How To Challenge Motoer Car Insurance Decision?

strawberries1

How does one challenge an insurance dispute please?

paddyandstumpy

A little more info may help?

Quentin

The cheapest option ( no cost to you) is to use the complaints procedure which will be set out in the policy documents.

If you are unhappy with the reply to the complaint or they ignore you for 8 weeks you can escalate to the FOS for their adjudication.

If that isn't to your liking your remaining option is to take court action but that will involve you in some cost, though if you win in court you will be able to get the court costs and allowable expenses paid back from the insurer

dunstonh

It should be noted that the complaints process looks at potential wrongdoing. The FOS cannot rule on commercial decisions.

So, it would help for us to know what you are not happy about. That way we can say if it falls under the remit of the FOS or not.

strawberries1

Thanks all and apologies for the typo.

By FOS you mean Financial Ombudsman Service? That's the only other step I've been able to come up with.

In my opinion my insurer has wrongly decided I'm at fault regarding an accident in Jan this year.

I was stationary in traffic and a HGV made contact with my vehicle on the left. This is a couple of yards after the white lines creating two lanes ends. On the left side of the road ie the part closer to the kerb there's a bus stop and cars parked after the bus stop. The white lines end 1/4 into the bus stop. A faint demarcating line is still evident but no longer painted white. The HGV wanted to move into the right part of the road. Having spotted cars ahead start moving he moved right to join the lane and hit me moving my mirror and making two small marks on the side of my car. He straightened his tyre and made to move ahead, I moved forward a little to prevent him and came out video recording asking him to give me his insurance details (as he'd made to continue moving). He came out protesting he didn't hit me. I have this on video but my insurer says he's a foreign driver and might have been trying to say I hit him. (I didn't hit you was all he kept saying, not you hit me). There was no damage to his vehicle and that was never in contention at the time.

My insurers claim I was forming a new lane. I've recorded at different times the way the road is used. Cos of the bus stop and cars on the left cars move on the right. The lorry drove into the left part of the road because it was empty and traffic had built up on the right and he now wanted to move into the right lane (technically as only the last 1/4 of his hgv was in the part where the white lines were).

The HGV was a foreign vehicle and was left hand drive.

I didn't claim as I felt the damage was very minimal and at the time I was suffereing severe fatigue and lethargy. I simply didn't have energy to pursue a claim. I'd been seing my doctor and the week before I'd just been referd to CBT. I was discharged from the service a month ago. So I do have medical evidence showing that my symptoms were lack of energy, motiviation to do everyday tasks. I say this to explain that my not claiming wasn't because I was in the wrong. Thank God for the NHS I am now much better and no longer allowing life weight me down as much.

I've asked my insurers for evidence and any docs provided by the other side. The vehicle had 24hr video inscribed on it. I've asked for this and they've refused to send it to me. I've informed them I'll like to make a complaint and escalate the issue but they've not given me info about how to do so apart from another colleague of their's looking at the file and he's decided I'm 100% to blame.

My insurance is due in 3 weeks and has come back 3times my last year's insurance.

They claim HWC R221 means I'm at fault as I didn't give him room to maneuouver. This is a wrong application of this rule. I was stationary in my lane. He moved along on the left coming from behind, positioned himself there for an opportunity to move into the right. When the right lane started moving infront he moved right and made contact with my vehicle. If he was right hand drive he would've been able to guage the distance to make such a move but he might've only seen the front of the vehicle not how close the side were as he's not used to having cars on that side being a foreign vehicle. My insurer's claim that as he was left hand drive I shouldn't have put myself in his blind spot. I didn't know he was left hand drive as he was behind and high up and I was stationary.

I hope it'e not too much of a ramble.

In summary, I'm seeking information about how to contest my insurer's liablitiy decision.

Thank you.

k3lvc

Just to be clear this happened in Jan '17 with minimal damage yet you've just started a claim

IMHO (and as one who's suffered periods of depression etc) I'd say forget it and move on - life's too short to let things such as this become an obsession

strawberries1

K3lvc, in no way is this an obsession and my question isn't whether or not to challenge the decison but how to do so.

I didn't make a claim. My insurers notified me in Sept 2017 that a claim had been made against me regarding an incident in Jan 2017.

Last year's insurance was £500 and the qoute is now £1540. My NCB is now 3 instead of 6. Shopping around, the best is £1460 with £250 excess. That's at least an extra £1000 every year for the next few years because of an accident that was not my fault and where there was no damage at the time. This is near my home and I pass it M-F on my way to and from work.

I'm happy to write to the ombudsman if that's the right body to escalate it to.

paddyandstumpy

Once you've exhausted your insurer's complaints process, yes; the FOS would be the next step.

If you refer to them before going through the insurer's complaint process; the FOS will refer the file back to the insurer.

Quentin

strawberries1 wrote: »

By FOS you mean Financial Ombudsman Service?.....

In summary, I'm seeking information about how to contest my insurer's liablitiy decision.....
.

Yes FOS is the ombudsman


The info you want is in #3


(Your insurers complaints procedure will be set out in the policy docs)


As your insurer has paid out, then there was some damage to the third party vehicle.


So denying he hit you by repeating "I didn't hit you" in this context could be seen to mean "You hit me"!

strawberries1

Thanks I'll search all the docs again and then approach the FOS after exhausting their process.

sheramber

There was no damage to his vehicle and that was never in contention at the time.

So what has he claimed for?