Shunted From Behind - Laptop Went Flying - Hit The Floor -Now Its Broken-Can I claim?

Joey122

Hi All,

I had some excellent responses to this about my accident which happened last Sunday.

At the time some one went straight into the back of on a busy dual carriage way when I was stationary. Insurers have admitted liability and have offered to settle but I refused this (or am about too).

The car needs about 600 pounds of repair to it

At the time my laptop was on the passenger seat and that went forward and hit the floor when he hit me as I was not moving.

The laptop now does not work and the engineer has confirmed it is likely down to the accident.

Can I claim for this? If so how?

TangledMemories_2

Have you spoken to your insurance company? They will be able to tell you whether you can claim for the damages or not.

Joey122

TangledMemories wrote: »

Have you spoken to your insurance company? They will be able to tell you whether you can claim for the damages or not.

No at the moment they seem much more concerned about settling my claim then understanding what's gone wrong

I think I need to speak to a solicitor but I dont want a personal injury guy who will drive me up the wall:(

System

I think you might have a fight on your hands.
It could be argued that having it lying on the passenger seat and not in a laptop bag or similar in a moving vehicle would not be considered as taking reasonable care to protect your property.

Joey122

!!!!!! wrote: »

I think you might have a fight on your hands.
It could be argued that having it lying on the passenger seat and not in a laptop bag or similar in a moving vehicle would not be considered as taking reasonable care to protect your property.

It was in a laptop protective sleeve but I see your point and its a good one.

C_Ronaldo

You could always ask

Bar_Hunter

Joey122 wrote: »

Hi All,

I had some excellent responses to this about my accident which happened last Sunday.

At the time some one went straight into the back of on a busy dual carriage way when I was stationary. Insurers have admitted liability and have offered to settle but I refused this (or am about too).

The car needs about 600 pounds of repair to it

At the time my laptop was on the passenger seat and that went forward and hit the floor when he hit me as I was not moving.

The laptop now does not work and the engineer has confirmed it is likely down to the accident.

Can I claim for this? If so how?

Of course you can claim.

Your insurers should help you but if you haven't bought their ever-so-popular legal cover they not want/bother to.

Your argument is that if it wasn't for the accident the damage would not have occured.

Don't get into pedantics over where your laptop was, was it in a bag etc. Leave it to the insurance companies to deal with.

Its not your headache.

You need to compile a list of out-of-pocket expenses including damage to property (other than your car) and provide your insurance company with this - simply get written confirmation from the engineer that your pc is damaged and how it was sustained.

The third party has already admitted liability so what are you worried about?

If you don't want to proceed with the claim via your insurance company or they are being a**l about it, take your claim to a third party claims handling company and present them with the confirmation of third party liability - they'll do the rest while providing you a hire car similar to your own, all expenses will be charged to the third party and you'll retain any NCD with your insurer.

Joey122

Bar_Hunter wrote: »

Of course you can claim.

Your insurers should help you but if you haven't bought their ever-so-popular legal cover they not want/bother to.

Your argument is that if it wasn't for the accident the damage would not have occured.

Don't get into pedantics over where your laptop was, was it in a bag etc. Leave it to the insurance companies to deal with.

Its not your headache.

You need to compile a list of out-of-pocket expenses including damage to property (other than your car) and provide your insurance company with this - simply get written confirmation from the engineer that your pc is damaged and how it was sustained.

The third party has already admitted liability so what are you worried about?

If you don't want to proceed with the claim via your insurance company or they are being a**l about it, take your claim to a third party claims handling company and present them with the confirmation of third party liability - they'll do the rest while providing you a hire car similar to your own, all expenses will be charged to the third party and you'll retain any NCD with your insurer.

I did try and understand this but I m not that great with this stuff

If I had legal expenses (which I dont) what would be happening now? Presumably I will have legal advice for free?

I am in touch with a no win no fee solictor who claims that if they win all their costs are reimbursed by the other side and not by my award (So can anyone explain gently how I would be better off had I taken legal cover?)

Joey122

From http://www.osbornes.net/html/per_inj_INTRO.html:

If the case does not succeed you pay nothing. If you win you should recover all your costs from the opponent but in some cases you will be asked to make a small contribution towards the costs from your compensation at the end of the case. We will advise you fully about funding at the start of the case.

Bar_Hunter

Joey122 wrote: »

I did try and understand this but I m not that great with this stuff

If I had legal expenses (which I dont) what would be happening now? Presumably I will have legal advice for free?

I am in touch with a no win no fee solictor who claims that if they win all their costs are reimbursed by the other side and not by my award (So can anyone explain gently how I would be better off had I taken legal cover?)

I can't really say what would have happended under legal cover, because you never really know until the incident - as an example I didn't take out the option of a hire car on my policy, but when I had a non-fault accident (criteria for replacement hire car) I was still offered a hire car for the duration of the repairs from Enterprise (car hire company) via my insurance company with the cost being billed to the third party. So I would've been out of pocket for nothing !!!

As regards the no-win no-fee solicitors, my experience with them is that they are more suited to personal injury claims where you can add on other damages such as in this case your laptop.

I would also suggest claim handlers such as http://www.helphire.co.uk/ and http://www.accidentexchange.com/ for they will provide a similar service, give a you a car similar to your own for the repair duration, repair your car at a body shop of your choice (subject to them dealing weith one another) - I'd suggest your vehicle manufacter/dealer or approved repairer to guarantee use of genuine parts, recover your out of pocket expenses and if you are injured, help with personal injury claims.

You definately won't pay a penny however you may want to take out their £10 'insurance policy' (they'll tell you about this) to make sure you're covered in case the claim fails which is unlikely as liability has been admitted.

HTH.