Accidentally called No-Fault Claims Management Co instead of Insurer

akira181

End of July, someone entered a roundabout and changed lanes without looking and crashed into me.  The other party accepted fault, we exchanged details and went on our way.  I googled the Churchill claims number, called it and gave them my details.  They took the car for assessment and gave me a courtesy car.  A week later, they called saying it's a write off, the other party admitted fault and they're waiting on their insurer to pay out.

Today I called Churchill to get an update on my claim and they informed me that there was no record of a claim logged and said that I had called an independent claims management company as the number called was not a Churchill number.  Churchill logged my details and instructed me to tell the independent company to stop with the claim and find the location of my car so they could manage the claim.

I called the number I called at the time and it turns out its a company called "The Claims Line" who work with a recovery agent called Stocalfe.  They told me that my claim is at the last hurdle, waiting for the at fault party's insurance to pay out.  As I am happy with the amount they offered for the write off, I don't know what I should do.

Churchill are adamant I should go through them for obvious reasons, this independent company say they'll get the best deal, there's no additional charges paid by me, it's at the last step and if I cancel now and go to churchill, they'll incur costs with recovery, storage, etc. 

Since I'm happy with the offer from the independent company, should I just stick with them or follow Churchill's recommendation and tell them to stop?

Mercdriver

The issue that may arise is when the 3rd party insurer gets the bill for the hire car.  Then it can get very messy.

Nobbie1967

Yes, stick with the claims company as if you terminate it now you are likely to be charged for collection, storage etc. Have a read of the terms and conditions you have agreed to. It will detail it in there. Churchill May haggle with the claims company over the hire car charges, but you are usually only obliged to assist the claims management company to recover this. At worst you would have to attend a court to give evidence, but that is extremely unlikely.

Mercdriver

Nobbie1967 said:

Yes, stick with the claims company as if you terminate it now you are likely to be charged for collection, storage etc. Have a read of the terms and conditions you have agreed to. It will detail it in there. Churchill May haggle with the claims company over the hire car charges, but you are usually only obliged to assist the claims management company to recover this. At worst you would have to attend a court to give evidence, but that is extremely unlikely.

There have been instances told on this forum where the claims management company have invoiced over and above what the third party is willing to pay, and this can put the claimant at risk of paying excess fees.  I'd be inclined to stick with the claims company, but would be looking for reassurance in writing that they will not be liable for any hire car charges.

akira181

So far this independent claims company have passed the engineers report onto the 3rd party insurer (1st Central Insurance) on the 3rd of August and are waiting for them to pay.  Apparently 1st Central are not taking calls from 3rd parties at the moment and they're chasing up via email so it's taking longer than usual.  I still have the courtesy car but my company are in the process of buying a replacement for me, hopefully in the next few days.

I'm happy to stay with the independent company since it's gone this far even though I feel tricked into using them.  Looking at my Google history, I used Google Assistant and said "Churchill Car Insurance" as I was driving at the time and I must have called the first number that came up. Quite irritating as don't usually fall for underhanded tricks like that, maybe due to shock from the accident or momentary carelessness.

Their T&Cs are confusing as hell, I can't make sense of them.  A lot of it says I'm liable for the costs but I've just spoken to the independent claims company (I made a note of the date, time and person I spoke to) and they've reassured me that there are no costs that will be payed by myself, they'll seek to claim everything from the 3rd party insurer.  The T&Cs say its me that's liable but that's something to do with me instructing them that they can pursue these costs on my behalf.  Doesn't sound to reassuring to be honest.

Churchill logged the accident and recorded it as a 50-50 split until they can investigate the claim.  Should I inform Churchill that I will continue with the independent management company and will not claim through them so they can close the case file?  I don't want this affecting my NCB since the 3rd party admitted fault and I no longer have the car for Churchill to carry out their own assessment.

Thanks

sweetsand

I don't understand. Churchill is your insurance company but you bypassed them, how does that work?? Sorry if I've totally misundertood the post

AdrianC

sweetsand said:

I don't understand. Churchill is your insurance company but you bypassed them, how does that work?? Sorry if I've totally misundertood the post

They googled, and probably clicked on a "sponsored" (ad) search result, rather than actually looking at their paperwork.

It's the same way people end up paying third party companies to renew their driving licence or whatever.

MinuteNoodles

sweetsand said:

I don't understand. Churchill is your insurance company but you bypassed them, how does that work?? Sorry if I've totally misundertood the post

You don't need to go through your insurance company to claim against a third party's insurers, you can claim directly or via a claims company or a solicitor. When you have an accident and someone makes a claim they're not putting in a claim against your insurance company, they're putting in a claim against you which is why if your insurance company drags their heels if you were at fault you can find the third party's insurers/claim company taking you to court and suing you. Your insurance policy is an insurance to cover someone making a claim against you.

Most people do use their insurance company because they have fully comprehensive insurance so their insurance company fixes the car as a claim against their policy and recoups the costs from the third party. However if you've only got third party insurance all your insurance company does is act as a middleman and if you've no legal cover they may do very little at all other than literally hand on anything you send them.

sweetsand

MinuteNoodles said:

sweetsand said:

I don't understand. Churchill is your insurance company but you bypassed them, how does that work?? Sorry if I've totally misundertood the post

You don't need to go through your insurance company to claim against a third party's insurers, you can claim directly or via a claims company or a solicitor. When you have an accident and someone makes a claim they're not putting in a claim against your insurance company, they're putting in a claim against you which is why if your insurance company drags their heels if you were at fault you can find the third party's insurers/claim company taking you to court and suing you. Your insurance policy is an insurance to cover someone making a claim against you.

Most people do use their insurance company because they have fully comprehensive insurance so their insurance company fixes the car as a claim against their policy and recoups the costs from the third party. However if you've only got third party insurance all your insurance company does is act as a middleman and if you've no legal cover they may do very little at all other than literally hand on anything you send them.

Many thanks for the detailed repsonse, appreciated. I think it's becuse we've only have fully comp nd went though our insurance every time the car was hit, hit and run, etc. Thanks
x

dacouch

You will have a lot longer to wait to get the money from First Central

Mercdriver

akira181 said:

Their T&Cs are confusing as hell, I can't make sense of them.  A lot of it says I'm liable for the costs but I've just spoken to the independent claims company (I made a note of the date, time and person I spoke to) and they've reassured me that there are no costs that will be payed by myself, they'll seek to claim everything from the 3rd party insurer.  The T&Cs say its me that's liable but that's something to do with me instructing them that they can pursue these costs on my behalf.  Doesn't sound to reassuring to be honest.

Churchill logged the accident and recorded it as a 50-50 split until they can investigate the claim.  Should I inform Churchill that I will continue with the independent management company and will not claim through them so they can close the case file?  I don't want this affecting my NCB since the 3rd party admitted fault and I no longer have the car for Churchill to carry out their own assessment.

Thanks

The Bolded part rings alarm bells for me.  They will seek to claim everything from the third party, but should the third party baulk at the cost of the car hire and say that they will only pay a proportion, you will be on the hook for the remainder.  

It's up to you, but there is no way on earth I would make a phone call like this while driving, even using a hands free.  Two reasons for that: safety, to be involved enough in the search and call you have to divert considerable attention away from driving, and second reason to be totally involved in the driving you miss - as you have - the finer details that can cause all sorts of issues.  Personally I would have pulled in or called at a better time.