Problem with car insurance after accident that was not my fault

Jen19999

My car was parked in my parking space outside my flat on Thursday evening when a lady drove into the brick wall next to it. The wall fell over and has damaged my car, the lady parked her car and walked into the flats (she lives in the same block as me). The accident was witnessed by other people who live in the flats, they tried to stop the lady and said they thought she was drunk.

I believe the witnesses called the police. The police came, arrested the lady and gave me a crime number. 

I called my insurance on Friday morning to report the accident and sent pictures of my car (looks as though it is just damage to the front panel and bonnet and door) 

So far nothing has happened. The lady has not contacted her insurance so they do not accept liability and my company won't provide a courtesy car or sort out the repair although I am covered fully comp. My company say it is being investigated and won't do anything.

Is this correct that I seem to be just having to wait ?  At the moment I am getting taxis to work but I will need a car very soon as I am going on holiday 

cw8825

Have you actually asked your insurance company to repair or only reported it?

Depending on the age if the car they may write the car off and you wouldn’t get a courtesy car as standard in that situation 

Hoenir

Does your insurance cover include a courtesy car by default? 

DullGreyGuy

Jen19999 said:

my company won't provide a courtesy car or sort out the repair although I am covered fully comp. My company say it is being investigated and won't do anything.

You need to get them to explain why they cannot progress with the repairs? 

If you have comprehensive cover the only question should be if there any indemnity questions on your policy (eg have you provided your proof of NCD etc). The state of the third party is totally irrelevant. 

Courtesy car is a different matter, if its a traditional courtesy car this is given to you by the garage at their own expense (in principle its built into the hourly rate for labour) but as such its only available if your car is repairable (rather than total loss or stolen unrecovered). Some insurer offer a higher tier like a hire car but this comes with its own limitations. 

If you bought from a broker and you are calling the broker rather than the underwriter/insurer then it could be they want to sell pass you to an accident management/credit hire company but get more commission if they deal with the initial liability before passing you over. 

Jen19999

Yes, my insurance provides a courtesy car if my car is repairable. They know I want the car repaired and their experts were assessing the photos over the weekend.

The only explanation they can give is that it is under 'investigation' and the agent I have spoken to says she cannot progress until this is complete

I wondered if there is some 'catch 22' where if you didn't know who caused a similar accident one can claim on your insurance but if you know who did it you have to wait for their insurance to accept liability? 

cw8825

Jen19999 said:

Yes, my insurance provides a courtesy car if my car is repairable. They know I want the car repaired and their experts were assessing the photos over the weekend.

The only explanation they can give is that it is under 'investigation' and the agent I have spoken to says she cannot progress until this is complete

I wondered if there is some 'catch 22' where if you didn't know who caused a similar accident one can claim on your insurance but if you know who did it you have to wait for their insurance to accept liability? 

As you have said they are assessing the pictures. Bare in mind today is only Tuesday. 

What car was it? The fact the are assessing rather than appointing a garage would say to me that it’s borderline if repairable. 

Jen19999

It is a Skoda Yeti. And you do make a fair point, if they think it is borderline repairable they would wait before giving me a car on my insurance. 

Thank you for the response 

facade

Jen19999 said:

<snip>

(looks as though it is just damage to the front panel and bonnet and door) 

<snip>

 At the moment I am getting taxis to work but I will need a car very soon as I am going on holiday 

If it is just panel damage, why can't you drive it?

Or is it still buried under a wall (in which case can't you get someone to help you move the bricks)?

DullGreyGuy

Jen19999 said:

Yes, my insurance provides a courtesy car if my car is repairable. They know I want the car repaired and their experts were assessing the photos over the weekend.

The only explanation they can give is that it is under 'investigation' and the agent I have spoken to says she cannot progress until this is complete

I wondered if there is some 'catch 22' where if you didn't know who caused a similar accident one can claim on your insurance but if you know who did it you have to wait for their insurance to accept liability? 

So sounds like they are just awaiting their desk engineers to review the case and authorise the work... the claim is progressing just not at the speed you want. 

Liability won't create the 'catch 22' you outline for repairs, it impacts you if you have TPO/TPFT as your insurer doesn't cover own vehicle repair and are effectively defence only. Likewise if you were with a more cautious accident management company but in principle they should be taking on the risk as thats in part what justifies the higher costs. 

Apodemus

While the OP's current issue is directly with the insurers, it will be interesting to hear how this all turns out. 

My dad's car was once badly damaged by snow coming off a roof.  Car insurers refused to handle the claim, on the grounds  that liability was with the house insurance (which did, in fact, pay out for the car damage). 

In the OP's case, I wonder if the claim for damage is against the property owner whose wall landed on the car, with the property owner then having a claim against the car insurance of the lady who hit the wall?

DullGreyGuy

Apodemus said:

In the OP's case, I wonder if the claim for damage is against the property owner whose wall landed on the car, with the property owner then having a claim against the car insurance of the lady who hit the wall?

How do you fathom its the wall owners fault? If that had landed on my desk would have had a good laugh with some colleagues and then send the standard repudiation letter.