Insurance - problem with claim (1 Viewer)

[wingman]

Hi All,
Need some advice.

Last August (2013) I was hit up the rear end whilst in the queue for the tolls on the Pont du Normandie.

No problem with the French driver, he had let me into a gap but in his haste to prevent anyone else sliding in, he hit the rear of my 'van! He apologised for spoiling my holiday (it was day one!) he admitted liability,we filled in a 'Constat Europeen d'accident' form and that was that.

The problems started when I got back. Firstly, the amount of info' that the insurance company (Insurance was via CCC) wanted was endless. They asked the repairer not only to provide photos of the damage, but the Vin plate, tyres, front, rear and side views and even the tax disc! I helped by taking some 20 photographs to help speed the process!

Anyway, this is not my main gripe. Despite me sending off copies of the Constat, doing research and providing the other parties address and insurance company (A.I.G.) in fact, all but the collar size of the other driver, I STILL have had no joy in settling the claim.

My insurance company says that despite having all of the info AND that the Constat is legally binding AND there's no question of it being my fault, they have to go through the Motor Insurers Bureau here to get the matter dealt with.

Meanwhile my car insurance renewal has been loaded as I've had an "At fault" accident. So has my MH renewal and so has the wife's insurance because I'm on her policy. Altogether, I'm out of pocket by £150!!!!

They say that if you have a knock, it goes down as 'At fault' until the claim is settled. Is this right? Apart from numerous phone calls that I've made, is there anything I can do to expedite?

Thanks in advance urghhhhhhh!

 

[wingman]

Hi All,
Need some advice.

Last August (2013) I was hit up the rear end whilst in the queue for the tolls on the Pont du Normandie.

No problem with the French driver, he had let me into a gap but in his haste to prevent anyone else sliding in, he hit the rear of my 'van! He apologised for spoiling my holiday (it was day one!) he admitted liability,we filled in a 'Constat Europeen d'accident' form and that was that.

The problems started when I got back. Firstly, the amount of info' that the insurance company (Insurance was via CCC) wanted was endless. They asked the repairer not only to provide photos of the damage, but the Vin plate, tyres, front, rear and side views and even the tax disc! I helped by taking some 20 photographs to help speed the process!

Anyway, this is not my main gripe. Despite me sending off copies of the Constat, doing research and providing the other parties address and insurance company (A.I.G.) in fact, all but the collar size of the other driver, I STILL have had no joy in settling the claim.

My insurance company says that despite having all of the info AND that the Constat is legally binding AND there's no question of it being my fault, they have to go through the Motor Insurers Bureau here to get the matter dealt with.

Meanwhile my car insurance renewal has been loaded as I've had an "At fault" accident. So has my MH renewal and so has the wife's insurance because I'm on her policy. Altogether, I'm out of pocket by £150!!!!

They say that if you have a knock, it goes down as 'At fault' until the claim is settled. Is this right? Apart from numerous phone calls that I've made, is there anything I can do to expedite?

Thanks in advance urghhhhhhh!

 

[cmcardle75]

Seems pretty normal. They refund the extra loading when it is settled. Makes it hard to shop around if your renewal comes up, though.

Once, we had a non-fault claim settled pretty quick. Then the renewal came through at a good price. It was only the year later that we noticed the schedule stating 2 years no claims bonus missing. Apparently, they'd forgotten to update their systems when the other party paid out. Not only did they reduce the next year's quote, but refunded us £50 on the previous year, even though the quote had been pretty good, it would have been even better.

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[TheTwoOfUs]

Some of the photos that they want are to make sure that your vehicle is legal and roadworthy 'cos if it's not they're off the hook.

 

[chatter]

Its not so much as an at fault but you loose any or all NCB till it is resolved and of course it affects all motor policies you have or are on.

That nice little question 'have you or any other driver of your vehicle had an accident within the last 3 or 5 years' dependant on the insurance company
if answer yes then you get 'was it fault or non fault' and has it been resolved and 'what was the cost of repair/damages resulting from the accident'

 

[jhorsf]

Try having an accident at work and see how long your companies insurance drag out the claim they are all b*s*a*ds when it comes to claims:Angry:

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[Reallyretired]

Sounds bad.
WE have 4 vehicles and me and SWMBO are named drivers on all of them. If we had a claim on any of them it would presumably load all 4. (only 2 vehicles are with the same insurer):Sad:

 

[MikeD]

A couple of years ago my car was reported as being involved in an accident at 5.00am on a Sunday morning in south London.

That weekend we were in Birmingham and had the vehicle with us.

The person after he made the initial claim then never answered any correspondence from either his or my insurer.

This stayed on my record for six months or until the other insurer accepted that their claim has no merit.

Alas we had a couple of insurances come due during that period.

It cost us hundreds of pounds. Money we could not claim back.

 

[Viennese]

Did you try the Insurance ombudsman - http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-insurance.html? Might still be worth a punt?

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[Chris]

iI have limited knowledge here but I don't know why the MIB are involved. I thought that was for victims of uninsured or untraced drivers.

Are you sure the French chap was insured?

If you don't get any joy refer it to the Ombudsman but don't hold your breath - it takes ages.
Good luck.

 

[wingman]

Thanks for your replies guys,

No, I haven't tried the Ombudsman (yet). The French driver was insured by AIG - the same company that sponsors Manchester United? and is splashed all over their shirts! Not exactly a small company from the backwaters.

I could understand it if 'Monsieur' was being evasive, but he wasn't. His name, address, business address (it was a small commercial van) and full details were on the Constat d'accident form. As belt n'braces, I took photos at the time which marry-up his vehicle with the scene. I even did a load of leg work for my insurers by enhancing my carbonised copy on my computer so that it was more legible. Not only that, I teased out the info' and typed it in printed form.

Every time I phone my insurers, I get the same response..... "It takes time y'know" or "Call us back in 3 weeks.....Call us back in a week..." or "I will chase the Motor Insurer's Bureau for you, but I'm too busy to do it today!"

Sorry to be boring, but in a nutshell, this is the situation....
* Had minor shunt in France back in August '13
* circa £1000 damage to rear which was repaired by November
* Fault admitted by other party
* Legally binding EU form completed at roadside with plan of accident duly signed by other party
* Over 20 photos of damage and general interior and exterior views of MH sent to insurers
* A further number of photos sent showing tyres, Vin plate, tax disc etc

Result?
A £50 loading on my MH insurance renewal, a £50 loading on my car insurance renewal and recently, a £50 loading on my wife's car insurance (with the associated nagging and questions as to what 'benefit' I am to her!). In addition, there's the policy excess that I've already paid to the repairer. OK, I may eventually recover these amounts, but it's not the point.

I fail to see how insurers record such incidents as 'At fault' just because the claim is not yet paid by the other party. I feel I've done it right; insured comprehensively via a club, have not had an accident for centuries, have max NCD, been hit in the rear, but I'm suffering (and will continue to do so for a few years each time I complete an insurance quote). It's made me feel like I really AM at fault for having the temerity to have a holiday in the MH!

I buy insurance/legal protection etc at some cost to sort these things out or am I wrong? Am I just another pest customer?

Urghhhhhh!

 

[chatter]

as an example

our taxi minibus parked at the station first car on rank, o.h. was loading cases into rear just stepped on the kerb to get another case and his bus suddenly jumps back into the taxi behind, the offending vehicle took the drivers side front out on our vehicle, police there (they were at the station for another matter) even with all the pics, info, witnesses it still took over 3 years to sort out with the way the insurance (accident specalist department) went about it. While claim ongoing we lost our NCB even though we had paid to protect it and to add insult to injury they wanted over a £100 to reinstate it when the claim was finalised and found in our favour as we knew it would be

Insurance with their rules is as evil as it is a neccesary need to have

and that amount of time for an accident in this country

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[chatter]

Sounds bad.
WE have 4 vehicles and me and SWMBO are named drivers on all of them. If we had a claim on any of them it would presumably load all 4. (only 2 vehicles are with the same insurer):Sad:

yes it would

 

[Steve101uk]

Slightly off topic, but do you carry a 'Constat Europeen d'accident' with you when in France? If so where do I get them and what about when in other European countries? I never realised there was a specific form for this purpose.

thanks

Steve

 

[roamingman]

All insurance for any vehicle, is a sham and a con, they make the rules to suit them, to get as much money from you, as they can. not a lot you can do to get it back, they just keep getting you to jump through hoops.

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[wingman]

RE: Constat Europeen d'accident

Hi Steve,

Yes, you can get a Constat' over here. Some insurance companies will send you one free.

Not to tempt providence, but it's really handy to carry one. The advantage? It's a standard form across Europe and it will be in English. It will exactly mirror those in other languages. Therefore, you can use it for translation purposes.

Even though I speak reasonable French, my vocab' didn't run to terms like 'bumper, rear lamp assembly, bonnet, fibre glass' etc so you can cross-refer using the drawing.

The form is a great idea. Wish we had similar over here. All of the parties details are entered, plus there's a space for a rudimentary drawing of the incident. It is carbonised and once completed, both drivers sign it. It's then impossible for matey-boy to deny anything or make further false claims.

Obviously, the form is not designed to cope with an incident where there is serious injury.

You can download a copy of the form from www.cartraveldocs.com It's obviously not a carbonised form, but handy to read the explanation about it and to print off and keep for translation purposes.

Hope that helps?
Regards
James

 

[Emmit]

Greetings,

If I could give some info on the Insurance Ombudsman.

We had a claim that went on and on (over 12 months). We were given the runaround to an incident where I wasn't driving, I wasn't in charge of my vehicle and the other party was at fault, period.

Eventually I reported the matter to the I O. I had to wait the statutory 8 weeks for the 'other' party to continue ignoring me and, after that, I contacted the I.O. again. That was on the Friday. On the following Tuesday, four days later, I had a grovelling email apology from 'the other side' complete with a promise of hard copy being sent in the post. On the same Friday, one week after my second contact with the I.O. I received, not only the monies owed to me but a further £100.
I call that a result.

Would I use the Ombudsman again. You bet your life I would.