Insurance Questions

gary the great

Some of you may remember me posting a question with regard to my insurance a few weeks back. Here’s an update and id like some advice.

We both think we were in the right, even though the insurance company will probably say I’m in the wrong due to the situation, but it’s my word against his.


So I’m willing to pay out once it isn’t to much – there was no damage to his van but my driver’s door needs replacing. So if I have to pay him £100 to reimburse him for getting his van examined or whatever so be it, I will pay. But there’s no way i'm going to fork out big money for his van cos there was no damage.


The thing is I’m in the UK; the car I was driving at the time was on Irish plates. The driver of the van never took my insurance details just my first name, reg and address; therefore they haven’t been able to track down my insurance company.

I have since received 2 letters from 2 separate insurance companies asking me to ring them. So I did, and both weren’t able to tell me anything other than they want my insurance details. I’m not giving them these as I don’t want Quinn Direct to pay out, if needs be I’ll do it myself to keep my NCB. I don’t know why there’s 2 insurance companies dealing with it either, they just said both were instructed to pursue the claim.

So as I said in the last thread I’m going back to Ireland soon and I was thinking of just going and forgetting about it and hoping nothing ever came from it. But I’m not going to do that. I want to get this sorted but the insurance companies aren’t doing anything or haven’t a clue what’s going on.

What should I do here, how do I go about finding out how much the claim is for?

Is it worth my while to be as awkward as possible in the hope that this will eventually go away, especially considering i’m going back to Ireland soon?

Should I notify Quinn (but I don’t want them to pay out nor for this to affect my NCB)

If the van drivers insurance company find out I’m insured by Quinn, will Quinn just pay out or what’s the procedure?

Any other tips or advice would be appreciated. This has me worried and I want to get it sorted asap!


Thanks

Anan1

The van drivers insurance company have a perfect right to know who you are insured by. Once they find out, they will settle with Quinn. Your only way around this is to settle with the van driver privately. To be honest, if I were you i'd be expecting a knock on the door from the police any day now. You can't expect to get away with being involved in an accident and not divulging your insurance details.

TychoCaine

You're obliged by law to give your insurance details to the other party at the scene, so you could be in for big trouble if you don't give them your QD policy number ASAP. As Anan1 said, cops will be knocking on your door if you keep ignoring them. The other party has decided to process this through insurance, so the wheels are in motion.

The only possibility is to very nicely ask the other party to withdraw the claim so you can settle it privately, but you're in a very week position. If someone crashed into my van, dissapeared off to the UK and was humming and hawing about price, I'd be screaming blue murder at this stage. :mad:

gary the great

But i want to settle this privatly and have no problem doing so - they just seem to not want me to.
So will quinn just pay out without even asking me do i want to settle myself?

It would be a shame to loose my NCB for a couple of hundred quid.

Anan1

gary the great wrote:

But i want to settle this privatly and have no problem doing so - they just seem to not want me to.
So will quinn just pay out without even asking me do i want to settle myself?

It would be a shame to loose my NCB for a couple of hundred quid.

The van driver can allow you to settle privately, but you have no right to insist on it. The choice is his, not yours. Quinn will pay out without consulting you, as your insurer they are liable and therefore it is they who make the decisions.

gary the great

Ok fair enough. Cant believe im gonna lose my NCB over the tinyest of tips.

Somebody here said when i go to renew my insurance Quinn give the option of paying them for any claims they've had to pay out and then you can keep your NCB. Is this true?

gary the great

Also anyone any idea why 2 seperate insurance companies would be contacting me?

The van is from a big compnay fleet, so im assuming both the the company insurance and the fella driving the van have put the cliam in through their seperate insurer's?

when i rang them they both hadnt got a clue who was dealing with it and why the other company was involved.

Anan1

gary the great wrote:

Ok fair enough. Cant believe im gonna lose my NCB over the tinyest of tips.

Somebody here said when i go to renew my insurance Quinn give the option of paying them for any claims they've had to pay out and then you can keep your NCB. Is this true?

Have you tried settling privately with the van driver? He probably won't trust you at this stage, but it might be worth a shot.

gary the great

No ive had no contact with him. I got his number but it doesnt work. I gave him mine and told him i didnt want to go through the insurance if he had to claim (there was no visible damage, and we only hit at about 10mph).

They have no reason to not trust me. I rang the first insurance company the day i got the letter, they asked me for my insurnace details, i said id rather pay myslef, to which they agreed. They then said they'd contact me when they get a quote/invoice for the damage - but they never did.

Then a couple of weeks later i got the letter of another company. Rang them straight away. Again told them the same stuff and asked them why are 2 compnaies pursuing the same claim. She said she didnt know, she'd contact the other compnay and then get back to me.
Neither have got back to me, although this may be due to the fact i have an irish mobile number over here and thats what i use, they may not be able to ring international numbers.

So no reason not to trust me!

TychoCaine

gary the great wrote:

...The van is from a big compnay fleet...

That's why the insurance company is involved. A private motorist will do another motorist a favour and settle with cash, but companies just can't do the same easily. An accountant would have a stroke if they had to take a wad of fifties off a stranger. Insurance policies are simpler. They just send the van into the designated garage, it comes back fixed, the insurance company pays the garage direct, and the accountant doesn't have to do any paperwork.

Just hand over your insurance details before you end up in front of a judge (this will happen if you refuse to provide insurance details after an accident). Then call your insurer and tell them that you will cover the total cost of the claim and just hope they have some procedure in place to facilitate this so as not to affect your NCB.

Atomic Pineapple

you can let quinn direct settle the claim and you can then pay them the cost of the claim to keep your no claims bonus anyway

gary the great

draffodx wrote:

you can let quinn direct settle the claim and you can then pay them the cost of the claim to keep your no claims bonus anyway

Thats what i want to do. I'll try give the lad I hit a ring again and see what he says. The if i cant sort it out with him i'll give one of the companies my insurnace details - i'll find out which one is dealing with it, i'm not having both of them claiming. Then i'll ring Quinn and tell them i'll settle it with them.

Seems the best and only route.

If i settle with Quinn i'll still have to fill in the coluom that says ive had an accident in the last 5 years but never claimed for it,which i'm sure will still affect my premium. Arrghh all this for a tip that i still think and the van driver knows was his fault!

Keith C

One of the first things it says on your insurance policy is to notify your insurance company immediatly in the event of an accident no matter how small. Quinn are known for their "tight" claims criteria so expect a rough time off them when you tell the accident occured 2 weeks ago (ish) & it was also in the UK.
Make sure you havent been driving in the UK more than 30 consecutive days, if you have & havent advised Quinn your insurance could be null & void as you acted outside your insurance terms & conditions.

gary the great

No I rang Quinn and they said I can drive over here as long as I like. Quinn UK and Ireland are the same company. The phonecall is recorded to.
The reason i didnt tell them about the accidnet was because I though nothing would ever come of it, although I should of notified them after I got the letter from his insurance.

gary the great

Contacted the company and they want £850 for the repairs - robbery.
I'm going to ring Quinn now and tell them i want to try claim of his insurance, although they will probably pay out on the evidence - even though me and the van driver both know it was his fault.

I know Quinn are going to give me hassle now about this, arrrggghhh!


As this is my first year driving and hence have no NCB built up, will the price of my premium for next year be much bigger if i let Quinn (and they dont find a way out of it) pay?

Anan1

gary the great wrote:

As this is my first year driving and hence have no NCB built up, will the price of my premium for next year be much bigger if i let Quinn (and they dont find a way out of it) pay?

Ask them, then decide what to do.

BeardyGit

Hand over your insurance details Gary. You're foolish to think you'll get away with this. If you just move back to Ireland, you'll only have the Gardaí hassling you next. You should have just let your insurance company dealt with this on your behalf.....

Like it or not, you've no other option really.

gary the great

I rang Quinn and they said NOT to hand over my details - they want to investigate as they believe I may of been in the right and theres no way to prove it either way due to were each of the vehicles were damaged.

The want to investigate and said they will contact the other drivers insurance company themselves. I really hope that they can prove i was in the right, even if i dont get a cent for the damage on my car. just so that fecker robbing me wont get a cent.

Anyway Quinn again confirmed I can drive for an unlimted time in the UK, which i knew already but some people mentioned on here it could be an issue.

I also checked for a potential new quote with Quinns online system. I put in my details as if i hadnt had the accident and then tried another quote but put in the accident and included the details and how much they had to pay out and it worked out at 30euro more expensive! I can afford that i think!!

I had no NCB's built up anyway, i'd be really pee'ved if i had a few years and then something so stupid like this came up.

PS does anyone know who charges £600 for the rent of a van for 2 days? And to replace a front tow bar and charge £275? Thats what there claiming for!And how does it take 2 days to replace a front tow bar.
I hope Quinn give them a hard time over it and really fight my case