3rd party denying liability - advice needed

SarahT84

Hi, I'm enquiring on behalf of my dad.
Last May (yes it's taking so long!) my dad parked up to do some shopping, came back to find a car has knocked off his wing mirror. The car stopped, the guy came out, admitted fault, gave my dad his details. They both drove to a nearby garage to see if the wing mirror could be fixed, it couldn't and so the consensus was to go through the insurers. He got his wing mirror fixed and paid £300, which his insurer was going to claim back off the 3rd party's insurer.
Almost a year now of phone calls, the excuses ranged from: can't get in touch with the 3rd party / 3rd party's insurer has no record of that person's name / that person wasn't the named driver / the person had poor health and was in hospital for a while / they were arranging an independent garage to assess their client's car / and most recently, their client wasn't at fault at all, he was merely a witness being a good Samaritan by providing his details and still trying to get their car assessed.
As it's been so long, my dad can't remember what the guy looked like, the colour of his car, there were no witnesses at the time of the accident.....
Just wondering what our options are now. His insurer's useless, doesn't seem to be helping us at all...will finding an independent no-win-no-fee solicitor help? Then whatever the cost of the court proceedings, if we win, the solicitor take their fee off the 3rd party?


Many thanks in advance.

forgotmyname

Took my mum just over 2 years for a non fault claim, where the other driver admitted liability. Insurance can move slower than icebergs.

Just submit the information, that the so called good samaritan offered to pay for the damage that he admitted he caused at the time.

But proving it is harder, it just comes down to whose story makes the most sense.

Quentin

Who paid the £300? (DAD or his insurer)

If it was paid by his insurance, did he pay an excess?

SarahT84

He was told by his insurer to pay the £300 to get his car fixed. Then his insurer would claim that money back from the 3rd party, then the 3rd party would send us a cheque....but that never happened.

Quentin

Was the £300 his excess? (Rather than the full costs of the repair)

If it was the full cost of the repair, does he have comprehensive cover or third-party fire and theft?

SarahT84

Hi, I would've thought it was the full cost of the repair, as no one mentioned anything about excess to date. He has comprehensive cover.
He does have some excess on his insurance, probably £200 or £250 excess, but regardless, as the accident wasn't his fault, we thought he would eventually get his money back in the form of a cheque from the 3rd party.

Quentin

If it was the full cost of the repair then there may be a misunderstanding.

His insurer wouldn't normally get involved in reclaimmg this for him.

Maybe he has legal cover with his policy and he may be able to use that to get this money.

He needs to establish what role his insurance is taking over this, and get their confirmation that they are pursuing the third party.

If there has been a misunderstanding and they are not, then he needs to pursue a claim himself against the third-party.

(A no win no fee outfit is unlikely to take on a claim of just £300)