My car was hit by a woman (in a car) reversing in a carpark.
She got out, said how sorry she was etc. Gave her details and said the car was owned and insured by her partner who was in hospital.
She sent through her partner’s details when she got home.
I phoned my insurer who then got a car hire firm to phone me. They asked if my car was drivable, it is but the passenger door, which was hit by the tow hitch at the botton hinge bit, doesn’t close fully at the top, letting air and damp in. They said they would get on to the other driver’s insurers to ask them for liability.
This was before Xmas, I haven’t heard apart from my insurer’s legal team asking about injuries or expenses. (Not damage to car.)
I phoned today, my insurers say my case was written off from them, the hire firm which is also responsible for repairs, say they still haven’t got hold of the other insurance company to accept liability.
As I said the door wasn’t closing fully, the woman I spoke to said it sounded undrivable so they would have to get the other party to accept liability within 48hours then if they couldn’t do that I would have to claim on my insurance.
Does that sound right?
I’m wondering if the woman driving wasn’t insured!
Maybe they’re trying to use the usual insurance tactic of trying to screw the other driver’s insurance for personal injury to yourself even though you weren’t hurt? One of my insurance companies did that to me years ago when a car thrutched me up the boot. Not only did they have me down to a local hospital for examination even though I wasn’t injured, they claimed a replacement car for me at £400! a day from the other’s insurance. This was a good fifteen years or so, so christ knows what it will cost today.
With that in mind, maybe the other driver’s insurance are reluctant to pay before they’ve checked further, or she may have just had 3rd Party insurance?
Dunno Judd, I’ve never had to claim before.
I don’t fancy claiming on mine it will put my yearly insurance up won’t it?
My little car is so old, but reliable, I wouldn’t get much if they wrote it off anyway. I certainly wouldn’t get enough to replace it.
I could end up getting a door from a scrap yard and having it put on. Even that would cost quite a bit.
It’s annoying me that it’s not my fault
Someone drove into my car two weeks ago at 9.30 pm. The driver admitted liability, gave me his insurance details and I notified our insurance the following morning. (Although no-one was hurt, my son advised me to immediately report the incident to the police, which I immediately did. This gave me an Incidence Report No.)
When I spoke with my insurance they said the would follow it up with the insurers of the other driver and within 24 hours I was provided with a courtesy car which will be paid by the insurance company of the “guilty” driver.
Two weeks later, our car had been repaired to our satisfaction. Like you, this is our first experience of his kind but we are pleased with outcome.
Do you mean they said your car was a write off. What is considered a write off is when the cost of the repair is worth more than the value of the car.
Don’t forget if it is an insurance job garages charge well over what it would cost to fix , best to get an independant repair valuation.
From what you say where your car was hit it all depends on the exact damage. if just the door no real problem but if the frame of the car was damaged and bent out of line then yes it could be too costly to repair if at all possible
As to car frame pillars there is the “A” frame, the part where the front and side windows meet
The “B” frame is between the front and rear doors
the “C” frame is behind the rear doors.
You could go to a no win no fee solicitor and see what they say.
before anyone jumps down on me that is a route I had to take when someone hit my car so time ago. It is a route well worth considering.
I would be chasing up my insurance every day to see what is going on. I find that constant pestering brings results
I am posting this away from my last post for a reason ,it is to long
I got hit by a driver speeding on snow around a corner and he slid into my Lexus RX300 SEL pushing it backward into a deep ditch. he only had a little Peugeot which was a complete wreck
Now he claim it was all my fault and my insurance wanted to do what is called “knock for knock” which means each party is 50 percent to blame
Well that was BS so I went to a no win no fee solicitor first of all for advice and see if he could do anything for me.
He was brilliant I have to say. after a time he managed to get the other drivers insurance to admit 25 percent blame, so he had to make me that offer but advised against it.
Next offer was 50 percent blame and advised to refuse it. Then the other insurers tried the BIG scare tactic or starting a court case.
what they didn’t know is I was so determined and stubborn I said go ahead then
Next was and offer of them accepting 75 percent of the blame this was some months later on and told them what they could do with their offer
2 weeks before the court case was to be heard hey fully backed down and admitted their driver was fully at fault and paid into the court the full amount.
This was not only car repair costs but my injuries and my DRs fees- My manageress who was with me her injury costs and Dr’s fees- the no win solicitors fees and all court costs
The damage to the car was about £9000 which is all it would have cost the other drivers insurance. But because they argued the fault at a rough guess with everything I estimate it must have cost them nearer £90,000 including their drivers claim
it took over a year but I won the fight against a well know insurance company and their bank of top class lawyers.
Case of the little guy fighting the big guys
So the no win no fee is something worth considering but you may need photos and repair estimates the be looked at
That’s what I expected to happen but no.
We phoned the police but they just said to contact insurers, it was a recorded message after putting details in pressing buttons, possibly because it wasn’t on the highway.
No one has been to look at my car, I think the problem may be either because the owner is in hospital or that his partner wasn’t covered.
I think my insurers have passed it over as I wasn’t at fault.
It all seems a bit weird.
The courtesy car people are supposed to also be the repairers.
My insurers had the owner’s details, they’re with a different insurer.
If nothing happens by Friday I’ll ring their insurer to see if they can make things clearer and to see if they have admitted liability. You would think giving us their details would mean that.
I don’t think my car would be written off just for a damaged door, but as it’s so old (W reg) you never know.
Realspeed, the damage is right at the bottom corner, hinge side, of the front passenger door, it’s the shape and size of their tow hitch (large 4x4) the door catches but there is a gap at the top you can see daylight through.
The door frame looks ok.
My daughter took photo I’ll try to post it tomorrow.
Tessa
That would be the “A” pillar then. certainly get photos from all angles with door shut and open.
If I were you I would go to a repair garage and get an estimated repair cost, don’t mention anything about insures and submit them to your insurers but you must keep copies of everything and telephone callS when you made them and who you spoke to.
What does speed things up ;-);-) is telling them you are going to hire a car until your has been repaired and that cost will be added to the insurance claim. Don’t get hire car cost for a car that is way above your own car, but submit that as well. [FONT=“Arial Black”]KEEP ALL COPIES OF EVERYTHING[/FONT]
Insurance companies have a built in reluctance to pay out and that is what you are up against. So if they think the claim is going to increase by your hiring a car !!!
Been there a very few times in 60 years of motoring so know what it is like, Don’t admit anything don’t accept any offers and stick to your guns. Don’t accept “knock for Knock” it will send your premiums up next time although they may say otherwise
Thanks for advice Realspeed, not sure who I would send quotes to, my insurer doesn’t seem interested and their’s doesn’t seem able to get them to admit liability.
The car hire firm is flaky, no sign of a courtesy car unit they get the woman to admit liability.
The more I think about it I believe she wasn’t on his policy and has no insurance herself.
send the quotes to your insurance company. You are paying them to work for you. Seems to me they need a kick up the backside. You have to keep on at them by phone and letter.
Target just one person in the insurance company as soon as you get a name otherwise you get kicked from on person to another and different departments, buck passing. I have in the past rang a person at least twice a day for a couple of weeks asking what they are doing,they soon get fed up and deal with your claim, just to get rid of you.
If you ring in the morning and tell him you will call him again in the afternoon that will play on his/her mind knowing you are going to call again.
I’ve just e-mailed their insurer, telling them exactly what happened and asking them to contact mine asap. with photos.
Hopefully that should get things moving.
That looks to me as if The dent could be pulled out with the right equipment. A good panel beater would make short work of that. Have a look at “[FONT=“Arial Black”]chips away[/FONT]” company they handle that kind of work. trot along to you local outlet and ask them
They did a fantastic job when Sue put a dent in her Honda
RS is correct in his advice, TessA - when we contacted our insurance, we were given the name of the individual who would be responsible for handling our case and it would be good if you could establish someone specific who is dealing with your claim.
Thanks. It looks like the A-post is slightly pushed in putting the door out of alignment. It could probably be pulled out but it would have to be done by a bodyshop. If the car is driveable take it to a bodyshop and get them to look at it. Tell them it’s not an insurance job and you just want the car to be safe to drive and for the door to close properly. It does sound like the woman was uninsured.
It might be both the frame and the door frame, if it’s an older car I doubt the insurance company would want to repair it as it’s too labour intensive ( that’s where the money goes) if they decide to write it off, then you could offer to buy it back, and source any parts from a scrapyard and if it’s economic, have it fixed, although any body shop may not want to do it and may give you an exorbitant quote, it sounds a bit dodgy to me, that your insurance company doesn’t seem to want to rush to help you, also just be aware that a lot of insurance companies use claims management companies, they will give you a hire car, and if your insurance decides that it’s a knock for knock claim, they may persue you for the cost…which can be a few thousand quid…
is telling them you are going to hire a car until your has been repaired and that cost will be added to the insurance claim. Don’t get hire car cost for a car that is way above your own car, but submit that as well. [FONT=“Arial Black”]KEEP ALL COPIES OF EVERYTHING[/FONT]