Help with car insurance injury claim

Hoping for some advice please.

My wife has car insurance with Diamond. Back in November a car ran into the back of her stationary car at red lights at roadworks. The workers there saw it happen so have witness details.
The insurance opened an injury claim. (No damage to car) (We had no legal cover)

Called 2 months later it's 'being dealt with'.

Now 8 months later we have our renewal quote with our no claims taken away, and quote +£400 more than last year. Called them to find out why and why we have heard nothing about the claim, the guy says they are still waiting for the other party to accept liability so nothing at all has progressed. Told them we need the no claims back, they said the only way would be to close the case.

Surely it should have progressed? In haste we said leave the claim we cannot afford to pay extra, but really the guilty party shouldn't be getting away with this and my wife wasnt the only person who was injured.

Any idea what we can/should be doing?

Comments

  • FutureGirl
    FutureGirl Posts: 1,252
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    edited 10 June 2017 at 3:24PM
    Who is claiming injury? Your post isn't clear.

    Knowing this will make a difference to the advice given.

    If you're wife is claiming injury - then I can't see how, unless she has her own solicitor dealing with this, which won't be something your insurance gets involved in. If she is claiming injury via her solicitor, then her solicitor should be able to tell you in more depth why the third party insurer hasn't admitted liability yet.

    If it's the third party claiming injury, then it seems the third party is alleging you rolled in to the back of them, or reversed into them, hence them not admitting liability.

    One reason they may not have admitted liability, is that the witnesses may not be cooperating. As in they may not want to get involved (as there is nothing in it for them). This happens quite often.

    If there is no injury claim from the third party - then close the claim, there is no point it being open.

    On another note, if there is no damage to your car, yet you're wife is claiming injury, it could be that the third party insurers are raising this as an issue, claiming this as a low speed impact collision. In essence, they could be arguing that if there is no damage to your vehicle, then how can she be injured? No damage implies that the impact was not enough to even cause a scratch or dent. If I had someone claiming injury yet no damage to their vehicle this is something I would certainly be raising.
  • dalef
    dalef Posts: 87
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Sorry my wife is claiming on her insurance. The insurance are dealing with the injury claim but it may through another company im not sure.

    The guy at diamond simply said they havent admited liability yet so nothing else has happened. We think the witnesses are willing to help (they actually stopped the drivers husband from driving away because the 'cars fine'), though i didnt ask diamond if/what they had said. I just wanted to get my facts right before i call them back.

    They hit the car hard but strangly no damage to the car.

    Thanks
  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
    Your wife's motor insurance won't cover her for her injuries.

    Is she using her legal cover to handle the compensation claim? If so then that is a separate issue, and wouldn't affect the NCD!
  • Browntoa
    Browntoa Posts: 49,288
    Name Dropper Photogenic First Post First Anniversary
    Ambassador
    Looking at post 1 they have no legal cover
    I'm a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Shopping and Freebies, Phones and TV and Over 50s boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing . All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • dalef
    dalef Posts: 87
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Sorry yes, asked the wife.

    She called insurance to report the crash, few days later we told them car was fine, no mechanical issues so we didnt claim for that. They asked about injuries and said as we have no legal cover they they would get someone to call us about the injury, they called and said they would take a cut of the claim (sounds like a claims firm to me, wife not sure)
    Could this affect no claims still? Or have we been misinformed?
  • FutureGirl
    FutureGirl Posts: 1,252
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    Who is the company you have signed up with for the injury? Your wife would have signed a contract with them, and they are completely separate from the insurance - you should therefore ask them the status of the injury claim / why the third party haven't admitted liability etc.

    Are there any scratches / dents to your vehicle at all? If not then she will struggle to win an injury claim with absolutely no damage at all to her vehicle.

    As your wife is claiming injury, it's likely her insurance will now take a back seat, as your wife's solicitor will, essentially, deal with liability.

    In terms of your insurance - tell them to close the claim! As there is no claim on the policy, the NCD won't be impacted - UNLESS the third party have put in an injury claim against your insurance as well, in that case your NCD will be impacted until liability has been resolved.
  • dalef
    dalef Posts: 87
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Thanks.

    Not sure which company it is, i will find out, she cannot recall signing anything either but will contact insurance tomorrow to find out more details.

    But just to confirm, if this is a injury claim, rather than a car claim, then the injury claim should be a seperate issue and therefore irrelevant to our car insurance and no claims?

    I guess it could be hard to prove with literally no damage, with 3 witnesses hopefully will be okay.
  • FutureGirl
    FutureGirl Posts: 1,252
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    edited 10 June 2017 at 8:26PM
    I think you may have the wrong end of the stick here.

    You have no legal cover, therefore anything to do with injury your insurance will not be involved in. I can't see them putting your wife onto any other company if you don't have legal cover. If, 8 months on, your wife hasn't signed anything with a solicitor, and hasn't spoken with them at all then it's unlikely that this has actually happened, and it's most likely that they told your wife that will need to go to her own solicitor if she is alleging she is injured from this incident, which will cost her.

    Her injury claim is separate from the insurance, yes. BUT if the other driver and their passengers are pursuing claims for injury or damage against your insurance, then that can impact your no claims. If no one is pursuing anything against your insurance, then you just need to tell your insurers to close the claim as that shouldn't impact your NCD as no claim is being made on your policy.

    It will be hard to prove your wife was injured, with no damage to your vehicle! Witnesses can only help in regards to liability, not with the injury, they're 2 separate things. If your vehicle was inspected by an engineer from your insurance, then the third parties insurers will use that report, which will say no damage, and will most likely say 'very light impact'. This will imply your vehicle did not 'jolt' enough to cause a whiplash injury if it didn't cause any damage!

    Have you given the witness details to your insurers? Have they confirmed they have spoken with the witnesses, that the witnesses are cooperating and have sent their statement in writing? In my experience most witnesses don't end up cooperating, no matter what they say / do at the scene of an accident.

    Out of curiosity, what injuries did your wife sustain from this incident?
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards