hit by a foreign lorry driver

Hilly1990

Hi

On the 8th Jan I was hit by a Lorry on the M6. I was in the middle lane at the time, he attempted to come over to the middle but hit the back of my car given he didn't leave enough room, my car then span around where the lorry was then pushing it up the motorway which felt like forever and I am not even that sure he noticed straight away!

He was from France and knew little English however I took pictures of his licence and documents ect as advised by the traffic officer. Also three people stopped and witnessed the incident all stating he was at fault.

My car was a write off with Esure not providing any hire car annoyingly. My question is how long does this process take if it involves a foreign driver and them admitting fault, I've given the them all the details of the driver alongside witnesses. Still waiting for Esure to offer a valuation for my car where I'm anxious it will be much less them I am expecting, they also said they would deduct my excess from their offer - although i thought the Lorry drivers insurance would need to pay this?

stator

If you are insured comprehensively then the fact that the driver is foreign won't affect your payout. They deduct your excess because you are claiming on your policy.

Your insurer will try to claim the money from the lorry driver's insurance.
If the other insurer pays out in full, you should get your excess refunded.


So you will have an 'at fault' claim on your insurance and maybe lose your NCB until that happens. It can take a while but depends on the other insurance company.


When is your insurance due for renewal?
Cross your fingers it is sorted before renewal.

Hilly1990

My insurance isn't due again till November. However when I do get a new car won't my insurance go up until this is all sorted, would this be refundable?

societys_child

The reason this happened is because the left hand drive truck driver is sat high up, far away, on the opposite side of the cab, putting you in a blind spot. Not your fault, but always bear this in mind and try to ensure you're in a position where you can be seen.

elsien

Hilly1990 wrote: »

My insurance isn't due again till November. However when I do get a new car won't my insurance go up until this is all sorted, would this be refundable?

Your insurance might go up anyway even if it's accepted as no fault and the other insurer pays up. Some insurers have statistics that show if you've been in one accident you're then more likely to be involved in another one, even if the first one wasn't your fault. Nothing you can do about that.

dacouch

If and it's a big if, your Insurers recover their and your outlay from the accident it will take a long time

trailingspouse

Your comprehensive policy will cover the settlement figure on your written off car, less the excess. This is your 'insured loss'.



But you need to claim your uninsured losses from the third part (ie the lorry driver/his employer/their insurer). Uninsured losses would include your excess, any hire car you need (hire something 'reasonable'), any other costs you might have incurred (loss of earnings, damage to clothing, injury, cost of treatment eg physio following injury, and anything else you've had to pay as a direct result of the accident). If you have legal cover as part of your policy, they can help - but really you just need to keep all your receipts and send a letter to the insurers yourself.

Hilly1990

When you say insurers, I do that with my company then I presume they will reclaim it all on my behalf? Unfortunately I didn't have any legal cover but did contact a solictures due to injury and having time off work.

Reardoa

This has happened to me twice. The perils of working on an industrial estate! I dealt with the companies directly. They preferred it as it didn't effect their no claims and it got dealt with a lot quicker. Might be worth thinking about.