Street Furniture claim following accident

martyn0284

Hi all

I'm after some advice please. I had a car accident at the end of September 2022 and as I was unconscious the entire time (following a seizure) of the accident happening, I don't know what I hit.

Anyway, had a letter through the door today, some 18 months later, with a bill for renewing the damaged street furniture that comes to just over £1200.

My question is, firstly, are they allowed to try and claim some 18 months after the incident? Plus, are my insurance company likely to pay out with it been so long ago?

Thank you in advance

mebu60

Forward the letter to your motor insurers who dealt with your original claim. Just say it's for their attention and to deal with accordingly.

I would also write to the letter originator advising them you have forwarded and providing all relevant details of the insurers so they can contact them directly. 

Hope you're suitably recovered. 

martyn0284

mebu60 said:

Forward the letter to your motor insurers who dealt with your original claim. Just say it's for their attention and to deal with accordingly.

I would also write to the letter originator advising them you have forwarded and providing all relevant details of the insurers so they can contact them directly. 

Hope you're suitably recovered. 

Thank you for the reply. Yes I am fine now, I did break my spine during the incident but I am back to normal now so thank you for that. 

This will probably sound a dumb question, but what is the best way to send it to my insurance, like in the post with a letter explaining etc? Because obviously the claim was made in the October so I don't know if I have the details to hand from the claim. I am with the same insurers so there shouldn't be an issue cross referencing I assume.

Regards

Aretnap

The time limit on making claims like this is six years, so they are well within that timescale. It is not unusual for this sort of thing to happen months or even years after an accident, so it's a situation that your insurer will be used to dealing with. 

Best thing to do is phone your insurer's claims line, tell them that you've got this letter, see what they say and take it from there. You say you're with the same insurer anyway, but if you'd switched it would be the insurer at the time of the accident who you'd need to contact 

If the accident was the result of a seizure and you had no history of seizures then your insurer may argue that you were not liable for the damage (as you could not realistically have prevented it by being more careful) and therefore that they should not have to pay for the street furniture. But cross that bridge when you come to it - if your insurer doesn't have to pay then you won't have e to either.

martyn0284

Aretnap said:

The time limit on making claims like this is six years, so they are well within that timescale. It is not unusual for this sort of thing to happen months or even years after an accident, so it's a situation that your insurer will be used to dealing with. 

Best thing to do is phone your insurer's claims line, tell them that you've got this letter, see what they say and take it from there. You say you're with the same insurer anyway, but if you'd switched it would be the insurer at the time of the accident who you'd need to contact 

If the accident was the result of a seizure and you had no history of seizures then your insurer may argue that you were not liable for the damage (as you could not realistically have prevented it by being more careful) and therefore that they should not have to pay for the street furniture. But cross that bridge when you come to it - if your insurer doesn't have to pay then you won't have e to either.

Thank you, I will give them a call.

mebu60

This will probably sound a dumb question, but what is the best way to send it to my insurance, like in the post with a letter explaining etc? Because obviously the claim was made in the October so I don't know if I have the details to hand from the claim. I am with the same insurers so there shouldn't be an issue cross referencing I assume.

Regards

If you haven't got the claims reference or other details of your insurers then I would ring them to ask. I would write the claims reference number on the street furniture letter before sending. If you speak to them I would ask for an email address if you are able to scan the letter to send as an attachment. Otherwise, yes, post it in with a covering note. Take a copy, even if only on your phone.

Your insurance company will be fully used to dealing with these sorts of situations.

Pleased to note your physical recovery. 

lisyloo

Agree you may not be liable for this.
I would suggest to everyone keeping records of all your insurance policies for 6 years.
If you switch a lot you might not even remember who it was with.

FYI the statue of limitations for property and land is I believe 12 years, so for home insurance maybe longer.

Car_54

lisyloo said:

Agree you may not be liable for this.
I would suggest to everyone keeping records of all your insurance policies for 6 years.
If you switch a lot you might not even remember who it was with.

FYI the statue of limitations for property and land is I believe 12 years, so for home insurance maybe longer.

Why "may not" be liable? If he was insured, that's what it's for.

And it's six years to bring a claim for property damage, three years for personal injury.

DullGreyGuy

Car_54 said:

lisyloo said:

Agree you may not be liable for this.
I would suggest to everyone keeping records of all your insurance policies for 6 years.
If you switch a lot you might not even remember who it was with.

FYI the statue of limitations for property and land is I believe 12 years, so for home insurance maybe longer.

Why "may not" be liable? If he was insured, that's what it's for.

And it's six years to bring a claim for property damage, three years for personal injury.

Given they state they had a seizure they may not be liable but their insurers will deal with it... clearly the OP has only said what they remember (no memory) rather than what they found out later (eg hit another car, went through a crash barrier into a ditch or whatever it was)

lisyloo

Car_54 said:

lisyloo said:

Agree you may not be liable for this.
I would suggest to everyone keeping records of all your insurance policies for 6 years.
If you switch a lot you might not even remember who it was with.

FYI the statue of limitations for property and land is I believe 12 years, so for home insurance maybe longer.

Why "may not" be liable? If he was insured, that's what it's for.

And it's six years to bring a claim for property damage, three years for personal injury.

Liability and insurance are different things,
I said “may” as I don’t have access to the medical records so can’t be certain.

statue of limitation are here ranging from 1-12 years
https://www.claims.co.uk/knowledge-base/claim-preparations/civil-claim-limitation-periods

Aretnap

Car_54 said:

lisyloo said:

Agree you may not be liable for this.
I would suggest to everyone keeping records of all your insurance policies for 6 years.
If you switch a lot you might not even remember who it was with.

FYI the statue of limitations for property and land is I believe 12 years, so for home insurance maybe longer.

Why "may not" be liable? If he was insured, that's what it's for.

Liability requires negligence. Having a seizure or other medical episode is not negligent, assuming you didn't know that it was something that you were at risk of, or were driving against medical advice etc.

So depending on exactly what happened his insurers might argue that he was not liable for the damage to street furniture. But it's for them to decide how hard to push that argument and it doesn't need to affect the OP directly.