Uh oh... Insurance troubles...

Matt-Page

Matt-Page

Matt-Page

Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2004
Posts
3,794
Hey all,

2 weeks ago I had an accident in my car. Without going into oodles of detail a young lad/teenager came off the kerb from a road that ran diagonal with the road I was driving on, on my left. He came out, into the road infront of me. I didn't see him coming, and my instinct as I was moving (at about 20mph in traffic) was to steer left and avoid him. Turning left obviously sent my left wheel into the kerb and I came back off it and touched the car infron of me. God knows why I didn't break hard enough as well, but I didn't. The wish bone / rod was bent so it was a tow away job. The estimate came to (and this I can't believe) 4k's worth of damage. The Insuracne companies recovery vehicle decided to tow it by the bent wishbone (cable winch) onto the trailer, which popped the whisbone out of place, bent the wheel round and pulled the drive-shaft out!

Now, to be fair, I can live with the car being written off. The worst part is yet to come.

1) I bought the car new in 06 on finance. The finance runs out next June. The insurance company said "if there is finance on the vehicle, the insurance money will go to them". So my first question is, does this have to be the case? I'd prefer to take the money, buy another car and continue with my payments until next june.

2) And now this is the bit I am most worried about. They want me to post off my driving documents (license/MOT/etc) but I've got 3 points on my license. I feel as sure as I should be that I informed them of these, but I checked my policy to be double sure and it doesn't appear on the policy anywhere. When I informed them I phoned them and told them once I receive my paper license back.

Worse case scenario, am I looking at them washing their hands of my policy, and charing me for recovery? I'm bricking it tbh.

I accept the accident was 100% my fault, and I have accepted liability, so please don't post about this or as for MSPaint drawings as I have seen may of these threads go :p
 
I dont think they will not pay out, but what might happen, if they want to be harsh is charge you back pay and then cancel the insurance after. You will then have to declare you have had your insurance cancelled in the past for your next insurance and that makes it hard to find / pricey!

If they are nice they will just ask for back pay.
 
Are you sure? I'm a bit un experienced in this. I'm also worried what legal proceedings I could face.

I'm thinking worse case scenario, as I always do. If I've done wrong and not informed them then fair enough, I have to pay the price for it, it's know ones fault other than my own.

Your post has helped nurture my jumpy thoughts though. Can anyone else advise as well?
 
1: The finance company owns the car so i'd imagine the money will go to them (they are the ones who have lost out the most).

2: I'm not sure about what will happen, the 3 points is a material fact in the insurance (IE very important, like the name of the driver, where you live, any mods to the car), however i'd imagine that if it's for a minor offence (fixed penalty for speeding a little voer the limit etc) it probably won't affect it too much.

I'm not sure if we've got any insurance experts here, but i know 5ive-o have some great ones who have dealt with practically everything.
 
What normally happens in these situations is that the Insurance company can only invalidate the policy if they would not have accepted you as a risk, had they known the facts. If they would have taken on the risk, but charged you a higher premium, then they can ask for that.

If they feel that you deliberately failed to tell them something, it may be different, but non disclosing a small speeding is unlikely to warrant as such.

On the finance, it depends on the terms of the loan. Review your paperwork on it.
 
You guys have made me feel a WHOLE lot better with your replies. :)

Is there another forum you could reccommend posting on so I can be double sure?

Thanks.
 
What about the fact that the recovery truck driver actually caused more damage, as you said he did. Sounds like half of the costs is due to his inability to do his job.
 
AtreuS said:
What about the fact that the recovery truck driver actually caused more damage, as you said he did. Sounds like half of the costs is due to his inability to do his job.
Click to expand...

Yup, he made a RIGHT meal out of it, I can't understand his logic to tow it via the bent wishbone, especially on the side that the damage was done.

To be honest, I could kick up stink about this, which would result in a massive investigation no doubt, which would only hold back the insurance company paying out.

Also, the money left on the car is LESS than what the total write off will be, I assume I will get what's left over? Otherwise I will just have to get a loan and buy a different car. I wont be going new this time, and I may even go dirty cheap and TPF&T.
 
1: I don't see how a bent wishbone and a popped driveshaft will ever amount to an 06 car being written off - unless it's a poverty spec Matiz or something.
2: If it is written off fo say 3k and you owe 2k on finance, the finance company will get 2k and you'll get 1k (assuming there are no early repayment charges).
3: If the car was damaged during and insurance approved recovery, they are obliged to fix it BUT the damage may increase the chance of it being written off (again, I can't see justification of it being written off). They can recover the car how they like WITHIN REASON. I.e. pulling up onto a trailer via the wishbone sounds ok to me. Smashing the windows and putting a chain through the doors would not be (now, if you'd popped all four wheels of that would be a different matter).
4: As prev posters have said - not declaring you points probably wont result in a non payout, but I would expect a request for a back pay premium and termination of the policy.
 
If you phoned them to declare the points, you'll be fine. If they failed to record the points on their records that is their error not yours.
 
It's hard to prove that you phoned up and said you had the points. I think most of the time they said 'your call *may* be recorded' etc - I'm not sure if its up to you to prove you called and said that, or them to prove otherwise. A logged call on your phone statement wouldn't be good enough.

But I think as others have said, the outcome isn't going to be worst case... you will probably just have to pay a bit of back pay etc.
 
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