No fault insurance claim issues

Flodden

i am a driving instructor. I use a dual control car and am insured fully comp. 

On Monday night my  empty parked car was hit by a drunk driver who hit and run. A witness following the car followed and when the car stopped 100 yards away she witnessed the driver go into the local shop. She ran to my house (I’d taught 2 of her daughters to drive so she knew where I lived) we both ran back to the car that had hit me, and I got all the details from a clearly drunk driver who admitted she’d hit a car. I called the police and she drove off… witnessed by another person behind the wheel.. I got a phone call at 9.30 yesterday from  the police saying caught her at home and breathalysed her. Despite attempting to avoid blowing the police were apparently shocked by the high reading, arrested her and took her into custody where she failed to provide, so she’s charged and will get a ban. 

I’ve had to arrange for my car to be collected and a replacement dual control car to be delivered, which it was this afternoon. 

In the meantime I’ve had to cancel 2 days of lessons 16 hours in total. I’ve spent 8 hours completing forms, producing witness statements for the police and basically dealing with all the paperwork, cancelled lessons caused by her. 

I want to claim for my loss of earnings… £800. I’ve been told I have to supply 3 years of business accounts and the drunkards insurance company will use those to decide how much I’ve lost. 

Now that makes no sense… I work 3 12 hour days a week for 9 months of the year. The insurance company will take my net earnings over a 12 month 5 day week. 

I’ve provided my electronic diary showing the 8 cancelled 2 hour lessons. And each one of my pupils who were affected will write a letter confirming their lesson on whichever day was cancelled  without charge due to a drunk driver and how much they pay per lesson. 

I feel I’m being found guilty and they don’t believe I lost 2 days work. It’s even been said I could schedule them in next week… difficult as I have no extra days and pupils can only do the days they do. 

Insurance companies have claimed we don’t need replacement cars… we can use public transport, or we don’t need hire cars. 

The claim handling company is supposed to be fighting for me. Is it reasonable to state that 8 letters from pupils is proof enough of lost earnings? 

Im also planning on invoicing them for my time filling in all the paperwork, phoning and answering calls as that’s taken up the best part of 2 days too…. 

Any suggestions as to how not to be made a victim by the very company who is paid to fight my claim? 

DullGreyGuy

So you are using an accident management company (AMC) rather than claiming via your own insurance or directly from the third party insurers?

Its the AMC that are saying the evidence is insufficient or the third party insurers (TPI)? 

AMCs dont get paid for doing uninsured loss recovery (ULR) for you unless injuries are involved, they like hire because their rates are crazy, they dont mind repairs as they get 10% plus often a kick back from the engineer and/or garage. LoE, LoU, incidental expenses etc is all unpaid work. 

There are two ways you can go with assisting a customer on ULR, either take what they send and blindly forward it to the TPI which may or may not get paid and may very well shoot yourself in the foot, alternatively you screen the evidence, kick the tyres on mitigation as you know the TPI will do and then present a much stronger case to the TPI with better chances of payout. 

Asking if you could reschedule appointments isnt unreasonable as answering no you couldn't because of A, B and C is also not unreasonable. Remember you have a legal obligation to mitigate your losses.

You cannot bill for personal time, you should form fill etc at such times to mitigate losses. The courts accept life is just not great sometimes and not everything is worth money. 

Flodden

I am claiming via my own insurance but they use claim handlers. And their legal team is Winn’s solicitors, a vile bunch of immoral ambulance chasers who inflated a friends £3500 no fault claim into £37500! And left him seriously stressed and well out of pocket. 

So I’ve organised my own repair direct either my insurance underwriter and I get a courtesy car through that. But I’m out of pocket for 2 days work, which I cannot get back as pupils tests are booked and they can only do the days and times that I’ve lost. So unless I can get an extra Tuesday and Wednesday in the next week I won’t have chance of getting that money back. 

I’m going to try and get the guilty parties insurance details tomorrow and ring them direct. That way they get the chance to cover my loss, and not be ripped off by the solicitors. 

Each pupil who’s lost a lesson has provided a signed letter stating they pay £50 an hour for 2 hour lessons and this week it was cancelled because of the drunk driver. 

DullGreyGuy

Flodden said:

I am claiming via my own insurance but they use claim handlers.

Are you sure? There are plenty of sellers of insurance who will sell pass non-fault claims to accident management companies to be dealt with on a credit basis rather than deal with it under the insurance policy. Brokers are particularly keen on it as an additional income stream but some direct insurers, most famously Admiral, do so too. Often people dont realise what they're agreeing to. 

Assuming there is no injury claim and your losses are under £10,000 then the solicitors won't get anything from the third party insurers.

Flodden

My car repair is being done direct with my insurance KGM. But they don’t recover my losses, so they tell me I have to go to the claims handling company the Broker deals with. Unfortunately that claims handler links to the ambulance chasers Winn’s. 

So I think dealing direct with the third party is the answer.