Some insurance companies are a JOKE !

[Zedrush]

Not sure if you remember, my dads car got hit as we were pulling into his drive, he indicated and a corsa car with a load of kids in it hit his car, they came round the bend to fast and went up on the pavement. they admitted liability to the police and admitted it was their fault. I said to dad Id sort out the insurance for him as he hasnt got time to sort it out...

 

so....

 

I called up his insurance and told them what had happened, gave them the police details and reference number and all info of the girl who hit the car. Then had to draw a diagram of what happened, piece of cake. They are getting his car fixed but said we had to pay the excess which is £1050 and also his insurance is due in 10 days and they said he loses 2 years no claims so adds on another £900. I then say but you have police records stating she claimed liability and that she was driving on the pavement at speed when she hit the car, and also the fact that she said dad had indicated but she was driving too fast to stop hence why she went up on the pavement. Why not chase her company for the money instead of charging my dad and then after work is done claim money back, he could be waiting up to 7 months before you sort this out....

 

They respond saying that the third party have not admitted liability and that the police cannot give them all the information regarding the event even if she had admitted liability. I then call the girl up and she said she has been meaning to call me... she said she couldnt afford her excess so she said to her insurance not to go ahead with it and that she will get her dad to fix her car. She then said she could sort out an arrangement to pay him back little by little, then she said your dad owns a Porsche surely he can afford to get it fixed rather than going down this route I then told her to choose her words very carefully.... I told her id be in touch then put the phone down.

 

Then got back in touch with insurance company and they said because on the diagram it shows dad turning into the drive they regard this as a dangerous manoeuvre even though he indicated it could go 50/50 I said what about her driving on the pavement?!?!?!?!? they said they will look into this a bit more and get back to me....

 

What is the point of insurance when you have to go through this rigmarole. Seems like the victims suffer and the criminals get away with murder. If this does not go our way I will be taking matters into my own hands dont worry about that, just cant believe this

[fakeindian]

absolute f**Kin joke.... they'll do anything to get out of a pay out!!! i hate insurance companies

[Andy]

Sounds about right for this country imo

[UNABASHED]

what an absolute joke!

 

Every accident I've ever had the worst part has always been the insurance side.

 

First time I was hit by an illegal immigrant who got 'some boys' to come to the accident site to threaten me. I ended up loosing out as she was illegal with an illegal car so couldn;t blame anyone as technically she didn't exist!

 

Second time a guy blatantly jumped a red light and slammed into side of me, we had a heated discussion at the roadside and he finally admitted liability, then changed his mind with the insurance company so spent months clearing that up - in the end it went 50/50!

 

Last time I wasn't even in the car as it was in works carpark, some guy in a transit from place next door left handbrake off and it rolled into side of mine. I even had CCTV evidence (which work took great pleasure in handing to me in a specially designed DVD case complete with review, slow motion shots and attractvie front cover!) and kept getting letters from a solicitor saying i would be held responsable if I didn;t answer the letters - none of which I had received!

 

touch wood I'll have no more trouble. I sincerley hope you get all this sorted quickly and without too much fuss from the guilty party!

[sasha@lazytrips]

Insurance companies can indeed be a nightmare. I had a very protracted case of somebody claiming I had hit their car and did damage to both wings, etc which I did not. I offered to bring my car to whichever garage they chose to inspect it (as I obviously had NO damage on any part whatsoever) but they refused as in their eyes paying out £2k was easier. I ended up giving up after 8 months of battling because I really did not want to lose my entire nervous system in the process.

 

My next insurance company conversation was a lot better. I went and talked directly to the 3rd party's insurance which has so far worked a treat. Fingers crossed for the finishing touches.

[neo-ninja]

jeeze sounds like a nightmare, when i hit someone by complete accident (i was one of that famous stat which says a young new dirver will have a minor crash in thier first year) i called my insurance told them the deal, even though to this day i belive thier break lights werent working so i im not sure how its my falut if they slam on brakes on a dark foggy night and i cant see they have until too late...(long long story but i know the highway code says you are in teh wrong if you rear bump someone) anyway i accepted i was in the wrong and teh next day after calling my insurance my car was getting mended and it was all over and done with before i knew it my car was back all perfect and you would never have known it had been a complete mangled mess only a few days before...

 

So so far my experiance has been ok, but you do hear these nightmares!

[Anubis]

Could you not explain to the insurance company that the girl had admitted to you on the phone that her story has changed and she can't afford the premium payout hence why she isn't admitting liability? Try and escalate this to management at your insurance company. It is none of your concern whether this girl can afford it or not - the car is damaged and you want it fixed on her insurance. The girl can sort any financial mess out with her own insurance company - thats why you pay them.

 

The situation would be very different if a child on the pavement got hit, but because it was a Porsche the laws of physics and rules have changed - seems a little odd, no?! Its a fact - the girl hit an object and that object was your dads Porsche. End of.

 

I hate stuff when this happens - you're the ones stuck in the middle as victims and the plonkers (insurance and young girl) are messing about and just not being adult enough to deal with the situation.

[Zedrush]

did tell them that but then how do you prove a phone conversation. Its a joke. My sister was in similar state last year, she had her car stolen in lead container supposedly, her house insurance went up, car insurance went up, when they found the guy whos fingerprints was all over the car and who stole it, they fined him a £150 and thats it, said could not prove he stole it but the fact he knowingly owns a stolen car he gets fined just that.

 

Im fed up, human rights??? should call it criminal rights

[rtbiscuit]

if she can't afford the insurance she shouldn't have a car.

 

retard

 

 

 

sorry to hear this zedrush,

 

what insurer were you dealing with, some are better than others.

 

most of mine have been hassle free only had 2 bumps and 1 was my fault. both sorted quickly.

[Zedrush]

if she can't afford the insurance she shouldn't have a car.

 

retard

 

 

 

sorry to hear this zedrush,

 

what insurer were you dealing with, some are better than others.

 

most of mine have been hassle free only had 2 bumps and 1 was my fault. both sorted quickly.

 

insurance company is MORE THAN, absolute joke

[nixy]

The thing that gets me is that we pay all this for insurance we end up scared to claim on in case it costs more in the long wrong. We fiercely protect our no claims, pay for repairs from our own pocket to protect our insurance etc etc. Its a vicious circle a lot of the time. She knows she was in the wrong but has suddenly thought.........mm prove it. Anything thats not 100 percent cut and dried with witnesses etc can end up going 50/50 - its just not right.

[geoff-r]

This angers me, insurance companies are a joke. I remember when I was 18, I was travelling down a one way street when a guy pulled out on me. I was doing just under the speed limit but due to him shooting out and the road being damp I slid right into him (my car didn't have ABS either). I was blamed 70%, he only got 30%. My age went against me and they deemed my standard MG ZR as a flash sports car.

 

Wait until her daddy fixes her car and pay a hobo, arm him with an axe and tell him to take out the a pillars, jobs a good'un

[Madmarky]

Jay thats terrible mate, ive had similar instances in the past. The best thing to do when you have accident and before you phone the insurance is get a stranger or friend of friend to come forward as a witness or find one at the scene of the accident. As Nixy said no witness most go 50/50 which is a load of rubbish and a waste of time having insurance. Hope you get it all sorted soon dude.

[Animal]

OP - Some things to remember:

 

1) Don't get angry with the people you speak to at your insurance co. If they sympathise with you, they'll work harder to help you than if you shout.

2) The rules regarding what these call centre bods can and can't do are very strict. With all due respect to them they are not employed for their ability to make financial decisions on behalf of their employers. Those decisions go up the chain based on the information provided by the person taking the call. Make sure you're very precise when you speak to them and get everything in writing. (Do they record the calls? Can you get a copy of the recording?)

3) Just because the insurance co says they've decided on one course of action it doesn't mean they can't be persuaded to change if you can present new evidence or if you can re-present the same evidence in a different light.

4) You can find this girl's address on the internet and we can organise a 5am meet outside her front door.

 

Am I right in thinking that the girl that hit your Dad has:

 

a) admitted liability

admitted to driving on the pavement (what was her justification for this?)

c) admitted to driving too fast to stop in time and hit your Dad

d) has now rescinded her admission

 

Are the police not interested in charging her with driving without due care & attention?!

[Zedrush]

OP - Some things to remember:

 

1) Don't get angry with the people you speak to at your insurance co. If they sympathise with you, they'll work harder to help you than if you shout.

2) The rules regarding what these call centre bods can and can't do are very strict. With all due respect to them they are not employed for their ability to make financial decisions on behalf of their employers. Those decisions go up the chain based on the information provided by the person taking the call. Make sure you're very precise when you speak to them and get everything in writing. (Do they record the calls? Can you get a copy of the recording?)

3) Just because the insurance co says they've decided on one course of action it doesn't mean they can't be persuaded to change if you can present new evidence or if you can re-present the same evidence in a different light.

4) You can find this girl's address on the internet and we can organise a 5am meet outside her front door.

 

Am I right in thinking that the girl that hit your Dad has:

 

a) admitted liability YEP

admitted to driving on the pavement (what was her justification for this?) YEP SHE TRIED TO SERVE ROUND AS REACTED TO THE INDICATION TO LATE, AND OTHERSIDE WAS ONCOMING TRAFFICK

c) admitted to driving too fast to stop in time and hit your Dad YEP

d) has now rescinded her admission KIND OF STILL ADMITS SHE IS WRONG, JUST WONT TELL HER INSURANCE

 

Are the police not interested in charging her with driving without due care & attention?!

 

I have her address, no problem if it doesn't go our way, just cant believe the insurance people, absolute thieving scumbags

[cookiemonster]

5am meet sounds good im free all week!

 

In all seriousness though this same scenario happened to my girlfriend over xmas, other car came to fast around a corner and hit her whilst she was at a stand still. The other car admitted fault at the time but when the paperwork came through they hadnt! Luckily i had photos of the scene and the numberplate.. which had this girls initials.. but the insurance forms came through in her parents name... one phone call explaining that insuring a car for someone else to drive the majority of the time is illegal and they changed there mind!

 

I think you will have a pretty good case Jay, provide the photos of the street and where the cars ended up and its very hard for the other party to prove they werent in the wrong.

[Animal]

 

I have her address, no problem if it doesn't go our way, just cant believe the insurance people, absolute thieving scumbags

 

If she's admitted liability (and admits to driving like an Indian taxi driver) then isn't she committing fraud by not reporting the accident to her insurers? Can your insurers not notify hers? Policy wordings should contain a clause to the effect that it is a condition precedent to liability that all material facts must be disclosed to insurers as soon as reasonably possible.

 

Maybe suggest this to her and say that you're going to speak to your insurers again who will be in touch with her insurance company? Alternatively, tell her you'll see her in court. How is your Dad? Any aches and pains?

 

As far as the excess and renewal are concerned, obviously if your Dad's insurers decide that he has some liability then they'll want the excess, but otherwise they should be recovering every penny from the other party's insurers. Renewal terms have to be quoted on the basis of the information as it is on that day, so I can understand the insurers bumping up the premium, but are they willing to consider a return premium if the claim is settled in your Dad's favour?

[bronzee]

What about the next time you speak to said girl, using a dictaphone up by the receiver and tape the conversation. Would that be viable under English law?

[Animal]

What about the next time you speak to said girl, using a dictaphone up by the receiver and tape the conversation. Would that be viable under English law?

 

No, inadmissable unless all parties are aware that the conversation is being recorded.