Dealing with 3rd Party insurers directly

Alz1986

Hi All,

Just looking for some tips and advice in dealing with 3rd party insurers directly. I was hit on the side by a recycling Truck, driver admitted fault and advised me to contact his company to report incident and claim for damage.

I decided to do this instead of taking it to a claims management company which will rake up costs.

Their insurer has now gotten in touch asking for evidence whilst they establish liability. The only evidence I have is photos of the damage on both vehicles.

I would prefer to just accept a cash settlement for damages to fix my car.

My question is this- should I provide them my evidence first as they requested, or is there a risk they will they use it to say that is insufficient later (where the recycling company says no such incident occurred)?

Also, any other tips anyone can share will be welcome, a bit nervous to respond to them as I've heard of stories where they start challenging you- if this does happen I may consult a claims team to handle on my behalf.

Car_54

Do you have comprehensive insurance?


If you do, you're already paying them to sort this out. Why use a claims management company instead?

Alz1986

Hi, I'm not using a claims management company. I'm dealing with this directly with the 3rd party insurers.

DoaM

Have you informed your own insurers? (Even if just for notification only). You'll almost certainly find that this is a requirement of your policy.

diesel_dog

Yes, it's easy enough to deal with yourself directly.

In the first instance I'd ask them why they need "any" evidence when the driver has already admitted liability.

Car_54

diesel_dog wrote: »

Yes, it's easy enough to deal with yourself directly.

In the first instance I'd ask them why they need "any" evidence when the driver has already admitted liability.

They will almost certainly say that the driver was not qualified or entitled to make such an admission.


Their policy will say someting like "You must not admit liability for, or negotiate to settle, any claim without our written permission. We have full discretion in the settlement of your claim or any legal proceedings which may arise and we
may take over, defend or settle the claim in your name for our own benefit"

Alz1986

I agree, they will say the driver is not qualified to make a judgement, even though I was stationary and he was driving wrong way up a 1 way street.

I think I'll inform my insurers anyway. Though I did that once before and they were puzzled why I was calling them if I'm not claiming.

I believe all recycling trucks have cameras fitted- is this true and if so, are they inclined to look at this?

diesel_dog

How will the same question be answered if you go via your insurers or claims management company? It will still be the same question.

You've nothing to lose by asking that simple question. If your not confident or capable then yes, pass it on.