Third party car insurance claim advice

mcfishyd

Hi there,

I was recently involved in a minor collision with a taxi driver. The short of it was that the other driver changed lanes without looking and went in to the side of us. We were traveling in the left lane which was straight on at a junction, he was waiting in a turn right lane but changed his mind so I think its fairly cut and dry about who is at fault. (IE not us!)

I have got a quote to repair our car at the cost of around £2,700 as it needs new door, front and rear wing and a respray. The driver refused to accept liability but his insurance have offered to pay me £1,750 for the repairs as a without prejudice payment, the difference in price I assume being what the insurers estimator quoted and the dealer quote I arranged.

Now I would also like a letter admitting full liability so I can register this a a non fault claim on my part and insure that no claim can be made from my insurer. Please can you let me know where I stand, and what leverage I can use to get this resolved quickly? I am doing this myself with the third party insurer to avoid a claim on my file. I have notified my insurer that I was involved in an incident and that I will be dealing with it directly.

Car_54

There will still be a (non-fault) claim on your file however you proceed.

mcfishyd

Even though I haven't made a claim?

debtdebt

Yes. There is no leverage you can use against the third party insurer other than to issue Court proceedings against their insured client.

Why do you think it is more likely your version of events would be believed? The taxi driver could say you wanted to turn right and went into his lane and vehicle???

mcfishyd

I am hoping my evidence supports my argument along with my witnesses and the police van who was behind us. Also the pictures I have are of the third party's driver embedded in our drivers door at an left angle out of his turn right only lane whist we are going straight in our ahead only lane. I cant really see how he could have any evidence to argue otherwise, and as far as I am aware, its also not possible for a stationary vehicle to drive sideways.

glentoran99

Why are you getting quotes etc and not just letting the insurers get on with repairing it?

mcfishyd

I had a bad experience with a previous claim a few years ago when someone rear ended me. after 4 months waiting for a the new parts the repair was unsatisfactory and they had just reused one of the damage components without even respraying it and the new bumpers paint didn't match the rest of the car. After 9 months of trying to get it sorted I gave up when I sold the car. This was direct line who are considered a premium insurer so I would hate to think what this low rate insurers level of standards are like so I would like to take it to the main dealer where the car was bought new 3 months ago where I know the repair will be good and if not, I can hold them to account as we are repeat customers. I have put the car in for repairs now as it has been damage for over a month and have paid for it personally so need to recoup the money I have spent.

AdrianC

Car_54 wrote: »

There will still be a (non-fault) claim on your file however you proceed.

mcfishyd wrote: »

Even though I haven't made a claim?

If you haven't made a claim, why are the insurer paying you a single penny?

You have made a claim - and the other driver's insurer have suggested settling that claim with a £1,750 payment. If you don't want to do that, and they won't pay for the repair in full, then claim from your own insurer. If the other party's insurer end up paying in full, then it will still be a not-at-fault claim. If your insurer end up covering part of the claim, then it will be a partially-at-fault claim.

mcfishyd

What I mean is I am not making a claim through my insurance, why would I, so they can hike up my insurance at no fault of my own come renewal time? I am expecting the third party who crashed in to me to cover the full cost of the repairs however he has deferred this to his insurer to deal with.

I really want to put an end to this, secure the money to cover the repairs back to the condition the car was in before this mindless idiot crashed in to us and stop wasting my time and maintain my NCB and ensuring there are no financial repercussions for me later on when I come to renew my insurance.

Thanks

Aylesbury_Duck

mcfishyd wrote: »

What I mean is I am not making a claim through my insurance, why would I, so they can hike up my insurance at no fault of my own come renewal time? I am expecting the third party who crashed in to me to cover the full cost of the repairs however he has deferred this to his insurer to deal with.

I really want to put an end to this, secure the money to cover the repairs back to the condition the car was in before this mindless idiot crashed in to us and stop wasting my time and maintain my NCB and ensuring there are no financial repercussions for me later on when I come to renew my insurance.

Thanks

It will still have to be declared as an accident, and it will probably adversely affect your premiums for a few years. Not always, because some people have reported no change, but try some dummy quotes with and without the non-fault accident and see what the difference is.

AdrianC

mcfishyd wrote: »

What I mean is I am not making a claim through my insurance, why would I, so they can hike up my insurance at no fault of my own come renewal time?

It doesn't make a difference whose insurance you claim through. You need to declare the claim for the next five years. That will inevitably increase your premium.

Think of "fault" not as some insult aimed at your driving, but simply as who ended up paying.

If your insurer ends up carrying some of the cost, then it's an at-fault claim, your NCB gets dinged, and you may need to pay your excess.
If your insurer ends up paying nothing, it's a not-at-fault claim.

So you might end up needing to decide if declaring a not-at-fault that leaves you a grand out of pocket is cheaper than declaring a partially-at-fault...