Car insurance not paying out

bedruzenka

Hello,I wonder if someone could please advise me. My partner had a car accident last year and both vehicles were written off. It was his fault. He has just received a letter from the other parties insurance asking him to pay. They claim that his insurance is refusing to pay out. Has anybody ever heard or dealt with anything similar? He has 14 days to pay or they'll take him court.

Caz3121

bedruzenka wrote: »

They claim that his insurance is refusing to pay out. Has anybody ever heard or dealt with anything similar? He has 14 days to pay or they'll take him court.

what does his insurance company say about them not paying?

Quentin

bedruzenka wrote: »

Hello,I wonder if someone could please advise me. My partner had a car accident last year and both vehicles were written off. It was his fault. He has just received a letter from the other parties insurance asking him to pay. They claim that his insurance is refusing to pay out. Has anybody ever heard or dealt with anything similar? He has 14 days to pay or they'll take him court.

He should pass this letter on to his own insurer (that dealt with the claim) unanswered.


Then chase them up and make sure they deal with it (If they are refusing to accept liability then they will be dealing and defending any court claim made against your partner)

bedruzenka

Thank you both for your replies. He hasn't spoken to his insurance yet. The letter only came today. I am a bit confused and worried because the letter states that he will be taken to court(not his car insurance company). Can they really do that? Then what's the point of having car insurance?

Quentin

Should they decide to take the issue to court, then your partner will be named on the claim, but his insurer will defend the claim (or pay it), however it is resolved the insurer will pay any costs involved.

bedruzenka

Just to add it looks like they paid out some money to the other party because the amount of money they are asking for would not cover the cost of the other vehicle.

Quentin

There could be various reasons why the insurers are in dispute (often the "innocent" party may have put in an inflated claim that the "guilty" insurer whilst accepting their client was to blame are not happy with the size of the claim etc)


Don't stress about it - but make sure the letter received is forwarded immediately to his insurer

bedruzenka

Quentin thank you very much for your help.

mattyprice4004

You still haven't answered the first question put to you.

What was the reason given for your insurance not paying out? What exactly did the letter say?

Aretnap

bedruzenka wrote: »

Thank you both for your replies. He hasn't spoken to his insurance yet. The letter only came today. I am a bit confused and worried because the letter states that he will be taken to court(not his car insurance company). Can they really do that? Then what's the point of having car insurance?

Basically yes. He's the one who (allegedly) caused to accident so ultimately liability lies with him. They can't take his insurance company to court because nobody is claiming that his insurance company damaged the other guy's car.

The point of having car insurance is that his insurance company will defend the claim of his behalf and will pay anything he is liable for if he loses. So while it would be his name on the court papers, for most practical purposes it would be his insurer who is actually being taken to court. Rest assured that he will not have to put his hand in his own pocket at any point.

bedruzenka

If you read my post you will see that I have replied to the first post. He hasn't spoken to them yet. He is abroad at the moment.