Aviva Taking Ages With Car Insurance Claim

itsrobjm

Good Afternoon,

As the title suggests..

At the end of November last year my car was hit by a third party while parked on a supermarket car park. The kind person reversed into my car causing a big dent and multiple scuffs and scratches. Thankfully as it's a new car it was worth repairing and the work was completed in January via Aviva repair centre to a high standard.

My issue isn't with the repair of the vehicle it's with the length of time the claim is taking. The person who hit my car left no note nor made any attempt to locate me in the supermarket, the first I knew of it was when I returned to the car and saw the damage.

With the help of the supermarket we got the registration vehicle and I got a copy of the CCTV showing everything including the gentleman returning to my vehicle to see the damage he'd caused before getting back in his own car and driving off. The registration number of the vehicle was provided to my car insurance immediately and the CCTV was provided in January.

Aviva have been useless, they haven't contacted me once, I have constantly had to chase them and at the nearly 6 months point I keep getting told they are STILL chasing the third party to accept liability.

This is the first time I've been involved in this sort of incident and so I want to know are Aviva right in what they're saying and I have to sit back and wait for God knows how long for the other party to finally admit liability (it's all provided in hard evidence, they don't have a leg to stand on which gets me) or are Aviva stringing me along and should this not be escalated further at this point?

Any help or advice would be most appreciated.

Many thanks.

DullGreyGuy

The type of person that does a hit and run isn't generally the type of person that is then prompt to report it to their insurer, speedy in replying to their insurer or answers things honestly. Add to that some people dont care about leaving details or being caught by CCTV etc because their plates are cloned and not theirs. 

Generally the back office part of claims dont speak to customers often, there is no need and most insureds dont care much about it. They tend to reach out when they need further information or if they are considering closing the file in a different way to what had been anticipated. 

Most claims are dealt with in about 6 months but some go on for many times that when the TP denies involvement or that their plates were cloned etc etc. What have Aviva said the TPI have said?

Mildly_Miffed

A registration number alone isn't proof of anything, so let's start the clock in January when the CCTV became available. So four months.

In that time, your insurer will have contacted the insurer-of-record for that vehicle, who will have contacted their policyholder. It's entirely likely their policyholder is denying everything. Maybe they're claiming their car was cloned. Maybe the car was in the custody of a garage or airport parking at the time, and shouldn't have been being driven by that person. Maybe they're taking weeks to reply to any communication. Maybe it's a company vehicle and they're trying to figure out which of their employees or their family members was driving.

Until such time as that other insurer agree that their customer is indeed at fault, this remains as an open claim.

cw8825

Mildly_Miffed said:

A registration number alone isn't proof of anything, so let's start the clock in January when the CCTV became available. So four months.

In that time, your insurer will have contacted the insurer-of-record for that vehicle, who will have contacted their policyholder. It's entirely likely their policyholder is denying everything. Maybe they're claiming their car was cloned. Maybe the car was in the custody of a garage or airport parking at the time, and shouldn't have been being driven by that person. Maybe they're taking weeks to reply to any communication. Maybe it's a company vehicle and they're trying to figure out which of their employees or their family members was driving.

Until such time as that other insurer agree that their customer is indeed at fault, this remains as an open claim.

I would add that aviva probably didn’t lay the garage until February so that’s another month

its frustrating for the OP but aviva have paid out so will be chasing their money back 

itsrobjm

Thank you for the replies, it is genuinely appreciated.

My insurance just say that the third parties insurance is waiting for the person to accept liability, that's all I keep getting told.

I know from common knowledge that insurance can be slow to deal with claims I just wanted to see I wasn't waiting around unnecessarily and maybe I should be expecting more at this point.

I guess as an innocent party it's all very frustrating to have this overhanging and to have had my renewal increase back in February due to this ongoing open claim.

It was an elderly couple so whilst not conclusive it's unlikely that it was a stolen car or stolen plates etc.

I could have involved the police at the time as they left the scene of an accident and were liable to points and a fine but I decided I didn't want the hassle and I just wanted my car repaired and for the third party to accept they made a mistake. I will hold tight some more and hope Aviva make some progress in the not too distant future.

DullGreyGuy

Think it's a bit of presumption that all old people are nice law abiding citizens, especially the one that did a hit and run on your parked car. 

Aviva ideally should be pushing the TPI as to what is causing the delay, eg has their insured not responded, has their insured said it wasnt them, has their insured just being obstructive and asking to see evidence before commenting etc. 

Bigwheels1111

itsrobjm said:

Thank you for the replies, it is genuinely appreciated.

My insurance just say that the third parties insurance is waiting for the person to accept liability, that's all I keep getting told.

I know from common knowledge that insurance can be slow to deal with claims I just wanted to see I wasn't waiting around unnecessarily and maybe I should be expecting more at this point.

I guess as an innocent party it's all very frustrating to have this overhanging and to have had my renewal increase back in February due to this ongoing open claim.

It was an elderly couple so whilst not conclusive it's unlikely that it was a stolen car or stolen plates etc.

I could have involved the police at the time as they left the scene of an accident and were liable to points and a fine but I decided I didn't want the hassle and I just wanted my car repaired and for the third party to accept they made a mistake. I will hold tight some more and hope Aviva make some progress in the not too distant future.

I see 2 options, one is wait.
The other is pay your excess and get the car repaired, then it’s claimed back.
Not ideal I know.

sheramber

Bigwheels1111 said:

itsrobjm said:

Thank you for the replies, it is genuinely appreciated.

My insurance just say that the third parties insurance is waiting for the person to accept liability, that's all I keep getting told.

I know from common knowledge that insurance can be slow to deal with claims I just wanted to see I wasn't waiting around unnecessarily and maybe I should be expecting more at this point.

I guess as an innocent party it's all very frustrating to have this overhanging and to have had my renewal increase back in February due to this ongoing open claim.

It was an elderly couple so whilst not conclusive it's unlikely that it was a stolen car or stolen plates etc.

I could have involved the police at the time as they left the scene of an accident and were liable to points and a fine but I decided I didn't want the hassle and I just wanted my car repaired and for the third party to accept they made a mistake. I will hold tight some more and hope Aviva make some progress in the not too distant future.

I see 2 options, one is wait.
The other is pay your excess and get the car repaired, then it’s claimed back.
Not ideal I know.

Thankfully as it's a new car it was worth repairing and the work was completed in January via Aviva repair centre to a high standard.

sheramber

When our car was hit by a company lorry  our case was dealt with by an accident management company.

Although we had details and video of the driver and lorry , and contact details for the company, their insurance replied that they had not notified,  them about the accident and continued not to do so.

My insurance repaired the car and the accident management company covered the excess with an insurance policy., so not cost to me.

The accident management company eventually took the company to court for the costs and obtained a warrant.

That was the last I heard from them.

Indout96

itsrobjm said:

I could have involved the police at the time as they left the scene of an accident and were liable to points and a fine 

Not if it was on a car park, police would not be interested.

Car_54

Indout96 said:

itsrobjm said:

I could have involved the police at the time as they left the scene of an accident and were liable to points and a fine 

Not if it was on a car park, police would not be interested.

Wrong.

The requirement to stop, report and/or exchange details [Road Traffic Act 1988, s170] applies on a road or other public place.

A supermarket car park is a public place - unless there are barrier to entry, in which case it is not so clear-cut.