stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,961
Club RR Member Number: 174
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In November my girlfriend reversed our car into a neighbours sons' company car outside our house, which stoved a door in fairly badly. We passed on our insurance details to his company and a couple of weeks later we received a letter from their insurers stating the details of the claim. The address of the incident was wrong (had it as the other car owners home address) so I phoned their insurers up and told them of the mistake. I didn't hear anything for months, and have kept in contact with my insurance and they havent heard anything either - apart from my inital report of the incident.
Today we received a letter from a solicitors claiming for damages of £530 to cover their clients policy excess. I'm not sure why they're just claiming the excess. I thought the normal situation was that the insurance of the person that caused the damage covered the entire cost of repairing the damage not just the insurance excess? (Ive never made a claim)
To me it seems like they've screwed up the paperwork, their insurance has refused to claim off of ours as it would be rejected and they're scrambling to get any money they can out of us.
Matt
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Insurers are capable of awesome levels of incompetency and screwups so I guess its possible.
I would forward the letter on to your own insurers and let them sort it out, don't respond personally as it could be construed as an admission of guilt blah blah blah.....
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1986 Panda 4x4.
1990 Metro Sport.
1999 Ford Escort estate.
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,220
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Company car with a £530 excess?  And don't forget, the excess is a way to reduce the cost of your insurance, you pay the excess if you make a claim on your insurance, if you can't claim the full cost of damages back from the other parties insurance company. Sounds like someone has made a cock up, esp. 'cos details of the claim were wrong. I'd pass this letter onto my insurance company and I think you can be pretty sure that it won't go to court if you refuse to pay. One cock up in the paperwork is enough to stop that happening! |
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You only normally pay the excess if you claim on your own insurance to have your vehicle repaired.
One of my drivers was found at fault for an accident that caused £20,000+ of damage but the initial impact caused minimal damage to our van. We fixed our van the same day (bumper and headlight) and insurance sorted out the rest. No excess to be paid.
So.....if you haven't had your car repaired by your insurance, don't pay anything.
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"Today we received a letter from a solicitors claiming for damages of £530 to cover their clients policy excess. I'm not sure why they're just claiming the excess. I thought the normal situation was that the insurance of the person that caused the damage covered the entire cost of repairing the damage not just the insurance excess? (Ive never made a claim)"
They've claimed off their insurance, and had to pay an excess (which will be in part policy, in part voluntary); as you are liable they then proceed with a civil recovery for their uninsured losses against you.
You should then pass this on to your insurers (the solicitors for the injured party should have done this in the first instance) , if they have been handling the claim, if they haven't claimed on your insurance, then you can either pay it or seek legal advice to defend it, and not lose your no claims bonus (though you should declare the accident anyway), or pass it on to your insurers and take the claim.
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Insurers are capable of awesome levels of incompetency and screwups so I guess its possible. I would forward the letter on to your own insurers and let them sort it out, don't respond personally as it could be construed as an admission of guilt blah blah blah..... Limitations of Liability act - this is a non-issue - but liability has already been admitted  |
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,961
Club RR Member Number: 174
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I don't get why they haven't claimed the lot off my insurance as I passed on all the details. The incorrect location of the accident (listed as other parties home address) is making me wonder if the car is only covered for business related journies and not personal use. Is there any way to find out?
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I'll check tomorrow. It's unlikely that a company car wouldn't be covered SDP&Business - it'd just be unworkable unless it were a pool car (in which case it'd be the firm claiming claiming the excess from them and then them claiming from you). Regardless, as third party your girlfriend's liability is admitted and insured.
It's not unusual for people to have uninsured losses, but it's best just to let the insurers argue about it. If they weren't covered then your side will argue accordingly!
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It's not a cock up, and it's nothing to be concerned about.
If you rang your insurers to tell them about an accident like this, you'd say it happened outside your house, even if it was actually a few yards down the road. At least I would. Where it happened doesn't really matter here-you're not disputing it was your girlfriends fault, or that it happened.
He claimed off his insurance, they charged him an excess. The solicitors wrote to you because you are liable for his losses. But, you do have insurance so they'll pay it for you, but it's still your liability, so the solicitors have to write to you initially. Just pass the letter onto your insurers, they'll deal with it for you.
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" East bound and down, loaded up and truckin' "
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,961
Club RR Member Number: 174
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The address they listed as the accident location was about 15 miles away. I have no problem admitting my girlfriend was at fault, but cant see they wouldn't claim for the entire cost of repairs from my insurance and just get back their losses. Surely an accident claim on their policy will have some sort of effect on their premium?
I'm gonna phone my insurance in the morning and see if they can check the whole story out and find out why they didnt claim for the entire repair on my insurance (repair was £2150+VAT I got them the quote).
I think the reason i'm struggling to grasp this is i'm not sure if they're doing me a favour or not (I could pay the £530 outright but not £2500). I know the company he works for are pretty much bankrupt so surely they'd be trying to get as much money as possible.
Matt
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andyf
South West
Posts: 415
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As Richard says above, do not worry, just pass the letter onto your insurers and they will deal with it, that`s what they are there for.
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1980 Triumph TR7.
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