HAVE to inform my insurer?

Any help greatly apreciated

It is normally OK to use the third party insurer's insurer to claim from when you are an innocent hit by one of their insured (though as already advised you do still need to inform your insurer about the incident, and the claim must still be disclosed to future insurers when getting quotes in future)


However it looks like the third party insurer is Admiral???


If so insist on using your own choice of repairer as they are known to get repair work done via Albany (do a search here and online for Albany reviews to see why!)


If they are happy to let you choose your own repairer there should be no problem in accepting their offer.

Auxillis

Hello BritishBeef,

Please ignore the advice posted above. As it appears you have been involved in a non fault accident with an Admiral customer, Albany Assistance would not be involved. It seems that Admiral insurance are offering intervention services - these services are provided directly by Admiral.

Kind Regards,

Albany Assistance Online Team

BritishBeef

Thanks for the replies - appreciated
I have phoned my insurer and they said that the text is standard procedure for some insurance companies if the other person has already admitted fault. They have taken details of the accident just for notification and advised me to ring Admiral and let them get the car fixed as it will be much quicker and easier.

I've now rung Admiral who have confirmed their client has admitted fault and they have put me in touch with the repairers so all good

PS it's Nationwide Repair so maybe they no longer use Albany?

Quentin

It seems (#6) the much criticised Albany only deal with Admiral's own policyholders who are involved in claims where they are not to blame!


But if you want to you can always insist on using your own preferred repairer rather than the one the insurer has the connection with.


(One drawback over using the other side's insurer is that you lose the option of escalating any complaint to the FOS should you be unhappy with the repairs etc)

Auxillis

BritishBeef wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - appreciated
I have phoned my insurer and they said that the text is standard procedure for some insurance companies if the other person has already admitted fault. They have taken details of the accident just for notification and advised me to ring Admiral and let them get the car fixed as it will be much quicker and easier.

I've now rung Admiral who have confirmed their client has admitted fault and they have put me in touch with the repairers so all good

PS it's Nationwide Repair so maybe they no longer use Albany?

Quentin seems to have caused some confusion by assuming you were using non fault services which we provide to Admiral customers. As our earlier post stated Admiral insurance provide their own intervention services directly.

Kind Regards,

Albany Assistance Online Team

londonTiger

puit it this way, if you don't declare aAdmiral would have already disclosed this incident to their databases which are accessible by all insurance companies.

Your insurer will not mention this to you if you do not disclose, but they'll know about it.

Then when you need to make a claim for an accident that you were at fault at they will pull this up and use it as a reason to void your insurance.

Dealing with a 3rd party insurer may be better for you as it means it's cheaper for them to pay you directly than pay your insurer who will then try to lowball you and pay less than the car/repair is worth. They will keep anythiong they claw back for themselves.

Use a poor quality independant accident repair using pattern parts - believe me they lie about this, they say they use OEM parts but then settle of "OEM quality parts".

If you deal directly with 3rd party insurer you can choose to use original dealer to assess and carry out repairs.

Just make sure there are no complicated claims like personal injury which may spur on later on.

McKneff

And for the next 10 years you will get random calls telling you you have had an accidentvanc they will claim extra money for you. They are a pain