I'm currently stuck inbetween two insurance companies telling me different things and I don't quite know which to believe, so I'm hoping someone here can offer some advice.
What happened is my wife was parked at her work and someone reversed into our car. She was not there at the time, but an independent witness was who wrote down the reg and their contact details and came in, told my wife what happened and gave her the details. The driver did not stop.
I rang Direct Line, who are my insurance company. They gave me a claim reference and looked up the reg and told me it's insured with Zurich, but said as my policy is third party only, I'd have to handle the claim myself directly with Zurich.
I called Zurich and they were terrible. I got repeatedly passed around and cut off, but eventually after about an hour, I was able to lodge a claim and got a claim number. I gave them the contact details of the witness. That was over a month ago and I've called them for an update and all they can tell me if they sent a letter to the policy holder a month ago and he hasn't responded, so they'll continue to send letters, but they said a claim that goes smoothly usually takes 6 months and one that doesn't can take years.
They also said they haven't contacted the witness because that's not their job. They said it's my responsibility to collect a statement and send it to them. I asked why they didn't tell me that when I lodged the claim and why they took the witness details and they said it's not their job to tell me and Direct Line should have told me. They said in fact, they shouldn't even be dealing with me because regardless of my cover level, Direct Line should be dealing with it. They suggested I call Direct Line back and ask them to deal with the claim.
I called Direct Line and they were adamant that if someone only has 3rd party insurance and it's a clear case of no liability such as in this instance, the normal process is for the insurance company providing 3rd party cover that's not liable not to get involved.
They also said the timeframes Zurich quoted are ridiculous. They said if the situation were reversed, they'd send 3 letters 2 weeks apart and if no response was received, they'd settle "without prejudice", so about 6 weeks in total.
So both companies are contradicting each other and I don't know who to believe, but I'm inclined to believe Direct Line as they've always been excellent and Zurich seem to be a shambles.
Direct Line said my only other option was to use a claims management company, but they couldn't recommend one, so I don't know how I'd find one (any recommendations)?
The actual damage is only to the rear bumper, but there are lots of scratches and a couple of dents. The car is 10 years old and already has other scratches and dents (although the areas damaged in this crash were not previously damaged), so had the guy stopped, we'd have been very reasonable about it, but I'm enraged that he didn't and don't think he should be able to get away with that, and Zurich are being so awful that I wouldn't feel bad about a claims management company being harsh with them (although I would not be prepared to lie or exaggerate at all).
Thanks for any advice anyone can give
What happened is my wife was parked at her work and someone reversed into our car. She was not there at the time, but an independent witness was who wrote down the reg and their contact details and came in, told my wife what happened and gave her the details. The driver did not stop.
I rang Direct Line, who are my insurance company. They gave me a claim reference and looked up the reg and told me it's insured with Zurich, but said as my policy is third party only, I'd have to handle the claim myself directly with Zurich.
I called Zurich and they were terrible. I got repeatedly passed around and cut off, but eventually after about an hour, I was able to lodge a claim and got a claim number. I gave them the contact details of the witness. That was over a month ago and I've called them for an update and all they can tell me if they sent a letter to the policy holder a month ago and he hasn't responded, so they'll continue to send letters, but they said a claim that goes smoothly usually takes 6 months and one that doesn't can take years.
They also said they haven't contacted the witness because that's not their job. They said it's my responsibility to collect a statement and send it to them. I asked why they didn't tell me that when I lodged the claim and why they took the witness details and they said it's not their job to tell me and Direct Line should have told me. They said in fact, they shouldn't even be dealing with me because regardless of my cover level, Direct Line should be dealing with it. They suggested I call Direct Line back and ask them to deal with the claim.
I called Direct Line and they were adamant that if someone only has 3rd party insurance and it's a clear case of no liability such as in this instance, the normal process is for the insurance company providing 3rd party cover that's not liable not to get involved.
They also said the timeframes Zurich quoted are ridiculous. They said if the situation were reversed, they'd send 3 letters 2 weeks apart and if no response was received, they'd settle "without prejudice", so about 6 weeks in total.
So both companies are contradicting each other and I don't know who to believe, but I'm inclined to believe Direct Line as they've always been excellent and Zurich seem to be a shambles.
Direct Line said my only other option was to use a claims management company, but they couldn't recommend one, so I don't know how I'd find one (any recommendations)?
The actual damage is only to the rear bumper, but there are lots of scratches and a couple of dents. The car is 10 years old and already has other scratches and dents (although the areas damaged in this crash were not previously damaged), so had the guy stopped, we'd have been very reasonable about it, but I'm enraged that he didn't and don't think he should be able to get away with that, and Zurich are being so awful that I wouldn't feel bad about a claims management company being harsh with them (although I would not be prepared to lie or exaggerate at all).
Thanks for any advice anyone can give
