Car insurance question

[AlanG]

My nephew has just written off his car in an accident. No-one else was involved or injured which is the main thing. My question is, will he get money back for the car as he's fully comp and the car was fully paid for. He needs to get another car but can't afford one yet so hence the question

[Ian M]

I Don't know how it works in England any more, (or Scotland for that matter sorry). But as you say its fully comp so I think that the car is insured against every eventuality.

The big question is how did it happen...Not that I think it will make any difference, I'm just nosey :-) Seriously if he was doing some thing not quite within the law it might give issues...

Hope that he's fine.

Ian M

[AlanG]

He swerved and went off the road when a deer ran out in front of him

[Ian M]

Well hitting it would of done just as much damage! My father in law wrote off a van hitting a small one a year or so back..

Only one thing to do ring and ask an insurance company...

Ian M

[stona]

The insurance company will have an assessor value the car. They will then make him an offer based on that assessment. It's usually towards the bottom end of the book price, it will never be more than the upper book price. He doesn't have to accept it, he can try to argue it up, but he needs to be prepared for a tedious campaign if he does. I know from personal experience .

I suspect that this will go down as a "fault" claim, however ridiculous that might seem, which will effect his premium in the future but I don't know for sure. Don't assume! He should definitely find out from his insurer. It might also have a bearing on stuff like courtesy cars etc. make sure he checks before accepting anything or HE could end up with the bill.

Most important is that he's okay.

Cheers

Steve

[AlanG]

Cheers guys. Never had to claim on car insurance so have no idea how it works

[stona]

The problem these days is that all sorts of middle men get involved between you (or your nephew) and the company that you thought you were insured with. SWMBO's car got written off when it was parked on the road outside our house. It was only on the road because her brother had nicked her normal spot on the drive! Luckily nobody was in it and the person who drove into it was physically unhurt too.

We had to argue up the valuation of SWMBO's car and it can be quite difficult. The insurance companies and their agents can get quite threatening ("if you don't accept this you'll probably lose your excess"). This was obviously a no fault claim too, and the other (only) driver accepted liability.

You may also get the impression that you are receiving services, like a courtesy car, as part of your cover but this is not always so. Years ago I nearly got stiffed for a substantial bill and had to argue it for months. We nearly ended up in court before the company that had provided the car backed down.

As I said assume nothing, check everything, and if they do agree something get it in writing, even if just an email which you can print. It's common sense really.

You may be luckier than we were , I hope you are, but better to cover your back!

Cheers

Steve

[AlanG]

Thanks Steve. I'll pass that onto him. He's all confused, worried and upset that he crashed in the first place. Still the bright side is that no-one (apart from his pride) is hurt lol.

I've just been lucky I've never had to deal with car insurance firms other than when I re-new a policy.

[stona]

I'm painting a fairly "worst case scenario" but all the same he should be careful. It's a difficult time, he will obviously be upset and he's lost his car for the time being. Sometimes people can be rushed into doing, saying, or signing things that they wouldn't were they on a more even keel at the time.

It's good to have someone to talk to and go through things. There's no rush once the initial claim is made.

Just be aware, that's all. I don't think insurance companies are out to get us, but they want to settle things a quickly and cheaply as they can. Our interests and theirs may not coincide.

Cheers

Steve

[rickoshea52]

Be prepared to argue your case all the way and don't be intimidated or bullied. Remember when my car's engine blew on the M54 after our fitter's course? A stone damaged the radiator causing a leak that resulted in the engine siezing and the insurance company tried to wriggle out by saying I should have noticed it. Later they only offerred to pay for a new radiator and coolant arguing that any consequential damage was not covered by fully comp insurance. So what they were saying was that a stone could damage you windscreen while driving at 70 mph and cause you to lose sight of the road and career down an embankment and roll you car but they'd only pay for a new windscreen. They backed down and paid up.

[Guest]

Think that the insurance also becomes dead duck with a total loss & a new insurance premium will have to be paid.

Laurie

[flyjoe180]

At least it was a deer that ran out in front of him. I had a few 'dogs' that I had to swerve to avoid when I was in my early twenties.

[stona]

Driving in Nigeria, many years ago, my late father hit a donkey that was sleeping on the asphalt road. The roads retain some heat as the temperature plummets at night and the animals try to take advantage of this. It wrote the car off, it was very badly damaged, and he was lucky to walk away from it. The donkey was very badly injured and was shot by a policeman or soldier later.

He was always very sanguine about it. He used to say that it could have been worse, he might have hit a camel.

Cheers

Steve