Insurance not sorted after 2 years

rockstar_995

Hi,
Back in August 2022, a lady drove into the side of my car which is clearly their mistake. I had dashcam which clearly recorded the incident. The lady was adamant that it’s not her mistake and didn’t want to provide any details but I got the car reg and all photos in relation to the damage. I have reported  to my insurance company, and as the damage was minimal (around £500) which was within my excess. They said I needed to pay it and if they can get the third party details then they can get the money back from them. However after 1 year they couldn’t get hold of them and wanted to close the case. But since I got legal cover I have asked them to move it to them and since then they are also in the same boat and still no answer. 

The money for repair was not much but this incident also triggers an increase in premiums, and I have to declare it for the next 5 years. 

But all this brings me back to the question, why am I even paying insurance and pay extra for legal cover if this case can’t be closed soon with a clear evidence. 

I am really not sure of the timeline and is there any other option to try?

Thank you

born_again

Are the other party insured?
Maybe they are either not responding to their ins co, or responded that it was not their fault..

drove into the side of my car which is clearly their mistake.

Is it? I can think of several instances where it is not fully or even their fault. Interesting how a dashcam picks up someone driving into the side of a car.

DullGreyGuy

rockstar_995 said:

Back in August 2022, a lady drove into the side of my car which is clearly their mistake. I had dashcam which clearly recorded the incident. The lady was adamant that it’s not her mistake and didn’t want to provide any details but I got the car reg and all photos in relation to the damage. I have reported  to my insurance company, and as the damage was minimal (around £500) which was within my excess. They said I needed to pay it and if they can get the third party details then they can get the money back from them. However after 1 year they couldn’t get hold of them and wanted to close the case. But since I got legal cover I have asked them to move it to them and since then they are also in the same boat and still no answer. 

The money for repair was not much but this incident also triggers an increase in premiums, and I have to declare it for the next 5 years. 

But all this brings me back to the question, why am I even paying insurance and pay extra for legal cover if this case can’t be closed soon with a clear evidence. 

I am really not sure of the timeline and is there any other option to try?

Did your insurers see the video? Did they agree it was the TPs fault? 

What have your insurers actually done? Normally if you arent going to be claiming, eg because loss is below the XS then they would do nothing directly themselves. If you have LE cover (which you do), then they'd appoint panel solicitors to handle your uninsured losses. Maybe at most they would do a DVLA check to get the registered keeper of the vehicle and an MID check to see who the insurer were and then said an initial letter to each. 

You are able to do both of these things yourself and will get exactly the same information. MID check is done via https://www.askmid.com/askmidenquiry.aspx and costs £10. You need to use this one as 1) it specifies the date of the incident as you need to know the insurer on the day not the one they are with now and 2) it actually gives the insurer, policynumber and not just a yes/no that the free self check does.  The DVLA is £2.50 and you use https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/v888-request-by-an-individual-for-information-about-a-vehicle V888

Not saying you should be doing these things yourself but you asked for options. 

You could ask your insurers if they have done a MID check and to provide you with the TP Insurers details and then you can contact the insurers yourself, or spend a £10 and self serve. 

rockstar_995

born_again said:

Are the other party insured?
Maybe they are either not responding to their ins co, or responded that it was not their fault..

drove into the side of my car which is clearly their mistake.

Is it? I can think of several instances where it is not fully or even their fault. Interesting how a dashcam picks up someone driving into the side of a car.

Unfortunately I couldn't provide the dashcam video here, but I can 100% say its a clear and obvious error. 

We are stopped at a traffic signal with 2 lanes turning right, the inside lane(left side) goes straight/left , the outside lane(right side) goes only right to a retail outlet. I am on the inside lane and when we are turning she moved into the lane clearly hitting me on the driver side door. 
Many people change lanes as they want to go straight but they do after the turn and that avoids these kind of incidents, She literally switched lanes in the middle of the turn and I don't have any space to move as on the left is pedestrian crossing.

rockstar_995

Thanks for Information. @DullGreyGuy

Yes my insurance company accepted that its the other drivers fault, but considering the amount of repair was less than the excess my insurance company wouldn't reimburse me. From what i understood, as the repair cost was less than excess, third party should accept and pay it back. 

DullGreyGuy

rockstar_995 said:

Thanks for Information. DullGreyGuy

Yes my insurance company accepted that its the other drivers fault, but considering the amount of repair was less than the excess my insurance company wouldn't reimburse me. From what i understood, as the repair cost was less than excess, third party should accept and pay it back. 

As in they watched the video and agreed or you are talking about the First Notification of Loss person who just took your word for it being their fault?

If its below your excess then its an uninsured loss and you would recover it either from the third party (TP) or their insurers (TPI). If you have LE cover then they should appoint someone to deal with it for you, they will favour pursuing the TPI than the TP. You are still free to do it yourself and can choose who you start with but if the TP says they've passed it to the TPI to deal with you broadly should deal with them not the TP other than by exception. 

rockstar_995

After reviewing the video they clearly mentioned accepted its third party mistake. (Driver Not at fault), So currently LE has been pursuing for over a year and are still at the same place, waiting for the TPI to respond. 

DullGreyGuy

rockstar_995 said:

After reviewing the video they clearly mentioned accepted its third party mistake. (Driver Not at fault), So currently LE has been pursuing for over a year and are still at the same place, waiting for the TPI to respond. 

Have you tried contacting the TPI? 

Problem is often that insurers and solicitors have to phone the same telephone number as everyone else (they dont have a hotline to each other or such) so if the TPI has a 20 minute call wait and the average file handler has circa 500 claims they won't wait to get through but instead just post/email another chaser. It certainly wouldnt be the first time ever that a firm has been sending post to an old address no longer occupied by the TPI and the new occupants are just binning all the post. 

Realistically you probably can make time to wait for 20 minutes to actually speak to the TPI on the phone and find out what happening. 

One firm, that will remain nameless, used to have two offices in Gloucester, one dealt with personal insurance the other agricultural. If you sent a letter to the wrong one there was 10% chance they'd return it, 90% chance they'd throw it and 0% they'd pass it across the road. Amusingly we bought the firm a couple of years later and I was no longer in claims and we were reviewing our property strategy having gone from c8 large sites to c 12 large sites and 90 medium to small... I commented that I was surprised that only one Gloucester office was listed, after checks we had bought both but they'd forgotten to even list it on the assets/liabilities included in the sale. 

rockstar_995

Didn't knew we can contact third party insurance directly. I have left it for insurance company/LE to get that sorted. With the above example, I'll give that a try. Thank you

DullGreyGuy

rockstar_995 said:

Didn't knew we can contact third party insurance directly. I have left it for insurance company/LE to get that sorted. With the above example, I'll give that a try. Thank you

Some will actively reach out to you if they feel their insured is at fault and their policyholder gave them your details. Most will happily engage with the third party. A minority are less interested in doing so.