Non fault car accident and injury

ps124

Renewal is Feb 2021...so not that far away to be honest.

Jlo31

In 2017 my wife's car was driven in to in a supermarket. We dealt with the third party direct which was Esure. We used their recommended repairer which was close to us. The only issue we had is Esure at first said to use the garage courtesy cars and they would pay the fee for us to add the car to our insurance.  The issue was our insurer Covea would not do this so Esure then arranged for us to have a hire car via enterprise and they matched the hire car excess fee with our own insurance excess. Everything else was seamless after that.

Hope your repair goes well!

ps124

Thanks everyone... for the advice. Got the car back from the repairers yesterday and everything looks good. Happy to be able to use my garage of choice and the TPI really were great to deal with so I really have to say it was a good result so far. I'#ve got the car back now, and not expecting any surprises from them. Should I be contacting the TPI to ensure everything is closed down as it should be?

Sandtree

ps124 said:

 Should I be contacting the TPI to ensure everything is closed down as it should be?

You don't need to but if you fancy a chat or just want to be polite and express your thanks its always nice to get commendations rather than just complaints.

Luke226

ps124 said:

Hi All, wondering if someone can advise here as this is the first time I've been in this situation.

I've was traveling home with my family over the weekend and was hit from behind by another driver. Thankfully no one was seriously injured but my 9 year old daughter suffered a lower back injury during the incident. When I finally got home, we called 111 to get advice as she was struggling to stand and was complaining of pain. Today, 2 days later, the upper part of my left shoulder and left side of my neck is sore and feeling strained. Not sure if this is related to the collision.

The other driver was very apologetic, and it seemed to be a very genuine mistake. He has admitted fault and his insurance company have been in touch with me about fixing my car directly to keep their costs down and their legal team have also tried to contact me about my daughters injuries.

So my questions are:

1. My own insurance company are claiming I should go with them for the repairs as they can ensure I get the best repair on my car, guarantee the genuine manufacturer parts are used and also the benefit of dealing with them direct as opposed to the 3rd party. They have said its a non fault claim so they have put me in touch with a sub company who only deal with non-fault claims so my own insurance isn't effected. Has anybody gone through this and can they advise on what the best course of action is here? 

2. I don't have legal cover but should I go with my own insurance company who have suggested they can help with a personal injury claim? Or should I look elsewhere at those no win no fee type solicitors? Any experiences/advice would be useful. Should I be doing something to ensure my daughter's injuries are recorded? We've already had a telephone consultation with my GP. But they and 111 advised to take Calpol, rest, hot/cold press etc

Thanks.

Being involved in an accident is always daunting even if you have been in one before. I can see some other comments regarding credit hire agreements and they are right, that if they are unsuccessful in recovering the money the claim to have spent from the other insurer they can come after you for that money or a contribution towards it. That being said, you do often get a better service from these companies as it is in their interest to settle your claim and make money so long as the credit hire company is reputable I would suggest going down this route. You can find a list of Association of British Insurers credit hire companies here 
( www.gtacredithire.com/chc-insurer-details ) where there is an agreed rate of charges - in fact, insurers often direct their customers to these companies when the accident was not their fault.

With respect to the comment regarding the insurer offering to deal with your claim, again, so long as the costs are reasonable the insurer cannot dispute the payment pack when it is sent over to the which again is why i would always recommend you go with an ABI approved hire company. 

The injury is a different matter. like Sandtree said. Most companies will take a percentage of your compensation despite being paid by the insurer for their work - that's not really fair at all. I'm not sure which companies offer it in England and Wales but if you Google 100& compensation injury lawyer you should find some firms that don't take a deduction from you. I wouldn't advise going with your insurer's company they are often working to a set fee form the insurer so they tend to take much much longer to settle things. I would also be cautious of claiming directly with the insurer as some will offer you far less compensation than your inures warrant. 

I hope this helps

Luke

jimbo6977

ps124 said:

Thanks everyone... for the advice. Got the car back from the repairers yesterday and everything looks good. Happy to be able to use my garage of choice and the TPI really were great to deal with so I really have to say it was a good result so far. I'#ve got the car back now, and not expecting any surprises from them. Should I be contacting the TPI to ensure everything is closed down as it should be?

One of the other advantages to the TPI in dealing with you themselves is that they hopefully get to show how very efficient and pleasant they are to deal with, so you might recommend them.or choose to insure with them in future. 

nottsphil

Petriix said:

It's all negotiable. In my accident the third party insurer initially wanted their preferred company to take my car away for repairs and provide a courtesy car etc.. After a bit of negotiation they were happy to provide me with a cash settlement leaving me free to sort out the repair myself. Photos and a few ads on Autotrader were enough evidence to call it a cosmetic write-off and set the bar for their offer. 

Is this a fool-proof way to avoid the vehicle's valuation being blighted for life by a category letter? 

Sandtree

nottsphil said:

Petriix said:

It's all negotiable. In my accident the third party insurer initially wanted their preferred company to take my car away for repairs and provide a courtesy car etc.. After a bit of negotiation they were happy to provide me with a cash settlement leaving me free to sort out the repair myself. Photos and a few ads on Autotrader were enough evidence to call it a cosmetic write-off and set the bar for their offer. 

Is this a fool-proof way to avoid the vehicle's valuation being blighted for life by a category letter? 

They said it was a write off so no, any write off will get a category when its loaded into the system.

If you do want to avoid a write off get the lowest quote you can from a garage and submit it saying you want cash in lieu of repairs... if its above the write off value then it'll still be a write off rather than a CiL settlement as per Petriix's experience but you there are cheaper garages than what insurers use and so increases your odds of staying below plus some will ignore the VAT element which further increases the chances of CiL being below write off.