My van was rear-ended yesterday which caused a fair amount of damage ( looking at atleast £3000 worth )
Anyhow, I always thought that in the event of a claim, you had to pay your excess and then got it back at the end of the issue - is this not the case?
The guy who hit my van rang his insurer immediately and admitted liability - this was before I spoke to my insurer - and as soon as I had given all the details to my insurer, he put me on hold - was this to ring the other insurer? I ask because when he came back on the phone, he was talking about how and when I would be getting it fixed and that this would be a quick claim. Is this normal?
I always assumed it was a more drawn out process than that - he didnt mention anythinga bout filling out forms about the nature of the accident and didnt take much detail on the incident, which suprised me a little.
There was never any mention about the excess at all - could this be because the other driver had already admitted liability?
This is the first time ive had to deal with a claim so my apologies if Im sounding a little green!
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That's pretty similar to how my recent claim, for a similar (but smaller) event, was handled.
The only delaying thing in my case was that I insisted it was done by my Honda dealer (even though I know they sub it out, although in the end it was done in house as it just needed the bumper and Honda bumpers come ready coloured) rather than the insurers approved repairer. This meant I had to take it for an estimate before my insurance company would approve the repair. Once done, they did specifically say that they would waive the excess and that the claim wouldn't affect my NCB etc.
The other thing that happened which was slightly odd is that the third party's insurance company rang and asked to speak to my wife (who was driving the car). Even though I own the car and it's insured in my name they wouldn't speak to me, so I told them to go away - DD as the claim was being handled by my insurers. Seems likely they wanted to handle the claim directly, probably through their repairers.
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My wife hit a low guard rail in a car park and as the car is under warranty wanted it fixed by the franchise. Her policy is with an internet company, e-documents etc, which does give you swift cover in times of need. In the policy, for another £50 you can get it done at the garage of your choice.
Ha ha!!
They made it very difficult to do this. Said it could only be done if the nominated garage would accept their labour and repair rates. This was like half or less of the franchise price. The engineer was so arrogant with it. The dealer (who had not evn suplied the car) was so miffed he repaired it for us for the cost of the excess, which keeps the claim off her record.
Beware - cheap insurance means cheap fixes. Would you want £15K of your pride and joy repaired to a price? Rather have it repaired to a standard thanks. And the insurance company.......so far we have 5 people who will not renew with them (hehe) so they've lost already much more than the income that repairing her car would have cost them. And the bodyshop manager stopped his mother in law taking up their quote. And if they want a car repaired at that franchise, they can go and whistle, along with the customers the franchise see who ask them who handles claims well.
Some companies don't learn. But their cut-price repairer policy probably applies to their whole organisation (the franchise body manager said peanuts and monkeys......)
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The dealer (who had not evn suplied the car) was so miffed he repaired it for us for the cost of the excess, which keeps the claim off her record.
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I think she still has to declare it when she renews (or you change companies). You're asked if you've had any accidents or convictions.
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Having just dealt with a first claim a couple of months ago I'll chuck my twopennorth in...
Mine was fro an elderly relative and it was her fault so there will be some differences...
Rang insurance broker who took claim details and they contacted actual insurer who then sent me a postal claim form ( this would have been handled over the phone but because it was not my car it was more complicated) and while speaking over the phone faxed details of vehicle and address through to their approved repairer who came the next day and collected it. In the meantime I had posted the form back to them with diagrams and what have you. Because my relative admitted it was her fault it didn't make much difference what was on the form as they were paying out any way. The vehicle was written off - they sent a cheque which was minus the excess and all was fine
From working in insurance myself in the past I can say with almost 100% certainty insurers never ring each other at this stage
I'm guessing you have fully comp. which means that, whether it was your fault or not, there will be a payout so theymay as well get your van looked at quickly - the liabilty thing may yet be sorted as people often change their minds when they fuill in the actual form
If, they decide to repair it (and not write off) then you will pay the excess when you go to pick up the van - that's how they explained it to me
Hope it's helpful
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My insurer said over the phone that due to the age of the van, it would be repaired ( its still driveable and he said that that being the case, the damage is unlikely to be such that it would write-off the van ).
Its quite a simple case - I was waiting to turn left at a T-junc and the car behind me misjudged his stopping distance and pushed me 5 ft into the main road - he was more concerned about if id hurt myself than any damage to his car - he works in insurance and was very quick to give his full details inc policy number, didnt mess me around at all.
It would be hard for him to claim it was my fault, esp as I was stationary - my insurer said much the same thing which was why he was confident it would be simple and quick.
As it turns out, I hurt my neck during the impact - does my insurer need to know this?
They asked when I phoned but it wasnt hurting then, but after a nights sleep, im in agony.
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If there's any remote suggestion of personal injury you must notify your insurer asap - (and go to casualty - you just don't know what injury you're carrying)
My relatives car only had a broken rear light cluster, scratched plastic side bumper and paint on one door and a broken mirror - it was totally driveable and you could have probably fixed it yourself for a couple of hundred if you weren't too fussy about the paintwork
Their 'engineer/assessor' said it was uneconomical to repair (it was N reg) and paid out the full vale - over a thousand
Be wary of taking the insurance guy's word over the phone - he hasn't seen your car and is only going on your word - the repair assessor may say something else entirely when he has a look
He's probably just agreeing with you when you say it's not too badly damaged - did you say 3ks worth of damage? incl labour at proper garage rates?
your van will need to be worth a fair amount more than that for them to fix it - also if they have to give you a courtesy replacement - that will cost them
They could say it's cheaper all round to write off - depends of course, on your individual circumstances
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If is completely the other party's fault then you claim straight off their insurance. You don't pay out any excess then at all. You only pay the excess if you claim from your insurance company and let them then settle with the third party. In clear cut cases like this it is possible the insurance companies have arrangements where they just take the cost and then settle up with each other at the end of the year depending on how may policy holders of the others they have hit! To speed things up either accept the other party's insurance approved repairer or get quotes from a couple of garages for the work so you can present them straight away. The other insurance company will probably want to send out an assessor to make sure of the damage too.
It is much easier when you have the other insurance company admitting liability and promising to cough up for the repairs :-)
teabelly
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Had a claim this year.
Other insurance company admitted it was there policy holder at fault so they paid up in full, No excess needed to be paid by myself.
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My insurer ( Privilege ) said that they would have THEIR assessor call me early next week to arrange an inspection.
He said that I wont have to lift a finger and they will do all the leg work for me inc quotes etc.
One thing that I forgot to ask - my spare tire which is under the floor, took the brunt of the impact and the cage was bent badly, the tire sidewall is indented from the cage although its not gone falt - will they automatically change the tyre as Im not convinced it is safe?
If I want it to be done by an approved repairer for Suzuki, do I need to make a fuss about it in order for that to happen as I dont want the warranty invalidated in any way?
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Speaking of Privilege ( also my insurance company ) if they recommend a certain approved repairer near deleted - although you've not named them, giving their location *could* be enough to infringe our no name/shame policy - DD please dont go there pick there other approved repairer.
You should also be getting a call from a certain hire car company for a loan vehicle.
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>>Speaking of Privilege ( also my insurance company ) if they recommend a certain approved repairer near deleted - DD please dont go there pick there other approved repairer.
You should also be getting a call from a certain hire car company for a loan vehicle.<<
I want mine done by a Suzuki approved repairer and I think I know of the one you mean - my sister went for a quote from there and didnt like it much. I dont want my warranty being affected.
Should I be wary of this hire company?
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Hire compnay is brilliant, Enterprise rent a car, They will bend over backwards to help you.
They also rent vans too.
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Re - your tire cage - do get them to this
You want to be put back in the condition you were in before the accident
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If you have Comprehensive Cover and you have a bump and the 3rd party is admitting liability
1) You can claim on your own policy, pay the excess and then claim the excess back.
2) Claim on the 3rd party insurer and there is no excess - the 3rd party pays the garage directly.
Both Ins Cos will want their niminated repair shop - you can say no and go elsewhere but then you will need quotes in advance of the work starting.
When you are off the road you are entitled to a replacement car / van of "similar stature" to your own car i.e If you have a 5 series - you might get a large car but not necessarily a BMW 5 series. If the accident is your own fault cover for a hire car depends on the policy T&Cs and what you bought when you took out the policy.
In your case get the 3rd party insurer to arrange the hire & pay for it - if you hire & you pay you could wait weeks / months to get a settlement of the account.
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So would it be a good idea for me to go out and get quotes from Suzuki approved repairers?
I would hope I get a van as a loan vehicle as I use mine for work and I need a decent amount of space.
My understanding from my insurer is as I said, they will do everything and I am only to deal direct with them, which suits me.
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i reckon stuart you want to be prepared for this to be written off,they arent made anymore and the parts more than likely will not be in the country.
forewarned as they say
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Just be a little alert when going through your own insurer. If it is a van and you use it ffor work I assume it is a commercial policy? That being so there can be a few differences between that and a private car policy so the best approach to a claim is not always the same. Especially around the "extension" bits - personal effects, replacement vehicles etc.
I haven't read this thread fully and can't really reply longer since this is on my Blackberry and I'm in the Andes. However, if its still ongoing in a few days and I can offer any advice I should be back on a real computer by then.
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