Insurance question about a crash.

chris182008

chris182008

chris182008

Associate
Joined
8 Oct 2011
Posts
660
Location
Lincolnshire
On the way into work today someone came onto my side of the road and hit my car. The roads were very icy so not blaming the person who did it as it's just one of them things. I have a couple of questions which I hope someone can clear up for me.

My insurance told me as I'm only third party fire and theft I would have to sort it out with his insurance to get a pay out and they wouldn't help. Is this normal for third party insurance or is it just a rubbish company?

His insurance rang me and gave me two options. Write off my car and they will pick it up and give me £350 or I keep the car and try and repair it and they will give me £348. I took the 2nd option and I'm hoping to sort the car out with that. Now if I took it to a garage I doubt I could get the car back to how it was with the money and I defiantly couldn't replace the car. So is it common to be in a non fault accident and end up worse of for it?

The car in question is a 1997 mx5 with the o/s front wing caved in, a small dent in the door, snapped off wing mirror and side indicator and a buckled alloy.

Any help or views on this are welcome.
 
What? His insurance has stated it's a write off before they've even looked at it? That's a load of BS.

Do not accept ANY of these options as they are a load of crap.

Get them to come appraise the damage and go from there, it was the other parties fault so they've pretty much admitted liability it seems. Don't rest until it's perfect and you don't lose out.

I'm going through an accident at the minute too.

Third part fire and theft just means if you cause an accident then YOUR insurance company won't pay out for you car. As this is his fault then THEIR insurance has no option but to repair your vehicle.
 
mattyg said:
They value your car at £348??
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Yeah that's what shocked me. If they know where to get road worth mx5's for £350 I want to know.

acemastr said:
What? His insurance has stated it's a write off before they've even looked at it? That's a load of BS.

Do not accept ANY of these options as they are a load of crap.

Get them to come appraise the damage and go from there, it was the other parties fault so they've pretty much admitted liability it seems. Don't rest until it's perfect and you don't lose out.

I'm going through an accident at the minute too.
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Think I might of messed up there as I've accepted the 2nd option already though I'm going to phone up tomorrow as didn't notice the buckled wheel until after the phone call. They have also asked me to take pictures but not given me anyway to send them.
 
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acemastr said:
Sounds like he got a friend to call you to try to settle it immediately without touching insurance
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Pretty sure it was his insurance as it was a 0800 number and I've got texts from them with claim numbers etc. He was very up front about being at fault and didn't hesitate about giving me his details.
 
chris182008 said:
On the way into work today someone came onto my side of the road and hit my car. The roads were very icy so not blaming the person who did it as it's just one of them things. I have a couple of questions which I hope someone can clear up for me.
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It's not one of those things at all and you should blame the person who did it! Just because it's icy doesn't mean you can go around crashing into people as if you cant help it.

My insurance told me as I'm only third party fire and theft I would have to sort it out with his insurance to get a pay out and they wouldn't help. Is this normal for third party insurance or is it just a rubbish company?
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Entirely normal.

His insurance rang me and gave me two options. Write off my car and they will pick it up and give me £350 or I keep the car and try and repair it and they will give me £348. I took the 2nd option and I'm hoping to sort the car out with that. Now if I took it to a garage I doubt I could get the car back to how it was with the money and I defiantly couldn't replace the car. So is it common to be in a non fault accident and end up worse of for it?
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It's only common if you cave in at the first offer! Why did you accept that offer if it puts you in a worse position?!
 
Did you seriously accept £348 from his insurance company?

They have to repair the car! Are you sure you didn't just phone up his mate or something?
 
[TW]Fox;27257448 said:
It's not one of those things at all and you should blame the person who did it! Just because it's icy doesn't mean you can go around crashing into people as if you cant help it.



Entirely normal.



It's only common if you cave in at the first offer! Why did you accept that offer if it puts you in a worse position?!
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Tbh I was thinking if I have to try and chase this up I'd end up with nothing so when they offered me it I thought better than nothing. Suppose there's nothing I can do now I've accepted the offer. Would it be worth getting a quote from a garage to show them or is it all too late?
 
Why on earth did you just "accept" the option. Surely if you didn't know which option to take, you'd tell his insurance company you'd need some time to think through the options. Then when you're away from the phone you could have done some research and realised they're ripping you off.

To answer your questions, you wouldn't want to go through your own insurance company even if you had fully comp, it's better all round to let the 3rd party insurance company deal with it. And secondly, you're right, if the accident wasn't your fault then they're supposed to repair your car/provide money for a new one to put you back in a very similar position before the accident.

I would suggest from the situation you're in now, do some research on the market value of your car (this'll give you a base line figure to aim for), if you can be bothered, take the car to a garage and get an estimate for a fix.

I'm going on the assumption here that your car is worth more than £350, so phone back his insurance company and reject their offer, based on your research push them towards the figure you've found. I imagine they'll put up some defence to say you'd already accepted the option of a payout of £350. Not sure how much a verbal contract would stand, but you could claim that you were in a state of shock after the accident and weren't thinking straight and have now had time to think properly. If they don't buy this you could also threaten complaint with the ombudsman, as i'm sure they'll love to hear how much they undervalued your car, and how it's been dealt with. Make sure you note down everything that has been said, and who you've spoken to (+ date/time).
 
Semple said:
Why on earth did you just "accept" the option. Surely if you didn't know which option to take, you'd tell his insurance company you'd need some time to think through the options. Then when you're away from the phone you could have done some research and realised they're ripping you off.

To answer your questions, you wouldn't want to go through your own insurance company even if you had fully comp, it's better all round to let the 3rd party insurance company deal with it. And secondly, you're right, if the accident wasn't your fault then they're supposed to repair your car/provide money for a new one to put you back in a very similar position before the accident.

I would suggest from the situation you're in now, do some research on the market value of your car (this'll give you a base line figure to aim for), if you can be bothered, take the car to a garage and get an estimate for a fix.

I'm going on the assumption here that your car is worth more than £350, so phone back his insurance company and reject their offer, based on your research push them towards the figure you've found. I imagine they'll put up some defence to say you'd already accepted the option of a payout of £350. Not sure how much a verbal contract would stand, but you could claim that you were in a state of shock after the accident and weren't thinking straight and have now had time to think properly. If they don't buy this you could also threaten complaint with the ombudsman, as i'm sure they'll love to hear how much they undervalued your car, and how it's been dealt with. Make sure you note down everything that has been said, and who you've spoken to (+ date/time).
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Thank you for this. I'll get everything written out as I can remember the conversation pretty well and I still have the name of the person I spoke to. Can you record conversations if I phone them from my mobile or do you have to tell them etc. I'll phone them tomorrow morning unless they are open now.

edit. open until 9 tonight. So I'll have a look around for a road worth mx5 in a similar condition and get some prices.
 
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[TW]Fox;27257540 said:
It sounds nothing like that, pointless scaremongering.
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And the other parties insurance company calling you on the SAME day to give you two options, both at 350 is normal? Either insurance company tactics just got seriously sneaky or that strikes me as odd
 
Just got off the phone with them. He said he would make a note for the handler to call me back first thing in the morning to re evaluate but he cannot guarantee there will be a change. He also said that it seemed low. Got the name of the operator and time noted as well. Will update tomorrow. It was defiantly his insurance as I called the number on their website and they had the details of the accident.
 
chris182008 said:
Just got off the phone with them. He said he would make a note for the handler to call me back first thing in the morning to re evaluate but he cannot guarantee there will be a change. He also said that it seemed low. Got the name of the operator and time noted as well. Will update tomorrow. It was defiantly his insurance as I called the number on their website and they had the details of the accident.
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Ok - lots of people have given you good advise already, but all I can say is SLOW DOWN.

They are trying to rush you into an acceptance offer, because then they save money. You're obviously a bit shaken from the accident, and they've used that.

Personally, if they are indicating your car is written off, or likely to be written off, then you will need time to locate a new car. I would first of all tell them you want a courtesy car. It's not your fault that you've had an accident, so they need to put you back on the road first and foremost. Tell them you want the car tomorrow. They'll get Hertz or one of the other hire car companies to drop the car off to your home or work address.

Secondly, start looking into what your car is worth - autotraders, pistonheads e.t.c. In particular, they need to offer you a sum of money which could get you a similar car, and the offering needs to be sufficient to buy this car from a dealer (not a private sale), i.e. a vehicle with a warranty.

Basically this means if you can buy your car from Joe Bloggs down the road from £350, but the cheapest a businesss is selling the car is £450, then they need to offer £450.

Try to line up the car you want before accepting their offer - they will likely take the courtesy car back as soon as they send the cheque.
 
acemastr said:
And the other parties insurance company calling you on the SAME day to give you two options, both at 350 is normal? Either insurance company tactics just got seriously sneaky or that strikes me as odd
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Yes, thats normal. They want to get it sorted as quickly as possible for the least amount of money.
 
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