Car Insurance Claim with Foreign Driver

lisyloo

I commend you for making a brave decision however I just wanted to point out that you cannot insist how your insurance company behave.
You can of course negotiate, request and complain but at the end of the day if their experts don't agree with you then you are on your own and as missile correctly says it's all more complicated because it's a foreign driver because understanding the law of pursuing a foreign driver in a foreign country is more difficult.

You cannot insist that your insurers do anything.
Of course you deserve the service that you have paid for but they are the experts in this and they will not pursue an expensive high risk case just because you want them too.
Of course this doesn't mean you should be fobbed off at the first hurdle by and industry that generally wants least hassle/cost.

In your posistion I would probably pursue it a little to make sure I wasn't being fibbed off, but if they insist it's high risk then I don't think I would put my own money on the line to pursue it.
Legal fees will almost certainly be higher to pursue an international case.

lisyloo

what is there to lose from pushing my insurers to pursue this?

There is very little to lose by pursuing your insurer and even taking it outside the company to the ombudsman is free.
If you want to pursue it after that then there are legal fees.
Normally I would suggest £5K (and if you lose and have to pay their costs then double it), but it's probably higher for an international case.

The insurers are just trying to save themselves money (and ultimately policy holders like you and me).
If you force them to pursue it then it will probably still go 50/50 due to lack of witness but the costs will rise, which ultimately will be passed onto us.
So in effect all you do by pushing them is put up insurance costs for everyone.
Of course on an individual basis I understand that everyone wants fairness so that isn't a judgement, it's just a statement of fact that it pushes up costs.

slipp_digby

lisyloo wrote: »

In your posistion I would probably pursue it a little to make sure I wasn't being fibbed off, but if they insist it's high risk then I don't think I would put my own money on the line to pursue it.
Legal fees will almost certainly be higher to pursue an international case.

I agree.

I don't expect my insurers to take expensive risks on my behalf for no reason but there is clearly a balance to achieve in also protecting my interests as their client. I have lost a lot because of another drivers negligence when I was not at fault in any way.

The decision to accept a 50/50 has already been taken IMHO without considering the other parties account - which hasn't yet even been translated into english - and consists of only three lines of text and an incomplete and incorrectly filled in form. This should have been completed at the time of the incident by the driver and signed by both parties. There are numerous inaccuracies which can be quite easliy checked/clarified.

Once I am happy that CIS have done what is reasonable to pursue this I am happy to let the matter go, but I am far from convinced they have done anything yet.

Mr_Bear_2

well if the case is worth below £5K then they will be no costs to pay unless the Judge believes that the OP has acted unreasonably in this case I dont believe so

If the case is heard in UK which it will be , there are no additional costs just because the Tp is a foreign motorist

Good luck in any event!!

V_tricky

slipp_digby_ wrote:

snip
I don't expect my insurers to take expensive risks on my behalf for no reason

slipp_digby wrote:

Snip
The decision to accept a 50/50 has already been taken IMHO without considering the other parties account anything yet.

Essentially, it sounds like there has been a busy/lazy claim handler who has failed to investigate this matter fully. I'm sure that if they had done so, and written to you detailing the evidence that the other side had put forward, and advised you fully of their reasons for choosing to settle the claim, then you would have been happy with that.

As it is, you might be as well to bring them up on any points that they have overlooked, and ask them to refer it to their solicitors for a letter of advice. These are normally done by the insurers panel solicitors for either no fee, or a nominal one, and I'd be surprised if they refused, particularly if you have written to them detailing points that they have missed.

In a solicitors letter of advice I would expect them to go through the circumstances of the accident, and detail each bit of evidence available advising how relevant it is and in whos favour, before providing a summary at the end of how they would recommend proceeding.

Sometimes it helps to have someone else review a file - fresh eyes and all that.

And yes, of course your insurers have full conduct of the case including settlement, but that doesn't mean that they wont listen to reason, or be persuaded to run a case to court for the sake of customer service (even if they think that it will fail). Even if you get your own solicitors advice letter which says they beleive that you have reasonable prospects of succeeding over and above the 50/50 that's on the table, they will probably still agree to defend it.

Hope it goes well for you - it must be soooo frustrating!

:rudolf: :xmassmile :snow_laug

slipp_digby

V_tricky wrote: »

Essentially, it sounds like there has been a busy/lazy claim handler who has failed to investigate this matter fully. I'm sure that if they had done so, and written to you detailing the evidence that the other side had put forward, and advised you fully of their reasons for choosing to settle the claim, then you would have been happy with that.

it feels like I am the only one who is looking at this in a slightly critical/analytical manner and asking the most basic of questions :mad: . they have asked for my comments on the other drivers account which I am giving.

in fairness it has taken my insurer several months to get any form of response from the third party via the handling agents/insurers of what they say happened and who was liable.

but its not even been translated! three lines! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: how can they form a decision without knowing what it says?

Mr_Bear_2

the claim handlers may have a translation of it, but they have no duty to tell you it!!

missile

Translate it yourself, or post it up here and I will do it for you.

lisyloo

If the case is heard in UK which it will be , there are no additional costs just because the Tp is a foreign motorist

translation? postal rates to foreign countries?

slipp_digby

missile wrote: »

Translate it yourself, or post it up here and I will do it for you.

Forgive any errors in here, I have tried to type it as it appears but it has been faxed and is a little difficult to read so there may be a few errors by me

mentre il veicolob ci sorpassava nel rientrare in fila colpiva il nostro mezzo nella parte ant asua volta il veicolob si girava il nostro rezzo riport ava danni anche nella parte ant

sorry for the inevitable errors, i tried it in babel fish but it just said "i overtake went into his lane, damn my grandmother" which i feel sure is not right. you may be able to pick out what the words should be.

thanks for your help.