Ford Focus - Claim made against me even though not my fault

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Fri 21 May 2010 15:21
Ford Focus - Claim made against me even though not my fault - Focus_Driver

Last november my car was stolen. It was recovered abandoned a few days later and written off. As far as I know they have not caught whoever stole the car. Insurance company paid up and I lost 2 years no claims bonus, moving from 5 to 3.

Today, 6 months later, I received a letter saying a claim is being made against me. I phoned up the insurance co and was told my car hit a parked car on the day it was recovered. So the thief crashed the car and fled. Ins co are saying it could/would go down as a further fault claim as it was my car that caused the damage even though I wasn't driving it at the time. So I will lose a further 2 years no claims. I am slightly annoyed because 1) they (insur co and third party) have notified me now, 6 months later which is just within the time limit I think and 2) it be will be a fault claim even though its wasn't my fault.

Where do I stand on this? Insur co said it may go to the motor insur bureau to see if anythng can be done to help me, don't know what it means but they say they will contact me a few days later. Initially I thought how the ****!!!! can this go against me but thinking about it the car was mine at the time, insured under my name, and the insur co have to pay out to the third party. Could I argue since it was not my fault it should not go against me and the insur should absorb the cost?

On the brighter side, they did pay up quickly and I got a lot more than expected. They paid £3600 and it was a 2002 focus tdci, 100k miles. I'd only expected £2500 max. So if I deduct say £500 for increased premiums over the next few years until I recover my max ncb I'm still a few hundred better off?!

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Fri 21 May 2010 15:23
Ford Focus - Claim made against me even though not my fault - Focus_Driver

BTW, I do not have NCB protection

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Fri 21 May 2010 16:34
Ford Focus - Claim made against me even though not my fault - John F

It's not a question of fault - you were not actually there! If the claim was made against you, you should personally defend yourself in court - if necessary. You should not need to involve your insurance company. Indeed, how could you even have reported the accident since you knew nothing about it?

The recorder/judge would surely have to advise the claimant to seek damages from the person who actualy caused the damage. As far as I know you can't sue a car! Like you, the claimant will probably have to end up claiming from his own insurance if he can't get anyone else to pay. That's what insurance is for!

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Fri 21 May 2010 17:37
Ford Focus - Claim made against me even though not my fault - Focus_Driver

OK, thats interesting. I will see what others have to say. The claim cannnot be against me. It will be under the insurance company who covered the car at the time, ie. my car and my policy. So there's no risk of me paying out personally of course. The issue I'm trying to clarify is whether the 3rd party could argue it was my car that caused the damage and therefore request my insurance co to pay out.

Ideally the 3rd party should be claiming against his own insur co because an uninsured driver caused the damage. If my friend took my car without permission and crashed it into another car, my insur co would surely not pay out because the policy would not cover him to drive. ie. the policy would be invalid and the terms broken. So the same logic should apply in this situation where my car had been stolen. Anyway, the guy I spoke to wasn't 100% sure and said it was being looked into. Surely, my insur co won't be that dumb to pay out?

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Mon 24 May 2010 10:05
Ford Focus - Claim made against me even though not my fault - ijws15

Cars don't cause damage - drivers do.

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Mon 24 May 2010 14:12
Ford Focus - Claim made against me even though not my fault - Mick Snutz

Sorry to hear of the predicament. I have no advice to offer other than perhaps ring a few insurance companies directly and given them a 'hypothetical' scenario and see what they say. It's not as if you can contact the ombudsman at this stage because you have to have a case against the insurers of maladministration or similar.

I'm in two minds over the whole situation. Half of me thinks 'what if I was the driver whose car was hit by yours'. I'd like to think I would be put back into the position I was before my car was hit regardless of how it arose. After all that's what insurance is for.

The other half thinks how can you be responsible when you weren't driving and why has it taken nearly 6 months for your insurers to notify you of this additional issue.

I also wonder whether your insurers would have pursued you if you had cancelled their cover shortly after they settled your claim?

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