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BWZN93

Deleted - irrelevant

Car_54

If the car is repairable, it should be repaired essentially to as-new condition. There's no reason for anyone in future to know it's been in an accident.

DullGreyGuy

Legal expenses cover only deals with your uninsured losses (eg your expenses, excess or any injury)... with or without LE cover your insurers will deal with liability (assuming you claim off your own insurance) and recover of their outlay/defending any claim made against you.

In my days as a claims handler, if your vehicle is a total loss you are only entitled to a hire car etc for 7 days after payment has been made to you for the total loss. We used to do 10 days after we raised the request for payment because it was always a touch grey exactly what date the payment was made on. 

I've not heard of any changes to this due to the recent supply chain issues but wouldnt want to be quoted that there arent any grounds for a longer period.

How many vehicles were involved? Is it clear who was at fault? Do you have their details? 

Up to 4 car accidents dont tend to be too terribly complex to deal with but when you get 20 car pileups on a motorway which are really a series of collisions they are a major headache to unpick. 

BWZN93

There were 4 cars involved, unfortunately 2 of the cars were far more seriously affected and there is a fatality. It’s fairly cut and dry as to fault (not mine), a severe incident requiring accident investigation and I can’t see how criminals charges won’t be brought against the ‘at fault’ driver. It’s all just horrible quite frankly. 

As a result, my car won’t even go to the garage for assessment of damage for a little while longer so I cant access a courtesy car yet either. Not a problem today. I feel awful even considering this stuff when someone lost their life. I just need to understand what I can do to minimise impact to work, my finances, my onward life. 

With legal cover for uninsured losses, i guess this is where any need for a hire car comes in - if it’s a total loss, replacing a brand new car like for like isn’t a quick evolution. I feel really angry that someone has done something so stupid like this, I feel horrendous for the poor family that’s lost someone, I keep going round and round in my head and it’s affecting my work and my study. It feels like an insurmountable task. 

TadleyBaggie

It might take even longer than you think before the insurance company can get access. I was involved in an accident around 12 years ago that involved a fatality. The police investigation took a couple of months but when that was concluded the car was then impounded by the coroner until an inquest could be called. This took another 6 months. So it was around 8 months after the accident before the car was inspected.

As it happens the vehicle was written off, which I had suspected it would. I'd bought another vehicle a couple of weeks after the accident, as I only had a courtesy car for 2 weeks.

BWZN93

Thanks for the heads up. This is useful to know. I have the accident investigators visiting next week so hopefully I’ll get more information then. I think I need to have a chat with the insurers about how to proceed. 

rigolith

Car_54 said:

If the car is repairable, it should be repaired essentially to as-new condition. There's no reason for anyone in future to know it's been in an accident.

Should, but is the OP qualified to check that it was?

Dealers do have to declare it they know the car was in an accident, so it's possible they won't be interested in part exchanging it (or value it lower) at the end of the PCP. Depends if they find out or not.

rigolith

DullGreyGuy said:

Legal expenses cover only deals with your uninsured losses (eg your expenses, excess or any injury)... with or without LE cover your insurers will deal with liability (assuming you claim off your own insurance) and recover of their outlay/defending any claim made against you.

In my days as a claims handler, if your vehicle is a total loss you are only entitled to a hire car etc for 7 days after payment has been made to you for the total loss. We used to do 10 days after we raised the request for payment because it was always a touch grey exactly what date the payment was made on. 

I've not heard of any changes to this due to the recent supply chain issues but wouldnt want to be quoted that there arent any grounds for a longer period.

How many vehicles were involved? Is it clear who was at fault? Do you have their details? 

Up to 4 car accidents dont tend to be too terribly complex to deal with but when you get 20 car pileups on a motorway which are really a series of collisions they are a major headache to unpick. 

If the OP needs a car and one is not provided by their insurance, the insurance of the at fault party should cover it. The OP should be able to privately hire one and add the cost to their claim.

I think the bigger issue is going to be getting another vehicle. OP, do you have gap insurance? The pay out will be the value of a used car, not a brand new one.

Even if the money is in place to pay off the finance, it's going to take months to get another one. There isn't much that can be done about that.

DullGreyGuy

rigolith said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Legal expenses cover only deals with your uninsured losses (eg your expenses, excess or any injury)... with or without LE cover your insurers will deal with liability (assuming you claim off your own insurance) and recover of their outlay/defending any claim made against you.

In my days as a claims handler, if your vehicle is a total loss you are only entitled to a hire car etc for 7 days after payment has been made to you for the total loss. We used to do 10 days after we raised the request for payment because it was always a touch grey exactly what date the payment was made on. 

I've not heard of any changes to this due to the recent supply chain issues but wouldnt want to be quoted that there arent any grounds for a longer period.

How many vehicles were involved? Is it clear who was at fault? Do you have their details? 

Up to 4 car accidents dont tend to be too terribly complex to deal with but when you get 20 car pileups on a motorway which are really a series of collisions they are a major headache to unpick. 

If the OP needs a car and one is not provided by their insurance, the insurance of the at fault party should cover it. The OP should be able to privately hire one and add the cost to their claim.

I think the bigger issue is going to be getting another vehicle. OP, do you have gap insurance? The pay out will be the value of a used car, not a brand new one.

Even if the money is in place to pay off the finance, it's going to take months to get another one. There isn't much that can be done about that.

Given there is a fatality and therefore presumably some other injury claims too the "at fault" insurer is unlikely to be immediately confirming they are accepting liability and will be wanting to gather all the information to confirm indemnity and liability. You dont say you're going to be covering a £100,000 claim without doing checks.

The OP could reach out to them and see... they may be willing to provide hire on a without prejudice basis or alternatively the OP could either privately hire (assuming they can afford) or credit hire a vehicle.