Motor Non-Fault Recovery Process

Barbados7

Following a small non-fault claim made via my insurer, I am being asked to allow their now appointed solicitor to take action for a recovery against the third party insurer for costs and the excess paid. Confirmation that the action may be made under my own name has been requested. Is this standard practice and are there any concerns that I should have around this approach please? Thank you.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6685062/motor-non-fault-recovery-process

If you have legal expenses cover then yes, they appoint a solicitor to recover your uninsured losses.

How long ago was the accident? If it was some time ago and they have been unsucccessful in their recovery of their own losses then they will appoint a solicitor to assist the recovery which will be made in your name as you were the one involved in the accident. As there can only be one court case to recover "your" losses they have to include your uninsured losses as well as their own else you would be blocked from recovering.

Barbados7

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82153948#Comment_82153948

Thank you. It was some time ago and yes it is the latter, to also recover uninsured loss (excess). I presume any costs associated with this action are borne by the insurer, no potential cost to myself?

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82153972#Comment_82153972

Legal costs etc yes, if you have to pay for travel to go to the court room etc then you would need to check with them. They will want to ensure you are actually going to engage as if you refuse they will avoid incurring the cost and negotiate the best settlement they can which sounds like it would turn it into a fault claim.

Defcon67

I have a question and it is regarding a claim made against me as a named driver on my dads car. My car was in the garage, as a result I was using my dads for work.

in February 2024 the snow was staring to come down and settle, so at around 3pm I left work as I was able to continue working from home. I was sat at traffic lights waiting to go down the slip road to merge on the duel carriageway. The slip road is controlled by lights.

On green I drover over the bridge to go down the slip road and the snow had settled a lot more this road and had covered it. Its short distance from the lights I was at, hence I didn't even reach 30mph. There were vehicles already on the slip road waiting for the lights to let them merge onto the deal carriageway. I began to brake and immediately my wheels locked and were just sliding on the snow/ice. I pipped my horn as I couldn't move to the other lane due to traffic and continued to press my brake as the automatic hand brake didn't work. I collided with a van in front of me. I wasn't travelling at any speed as I managed to kill that it was just the momentum of the slide on a decline slip road that took me into the van. There was no visible damage to the van and to my Car, which if there was to be damage you would have expected my car to be worse off (I have pictures for proof). Me and then driver of the van which was a works van exchanged details and he even wrote I hit him at 0mph and and agreed no visible damage.

I phoned my dad and told him and sent over details who in-turn contacted his insurer and forwarded my pictures. They agreed no damage and will fight it. In July 2024 I bought the car from my Dad and sold mine. During the route phase the insurer I was looking to take out insurance contacted me to say that I should have put down the accident, which I did, but with zero cost and this is when I was told that they have made claim of over £5k. My dads old insurer never notified us of this change as they led us to believe that they would argue with the evidence provided that no cost should be attributed to the accident. However, now that the insurance has not been continued and Im not the owner and driver, they were not interested anymore. Apparently the insurance details I gave to my dad for the 3rd party were different from the insurer who made the claim on the 3rd party's behalf. That isn't my fault as I could only provide what I had been given.

This claim appears to be affecting my insurance quotes even though I am now 2 years on and 2 years free of any incidents, but my insurance has gone up even though insurance companies et al claim that insurance premiums have gone down in 2026.

Is there a regulated body I can dispute this accident with, as the amount they reclaimed is vastly over estimated from the actual event.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82154560#Comment_82154560

Your insurance company has the right to deal with any claim presented to it as they see fit. From your description of the accident you will certainly be considered at fault for the incident and the matter of quantum for any third party losses are your insurers concern. Clearly they arent going to pay any claim they dont think they have to as its money out their pocket not yours, reduction of profits, lower bonuses etc etc.

Ideally you would go back and read the communications the insurer sent you when the claim was first notified. Back in my claims days we highlighted the fact that we would deal with the TPs appropriately and wouldnt keep you informed unless you actively requested to be… if I had more than 5 people that ever requested to be kept in formed i'd be surprised.

Ultimately you would complain to your insurers at the time, their response will be that they can settle claims as they see fit but they may offer a small amount of compensation if they didnt keep you informed as they had promised to.

If you arent happy with the response to the complaint you can then go to the Financial Ombudsman for a review of the case. The only thing you can go to a regulator for is if you believe a firm is operating without a licence, outside of that the ombudsman deals with individuals and escalates patterns or material concerns to the regulators (there are two for insurers, the FCA and PRA)

I do find it amusing how posts seem to suggest that insurers never payout anything to their own customers but are a blank chequebook for third parties.