Insurance Wall hit by courier driver

Sunshineboy58

At about 4.30 pm Monday 20th April. A DHL parcel couriers van drove over the pavement and parked over the pavement and onto our front drive. He then got out and delivered a parcel to a house over the road. When he returned he drove off at speed and knocked the end of our garden wall down, causing damage to the wall approximately 3 ft in length and 3 brick courses high.

On hearing the bang, I ran out of my house and he had stopped down the road to to check on the damage to his van. I asked for his insurance details and name and address, but all he would say was DHL...DHL, and showed me his ID. I took photographs of his ID, van, and himself.

I have spoken to someone at DHL and was advised each driver has their own vehicle insurance and any claim would be against his policy.

I checked this was covered by my Nationwide home insurance ( Royal Sun Allowance) and contacted them to begin a claim. I was told assessor would visit to price up the claim, however I would have to pay the £200 excess.

I queried this as the fault lie entirely with the driver and any costs should come out of his vehicle insurance.

Any thoughts / advice on this would be appreciated..thanks.

csgohan4

If their at fault, you claim the excess of the third party

dacouch

You can get his Insurance details from www.askmid.com along with their contact details 

(It's free service if you use your mobile to access the site)
It's likely he has not reported the accident to them so the are likely to want to contact him to get his side of the story before they agree liability

Sunshineboy58

Thanks both, I have just used the askmid.com website, and yes, it did show the insurance company. That's where the good news ends. The company in question is Markerstudy Insurance Services ltd of Sevenoaks...have a laugh ( or not ) and read their reviews on google and trustpilot. I shall brace myself for the long haul. I will update when finalised...don't hold your breath !! 

Penelopa.Pitstop

I suspect that excess and hike in insurance price in next few years will be more expensive than paying for damage yourself and chasing the driver's insurance.

eddddy

DHL have their own vans and drivers, but they also use self employed contractors who own their own vans, insurance etc. (The contractors may have DHL livery on their vans.)

It sounds like your driver may have been a self employed contractor, so the van will be insured by him (or his own contract company).



Perhaps the first step is to get a quote for rebuilding the wall, and then contact the driver and ask him if he just wants to pay for the damage himself, or make a claim through his insurers.

If it's the cost of rebuilding a bit of brickwork, I doubt he'll want to make a claim - his excess may be more than that, and his premium will increase.

(But obviously, he might also be 'difficult' - in the hope that you will give up and go away.)