Bin man damages car with bin, is that a public liability claim or a motor claim

forgotmyname

John_Zee said:

Hi Sandtree,

Thanks for you input.  Unfortunately I disagree with having to declare all three as the policy wording does not ask for incidences just motor claims.  They don't say have you made claims against motor insurance.....etc, they paragraph is worded have you made any motor claims in the last...etc

Also the insurance company has set he precedent by accepting the first two as PL claims.  Still none the wiser

Which insurer is that?   All quotes i have ever done have asked for Accidents or incidents even where no claim was made.

angrycrow

Surely if you know there is an awkward step on your property that causes the bin to tip you would either move the bin yourself before the bin men come or move the car. You have knowledge of the hazard and it has now happened a third time so arguably your share some liability here. 

If your motor insurer asks about incidents all three are declarable. 

If you can show the bin was being pulled by a person and not loaded on the lorry when it fell it is a public liability claim. 

rs65

John_Zee said:

I can only assume the reason for this is to discourage me from claiming.  My insurance policy clearly says to declare all motor claims maid in the last 5 years regardless of fault, so as a public liability claim I don't need to declare.  The councils insurance company have clocked onto this as I used this fact during the first two claims and so are now trying to force me down the motor claims route. 

I wouldn't think the council are that devious.  They generally wouldn't have the choice of which policy applies - it would be covered under one or other.

Its in the back of my mind that motor insurances includes liability  for the loading or unloading of vehicles.  No idea if a bin lorry in these circumstances would be classed as 'loading'.

Whether or not they treat it as a motor claim is irrelevant to you.

Ditzy_Mitzy

TELLIT01 said:

I would dispute that this is a 'motor related' claim.  The car just happens to be the item of property damaged by the bin.  The car was not in use at the time, nor was it on the road.

I'm not sure you can.  It seems that the claim has been made to the council, which has accepted liability but claimed off the bin lorry's vehicle insurance policy rather than its public liability insurance policy.  The OP is insisting that the council claims off its public liability insurance because he doesn't want this, or the previous two claims, coming to the intention of his cars insurer.  I don't think the OP has a leg to stand on here - if the lorry insurance covers what's happened as a risk attached to the lorry itself then it is the right policy to claim on, surely.

[Deleted User]

Don't worry about it being a claim as far as insurance goes. The council will have to pay for your increased premiums anyway. You could inform your neighbors too, as they will be able to claim for the post code being affected by three accidents caused by the council putting their premiums.

Ditzy_Mitzy

[DELETED USER] said:

Don't worry about it being a claim as far as insurance goes. The council will have to pay for your increased premiums anyway. You could inform your neighbors too, as they will be able to claim for the post code being affected by three accidents caused by the council putting their premiums.

Eh?  I'm not completely sure that's how it works.  What's happened here is an insurable event, in terms of the car insurance policy and the council have admitted liability.  It's just a normal claim, but the question is whether it can be treated as a non-motor related claim under the council's public liability insurance.  Probably not, really.  The third party has accepted liability, which is all it has to do, and has reported the matter to its insurer.  That's the end of the council's responsibility, it's now down to the various insurers to decide who claims from whom.
It's no different, really, to the non-fault party in an ordinary car accident trying to insist that the one at fault doesn't go through his or her own insurance, for the purpose of keeping it below the insurance companies' radar.