Car insurance claim - other party's insurance company wanting to deal direct

SoozyJ22

I had a car accident earlier today where someone drove into the back of me while I was stationary. I reported it online to my insurer (Aviva) and within an hour and a half I'd received phone calls to arrange car hire and car repair as well as a call from their legal company asking if I wanted to claim for anything (which I don't at this point). 

I thought that was all sorted, but I've just had a phone call from the other lady's insurance company (Esure) saying they were not disputing the claim but wanted me to get them to arrange the hire car and repair for me. They're saying I should do this because:
- It will go down as 'notification only' on my insurance records rather than a 'no fault' claim. They tell me this has less risk of insurance premiums increasing in the future
- They will only reimburse up to £18.22 per day for car hire that's billed to them by another insurance company whereas if they arrange the car hire for me it will be covered in full.
- They'll send me a cheque for £100

I'm honestly not too fussed about the cheque - it would be nice but at this point I just want an easy life. So my questions are:
1) Is it true what they're saying about the future premiums depending on which insurance company takes care of it all?
2) The car hire bit concerns me as £18.22 sounds very low. What would happen to anything in excess of that? Would I have to pay anything or would that fall to Aviva given they're the ones who organised it in the first place? When I first went through my information with Enterprise once they'd looked up who the lady's insurer was they said something about there being an 'arrangement' with them but I wasn't really clear what that meant. 
3) Is there anything else I should be aware of when weighing up whether or not to take Esure up on the offer? 

Hire car and pickup of my car are currently arranged for Monday. I'm too tired to call my insurance company right now and I'm out all day tomorrow but will definitely be contacting them on Friday to hear their views. It's obviously cheaper for Esure if I agree but I don't want that to be the cause of any additional hassle to me.

All thoughts and experiences gratefully received. Thank you. 

SoozyJ22

They sent these messages to confirm what was said on the call 

Sandtree

1) Not really, Aviva may see it slightly different but most insurers will see it as a non-fault claim as it was dealt with via insurance. The difference between the two isn't vast anyway

2) This bit depends a little on what exactly is happening at the Aviva end... I should also point out its been a few years since I did claims but I'm not aware of major changes since then.... if the hire car is a policy benefit then you have nothing to worry about. If Aviva has sold your details to a credit hire company then you are probably still ok because you agreed with them prior to eSure's offer, it gets greyer the less far forward you are in the credit hire process. Where you would have a potential issue is where eSure offer you hire and then after that you go and approach a credit hire company.

3) The only negative of using the third party insurer rather than your own is that you have no right to take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman... this is most likely to occur around a total loss valuation but can happen around repairs too. So if you think the car may be borderline write off then its more of a consideration.... that said FOS timescales are massive at the moment so it may not be worth it anyway.

SoozyJ22

Thanks very much Sandtree.

Regarding the hire car, it looks like a policy benefit to me as under 'What is insured' it states: 'Courtesy Car - if your claim is accepted and your car is repairable (and it's being repaired by our approved repairer network) we'll provide you with a courtesy car'. 

Sandtree

SoozyJ22 said:

Regarding the hire car, it looks like a policy benefit to me as under 'What is insured' it states: 'Courtesy Car - if your claim is accepted and your car is repairable (and it's being repaired by our approved repairer network) we'll provide you with a courtesy car'. 

You would be wise to check with Aviva what it is... a courtesy car traditionally is a car the garage owns and gives to its customers... the hourly rate Aviva is charged pays for it indirectly hence why the car must be repairable. Some insurers do offer hire cars as a policy benefit but they normally call it something else to make sure you know its not just the garage's spare car... Churchill used to call it Courtesy Car Plus or such which was a paid optional extra that went from garage spare car if they have one and if repairable to a hire car irrespective of if the car is repairable. 

SoozyJ22

Thank you for clarifying. I’ll
make sure I ask Aviva for more information when I call. 

tasticz

You have a legal duty to mitigate losses but I don't think they can quote what they will pay as you also have the right to not be inconvenienced by the accident which was not your fault. Lol at 18.22 per day for hire car - sounds like a scare tactics??

If you decide to go with esure/sheilas wheel for repairs then tell them you want to use your manufacturer garage to repair the car (not the company they offer but the manufacturer i.e. BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, etc.) even if you take their hire car option. You can choose where your car is repaired - don't let them tell you otherwise.

If you don't want any headache, just go with your insurance company after confirming the 18.22 hire car quote above. This way at least you know the garage repairing your car is not contracted by the third party insurer and have your best interest rather than getting the car in and out as soon as possible and cutting corners.

TELLIT01

I would simply go with my own insurer.  Less potential hassle than dealing with a 3rd party.  Confirm with them that the entire cost of the car hire is covered on your policy and the 3rd party insurer can't come chasing you for any payment.

eddddy

I'm sure experience varies with different insurance companies... but here's mine:

I've had a total of 4 separate accidents where the other parties admitted liability. On 3 occasions I dealt with the other party's insurer, on one occasion I dealt with my own.

In all 3 cases, the other parties insurers were falling over themselves to give good service. I chose main dealers for my repairs, they gave me better quality hire cars (from large hire companies) than my own car. On two occasions there was doubt about whether some 'hidden damage' found later was caused by the crashes, or pre-existing - but they paid for it anyway. 

I think the insurers were behaving like that because they didn't want me to go to an accident management company who would want to charge them outrageous costs.

Conversely, when my own insurers handled the repairs, they persuaded me to use one of their 'recommended repairers' (who did a shoddy job), and to accept a 'courtesy car' from the repairer - even though the other party had admitted liability.  And I had to pay the excess, and then wait for the other insurer to pay my insurer before getting it back.

SoozyJ22

Thanks very much for your comments everyone. I've just phoned Aviva who have clarified that I would never have to pay anything beyond the £18.22 quoted. If I've understood correctly, it's something to do with Enterprise only agreeing to hire out the car on the basis that they're responsible for costs and will reclaim them from the third party insurer via legal routes if required. 

I was also warned that Esure might increase their cash offer to try and persuade me but a I said before I just want the least hassle so I'll be sticking with the Aviva and the arrangements that have already been made. 

Sandtree

So that would be credit hire then