Car insurance claim query

rubble2

I had a (very) minor accident in December 2023. I suggested to the other driver that we leave it to the respective insurers to sort out liability as we both essentially thought the other party was at fault.
I opted not to claim on my insurance but to pay for repairs myself which cost me £240 which will give some idea of the level of damage - I did of course inform my insurer about the incident F.I.O.

This claim by the third party has rumbled on since, so just over two years now. I have had various messages from my insurer at one time saying that the third party was going to court to get it settled, this never happened - I just stuck by my account of what happened.
 
Today I got a message from my insurance provider as follows :-

We have received a continued dispute from the third-party insurers for the incident dated 25/12/2023.

 As per our email dated 21/07/2025, due to no independent evidence and conflicting versions of events, liability will have to be apportioned a 50/50 split between both parties.

 

What this means for you:

 This will be recorded as a claim against your policy, and you will need to notify any insurer at renewal.

• Settling on a split liability basis will result in your No Claims Discount (NCD) being reduced as per the terms and conditions of your policy, subject to any protection you may have in place.
• As you had chosen to protect your NCD, your NCD will have remained at 16 years, with your protection removed until your renewal date of 18/05/2024. .

 I understand that this is not the outcome you were hoping for, and I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Please be assured that we have done everything we could to defend this incident.

 If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The 50/50 settlement is probably the outcome I expected but could someone clarify some of the details in this last message please?

1)  When they say I will need to notify any insurer at renewal, what level of detail will they require?       I can obviously explain about the 50/50 liability but will they need information about the cost of       the claim? I made no claim on my insurance and I have no idea regarding the value of the third       party claim.

2)  ' As you had chosen to protect your NCD, your NCD will have remained at 16 years, with your         protection removed until your renewal date of 18/05/2024'  Does this mean the the NCD                 protection was frozen as of 18/05/2024 and I can therefore declare 16 years NCD when I next         apply to renew my insurance?

As you can probably deduce I do not have much experience regarding motor insurance claims so any guidance would be appreciated.

MyRealNameToo

rubble2 said:

I had a (very) minor accident in December 2023. I suggested to the other driver that we leave it to the respective insurers to sort out liability as we both essentially thought the other party was at fault.
I opted not to claim on my insurance but to pay for repairs myself which cost me £240 which will give some idea of the level of damage - I did of course inform my insurer about the incident F.I.O.

This claim by the third party has rumbled on since, so just over two years now. I have had various messages from my insurer at one time saying that the third party was going to court to get it settled, this never happened - I just stuck by my account of what happened.
 
Today I got a message from my insurance provider as follows :-

We have received a continued dispute from the third-party insurers for the incident dated 25/12/2023.

 As per our email dated 21/07/2025, due to no independent evidence and conflicting versions of events, liability will have to be apportioned a 50/50 split between both parties.

 

What this means for you:

 This will be recorded as a claim against your policy, and you will need to notify any insurer at renewal.

• Settling on a split liability basis will result in your No Claims Discount (NCD) being reduced as per the terms and conditions of your policy, subject to any protection you may have in place.
• As you had chosen to protect your NCD, your NCD will have remained at 16 years, with your protection removed until your renewal date of 18/05/2024. .

 I understand that this is not the outcome you were hoping for, and I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Please be assured that we have done everything we could to defend this incident.

 If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The 50/50 settlement is probably the outcome I expected but could someone clarify some of the details in this last message please?

1)  When they say I will need to notify any insurer at renewal, what level of detail will they require?       I can obviously explain about the 50/50 liability but will they need information about the cost of       the claim? I made no claim on my insurance and I have no idea regarding the value of the third       party claim.

2)  ' As you had chosen to protect your NCD, your NCD will have remained at 16 years, with your         protection removed until your renewal date of 18/05/2024'  Does this mean the the NCD                 protection was frozen as of 18/05/2024 and I can therefore declare 16 years NCD when I next         apply to renew my insurance?

As you can probably deduce I do not have much experience regarding motor insurance claims so any guidance would be appreciated.

Have you stayed with the same insurer the whole time? It's slightly more complex if you buy via a broker and if the broker or the underwriter did the claims handling. 

Assuming you have switched, what have you been telling people about the claim each year? 

You have made a claim on your policy, not for your own damage but for dealing with the third party. Now it's going to go 50/50 monies will be paid out to settle half the other party's losses. They will know what they are going to be paying out so can tell you for answering the minority who ask for the cost of the claim. 

2) No, their wording doesnt reflect the age of the claim, your NCD now is whatever it was when you bought this years policy and will; be +1 year at renewal assuming you dont make a claim this year

rubble2

Thanks for the reply, I have been with the same insurer since the accident so I think I will wait and see what the renewal comes in at and take it from there.

MyRealNameToo

rubble2 said:

Thanks for the reply, I have been with the same insurer since the accident so I think I will wait and see what the renewal comes in at and take it from there.

It'll probably make no difference, open claims are generally treated as fault and so are 50/50 settlements 

XRS200

Remember you can recover 50% of our repairs 

MyRealNameToo

XRS200 said:

Remember you can recover 50% of our repairs 

Assuming they have comp cover they can get 100% of their repairs less the excess but would be able to get 50% of the excess back

XRS200

MyRealNameToo said:

XRS200 said:

Remember you can recover 50% of our repairs 

Assuming they have comp cover they can get 100% of their repairs less the excess but would be able to get 50% of the excess back

They opted not to claim