Car Insurance Claim process going against us?

Largoh

Last week my wife was hit by another car. She was in the left lane at a round about which goes left, straight or right. The other drive was in the left lane then moved to the right lane which goes right only. The other driver then attempted to turn left and hit my wife's car.

There's a big sign detailing the lanes along with 4 painted arrows in each lane. Despite this the other driver tried to claim it was my wife's fault for not turning left.

About 7 years ago I had an accident where someone hit my car by pulling out as I was passing. I called his insurance, logged the claim, he admitted it was his fault and my car was repaired. End of. So with this I told my wife to call the other driver's insurer. They weren't interested and told her that she had to claim through her own insurance, then 2 insurers would then battle out who was at fault.

My wife called her insurer and reported the issue, she gave all the details of the other driver.

Now it's looking as if my wife was at fault. They've offered a figure for the car which has been written off and are saying we need to pay an excess for this. Let's say that figure is £1250 and excess is £250, so they're planning on paying us £1000. This is from our own insurer and not the other driver though. They are also saying that we need to claim back the excess through a law firm, who subsequently want their own cut, £62.50.

This seems wrong to me. My wife was not at fault, why is this going against her and costing us money? We've also been told that if we keep the car we have to pay for an MOT to check it's insurable, which is another cost to us. The law firm is saying that we can't claim that MOT price back either, only the excess.

Surely something is wrong here? Someone made a stupid decision and it's costing us money. That's not right.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Quentin

You don't need to use a solicitor to claim your share of your uninsured losses.

You can easily diy.

After liability has been agreed a letter enclosing proof of your losses to the third party insurer is all you need

Nasqueron

Have you been to the scene, taken photos of the road layout etc for the insurer to prove she was in the correct lane and that person was in the wrong?

Largoh

Quentin wrote: »

You don't need to use a solicitor to claim your share of your uninsured losses.

You can easily diy.

After liability has been agreed a letter enclosing proof of your losses to the third party insurer is all you need

I've just been reading that I can DIY for uninsured losses. I've not found how to go about this yet. Do you know of any reading material that may benefit me? Thanks

Nasqueron wrote: »

Have you been to the scene, taken photos of the road layout etc for the insurer to prove she was in the correct lane and that person was in the wrong?

I've not been to the scene, but I've used Google maps to take pictures of the area using ariel and street view. I imagine I need to get my own pictures though as technically maps can be outdated or whatever.

magpiecottage

I am sorry to come with words of gloom but it will be for you to prove the other driver was entirely at fault, not for them, or their insurer, to prove otherwise.

From what you say, your wife was travelling behind and the may be able to argue that it was actually her fault.

forgotmyname

Google maps maybe out of date, the road markings may have changed since their pictures.

A mate had the 3rd party change their story mid claim, he went back to take pictures of the road layout and it had been changed which is why they changed their story.

dacouch

Diy recovery of your excess is as simple as sending a letter to the other driver's Insurers (You can find the policy number and insurer here https://www.askmid.com )

Start the letter "I enclose confirmation of my £250 excess, I hold your customer responsible for the accident due to (Explain the reason they are at fault)

I await your payment in this respect at your earliest convenience".

(Enclose a copy of the letter your Insurer sends you confirming the payment for your car and that they deducted your £250 excess).

You may find they only pay you £125 as roundabout claims are typically deemed to be 50% each drivers fault (As each driver will be blaming the other). As the other driver is 50% at fault, you can recover 50% of your loss (Your excess etc).

FutureGirl

It's only been a week since the accident. Your insurer will deal with your claim and then seek to recover the costs from the other insurer, subject to liability. At this point I imagine liability hasn't been agreed, as I'm sure the other driver has a different version of events.

You will still need to pay the excess, until liability has been sorted, then the other insurer should refund you this if you're not at fault. Roundabout claims aren't as clear cut as, for example, hit in rear. The claim you had was a little more clear cut than then your wife had, plus the driver of that claim probably admitted liability straight away which is why you could claim with the other insurers.

Quentin

Largoh wrote: »

I've just been reading that I can DIY for uninsured losses. I've not found how to go about this yet. Do you know of any reading material that may benefit me? ........

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