Motor vehicle insurance questions

badlywornroy

badlywornroy

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A little background (early days so I don't have comprehensive details)

Stepson returned to his parked Tesla Mod3 (£55,000 o_O ) to find drivers door substantially dented and surrounding paintwork damaged.

Fortunately an observer reported to him that a truck had reversed out from a side road into his Tesla and drove away. The observer supplied the reg number to stepson.

Stepson reported same to the police. Apparently police approached the driver who was under the influence, he refused a breathtest and assaulted the policeman(s)

Again 'early days' but to me this looks 'cut & dried' that the truck drivers insurance will have to pay for the Tesla repair' I am making an assumption here that the truck driver has insurance :police:

On to the 'meat' of this post, Stepson has compulsory excess of £500.00 plus voluntary excess of £250.00.

Will he have to pay these excesses ?

A little googling leads me to 'Uninsured Loss Recovery'

" a form of legal expenses insurance that helps you recover money you have paid out following a car accident that was not your fault and which is not covered by your own motor policy. "

It seems this ULR can be taken out in addition to your vehicle insurance but it seems you can employ a solicitor 'after the fact' to recover ? among other losses your excesses.

Some solicitors seem to other this service on a 'no win no fee' basis.

I am interested in the thought of our knowledgeable members especially if you have relevant experience.

Thank you.
 
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In a totally different scenario I had to pay the excess but was fully refunded when all settled through my insurer. Why complicate things with a solicitor if no need to?
 
Tigger.ufo said:
In a totally different scenario I had to pay the excess but was fully refunded when all settled through my insurer. Why complicate things with a solicitor if no need to?
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:plus1: in my case it was getting the other party insurer to agree it was 50/50 responsibility (I had no issue with that. NB it was a bump in supermarket car park) and I got 50% of my excess back. I am insured with LV, in case that makes a difference???
 
If the other driver is at fault and his insurance company agrees then your son won't be left out of pocket....
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
If the other driver is at fault and his insurance company agrees then your son won't be left out of pocket....
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Hmm, " if his insurance company agrees " is that usual ? I have to admit not being a great fan of insurance companies.
 
badlywornroy said:
Hmm, " if his insurance company agrees " is that usual ? I have to admit not being a great fan of insurance companies.
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I'm sure they will have no option as it sounds like a clear cut case.
We had a head on collision 40 years ago with a drunk driver.
He was charged with drink driving and dangerous driving and we thought pretty clear cut.
However, he told his insurance company I drove through a red light and that's why he hit us.
The nearest traffic lights were about 2 miles away.
It wasn't until it went to court and he was found guilty that his insurance company paid out....
 
I've had this in the past and claimed the excess from the idiot that hit me. His insurance paid it in the end, but it did take a bit of arguing.

This was many years ago though (30+), so things may have changed now.
 
It is possible that the 'case' is complicated if the lorry driver is charged by the police......but whatever the situation IMO let your son's insurance company start the process but one thing for sure he should not be out of pocket on the long run.

NB in my case I mentioned above, LV were being given a hard time by the other parties insurance, even saying to me "they" have a history of being difficult to deal with! After some months LV asked me to complete a form whereby (assured in writing to me) at no cost to me 'I was going to take the other party to court' if they did not settle the claim. About 3 weeks later LV told me things were finally moving and actually refunded me my 50% excess before they had received 'it' from the other party insurer.

NB for what was a very minor prang it took over a year to complete :banghead:
 
Call a claims management company. They will be delighted to sort this out.

They should be able to organise your son with a rental Tesla while his is being fixed and cover his excess. The less reputable ones may even give him cash.
 
That Tesla should have sentry mode as well so should have recorded the whole incident.
 
I have no idea if this is accurate (I'm just bloke posting on the internet - not a lawyer or insurance expert!)

If he was under the influence - would his insurance cover him?
If he is uninsured, I believe that the MIB can/will act as insurer for his vehicle.
 
AFAIK “uninsured loss recovery” is to cover compensation for things were damaged that as a result of the incident but aren’t the subject of an insurance policy. Say for example you’d just done a big shop and had £200 worth of stuff in the boot when somebody piles into the back of your car…… Standard insurance would cover the damage to the car but it’s likely that whichever policy ends up paying out would extend to covering stuff in the car. ULR fills that gap.
 
Pound Coin said:
I have no idea if this is accurate (I'm just bloke posting on the internet - not a lawyer or insurance expert!)

If he was under the influence - would his insurance cover him?
If he is uninsured, I believe that the MIB can/will act as insurer for his vehicle.
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I have no idea, but a disturbing thought !

P.S I think maybe they will not cover the drunken drivers loss but will cover the innocent party . . . . I hope :(
 
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Krisstiffer said:
AFAIK “uninsured loss recovery” is to cover compensation for things were damaged that as a result of the incident but aren’t the subject of an insurance policy. Say for example you’d just done a big shop and had £200 worth of stuff in the boot when somebody piles into the back of your car…… Standard insurance would cover the damage to the car but it’s likely that whichever policy ends up paying out would extend to covering stuff in the car. ULR fills that gap.
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Yes, ULR covers all that 'stuff' and vehicle excess is included. I understand.
 
Pound Coin said:
I have no idea if this is accurate (I'm just bloke posting on the internet - not a lawyer or insurance expert!)

If he was under the influence - would his insurance cover him?
If he is uninsured, I believe that the MIB can/will act as insurer for his vehicle.
Click to expand...
May vary but in general the insurance company will still pay out on the 3rd party claim - in this case the Tesla - but refuse to cover the driver in the wrong. Effectively reducing the cover to 3rd party only due to what would be seen as negligence on the part of the truck driver.
 
Pound Coin said:
I have no idea if this is accurate (I'm just bloke posting on the internet - not a lawyer or insurance expert!)

If he was under the influence - would his insurance cover him?
If he is uninsured, I believe that the MIB can/will act as insurer for his vehicle.
Click to expand...

Yes. It's quite hard (for obvious reasons) to invalidate the 3rd party section of your policy.

1st party may be a different matter - but we don't care about his truck, right?
 
We had a no fault claim 18 m ago and managed to avoid paying any excess. We did not need to use a solicitor but I expect that both parties being insured with the same company helped.
 
just deal with his insurance company if you know who they are rather than getting your insurance company to deal with the claim
no question of excess payments as long as his insurance company / driver accept liability
 
cosmicma said:
just deal with his insurance company if you know who they are rather than getting your insurance company to deal with the claim
no question of excess payments as long as his insurance company / driver accept liability
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Is that even possible? I thought you were obliged to report an accident to your insurance company, no matter who was at fault?
 
boogie man said:
Is that even possible? I thought you were obliged to report an accident to your insurance company, no matter who was at fault?
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Yes, you have to report it to them but you do not have to let them deal with it.
 
About 5 years ago a white van hit my car at a junction (I was stationery) and both vehicles ended up in a nearby Orchard. Both vehicles were undrivable (and eventually written off). There was an independent witness to the whole incident. It was interesting that the two passengers came over to us and were amazed that no one was killed or obviously injured but apologised for their driver and were not prepared to ever travel with him again. The owner of the Orchard was quickly on the spot and spoke the witness who was local; he was only interested in the van drivers details after this as he would be claiming for the damage. My son (my passenger) called the Police but they were not interested. I then called my insurance company who arrange for a local garage to collect the vehicle and us and dropped us at the nearest train station. While we originally thought that there were no injuries, my shoulder was now somewhat painful but I did not go to a hospital. I have always had the additional uninsured losses and claimed via this organisation. I was later give a medical assessment and found to have suffered from a temporary injury due to the crash. Ultimately I was paid a write-off fee by my insurance company and initially had to pay the excess. Later the company dealing with the uninsured losses paid me the excess plus several hundred pounds for the injury. It was clear that the Van driver was 100% responsible and I suspect his passengers reported the truth as well as the independent witness. My insurance company did not penalise me in any way. However, getting the write-off value for a 8 year old car (from new) was about £4,000). I needed a similar car (second hand was not an option as I scoured the country) and drive an automatic. I thus then had to lay out £23,000 (not planned for as I would have kept the previous car for another 4 years) in order to put myself back in the previous position.

Dave
 
A lorry hit me two years ago. My insurer sorted out my car but because the other party would not admit it was his fault I had to pay the excess. My insurer instructed solicitors and I got my excess back about 8 mths later.
 
I've posted elsewhere about how murky insurance gets but here's the thing, if/when the truck driver's insurance accepts liability, they will be responsible for paying all costs for putting you son back into the position he was in before the accident. I.e. fix the car, pay any out of pocket expenses and cover any medical bills. If a company handles the case then they will have the opportunity to make money on it - probably quite a lot of money (yes, I said it was murky).

So options are
  1. Approach his own insurers. They will probably waive excess and rent him a car.
  2. Approach a 3rd party claims management company. Some people have suggested their business is immoral because they will make a fortune on this. He'll need to sign some paperwork agreeing to pay some of their costs if the truck insurers don't pay out. It's very unlikely that they will take the case unless they have an extremely good chance of making money at it.
  3. Talk to the 1st party insurers. If it is as clear cut as presented above then they will actually be trying to contact him ATM because they know is he goes to 1 or even worse 2 it will cost them a lot more money.
Whatever happens, his insurance policy probably says he has to inform his insurers - even if he doesn't get the car fixed.

If the facts are as you present them above then unless the truck was foreign registered it looks cut and dried and either 1, 2 or 3 would be good options. Sadly foreign claims are really tricky and AFAIK most claims management companies won't touch them.

The only dubious bit is proving that (1) it was this particular truck that hit him (sorted by a witness) and (2) who was driving it at the time (slightly tricky if it's a works vehicle with multiple drivers - but then it wouldn't matter so much since they are usually all on the same policy). The whole being drunk and assaulting a police officer has nothing to do with the crash. It sounds grim but when I worked in claims, our "favourite" calls were bin lorries hitting parked, unattended vehicles. Nobody was hurt and Council insurance knew they were going to pay.

Either way, if the truck was 100% at fault then he is entitled to get his excess off the 1st party regardless of whether he has uninsured loss cover or not. After they have accepted liability, he can Google up a letter asking them to pay it and pretty much always they will. ULC would make this quicker and easier (the ULC insurers would pay him and then claim from the 1st party - plus a little extra for their trouble).
 
boogie man said:
Is that even possible? I thought you were obliged to report an accident to your insurance company, no matter who was at fault?
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yes it's possible

a few years ago i had a rear end shunt at a set of lights not a lot of damage and no injuries
the person who ran in to the back of me admitted full liability there and then
i rang my insurance company up explaining what had happened and because it was just damage repair claim they advised me to contact the other persons insurance which they gave me the details from the registration of the other vehicle

so that's what i did
they organised the repair of the car and a courtesy car while the work was being done
there was no mention of excess and none was payed

the rub was at the time i had just had a renewal quote from my insurance a matter of days before but because of the accident they gave me a revised quote which had shot up by £100
needless to say i changed insurance companies to one that was the same price before the shunt
 
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