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Author Topic: Insurance Claim Problems  (Read 1281 times)

DavidD

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Insurance Claim Problems
« on: June 19, 2021, 12:12:52 PM »

Three weeks ago I was shunted in the rear by a taxi. I was stationary in a queue going uphill and the car behind hit me very hard, wedging himself beneath my rear spare wheel and stuck on my tow bar. The taxi was probably a write-off but on my car (Series 2 1959 station wagon) the rear door was damaged and a crack line appeared along the rear crossmember, showing rust underneath i.e. it was rusty inside.
My insurance company advised me not to drive it until checked by an engineer and offered me a hire car in the meantime, which I very reluctantly accepted having not driven anything less than 62 years old in the past 12 years. That is where the problems started. The taxis insurance company then contacted me, accepted liability, and advised a) that they would not pay any excess charge on my policy as I was using my own insurance, and b) that they would not pay anything more for the hire car than they would pay if I used one they supplied. To cut a long story short, they eventually sent an engineer to check my car (after three weeks of protests) who said that the car was repairable but it was safe to use again. The taxis insurance company (Novo) has now offered me two-thirds of the full price of the repair (new cross-member) but will not pay any of the car hire costs as I didn't need a hire car i.e. leaving me to foot the bill for the hire.  Is this just the way of the world of car insurance nowadays or have I just been unlucky?
DavidD
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GlenAnderson

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Re: Insurance Claim Problems
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2021, 12:29:20 PM »

They’re chancing their arm on you folding.

Let your insurance sort it out.

All insurance companies are out to make a profit. Sadly, that means charging as much as they can and paying as little as they can get away with.

I accept that claiming on your insurance may cost you at renewal, but you’ll have a “no fault” accident to declare regardless and that will bump your premium anyway.


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It’s not air, it’s adjustment.

Jimbo

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Re: Insurance Claim Problems
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2021, 12:34:59 PM »

I had my discovery written off by a HGV, the HGV’s insurance company accepted liability and kept phoning me to discuss.
I ignored them and left it to my insurance company to sort out. They covered all
My hire car costs and my excess. I even got a reasonable pay out for the car (first offer was exactly what I thought it was worth). I wasn’t out of pocket and to be fair a non fault accident on my record hasn’t actually made much difference to my premiums since.
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James

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Wittsend

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Re: Insurance Claim Problems
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2021, 01:39:00 PM »

 :-\ Very important to have an agreed value policy for a classic car.
Keep your vehicle records/log up to date with pictures and work done.

In February a car pulled out of a parking space right in front of me.
Clearly that driver's fault - witnesses etc.
No one was hurt.

I drove home - 10 minutes.
20 minutes after the accident I got a text message from the driver's insurance admitting it was their fault
 and they would handle matters - in fact their insurers Adrian Flux passed the handling claim on to a 3rd party.

No thanks .... I was straight on to MY insurers to sort things out.
All sorted within 1 hour of the accident.
Next day I got a hire car replacement and my car was taken to a well known body and repair shop.
It took them 4 weeks to fix - Brexit slowed parts down from Germany.
In addition to the obvious damage - new front end, bonnet, I got a new headlight, new grille, a new radiator and they realigned the suspension and steering.

My no claims was not affected - my excess was waived.
My car came back better than new!
I have since renewed my policy and it was a few £s less than last time - less miles under Covid ???

Moral of the story:- Inform your insurers, as you are obliged to do under the terms of your policy.
Let them handle the claim - I got 2 phone calls from their insurers pushing me to let them handle my repairs.
That's what you are paying for when you take out a policy.
I'm with LV  :first

Oh ...

I went out and bought a front and rear dash cam setup (and the same for Mrs Wittsend) fitted by Halfords.

I was lucky - I had witnesses and obvious proof of fault.... next time I'll be better protected.
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Dopey

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Re: Insurance Claim Problems
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2021, 04:01:58 PM »

In the UK we have the Insurance Ombudsman, it will cost you nothing and is independent (government funded) but it will cost the insurance company £700 just for them to look into it, and they have to abide by their decision what ever it might be, contact them, they will sort it out for you
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stuart

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Re: Insurance Claim Problems
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2021, 08:00:55 AM »

i have to say i have dash cams in all our cars and land rovers
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Sunny Jim

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Re: Insurance Claim Problems
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2021, 01:08:23 PM »

I have said elsewhere on here about when I had a nearly new car written off - the police attended and he was happy for me to drive it home even though it turned out to have body distortion! The driver and passenger of the other vehicle legged it, and the owner came back later spinning a yarn about how he was selling the car, and the other person was driving and he only chased him etc. etc. I had three witnesses, but no-one could confirm who was driving. My insurance company handled everything, I had to get the driver's details off the police officer later! I got a hire car supplied by my insurer until the claim was 'settled' (i.e. they ordered the new car). I also got my premium loading refunded, and no excess after the other party (eventually) admitted liability, despite the claim not being settled on renewal 18 months later as my insurance company said it was their problem to get the money, not mine! Nothing of this changes the fact that it was an incredibly stressful time (from early August to late December to get the new car) with lots of phone calls etc as I used my car for work, not just commuting! I clocked up something like 2500 miles in hire cars.

I have the maximum valuation I can on my Land Rover, without independent inspection, so as to up the value of repairs possible before it becomes an economic write off. They wanted a written statement from me (by e-mail) that I would want salvage of the vehicle in the event of a write off. In my statement I made it clear that I would want to repair the vehicle, irrespective of cost if technically practicable, and that new chassis and bulkheads were available so the vehicle would be 'as new'. I have to fill in a form and supply a couple of 'recent' photographs every coupe of years, I am with Peter James.

Sunny Jim
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w3526602

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Re: Insurance Claim Problems
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2021, 04:23:00 PM »

Hi Sunny Jim,

Thinks ... would a dash cam keep running after a shunt, to film the perps running away? Probably not, if you turned the ignition off (if somebody hits you hard enough, your "inertia switch" will probably kill the camera anyway).

602.

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Sunny Jim

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Re: Insurance Claim Problems
« Reply #8 on: July 25, 2021, 04:37:36 PM »

This happened in 2013, and dash cams were still quite a new thing then, and not all of very good quality!

I don't know what it is about car accidents, but it seems a lot of people find it socially acceptable to instantly start lying about what happened! it is a shame that making blatantly false statements isn't treated the same as making a fraudulent claim. Insurance companies could then refuse to pay out the fraudulent claimant's damage, cancel their insurance, and blacklist them! There again, insurance companies themselves are notorious for trying to wriggle out of paying if they can,

Sunny Jim
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