Insurer being difficult on no fault accident

J66998821

Any advice please? 

I had a no fault accident and my car was written off. My insurers used the words ‘no fault’ throughout the claim process and also waived my excess for this reason. 

However, a month later my renewal is due. My insurers are saying I must declare this as an at FAULT accident until they can claim costs from the other insurer and the other insurer admits their client was at fault. 

So when I come to renew my policy I lose my 6 years no claims. My insurer says this will be reinstated once the claim is resolved. However in the meantime my quote will be much higher because I’ve got 0 years no claims. Sadly, they won’t refund the difference in policy price for what my quote should be vs what it will actually be. 

Seems highly unfair. 

Is there anything that can be done? 

For context I was driving along minding my own business when another driver sadly became unconscious and drove into me (we were all fine eventually) 

many thanks 

J66998821

I’ve asked if my insurer could give me the name of the other insurance company so I could call them and ask them to say it’s no fault etc but they say they can’t do that due to GDPR. My argument is had the other driver been conscious he he would have given his insurance details at the scene so why can’t they tell me the company name now but they won’t sigh! 

EssexExile

Who's at fault doesn't really matter, it's whether your insurance company has to pay out that matters. They need to be sure they won't have to pay out before they treat it as a "no claim" scenario.

Car_54

J66998821 said:

I’ve asked if my insurer could give me the name of the other insurance company so I could call them and ask them to say it’s no fault etc but they say they can’t do that due to GDPR. My argument is had the other driver been conscious he he would have given his insurance details at the scene so why can’t they tell me the company name now but they won’t sigh! 

GDPR applies to PERSONAL data, not businesses. You might try pointing this out.

J66998821

Ah yes good point. 

Just seems very unfair that my premium will cost a lot more and won’t be refunded the difference. If this accident happened a few months earlier or later my renewal would be much cheaper 

Peter999_2

I had the same thing with Aviva.    It took over a year to be paid out after a car ran into me on a roundabout and it was so obvious it was their fault.    I had to do Aviva's job for them most of the time, they just did nothing.   However, they did refund me the difference when I had renewed without my no claims bonus etc.    It's shocking that your insurance company won't refund the difference.

DullGreyGuy

J66998821 said:

So when I come to renew my policy I lose my 6 years no claims. My insurer says this will be reinstated once the claim is resolved. However in the meantime my quote will be much higher because I’ve got 0 years no claims. Sadly, they won’t refund the difference in policy price for what my quote should be vs what it will actually be. 

Seems highly unfair. 

Is there anything that can be done? 

For context I was driving along minding my own business when another driver sadly became unconscious and drove into me (we were all fine eventually) 

6 years NCD becomes 3 years NCD on a fault claim not 0... this doesn't hang together.  If you are direct with an insurer then normally they will automatically reinstate the NCD and correct the premium when it's closed. Life's much more complex if you are via an intermediary/broker. 

Became unconscious? That opens a big can of worms as to if it was their fault. 

Aretnap

If you really want the other drivers insurance details and you have his registration number then you can get them yourself from AskMID for a small fee, however they might not do you much good - this is now essentially a dispute between the two insurance companies and the third pays insurer are unlikely to change the way they are dealing with it just because you can then up and ask them to. 

As you've discovered in insurance jargon "fault" means that your insurer paid for the damage and hasn't had its costs refunded by someone else. This is only indirectly related to the question of who was to blame for an accident and all claims are generally treated as fault unless and until your insurer is paid by the insurer if the at fault party.

As above if the other driver passed out due to a previously unknown medical condition this does open up the question of whether there was actually any negligence on his part. It could be one of those situations which are pure bad luck and where nobody is to blame as such - and in those situations everybody has to claim on their own insurance and nobody can recover costs from anybody else. Which might be why things are taking so long and does leave a question mark over whether your insurer will ever be able to recover their costs.

J66998821

Oh goodness, thanks for that. Wow I had no idea that this could be considered ‘my fault’ by the insurance company. Yes the other driver passed out but I have absolutely no idea if he knew he had a medical condition or any further details about what happened to him after the accident- police said he was awake and talking when he went to hospital so I do hope he was okay. However, I was in my own lane, driving as normal when this happened therefore I’m really quite shocked that they could say I need to pay anything! 

So would you advise to renew with my current insurance company that’s dealing with the claim? As it would be potentially better so they can chase other company and then easier to refund me (if indeed they ever do? - perhaps today was a rogue customer service adviser I’m sure it happens?) 

lisyloo

Why didn't you claim directly off the other insurer and leave your out of it?

DullGreyGuy

lisyloo said:

Why didn't you claim directly off the other insurer and leave your out of it?

Third party insurer hasn't accepted liability yet; liability will be complex because it appears the incident occurred due to a medical event. 

Presumably the OP didnt want to wait months with a damaged vehicle to see if the TPI ultimately accept liability or not. Had they done this it could have prejudiced their claim against their own insurance if they gave up waiting had the time with the exposed damage caused further issues (eg rust)