First Accident, advice?

[Tails_]

So today I got rear-ended on the way to a day out with the missus. Guy kept breaking late on a country lane just coming up to the M5, one time he just left it too late and boom, rear end smash.

Changed details, he wanted to just pay for a new tailgate and rear bumper but I went the proper way. Drove away, back started killing once the adrenaline died down. Called up my insurance company when I got home to notify them, and have to call his tomorrow to make the claim.

So I have a few questions really, any advice would be nice.

• Firstly, I don't want to be "That guy" who just claims for any injury that could have happened, back still aches like f*ck now, so what would anyone do? claim it?
• Claiming from him, is my insurance going to go up? :quiet:
• and lastly, he said he was with Lancashire insurance, my company say he's with the Co-op, would anyone be worried he's trying to give me the slip? I dont have legal cover, so if he denies liability, I can imagine it causing a lot of hassle very quickly.

And anything other words of wisdom that might help me out, obviously my first bump so there's a lot of unknowns for me . Cheers guys.

 

[-J-]

So long as your insurance knows who he is insured with then I can't see any issue there.

Injury wise you need to answer that one. Can you still go to work? Is the injury impacting on your day to day life style? What has your Doctor / A&E said about your injuries?

 

[Tails_]

Good to hear from that one, getting very mixed signals as to if my insurance is going to hit the fan come renewal time? Cant be dealing with that in my second year.

and thats a fair reply, I'll see how i feel in the morning.

 

[Inequality Street]

Good to hear from that one, getting very mixed signals as to if my insurance is going to hit the fan come renewal time? Cant be dealing with that in my second year.

and thats a fair reply, I'll see how i feel in the morning.

No you have informed them, you are in a higher risk band, thus your premium will increase.

 

[Tails_]

So I'll be paying out for a higher insurance next year because someone rear ended me whilst stationary? That is serious b****cks, should have left the dented boot.

 

[Damo_Sport]

So I'll be paying out for a higher insurance next year because someone rear ended me whilst stationary? That is serious b****cks, should have left the dented boot.

yep

 

[Jaff.]

If you are wise, should you get compensation for a possible injury you will save the money given to you and use it to cover the increase next year

 

[Alastair.]

Yea, you will have to declare that you were hit by a 3rd party come renewal.

 

[...]

Claim for ongoing insurance costs and devaluation of your car due to accident repair .... that should stop you not having money to pay for the 5 years of loaded policy you will incur

 

[Tails_]

Cheers for the replies, though it makes no sense to me how I can suffer for this, definitely no logic in it. Well I've reported it now so theres nothing I can do. Will have to learn and deal with it.

 

[Rob]

Everyone here is saying it will increase your premium, but the reality is that it's minimal.

I had someone hit my parked car, my insurance still went down the next year, and after checking it back to back it would have been £25 cheaper for the entire year, so not awful.

If he's hit the back of the clio, chances are he's kinked the boot floor, so you want it being repaired properly.

 

[.LiamC.]

Everyone here is saying it will increase your premium, but the reality is that it's minimal.

I had someone hit my parked car, my insurance still went down the next year, and after checking it back to back it would have been £25 cheaper for the entire year, so not awful.

If he's hit the back of the clio, chances are he's kinked the boot floor, so you want it being repaired properly.

I'd disagree with that to an extent. When I had a bump, Elephant loaded over £200 on my policy the year after. Alot of other companies did too.

Although this year I went with Greenlight and they didn't add anything on

 

[...]

Everyone here is saying it will increase your premium, but the reality is that it's minimal.

I had someone hit my parked car, my insurance still went down the next year, and after checking it back to back it would have been £25 cheaper for the entire year, so not awful.

If he's hit the back of the clio, chances are he's kinked the boot floor, so you want it being repaired properly.

I can second this as not being always true , when one of our elises was hit it substantially loaded the policy , the car was written off , but was entirely settle by the 3rd party .... and it was a least £100 pa more because of it (and we aren't youngsters)

 

[Nick_Leeds]

I had a quote from an insurer and had forgotten to let them know about a crash that'd happened to me 2 years prior, driver crashed into the back of me at a set of lights. I called back and let them know and it made no difference what so ever to the quote.

 

[...]

I had a quote from an insurer and had forgotten to let them know about a crash that'd happened to me 2 years prior, driver crashed into the back of me at a set of lights. I called back and let them know and it made no difference what so ever to the quote.

​IRTA they were already raping me on the premium , in fairness you can never compare insurance from one person to the next as everyone is in different circumstances , with regarde to accidents ,convictions age ,occupation,where you live , length of time driving , cars in the household ....... no 2 people will ever bee the same .

 

[skyinsurance]

Only a minority of insurers will load your next year's premium for a non fault (settled) claim. Unfortunately, one particularly large insurance group will do this hence why a lot of people think it applies across the industry.

Thanks

Ollie
Sky Insurance

Tel: 01707 642552

http://www.skyinsurance.co.uk/car-club-insurance.html

 

[Martin.]

People always say 'oh It'll put your premium up.' I always thought this to be the case too. But after I was recently rear ended my insurance was not affected.

Just use the specialist insurers on here and you'll be fine.

If your back is hurting so much that you can't go to work or do whatever you need to do then think about making a claim.

I would probably just stick it out if it wasn't too bad myself. But if it stopped you working then I would claim for loss of income.

 

[Tails_]

Cheers for the feedback guys. it's my first bump so I'm just relying on what people are telling me and guiding me through it.
​I've put the claim in for damage against the third party and I'll be getting a call back from the claim advisers later today. Back still aches, I'm off work for the week anyway, I'll get it checked out before I go back if its still bad.

Just use the specialist insurers on here and you'll be fine.

​May look into someone independent when the renewal comes up in 2 months, cheers for the heads up.

 

[Carlv8415]

Only main insurance companies will charge you extra for a non fault claim I.e Admiral. I had an accident completely not my fault and put my insurance up by £300. Was 5 months short to be able to go with Greenlight who don't charge extra for non fault claims. As far as injury is concerned, do you have to take time off work? If you can't get to work as you have no car don't get a hire car as you can't claim back the costs, so don't go and claim it as money lost through insurance.

I had my accident 4 months ago and I am still waiting for my excess back. Make sure you write down exactly what happened as they will try to catch you out if you story changes. Make not of every expense due to the accident as it call all be claimed back. Don't go made as try making fraudulent claims like most people do just be honest and reasonable about what you claim. Biggest expense is phone charges, calling your insurance at £2 a minute soon racks up.

 

[...]

Our elise insurance wasnt with a mainstream company and was loaded , greenlight are a broker not an underwriter so in certain circumstances the underwriter may load and the broker has no say ...

 

[Tails_]

Update:

Got a letter back from the Coop-insurance who I was directed to from my company after giving the registration details. Theyve replied saying they were in touch with the vehicles owner, and the driver at the time was not on their policy, So no I have to contact his personal car insurer.

He has told me that he is with "Lancashire Car Insurance" which has no hits on google as far as I am aware. So this is my plan:

• Give him a call, and ask for the details. Give him until the morning to produce them.
• If he produces them, phone his company and make the claim (also for my injury since it has now got worse and affected work)
• If he doesn't produce them, or refuses to, I'll be in contact with the police for being hit by an uninsured driver, and will then take them to court personally for the costs.

The plan is basically advice from my dad, it sounds about right to me. Pain in the ass. :banghead:

 

[Typhoon]

If it is a small accident like I'm assuming from your description, you should have just charged him for the bumper or whatever it was.

It's a lot cheaper than how much both yours and his premium will rise when it comes to renewal.

 

[Tails_]

Okay now I'm calling upon the researching skills of the CS community. I found it was actually Lancaster insurance, and upon giving them a call, they stated that they are a broker and cannot handle any claims, I would need to go directly to the underwriter.

This is proving very difficult, the phone number he has given me is a home phone with no answer (upon googling this number, it came up with a garage half a mile away from the accident), and when searching the directories with his name and address, his contact number is ex directory. I want to give this guy a chance before I go to police and claim he is an uninsured driver, but I have no idea how to now find his underwriter or contact number. All I have found so far is his facebook (containing a picture of a landrover owned by him) and his broker who refuse to give me any details.

I wish I had just taken then money for the bumper now!

 

[Typhoon]

Okay now I'm calling upon the researching skills of the CS community. I found it was actually Lancaster insurance, and upon giving them a call, they stated that they are a broker and cannot handle any claims, I would need to go directly to the underwriter.

This is proving very difficult, the phone number he has given me is a home phone with no answer (upon googling this number, it came up with a garage half a mile away from the accident), and when searching the directories with his name and address, his contact number is ex directory. I want to give this guy a chance before I go to police and claim he is an uninsured driver, but I have no idea how to now find his underwriter or contact number. All I have found so far is his facebook (containing a picture of a landrover owned by him) and his broker who refuse to give me any details.

I wish I had just taken then money for the bumper now!

PM me the details you know on him.

 

[...]

err this is what you pay your insurance company to do , give them all you know as they can find stuff you cant (eg facebook pic of landrover if it shows reg they could get his address

 

[bradsmith88]

Tails_ I assume the driver was driving under his DOC extenstion then?

Have you got the reg of his own vehicle (the Land Rover?) I am happy to do a MID check for you - PM me if you like.

Regardless of the above the vehicle insurer has a liability under the Road Traffic Act to innocent third-parties - they cannot wash their hands that easy so I would hammer the Co-Op until they can direct you to another insurer.

'Under Section 151 of the RTA as the insurer of the vehicle you have to pay my claim if I obtain an unsatisfied judgement - please provide me details of the correct insurers claim and phone number so I may contact them. If you are unable to do so I will be forced to use a claims management company which will incurr further costs.'

If you need anymore help as above drop me a PM.

Brad

 

[Tails_]

So i called up my company, they sais they just don't do the legwork, no explanation why. Anyway, I gave them the land rover reg, got an umbrella company from it, worked my way through to the right branch eventually, and they've got his insurance. They have just started an investigation whether he is insured to be driving his mum's car. if he is insured, theyll deal with it, if not, they will hammer the coop for me to do it. Now just have to sit back and wait. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[GeorgeH]

Lol if its some one elses fault and they admit it, its a non fault claim so your insurance wont go up. I wish people would stop talking b****cks.

go to the docs. Take photos of your car and send them on.

The only way it will cost more is if it doesn't get settled before renewal. But once settled you'll get a refund on that increase.

 

[Rob]

Erm, who are you insured with? Mickey Mouse & Co?

"Don't do the leg work" - Biggest load of s**t I've ever heard. Insurers have access to more information than you do and it's in their interest to find out.

 

[...]

Lol if its some one elses fault and they admit it, its a non fault claim so your insurance wont go up. I wish people would stop talking b****cks.

Thats not true ... I am afraid you need to understand there are a number of insurers who will load you policy and why the wording you are now asked is have you ever made a clame regardless of fault.
Some companies now take windscreen claims into account too

Thats a fact not bollox

 

[Tails_]

I've had a small update, hurrah!
After calling up at 1oclock today, his insurance company said that the investigation to find if he was insured to be driving his mums car was to start in the next 24 hours, I kicked off seeing as they should know what he is insured to do, and it shouldnt take 4 days to find that out.

I called back just after 2, and they suddenly had an email from yesterday saying he has insurance to cover him driving other cars. I now have to wait until Thursday for them to call him for him to admit liability. I kicked off a little again about having to wait 2 days for them just to make a call, so they're going to try and do it tomorrow.

Annoying since renewal is just over a month away, and they just seem to be fart-arsing about

Erm, who are you insured with? Mickey Mouse & Co?

"Don't do the leg work" - Biggest load of s**t I've ever heard. Insurers have access to more information than you do and it's in their interest to find out.

Bloody seems like it, I'm with Aviva to name and shame, but i'll be switching to someone on here come renewal.

 

[GeorgeH]

Thats not true ... I am afraid you need to understand there are a number of insurers who will load you policy and why the wording you are now asked is have you ever made a clame regardless of fault.
Some companies now take windscreen claims into account too

Thats a fact not bollox

So if you have a claim, that goes down as non fault, you keep your ncb and the other party has admitted liability, but still you get charged more at renewal because of this? Sorry but thats b****cks.

If your with this type of company then leave, clearly they aren't that good, and many other companies will insure you.

 

[BoatNonce]

So if you have a claim, that goes down as non fault, you keep your ncb and the other party has admitted liability, but still you get charged more at renewal because of this? Sorry but thats b****cks.

It is, but it's what actually happens. Because they reckon that because you've had a non fault accident, you're statistically more likely to be involved in another one, fault or otherwise.

 

[...]

So if you have a claim, that goes down as non fault, you keep your ncb and the other party has admitted liability, but still you get charged more at renewal because of this? Sorry but thats b****cks.

If your with this type of company then leave, clearly they aren't that good, and many other companies will insure you.

George , with all due respect i own run and insure several high performance cars , have in my 28 years of driving owned many many more . I don't have mainstream policies as the cars are to expensive to insure with them most of the time .
I can tell you that in the cases we have had no fault claims it has bumped premiums ,not always but it has and sometimes to the tune of hundreds of pounds .
This is because the insurance company believe that statistically you are a higher risk, as stated by someone else above . I have factual evidence of this , and have usually negated it with a shop around .
The last large no fault claim we had amounted to £43,000 ...... i just might be right . How many policies do you run a year ? We have 9 years plus protected no claims you ? .......

People spouting bollox irritate me to !!

 

[Tails_]

Another update:
after badgering his insurance company all week, they finally found he is insured to be driving his mums car (took them a week). But have now stated this department isn't authorized to deal with any claim involving injury (had to take time off work because of it) and is being sent to another department.

Funnily enough, the department I'm being sent to it the first one I contacted, and was sent through 3 other departments just because it did involve injury.

Getting properly irate now, since my shed could be a cat d for all I know, and I'm getting nowhere. They haven't even contacted him to admit liability yet!

 

[Inequality Street]

Another update:
after badgering his insurance company all week, they finally found he is insured to be driving his mums car (took them a week). But have now stated this department isn't authorized to deal with any claim involving injury (had to take time off work because of it) and is being sent to another department.

Funnily enough, the department I'm being sent to it the first one I contacted, and was sent through 3 other departments just because it did involve injury.

Getting properly irate now, since my shed could be a cat d for all I know, and I'm getting nowhere. They haven't even contacted him to admit liability yet!

Threaton with Insurance Ombudsmen. S'what I'd do. I would also be asking for money back to cover my phone calls just to be a b**ch.

 

[Tails_]

Surprise surprise, since the email was sent to the new department Thursday and it "can take up to 24 hours to be set up on the system", by Monday the new department don't even know my claim exists.

They asked for a policy number, when I gave it to them they said it doesn't fit in the system and must be wrong, despite being given it from the other department.

Likely to be kicking off with a superior in the next phone call, they're going no where, they have no communication, and haven't contacted me once since first submitting the claim. 3 weeks and they still haven't called him to admit liability.

I'm gping around in circles and have no idea how to get this moving!

 

[Tails_]

Okay I'm going to need to pick people's brains now, because I'm close to pulling my own hair out.

I have a letter from his insurance claim department, my mum read it to me over the phone and I got the general gist of it from her poor literacy skills. Basically said this:

They guy who hit you is insured to be driving other cars.

But you should still direct your claim to the insurer of the car.

The problem being they have already fobbed me off once.

Someone please tell me where i should be going? My renewal is due next month, and noone has even contacted him to admit liability. Help.

 

[Tails_]

If anyone has anything, even what company I should be running to. It'd be useful!

 

[Harbinger]

your claim lies with his insurer not the cars insurer, so his insurance company who provided the certificate saying he can drive others on a 3rd party basis is who your claim lies with, usually your insurance company should be doing this though.