Car insurance renewal after no liability accident

calico123

Hello looking for advice following an accident i had in early July and my car insurance renewal from Tesco insurance. The other driver immediately accepted liability for the accident, in which my car was a write off. Tesco have that in writing. I have received a settlement payout from them, bought an older, cheaper car as replacement and amended my policy to cover that car with Tesco. However, that policy runs out next week and I've had a renewal through for 3x the cost of last years because Tesco say they are holding me responsible for the accident until they have the full cost of the claim through from the other party's insurers. They have it in writing from the other party's insurers that they have accepted liability. Despite repeated calls, they will not budge saying it is their policy to hold policyholders liable until claim is paid, despite evidence from third parties about liability. I can now not afford to ensure this new car from next week. Any advice? It seems madness to me - my insurance is fully comp with legal expenses. 

MyRealNameToo

calico123 said:

Hello looking for advice following an accident i had in early July and my car insurance renewal from Tesco insurance. The other driver immediately accepted liability for the accident, in which my car was a write off. Tesco have that in writing. I have received a settlement payout from them, bought an older, cheaper car as replacement and amended my policy to cover that car with Tesco. However, that policy runs out next week and I've had a renewal through for 3x the cost of last years because Tesco say they are holding me responsible for the accident until they have the full cost of the claim through from the other party's insurers. They have it in writing from the other party's insurers that they have accepted liability. Despite repeated calls, they will not budge saying it is their policy to hold policyholders liable until claim is paid, despite evidence from third parties about liability. I can now not afford to ensure this new car from next week. Any advice? It seems madness to me - my insurance is fully comp with legal expenses. 

Its normal practice as "fault" in insurance terms is nothing to do with blame but simply if your insurer is out of pocket at the end of the claim or not. 

A minority of insurers will set a claim to non-fault prior to having the cash in the bank but they will also get burned on some cases where when they go to collect the funds it turns out their insured had failed to declare their fraud conviction so they have voided the policy. There is then a long process to try and get them to settle as an RTA insurer

There can also be cases where they admit liability but when your insurer presents the bill for repairing your wing mirror, wing, drivers door etc the TP disputes quantum saying they only clipped your wing mirror and the rest of the damage isnt anything to do with them. 

sheramber

Although the  third party insurer have accepted liability they have not forwarded any money so , at present, Tesco have paid out as a claim on your policy cover.

The other insurer could dispute the pay out or as happened to a friend , the other driver initially admitted fault ( there was cctv) but later he changed his  story and 18 months later he was still waiting for it to be settled. 

calico123

Thanks for responses. So nothing I can do except pay up or wait for claim to be settled (and not drive in meantime) and assume I'll then get a better quote? Tesco say if i do pay up they will refund any extra costs once claim is settled but am sceptical about whether that would materialise?

MyRealNameToo

calico123 said:

Thanks for responses. So nothing I can do except pay up or wait for claim to be settled (and not drive in meantime) and assume I'll then get a better quote? Tesco say if i do pay up they will refund any extra costs once claim is settled but am sceptical about whether that would materialise?

Can't comment for Tesco but when I did motor insurance then it was an automatic process but that only worked if you renewed. If you stopped the renewal and bought a new policy, even if it was from us, it wouldnt fix itself automatically. 

chrisw

Don't forgot you'll need to keep the car off the road and SORN it if it's not going to be insured for a while.

dunstonh

Tesco say if i do pay up they will refund any extra costs once claim is settled but am sceptical about whether that would materialise?

That is what normally happens in this scenario.  So, no need to be sceptical.