Daughter's Fiesta has had quite serious damage done by a ridge tile being blown off a roof into the n/s wing. I'd guess wing replacement required.
House owner has said she will claim it from house insurance. How would she go about doing this, and ought I be reporting it to daughter's car insurer (which I am reluctant to do in case she loses NCB).
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We've had cars in the company car park damaged in the past as a result of tiles being blown off in high winds, and both the car insurers and building insurers both said 'Act of God - we don't pay out"
just 'cos I know what I'm saying doesn't mean I know what I'm talking about
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Firstly get comfirmation that the house insurance will pay for all the damage and a courtesy car. Call them yourself. The damage to your car is a Material Fact and should be reported and iff the House insurence had agreed to pay out then you inform your insurance of all the details and off you go. You should not loose any NCD at all. Good Luck Regards Peter
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Extract from insurance site...
www.insurancexpert.co.uk/site/insurance_expert_car...n
3. Some tiles have blown off my neighbour's house and smashed up my car. Surely it must be the neighbour's responsibility to pay up for the damage?
This is more a legal question than an insurance one! If you want to get your neighbour to pay for the damage you will have to prove that he/she was actually responsible for what happened. It is not enough that they owned the tile. As this is a legal question you should consult a legal adviser to see how successful you are likely to be if you sue them. If you don't want the hassle of trying to get the money off your neighbour and you have comprehensive motor insurance you might like to claim on your own policy - but read the answer to the question about no claim bonuses before you do!!
If however you have opted to pay for legal expenses cover in addition to your motor insurance policy then a solicitor will be appointed to pursue the claim on your behalf. Your insurance broker can provide you with further details.
Jonathan
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If this case came to a legal argument, while it seems true that >it is not enough that the neighbour owned the tile<, he might presumably be accused of not maintaining his roof in a stormproof condition, i.e.negligence?
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I got a quote from my local man who said about £250 for replacement wing and respray.
Meantime, daughter (who always thinks she knows best) has contacted Citizens Advice Bureau, who said she MUST contact her insurers, which she did (without me knowing). She's only on 3rd party insurance.
They took all details, but she has come off the phone without knowing exactly who is doing what next...back into my hands I suppose. Insurers said that she ought to be able to claim a courtesy car for duration of repair.
I'm sure a "proper" place will charge at least twice as much for the same work, and I'm also sure that she stands a good chance of losing her NCB as a result...she would have done better to pay the £250 herself...!!!
I will update as it progresses...
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She can't lose her NCB as there is no-one to claim off because she has third party insurance.
Here is another link from the former insurance ombudsman bureau detailing a similar case.
www.theiob.org.uk/bulletins/bulletin19/section5.ht...l
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Well she seemed to be assuming that her insurance co will follow up the claim for her, presumably with the house insurance company. In which case, as they are "putting themselves out", I'm sure this will affect her NCD. Can't see them doing it for free...
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I called Direct Line to find out more.
The guy said (rather mysteriously) that Third Party was designed to claim from third parties!
But anyway, he then put me through to the back office, who have lodged the claim with their recovery people. He said that this means that they believe they will recover all costs. And that she will not lose any NCD.
I also read the policy and it may be possible to use the legal recovery service which she paid extra for, if she lost NCD.
I'm surprised that they will bother to do this with someone who is only on third party...still, will wait and see...
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Actually, that is what I would have done.
This goes to show what a bargain the Uninsure loss recovery service can be. Despite her being 3rd party, the service is still contracted to assess the claim to see if it is a worthy cause.
The neighbour will now be forced to contact her house insurance to put this claim in motion and I suspect that the house insurance may pay out rather than involve legal costs.
In any case your daughter has nothing to lose by pursuing this so long as the costs to her remain as nil.
Hugo
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Daughter has just received a call from Direct Line uninsured loss people telling her they will not be pursuing the claim as it was Act of God (as someone predicted above).
So....where does that leave her? £250 out of pocket, it seems to me. I'm glad it wasn't worse.
Any suggestions gratefully received. Seems to me all we could do is appeal to the house owner's better side - but I suspect this is unlikely to be productive.
Not been a good month for me & motoring - my car suffering attempted break in (£200 damage from my pocket), father in law car stolen, and this...
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just remember, everything comes in three's
so you have had your fair share this year !
you can relax now, should be a worry free year !
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Earlier point about neighbour being negligent by not keeping the roof in good condition surely depends on them being aware there was a problem and not getting it fixed. Put yourself in their position - a tile blows off your perfectly sound (as far as you know) roof and damages a car. I suspect the suggestion then would be that the car owner attempts to claim off their own insurance. "Act of God" get-out presumably makes success unlikely, and I doubt the house insurance would cover it (unless possibly under additional "accidental damage" cover).
You may end up relying on the neighbour to put their hand in their pocket, but in their position I'm not sure I'd be too keen to pay up!
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What i'd do depends on the value of the car:
Its on 3rd party insurance so I take it the cars worth less than £1k anyway?
If the neighbour won't pay up (lets be reasonable here, its not really their fault through negligence) then push for them to pay half. If they refuse then just leave the damage as it is (unless you are prepared to get a wing from a scrappy) - a car of £1k is not worth spending £250 on cosmetic repairs.
If you are planning to trade the car in soon don't forget that it will cost you more to repair the car than it will cost the trade in garage, so for a repair that will cost you £250 they will knock £(less than 250) off the trade in amount.
Just depends if your daughter can bear driving round in a dented car, its a fiesta anyway so not the most stylish of cars!
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Interestingly received the quote from the Ford dealer bodyshop today. £692!!!
I'm glad it wasn't worse - personal injury springs to mind - although money doesn't compensate for it, it also doesn't seem right that an innocent party can suffer without any retribution.
I will await more advice from here, then probably tackle it by asking the houseowner to pay half.
We had no plans to change the car (having owned it almost since new - I was going to buy it back off daughter 1 for daughter 2 who will shortly be starting lessons). I suppose in their position I wouldn't want to pay, so we will end up paying it. The car is in very good nick (genuine 36k etc) and looked good until this (and has recentrly cost me a few bob mechanically).
Willsim - I know a Fiesta isn't the most stylish of cars, and that your comment was t-i-c, but at the end of the day she is an 18 yo not earning too much and it's her one BIG possession which she takes pride in.
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Thats fair enough, as they say a car you know you've looked after well yourself is worth double the book price, its just if it was a bit ropey I wouldn't bother spending the cash.
In your case its probably worth repairing - it wouldn't be if the car cost you £400 8 months ago (which my 130k 306 did, and I now drive round with a big dent on the wing from a car park hit and run).
I'd again ask the neighbour to pay, failing that, I can't see how they can refuse to pay at least half.
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will - I wasn't suggesting that my scenario was reasonable, only that someone might propose it. I don't think I would want to pay up either, but I might wonder whether I should accept at least some of the responsibility. If a tile blows off my roof, it's most likely to land on my own car - who do I blame for that?
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