Car insurance claim advice needed please....

[seasider27]

Hi

 

About 2 months ago my girlfriend had reversed off our drive, stopped, then was about set off forward down our cul de sac to turn around at the end. We live at the first house of our road cornering on the main road and our side street. A car has come off the main road too quick and not stopped as they were not crossing traffic and driven into the BACK of my girlfriends car. My brother was outside the house and saw what happened.

 

They have both got out and my girlfriend noticed the other lady had a 4ish year old sat in the front seat with no child seat. Not sure if it was affecting the said drivers concentration... anyway.. my girlfriends car did not have a mark on it really, just a small scratch on the bumper. The other ladies front bumper fell off. They left it that both were saying it was each others fault. Considering my girlfriend was stationery in the road and the other lady had full view of the road and did not have enough space to stop at the speed she was travelling.

 

My girlfriend then got an email from her insurance company saying that the lady had put a claim in against her. We obviously as did not think had done anything wrong and did not deem it neccessary to get our car fixed did not ring our insurance company to claim anything. We told them what happened and they said that they would put that back to her insurance and then they would be in touch.

 

Nothing has happened in the mean time and my girlfriend rang up our insurance company this morning to find out if there was any news and they said that they have paid out to her. They have paid £1.5k to replace her written off car (the bumper just fell off, she drove it away from the scene) and £900 for a courtesy car. She has also lost her two years no claims and has been told that her insurance will rise next year.

 

What we are not happy about is that we have not had any communication stating how things were progressing, no one has listened to how the accident actually happened and we were not informed once that we had in effect 'lost the case'. Is there anything we can ??

 

We have a witness in my brother who saw exactly what happened, we believe we were not wrong and now it has left my girlfriend at 24 back in the same boat she was at 18 in insurers eyes.

 

Not happy

[YASSARKHAL]

Hi just a quick reply to say the same happened to me it's quite simple to get it turned around contact your insurance and tell them you ain't recieved any letters or any form of communication from them before settling any claim and that you will be taking this matter to court then they will be sending a investigator to your home to discuss this did your gf take any photos these days this will write of a car due to the age of the car not damage lawfully if she hit you direct rear of car then fault always Goes to the rear car mention the speeding and lack of road awareness due to child in her car and find out if child was mentioned in the accident any help let me know will send you me number will get sorted my end result was did took the cash back from the other driver and I was paid out sorry about my writing using my iPhone good luck mate

[raydetinu]

you must contest this with the insurance co. and send them all the details, witness atatenments, full description of what happened etc.

If they settled without getting your side of the story, then thats not looking after your interests and negligent.

[seasider27]

Thanks a lot for your advice. We have been going through their complaints department. They have said that it might look like they have done something wrong as they have no record of us receiving and agreeing to the settlement etc.

 

But now they have stopped contacting us. We keep ringing the direct line to the agent who is dealing with our case but he never rings back or answers. Is there anything else we can do to pressure them? We want to keep the momentum and get it sorted ASAP.

 

thanks a lot.

[crem]

Keep it in writing!

[seasider27]

We have just had this email reply. It seems like they are just trying to fob us off. I am going to get some advice from our company solicitor to see if there is any advice he can offer. See below to see if there is anything we can do?

 

Dear Ms *******

I have now received the images and assessment following the inspection of your vehicle and note the minor damage to the rear offside.

Unfortunately, after viewing the images of the other vehicle involved it would be impossible to ascertain which owner would be held at fault for this incident.

It is in my opinion that at the very least, this claim could of been settled on a 50/50 basis given the conflicting statements from either side involved and therefore the loss of your NCD would apply

You were seeking details of the other drivers insurance and I can confirm they are insured with *******************

All payments made on this file have been on a ‘without prejudice’ basis and liability has never been admitted by us. Unfortunately, as we have no outlay to recoup and, in any event, the repairs to your vehicle fall within your excess amount, we cannot make any claim on your behalf.

I am sorry that the results of the investigation may not be the outcome you would of wished for, however, i feel the payments made on this file were justified bearing in mind the ongoing losses being incurred.

Yours sincerely,

 

I just feel this is not right as we have not claimed anything as the excess was too high for the damage that we incurred. She has decided to claim against us and its us who have lost our no claims and have a scratched car when he has just said it was 50/50 at the very least.

[danielr]

Write back.

 

Say that you consider the other party to be 100% liable.

 

You were stationary in the road at the time of the accident (part way through a manoeuvre, and that the raod was clear when you started your manoeuvre) and that you do not believe that the accident was your fault at all.

 

the other driver, was in your opinion distracted from driving by their not properly restrained child in the car, and clearly was not driving with the correct attention as they were unable to stop in time to avoid a stationary object. as you were partway through your manoeuvre the other driver should have stopped and given way. they didn't, they were at fault.

 

That you understand given the circumstances that the insurance company felt that they should have mitigated their losses with regards the potential outcome, but that this was their choice, accepting a settlement without reference to you at all is negligent.