Insurance question

icyshore · 14 Oct 2010 at 20:31

Is there any way to force an insurance company to fix a car of a person that was totally not at fault that was damaged and is likely to be written off.

I vaguely remember something about the fact that you don't have to accept any of their offers and they will be forced to fix the car back to the condition it was pre accident.

The situation was that my friend was driving down a nsl road at about 50, taking it easy as he was on his way home from work. At a crossroads that he had right of way at, a woman driver drove out in front of him and hit the side of the car ripping off the back wheel and spinning him round into a hedge, destroying the suspension and wheels on the side she didn't hit.

She has admitted full liability at the scene to him and the police and the repairs to the car have just been estimated at £14000 + vat. Car was bought 9 months ago for £11500.

I am defiantly sure that the insurance company has a responsibility to return the innocent party to the same situation as they were in pre accident.

Any legal helps would be good, or anyone that has had the same thing happen and had the nerves to fight the companies.

ins0mn1ac · 14 Oct 2010 at 20:37

So it needs 14k of repairs but its going to be written off? I'd rather have a replacement car than have 14k of repairs, surely that's some seriously major stuff to be replaced?

icyshore · 14 Oct 2010 at 20:57

I think its more the fact that they will offer him the market value for the basic car, and not the ppp the was fitted and the fact she was very low mileage and extremely good condition for her age.

He doesn't want to get a cheque for about what half a current equivalent would cost.

Will Gill · 14 Oct 2010 at 20:59

helphire

just call them, they will be all over it

icyshore · 14 Oct 2010 at 23:11

Will Gill said:
helphire

just call them, they will be all over it

Do you know if they cover Northern Ireland, a lot of English firms think we are strange and won't come near us, they might be true in that though

Will Gill · 15 Oct 2010 at 08:02

We have established commercial arrangements with solicitors located across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. All panel solicitors have relevant Law Society accreditation and have subscribed to rigorous service level agreements to guarantee the highest level of services and standards for your customers.

SGWills · 15 Oct 2010 at 10:42

they have to give you same car with mileage and condition, so any optional extras or mods that werent disclosed wont be covered, but they not going to pay £2500+ extra to repair it, theres no sense in it for them to do so

paradigm · 15 Oct 2010 at 11:18

SGWills said:
they have to give you same car with mileage and condition, so any optional extras or mods that werent disclosed wont be covered, but they not going to pay £2500+ extra to repair it, theres no sense in it for them to do so

If it were him claiming from his insurance as a liable party, then yes.

As he was completely removed from any fault, and it isn't his insurance company, he can IIRC request the repairs to be carried out, regardless of cost.

PMKeates · 15 Oct 2010 at 11:26

SGWills said:
they have to give you same car with mileage and condition, so any optional extras or mods that werent disclosed wont be covered

Mods that weren't disclosed to who? I could drive around in a completely uninsured Bugatti Veyron with £1,000,000 of modifications, and if someone crashed in to it, they'd have to pay for it all.

Vonhelmet · 15 Oct 2010 at 11:47

PMKeates said:
Mods that weren't disclosed to who? I could drive around in a completely uninsured Bugatti Veyron with £1,000,000 of modifications, and if someone crashed in to it, they'd have to pay for it all.

Surely the paying insurance company will source the info from your insurance company, under normal circumstances? Or would they pick through the wreckage checking your word was good on all the fancy mods you'd added?

paradigm · 15 Oct 2010 at 11:53

vonhelmet said:
Surely the paying insurance company will source the info from your insurance company, under normal circumstances? Or would they pick through the wreckage checking your word was good on all the fancy mods you'd added?

It has absolutely nothing to do with your insurance company, and if the other party has admitted liability you don't ever have to involve them in the process.

PMKeates · 15 Oct 2010 at 11:54

vonhelmet said:
Surely the paying insurance company will source the info from your insurance company, under normal circumstances? Or would they pick through the wreckage checking your word was good on all the fancy mods you'd added?

Whether they ask your insurance company what you've insured or not is irrelevant really - in fact, I think they've no right to speak to your insurance company at all? You can give the other party your personal details and deal with the entire claim yourself.

Additionally, invoices for purchase and installation, obvious remaining modification parts, pictures before the accident etc. would all go a long way to verifying your claim. More substantial than what you happened to tell your insurer!

[TW]Fox · 15 Oct 2010 at 12:20

lolthread.

a) When you are involved in a non fault accident, the third party must put you back in the place you were before the accident. One key here though is that they must make reasonable steps to do this. So if your £5k reasonably rare pride and joy you've owned for 4 years requires £5k of repair work, you could probably argue this is reasonable and it would go ahead. However £14k+ of work on an £11.5k car might be stretching it a bit - plus its likely this £11.5k car is reasonably new and thus easily replaceable with something identical.

b) In a non fault accident, your insurance status is irrelevent as far as the other party is concerned. It doesnt matter whether you have declared mods or not - that is an issue between you and your insurer not you and the third party. Your insurer need not be involved at all beyond notifying them the accident has taken place.

Dj_Jestar · 15 Oct 2010 at 12:28

Asking a potentially stupid question, so please hold back on the ribbing.

To look at it from the other party's POV: Lets say the OP's friend did have a number of undeclared mods, and that his insurance policy is void because of this. Should the other party be liable, given the OP's friend should not be driving?

paradigm · 15 Oct 2010 at 12:29

Dj_Jestar said:
Asking a potentially stupid question, so please hold back on the ribbing.

To look at it from the other party's POV: Lets say the OP's friend did have a number of undeclared mods, and that his insurance policy is void because of this. Should the other party be liable, given the OP's friend should not be driving?

Of course the third party is still liable. They still initiated the accident.

PMKeates · 15 Oct 2010 at 12:30

Dj_Jestar said:
To look at it from the other party's POV: Lets say the OP's friend did have a number of undeclared mods, and that his insurance policy is void because of this. Should the other party be liable, given the OP's friend should not be driving?

Let's look at it from this angle. You are jaywalking and someone accelerates and drives straight towards you and mows you down. Fair game, because you broke the rules?

Dj_Jestar · 15 Oct 2010 at 12:30

paradigm said:
Of course the third party is still liable. They still initiated the accident.

Yes, they did initiate the accident, but I was wondering what would happen in that scenario in legal terms. If the car that's not at fault is on the road illegally, etc.

[TW]Fox · 15 Oct 2010 at 12:31

Dj_Jestar said:
Asking a potentially stupid question, so please hold back on the ribbing.

To look at it from the other party's POV: Lets say the OP's friend did have a number of undeclared mods, and that his insurance policy is void because of this. Should the other party be liable, given the OP's friend should not be driving?

Yes, because it's irrelevent. The OP shouldnt not have been driving, he should have been paying more for his insurance. This doesnt absolve the third party of responsibility for driving into his car.

Even if you are uninsured, if a third party hits you, they must pay to repair your car. They damaged it, after all. If the police are involved and you have no insurance you may well find yourself charged over it, but this would be seperate and wouldnt stop the third party being responsible.

paradigm · 15 Oct 2010 at 12:31

Dj_Jestar said:
Yes, they did initiate the accident, but I was wondering what would happen in that scenario in legal terms. If the car that's not at fault is on the road illegally, etc.

In legal terms it's still the fault of the third party.

[TW]Fox · 15 Oct 2010 at 12:32

Dj_Jestar said:
Yes, they did initiate the accident, but I was wondering what would happen in that scenario in legal terms. If the car that's not at fault is on the road illegally, etc.

The car is not at fault. It's really that simple. The negligent third party doesn't luck in just because there is some sort of contractual/civil disopute between the guy they crashed into and his insurance company.