Should I Claim And From Whom?

chateauneufdupape

My wife's car was hit from behind by a car which itself was hit in the rear by a van. There does not appear to be a lot of damage to my wife's car, but we are getting it checked out by the dealer. I suspect that the damage would not be more than £200 to repair if that.

My question is what is the best way to reclaim this money?

1) Do we approach the van driver direct and settle the amount privately if he is happy to do so.

2) Do we approach our insurance company and let them settle it? My wife has protected no claims, but will this route affect anything?

3) Do we approach the van driver's insurance company or the other car driver's insurance company?

Any advice would be welcome.

steveo3002

you need the van drivers insurance, that way if the garage finds extra damage when the take it apart for repair you are covered

chateauneufdupape

I presume that I get a quotation for the work and then contact the van driver's insurance before proceeding. Or should I just contact the insurance company and let them get quotations?

epninety

steveo3002 wrote: »

you need the van drivers insurance, that way if the garage finds extra damage when the take it apart for repair you are covered

I may be wrong, but I thought you needed the car drivers details, not the van drivers, as that was the vehicle which caused damage to yours. It's up to his insurer to pass the claim to the van insurance.

In a three way claim, I wouldn't be keen to get involved in a cash settlement as there's more chance for an argument to start up later. Also dont forget you probably need to inform your insurance co. even if you are not making a claim.

If you are making a claim, inform your ins. co. and let them take care of dealing with the other parties. I may fight shy of letting them sort out your damage though, having seen some of the clowns ins. co. will engage to do repairs. I'd want to select the repairer myself if possible.

chateauneufdupape

Thanks for the thoughts. We will have to go through the van drivers insurers as my wife didn't take the car drivers details. She just took the van driver's details. Will steer clear of a cash settlement.

scbk

It was the car that ran into your wife not the van, so you need to claim off the car driver's insurance.

This is why tailgaiting is against the law, it causes accidents (not that your wife was to blame)

Made me smile on the M6 last saturday in the heavy traffic, there was an accident (police/HATO were there), over 5 cars with broken bumpers at each end :rolleyes:

jonathon

she has to claim off the car that hit her insurance and him in turn off the van. why didnt she take the cars details ?

Tojo_Ralph

chateauneufdupape wrote: »

Thanks for the thoughts. We will have to go through the van drivers insurers as my wife didn't take the car drivers details. She just took the van driver's details. Will steer clear of a cash settlement.

I would agree with those who have stated that your claim is against the car that hit your wife, not the van driver and I doubt the van drivers insurance company will be volunteering to pay out more than they need to.

IMHO you therefore need to try and get the car drivers details from the van driver.

movilogo

Few months back I read about similar incident on Honest John's site. The rule says, in this case, you need to claim from the driver causing the accident! So, you need to claim against the van driver! The car driver's action didn't cause damage to your car, but it was the van driver who was responsible.

askakd

From the information given, we have no way of knowing who caused the accident, therefore the claim will be against the car driver who caused the actual damage. you need to get the details of the car driver urgently

cyclonebri1

You are getting very mixed advice.

Best scenario would have been to have obtained all the involved vehicles detrails.

But as you didn't either of them should suffice.

The insurers will determine responsibility/liability;)

Let them earn there fees