This is now the 3rd time someone has rear ended my car at traffic lights but this time it's my brand new Octavia vRS and 2 days before I was going on a European drive in it! Luckily it was only scratches to the rear bumper so fully drivable and I'm currently in Italy but worrying about this claim after just chasing up Esure.

 

I reported it to my insurance straight away and gave them the 3rd parties details. I also visited my own repair garage (trusted and used before vs. the one they wanted to send me to who I had to get to do the job again last time - literally painted over the scratches but thats another story).

 

Now it has been a week so far but their insurance haven't admitted liability as yet. As I haven't got excess protection I have to pay out £500 to the garage on completion of the repairs which Albany Assistance (shudder) will claim back but WITHOUT interest. I am pretty annoyed that I am going to be without £500 for a minimum of a month and according to E-sure (my insurance) it is an average of 6-8 weeks after admission.. She did point out that some claims take a year!!!!!

 

All my previous claims I have not had to pay any excess up front as the other insurance company admitted liability straight away - One dealing with me directly. Obviously I didn't read all the terms and conditions and assumed E-sure would be just like other insurers - my mistake - as they informed me that even if they do admit liability I still have to pay the excess and claim it back!

 

Do I have a case for claiming interest on the excess? Not only am I missing out on driving my practicality brand new car for a few days while it is in for repair (which I am making PCP payments on!) but I am also paying out £500 and not getting it back for at least a month.

 

I had an email this morning from the garage saying Esure have approved the repairs this morning and want to get it booked in when I am back but I am a bit worried about paying out my £500 excess then the 3rd party somehow wriggling out of this claim and me being left losing my no claims bonus and losing my £500. I asked E-sure to let me know when they hear from their insurance but they said it may take a few weeks and I have to get my car repaired ASAP putting me in a no win situation.

 

Any advice appreciated.....other than not to use Esure in the future.

In all honesty six months interest is is probably currently around £1 on £500.

 

I know it's annoying but is it worth worrying about?

It's 8% if you go through the ombudsmen which I assume the insurance have to go by. Although as you say it's only about £40 if that is the case.

My main concern is being forced into repairing the car straight away without any guarantee of getting the £500 back and keeping my no claims bonus. The insurance have my garages repair estimate so it's not as if I can create more damage by waiting.

I got my excess over a year after a car damaged my Superb's tailgate abroad ca 2009. So it does take a while to get it back.

esure must have changed policy details .

i was rear ended on the motorway rang esure & was given a different sub company to deal with as it was a no claim fault never paid any excess never asked to pay any either sorted 

Albany assistance are terrible. I had a bump in Jan 13, had to pay out my £450 excess,(due to disputed fault) esure pulled their finger out and settled my way in Jan 14. They said albany assistance held me excess not esure, so contacted them for it back. Now despite esure settling the claim they then wanted all the details of the collision. It's now Aug 14 and no money back yet!

Sorry to be the bearer of not so good news, I only hope yours is sorted quicker.

Many years ago I got hit by a guy coming out of a junction while I waited to turn off the main road. He initially admitted liability but then disputed it and the insurers had some sort of agreement going on which they refused to elaborate on so I was looking at a 50/50! I sent the guy, not the insurer a strongly worded letter basicaly saying unless he paid up the next stage was legal action and low and behold the insurers sorted it out quite quickly, so maybe that would be an option as it is this other party that is putting you in the position rather than just his/her insurer.

Hold off the repair until they admit liability then?

Pretty standard. The excess is only waved if they admit liability and most insurers tell customers "never admit liability at the scene". Not much you can do really.

 

Too late now but you're better to go to their insurance to arrange the repair rather than your own. I was in a minor accident where the other party admitted liability, I kept my excess but it was listed as an "at fault" claim until my insurer had reclaimed their costs from the other party. that took ages and I ended up paying a higher premium for my renewal becasue the claim wasn't cleared in time.

 

Agree about avoiding the insurers repair shop. The one my octy went to did more damage to the car than the 18 wheeler that scratched me. A repair to the drivers door ended up with the whole drivers side of the car getting resprayed twice, rear quarter window replaced and all the window rubbers and seals on that side replaced plus an alloy repaired.

It's not just the excess you can claim back (if you're deemed not at fault), it's ALL expenses - ie you can hire a similar car etc for the time yours was off the road etc.

Someone crashed into the back of me 4 weeks ago. My insurer (Admiral) wanted me to use their accident management company (Albany Assistance) who I didn't have much faith in but they said I wouldn't have to pay my excess as I wasn't at fault. The other party admitted fault at the scene but I'm still yet to hear if their insurer has admitted liability. I decided to go with a different accident management company who sorted out a courtesy car for me (mine has been off the road since the crash). If it happened again I'd probably go directly to the other party's insurance company.

Someone crashed into the back of me 4 weeks ago. My insurer (Admiral) wanted me to use their accident management company (Albany Assistance) who I didn't have much faith in but they said I wouldn't have to pay my excess as I wasn't at fault. The other party admitted fault at the scene but I'm still yet to hear if their insurer has admitted liability. I decided to go with a different accident management company who sorted out a courtesy car for me (mine has been off the road since the crash). If it happened again I'd probably go directly to the other party's insurance company.

Yes and no mate. The problem about going with the TP insurance companies is that they want to fix it as cheaply as possible. Had dealings with this with a major repair chain with huge repair premises and had issues with their finishing, timescale, details on the van etc... sometimes nicer to go to a repairer you know does good work... as long as it's reasonable I don't see the insurance company having issues with that.

Hold off the repair until they admit liability then?

 

^ this...

I had this with my A4 a few years back when rear-ended on an M25 slip.  Car was 3 months old and DIrect Line wanted me to take it to some nomark repairers. I told them no, it's going to Audi as it's practically new.  The young lady that ran into the back of us (we were stationary in a queue of traffic behind an accident) didn't admit liability at the time, but did in the end (no choice really) and DL in the end were fine with my taking the car to Audi, but IIRC if I hadn't had legal cover as part of the policy it would have been more difficult.

Hopefully you have legal cover? If so, let them deal with it for you

Just got back from holiday to the replies. Thanks everyone.

I've been told (by esure) I can't wait for admission of liability and have to get the repairs done ASAP.

I've also received 2 letters from Albany Assistance. The first saying they understand I was in an accident and the second saying they've closed the case as I haven't replied and guess I don't need their help...despite telling them on the phone that I'm going to be on holiday for 2 weeks and even gave them the date Id be back and requested they phone me on the following Monday, which they agreed to.

Looks like my weekend is going to filled by phoning around insurance companies.

Just got back from holiday to the replies. Thanks everyone.

I've been told (by esure) I can't wait for admission of liability and have to get the repairs done ASAP.

I've also received 2 letters from Albany Assistance. The first saying they understand I was in an accident and the second saying they've closed the case as I haven't replied and guess I don't need their help...despite telling them on the phone that I'm going to be on holiday for 2 weeks and even gave them the date Id be back and requested they phone me on the following Monday, which they agreed to.

Looks like my weekend is going to filled by phoning around insurance companies.

Sorry but that s b@ll@cks.

I did exactly this and used my own choice of repair centre.

Tell e sure to pull their finger out and to stop dicking you around.

Anyone would think that somebody wants to force you down their preferred route.

I'd suggest renewing with a different company next time if they're going to be like that.

Edited 22 August, 201411 yr by cheezemonkhai

Right finally got through to someone at esure....their claims handling department is only open Monday to Friday but someone was able to at least give me a bit of information saying the last note on their system says the other party isn't disputing liability but I need to phone Tuesday to confirm with my claim handler. I'm getting somewhere at least.

I spoke to her insurers directly who said they have now spoken to the 3rd party and while they have accepted liability they are saying there wasn't any damage so they can't help me and I will have to go through my insurance.

I'm getting somewhere at last! At least on Tuesday if esure confirm it's not disputed and they admit liability I can go ahead and get the repairs done without worrying about my no claims bonus and not getting my excess back.

Insurance companies are pretty much all the same, only different colours.  They all seem to do whatever they can to charge you as much as they can come renewal time and be as obstructive as they can come claims time.  I was knocked off my bike a while back, T-boned on a r'bout by a dangerous driver cutting across the roundabout straight into me, side on.  I suffered multiple injuries and loads of damage to the bike.  Insurance company wrote it off as 50/50 accident because the 3rd party refused to admit liability even though all the evidence, on site photos and medical reports pointed to an open and shut case of her driving into the side of my bike  (I was going straight on and she was in the inside lane with no indication, deciding to drive pretty quickly all the way round the roundabout.  Car 1:  biker: 0).  In that event, I had the bike taken to a repairer of my choice but was told that I couldn't arrange the repairs until the insurance loss assessor came out.  That is the only thing insurance companies are reasonably entitled to insist on. Their loss assessor agrees the damage/repairs needed with the repairer and forwards that report to the insurance company.

 

You do NOT then have to effect repairs asap;  that's nonsense in law.  You only have to have the losses agreed.  If the 3rd party refutes liability and there are no witness statements (as in my case) best you can usually hope for is a 50/50 decision and a loss of no claims/increased renewal premium.  For that reason it's often worth paying the small extra amount for protected no claims. It wont stop them raising the renewal anyway though!  Annoying as it is, liability often wont be settled unless admitted in writing by the 3rd party or there are witness statements.  Without those, you will end up losing the excess.

 

Top tip is to switch insurance companies every year, get the best deal with legal fees, protected no claims and as low an excess as possible.  It's all you can really do to limit your losses in the event of a non-settled liability claim.

Edited 23 August, 201411 yr by SEVrs

Right it's been confirmed they have admitted full liability so I can go ahead and get it booked in for repair safe in the knowledge my no claims bonus will stay in tact and I will be able to get my £500 back, even if it does take a couple of months.

In writing?

Had to renew my insurance in may this year was with SAGA , got a competative lower cost from AA , so moved it over , in fact both SAGA and AA use the same Underwriters . You always get abetter cost when comparing each yesr . 2 weeks ago , car was parked in station ca rpark and some so/so Honda Civic Trype R , go fast alloys etc , rolled into the back of me , Bumper creased , had left his hand brake off , on the slope . Fortunatly carpark attendents had taken pictures , go to the AA to make claim , and they pass me on to ClaimFast ,  as its a no fault accident , within 2 days they had my car taken for repair , Hire car for a week , and no payments from me at all , not even the excess to claim back . Oh did cost a £1 to hire car , which i got back when it was returned , and it was a like for like Diesel hire . So fortunatly trouble free for me . The driver did not even leave a note for ma as he had gone by the time i saw the damage , hope he is enjoying the heafty premium excess .

Argh, mine was with Esure too, don't let them fix it!

I went with one of those accident "specialist" law firms when someone reversed out of a bay into me a few years back. I didn't have to pay a penny, they literally took care of everything too. The whole process was sorted and the car repaired within just over a week. The only downside, for me anyway, was every time they called they asked if I was injured - they obviously make money from the claims. How they think if i wasnt injured at the time i would be several weeks later i do not know.

Interesting reading. I was rear ended just under a week ago. Initially, phoned my insurance company up to report the accident, but made it clear I didn't want the car just written off (a 1.3 Felicia isn't worth a lot these days :( ). My insurance company basically said it was my choice, I could either use them, in which case they'd write the car off, or go down the non-fault route and claim off the other drivers insurance, in which case they'd probably write the car off.

 

Needless to say, I had a chat with my tame mechanic and had the car left with a local body shop and using a third party company to claim on my behalf, after telling my insurance company I'll deal with it myself.

 

Oh, and as to personal injury, I have to admit, I've been somewhat surprised at how long it can take for the symptoms to show themselves. I felt ok at the time, but gradually this week my neckhas  started to ache more and more, although today (touch wood) it has been a lot better. Several weeks though is probably long enough for symptoms or injury to show.