Non-fault but no motor legal protection - excess

Eddm
Eddm Posts: 3 Newbie
edited 17 January 2019 at 6:22PM in Insurance & life assurance
Hello,

I’m really anxious as I (well, my parked car) was involved in a non-fault accident. Unfortunately, I am still waiting for the third party’s insurance company to admit liability but I’m not holding any hope that that will happen any time soon as it is a bus company and nearly a week after the incident I don’t know if it has even been reported on their end!

I wasn’t comfortable signing a credit agreement to go with a non-fault service, and also I needed my car fixed at a dealer garage to maintain the warranty which wasn’t possible with them (I’ve had it 2 months :mad: ), so I went though my own insurance company.

So, I’m having to pay my excess... £400 is a lot of money. When I took out my insurance I opted against motor legal.. because I was naive and didn’t understand it. I never imagined paying my excess when it is so clearly someone else’s fault (witness, lots of photos etc as proof). Should have researched it but I hope it’s not a mistake worth £400... I’m with Admiral.

However, if they admit liability after I’ve paid the garage for the repairs (my excess only, insurance company covering the rest), I’m told I will have to seek to reclaim it via my own means and at my own cost or through Admiral law, who would take a chunk.

Basically, I’m told that because I don’t have motor legal, I’m screwed!

Does anyone know what my rights are in terms of recovering this “uninsured loss”... I don’t understand how it works... or when or if I might ever see that money again. Thankfully my NCD is not affected!

Comments

  • stator
    stator Posts: 7,441
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    You shouldn't need a solicitor to do this. Once liability has been settled for the accident you can just use small claims court to recoup your excess. Take the driver to court, his insurer will take over the case. They will probably just settle with you before court.

    Check via google the procedure to follow before taking someone to court.
    Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.
  • trailingspouse
    trailingspouse Posts: 4,035
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    edited 17 January 2019 at 6:57PM
    Fiddlesticks. You will have a receipt from the garage for the excess. Take a copy of it, and send it to the bus company (or direct to the insurer if you have their details). Include all the information they might need to allocate it to the correct file - date of accident, registration of their vehicle, name of driver etc etc. Say something like
    'Following the accident on x date, I have suffered the following uninsured losses
    - my £400 excess
    - any other loss you've suffered, that wasn't covered by your own insurers, that you have receipts for
    As your driver was at fault for the accident, I look forward to receiving your remittance in due course.'


    A week isn't long for this sort of thing - it'll have to go through the bus company's own admin system, and then through the insurer's - but that doesn't mean they won't admit liability in the end.


    If there is a dispute over liability, then yes, you've lost £400 (but still less than having to pay for the repairs to your vehicle). If it's settled 50:50, you'll get £200 back from the other insurers - although if it was parked and unattended it's hard to see how they can deny liability. It's not cost effective for an insurer to argue when liability is clear cut - much cheaper to just pay up.


    Absolutely no need to go to small claims or use an accident management company. Cost of a stamp is all.
    No longer a spouse, or trailing, but MSE won't allow me to change my username...
  • Thanks! Do you know if they have any legal obligation to pay for my uninsured loss? Or would that be at their discretion? There doesn’t seem to be much about it online!

    Thankfully all I’ll lose is a time worrying and lots of tears (I was ill that day which was why I was home and it was all too overwhelming - plus the excess).

    Thanks for your advice, I thought this process would be a lot quicker considering how clear cut it should be. I’m already seeing the bus driver to the same route again, although in a different bus as is! Urgh! I’ll play it that way and take them to small claims court if it gets to it... hopefully not.
  • ConMan
    ConMan Posts: 108 Forumite
    Eddm wrote: »
    Thanks! Do you know if they have any legal obligation to pay for my uninsured loss? Or would that be at their discretion? There doesn’t seem to be much about it online!

    If they're at fault, then yes, they'd be liable for all your uninsured losses - excess being part of that. Usually quite straight forward.
    You'll find me sat in the corner with a pack of dry roasted and a Guinness.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 35,242
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    Eddm wrote: »
    I thought this process would be a lot quicker considering how clear cut it should be.

    It took a year to settle when someone sent into the back of my wife's car, so a week isn't really approaching a long time just yet.
  • The bus Co is probably carrying out all sorts of investigations with the driver etc.

    It'll take a few weeks.

    I was shunted in the rear while stationary once. Took a few months to finally get sorted.

    If the third party is at fault, they pay for your losses. Keep all receipts.
  • trailingspouse
    trailingspouse Posts: 4,035
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    edited 18 January 2019 at 11:22AM
    If it's any comfort to you, exactly the same thing happened to me mid-December. Two cars collided, and my parked-and-unattended car got caught in the cross-fire. They basically just hit the wheel of my car, but it was a hefty impact and wrecked the suspension.



    My insurers will be paying for the damage to my car (just got it back yesterday). They will then claim that cost back from the third party.

    My policy also entitles me to a hire car, but my insurers will also be claiming this back from the third party.

    Green Flag had to come and pick the car up, and they provided me with a taxi to get me to where I needed to be - although I have breakdown cover with Green Flag, they will be claiming the actual costs off of the third party.


    None of that involves me at all!! But I have had to make two payments that weren't covered by my insurance - the £250 excess, (which I had to pay to the repairers in order to get my car back), and £20 taxi fare to get to the garage where my car was. I have the details of the third party's insurer, so I will simply send them a covering letter, enclosing the receipts (keeping copies), and expect to receive their remittance in due course.
    If my policy hadn't included cover for a hire car, I would have been claiming that cost direct from the third party's insurers as well.



    Once liability is established, the 'at fault' insurer will pay you back for all of the losses that aren't covered by your own insurance (actually, they pay for the ones that are insured as well, but that doesn't involve you). You have a responsibility to ensure that your losses are reasonable (eg if you normally drive a Reliant Robin, don't hire a Rolls Royce...).



    So, be patient - sometimes you just have to let people do their jobs. As a previous poster has said, the bus company will need to hear their driver's side of things, it has to go through their admin procedure, then it has to go onto the insurer's system. The cogs can seem like they grind slowly - but they will be grinding. And you can do your bit, by making sure you keep copies, address correspondence using the correct reference numbers, make sure they have your contact details and so on and so forth. Have you reported the incident to the bus company yourself? If there was little or no damage to the bus it's possible the driver has *ahem* forgotten to mention it... As you know who hit you, I'm assuming the driver stopped and you exchanged details.
    Whoever told you that not having legal protection insurance meant you were screwed didn't know what they were talking about. Yes, it comes into its own if there's a dispute over liability, or if there are injuries - but for something straightforward like this, there's no need to use them.
    No longer a spouse, or trailing, but MSE won't allow me to change my username...
  • Thank you! I’ve never been in this situation so I guess I just assumed that things would happen faster. My car insurance company made me feel like a mug for not having motor legal too, but hopefully as you have all said above, I’ll get that sorted though the third party insurance company directly...

    Guess I’m glad to have an interest free credit card to put the £400 on. I look forward to turning 25 and my excess over halving...
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