Accepted fault but not damage

Bohomofo79

Hi all,

Last year May my partner had a minor collision with another car. He bumped into their vehicle, he accepted being at fault for the collision, however not for the minor damage as it had rust on it. He took pictures of the alleged damage.

He admitted fault to his insurer but disputed the damage alleged by the other driver and requested an investigator to look at their car.

We did not hear back from the insurer assuming that nothing had come from it, only to receive a letter last week stating that the insurance has gone up astronomically. When my partner phoned them, they stated that the investigator had looked at the car and that they had to pay out almost three grand.

Firstly the damage had rust on it.

Secondly, even if my partner had been responsible for the damage, it definitely did not look worth nearly three grand!!

Is it worth fighting this?

Many thanks

[Deleted User]

Bohomofo79 wrote: »

Hi all,

Last year May my partner had a minor collision with another car. He bumped into their vehicle, he accepted being at fault for the collision, however not for the minor damage as it had rust on it. He took pictures of the alleged damage.

He admitted fault to his insurer but disputed the damage alleged by the other driver and requested an investigator to look at their car.

We did not hear back from the insurer assuming that nothing had come from it, only to receive a letter last week stating that the insurance has gone up astronomically. When my partner phoned them, they stated that the investigator had looked at the car and that they had to pay out almost three grand.

Firstly the damage had rust on it.

Secondly, even if my partner had been responsible for the damage, it definitely did not look worth nearly three grand!!

Is it worth fighting this?

Many thanks

Nothing to fight, your insurance company has already paid out.

Bohomofo79

Thanks for your response. I meant requesting money back from the insurer as they didn't even bother to inform us of the investigator's assessment.

The damage was under no circumstances worth 3 grand. Surely they cant get away with that?

Ombudsman?

Bohomofo79

There was rust on the tiny scratch.

Even if it was caused by the collision it was worth no more than a few hundred

Quentin

Your policy will contain a condition (which you will have agreed to) allowing your insurer to deal with claims against you as they think fit


If you want to try and pursue this then your route is to make a complaint in line with their complaints procedure


Then if you are unhappy with their reply or they ignore you for 8 weeks you can (try!) an escalation to the FOS


If they agree you have a valid complaint they will adjudicate on it

Bohomofo79

Thanks Quentin, very helpful

garth549

Unfortunately unless there's hard evidence otherwise then insurers will just settle a lot of third-party claims as it costs substantially more to dispute/defend them. A case that goes to a hearing, appeal etc can easily end up costing them £10,000s.