All sections excess

clareyxx

Hello,
I am look for advice regarding my insurance policy. 
I have a policy with One Call direct, and it has a £3000 excess. I was unaware that this was for claims made against you also, it doesn't make it very clearly online, or in the emails back and forth with the sales agent. 
Long story short, i was in an accident, there was a vehicle parked up in the left hand side and i pulled in to park, i miss judge the space by about 5cm, and it caused my car to brush against the person who has claimed. It was a taxi and the driver was in the car. I was parking up to go to work. I got out the car and the driver got out, he was fine, smiling and laughing away and we look at the damage, there was minimal paint transfer from my car to his. He said aww it will be fine the paint has came off, and rubbed it off. I then point to damage on the front on the car and gave a look of 'how the hell did i cause that damage' (there was a crack in the bumper, at the front of the car and at the headlight). I brushed against his car, that damage must has came from hitting something head on. He then said aww don't worry about that, that damage was already there. So i thought, thank goodness. He admitted it wasn't his taxi but someone elses, and would pass my details over to the owner who would call me to discuss if anything was going further. 
I heard nothing from anyone until my insurance called me to say someone had reported significant damage to the car. I told them the whole story i have written and explained the reason i didn't call, that was completely my mistake, but my insurers were fine about the reason for not calling. I explained that it is a fraudulent claim, and that the driver (although not the owner of the car) admitted the significant damage was already there. There is not a mark on my car whatsoever, i have an independent assessor coming out to look at the car tomorrow. 
But the insurers dropped the bomb that i would be liable should they find me at fault. They have said an engineer will assess both cars and the likelihood of me causing that damage. I 100% believe i did not. I don't even believe it was the person who was present who made the claim, i think it has been the owner who has thought of a cheap way to have damage that he has most likely caused. (The damage looks like it has hit something head on). I was coming from behind, so my rear passenger side brushed past the front drivers side, there can't possibly be any way i have caused damage to the front of the car.
Anyway, am i right to request that an independent engineer assesses both cars? Surely if his insurers send an assessor they will claim my car has caused the damage?
Would i be able to fight the fraudulent claim myself? Am i able to request what it is they are claiming for? Can i ask them to produce proof and receipts of costing, should they holding me liable? Has anyone heard of any positive stories with XS direct? All i am hearing it horror stories. It states they can charge up to £3000 and i simply do not have that money to pay. I am making myself ill with worry, especially because I know i didn't cause any substantial damage.
Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

forgotmyname

You can ask for anything you like. Your unlikely to get a lot of the things you requested. 
You want proof of their costs? Add another £75 onto the bill for someone to arrange that?

If you think they mislead you then make a complaint.  Usually fairly clear on the paperwork what the excess is though?

Lots of people crashing into Taxi's lately so expect a long delay in correspondence.

csgohan4

One call has another thread on here for high excesses sadly. In hindsight don't rely on the summary of cover but read the T+Cs from cover to cover. There's a reason why they are among the cheapest