Non fault collision - I have to pay out of my excess

Viv74

Hi Everyone,

I was just in a minor collision where I was driving on a main road and a car comes out of a supermarket car park and runs into me.  Fortunately we were not travelling at any great speed but there is damage to the bumper of my car.  I exchange some details with the other driver and come home and ring my insurer.  They say that this seems from my details that this is not my fault and they will set a claim in motion.  They then say that because I don't have the other driver's full name and address that I will have to pay for repairs as my excess states. (My excess is £500)  I tried to clarify this with the man on the phone but he just kept repeating the same thing over and over.  This makes no sense to me - why do I need to pay for repairs to my car if the other driver was at fault.  Any insights or assistance on how to work this out will be gratefully received.  

With many thanks in advance

Viv
PS.  I texted the other driver and asked for the details and have not heard anything back, I am not the most optimistic that I will get a response as he was quite surly when we had our encounter.

[Deleted User]

You'll pay the excess regardless of fault, but if the other driver is at fault, you can claim that back from them.

However, if the other driver cannot be identified, it will end up as a fault accident.

Viv74

Thank you for clarifying.  As this is my first claim - I operated under the assumption that the excess was just for my fault accidents.  I have his car licence plate and my insurer has confirmed that they are insured etc so they have identified him in that sense. Fingers crossed and at least I have earned 1 more point in Adulting today. 

Sandtree

An incident, like this crash, is likely to involve both insured and uninsured losses. Comprehensive insurance generally only covers damage to your car net of an excess (which is an uninsured loss) and a token £100 towards things in your car. They will cover your insured losses and then attempt to recover their money from the at fault party/their insurers. Your uninsured losses will be your excess, if you were injured, if it was a more serious accident and say a laptop or tablet that was in the car got damaged etc. These are also recoverable from the third party/their insurers; if you have Legal Expenses your insurers will appoint someone to assist you, however if its just your excess then some insurers will do this automatically even if you don;t have LE cover.

In clear cut circumstances where there is very little risk of a claim going wrong then some insurers will waive your excess as a gesture of goodwill but this is an extra contractual offer and not something they are obliged to do.

If you don't have LE and your insurers won't recover your excess for you (or you want it quicker) then its simple to email/write to the Third Party Insurer once liability had been admitted, sending a copy (not the original) of the invoice showing you've paid your excess and they will reimburse it to you.

Mickey666

Does the OP have any witnesses to the accident?  What the other driver said and agreed at the time is pretty much irrelevant if he later denies everything - it's one word against another.

It's not always necessary to pay out anything for a no-fault accident.  Someone caused some minor damage to my vehicle, admitted full liability and my car was repaired without me having to pay a penny.  Our two insurance companies must have sorted it out between them somehow.

Viv74

Thanks to everyone who has responded, this is all very helpful.  There were cars all around but everyone just drove around us and drove off.  There are cameras covering the car park, which will probably have caught it and I told my insurer about that.  I don't know how this will go.  He could just deny everything I suppose. What happens in those circumstances?

MalMonroe

Surely the other driver's insurance company have his name and address?  What details did you exchange after the incident? 

It's ridiculous for your insurance company to say you'll have to pay when it wasn't your fault. Check your insurance documents very carefully, all the small print. But you need to get that other insurance company to acknowledge that they have their insured driver's details. 

Do not text the other driver any more. Give his details to your insurance company and insist that they deal with this matter properly. Let the insurance company deal with the other driver, that's their job now, not yours. Your insurance company may try to use your inexperience against you, don't let them think that you don't know what's going on, even if you don't. If you pay out, the insurance company will profit. You have been paying your premiums, now read the insurance policy and see exactly what it says. 

As Mickey666 says, if it's not your fault, you shouldn't have to pay a penny. 

Sandtree

Viv74 said:

 I don't know how this will go.  He could just deny everything I suppose. What happens in those circumstances?

90%+ of claims go smoothly, there will always be some who change their story etc but they are very much in the minority.

When it does happen both insurers will look for any evidence that supports one version of events over the other, CCTV, witnesses, damage etc. In the total absence of any other evidence and both stories being equally credible then it likely ends up a 50/50 split liability as its too much of a punt to go to court over. Where this is much more common is things like narrow lane collisions where both cars say they saw the other coming, both cars say they slammed on their brakes and both cars say the other failed to stop in time and hit their stationary vehicle.

MalMonroe said:

Surely the other driver's insurance company have his name and address?  What details did you exchange after the incident? 

It's ridiculous for your insurance company to say you'll have to pay when it wasn't your fault. 
<snip>
As Mickey666 says, if it's not your fault, you shouldn't have to pay a penny. 

The insurance company on the phone call will have done a MID check which will have brought back an insurance company and policy number and this will be used in comparison to what the OP gave them (if the exchanged details included insurance details). Once issue insurance companies can have is that sometimes people cannot read their own handwriting so "V"s become "U"s and so the MID result is invalid. Hence most insurers won't waive the excess unless there is also full name and address of the other driver in case the insurance details are wrong  and they have to get in contact directly with the driver (or if the driver was covered by the car insurance).

Its not ridiculous, its perfectly normal, if you don;t want to pay an excess then pay the extra premium to have a £0 excess. 

Assuming the claim is settled as non-fault then the net result is that the OP will not be out of pocket however that doesn't mean they don't have to payout something first and then get it back later. 

RBN20

The excess is something that you have to pay on every claim, regardless of fault status. However some insurers as previously mentioned will waive this at the first report stage as goodwill, if they feel like it is a clear cut non fault claim. This is not something that they are obliged to do though, and some insurers do not offer this, they will expect you to pay the excess and then they will look to recover their costs/your excess back from the other insurer, either themselves or through LE. 

For the companies that do waive excess at first report stage they will all have different terms to meet in order to do this. Some may be happy with the third party reg getting an insurance match, and a description of the car that hit you. Others may want full details such as name and addresses. 

It is a common misconception that in a non fault claim your excess should be waived straight away, But you sign up to pay the excess on any claims regardless of liability. It may well be that they get confirmation from the third party insurer that they are accepting liability before your repairs are completed, if so they may waive your excess then for you. Just be patient, your insurer are having to work with the third party insurers time scales as well so it could take a while. 

If the third party disputes liability then your insurer will advise you of their next steps, however if they have a description of your damage and the accident location it should be difficult for the third party insurer to argue liability, as you were established on the main road 

Jumblebumble

MalMonroe said:

It's ridiculous for your insurance company to say you'll have to pay when it wasn't your fault. Check your insurance documents very carefully, all the small print. But you need to get that other insurance company to acknowledge that they have their insured driver's details. 

 

Your argument falls over and it is not ridiculous because until liability is agreed there is no such thing as "not my fault"