Open insurance claim...will it ever end?!

you*ess*bee

OK, so I was involved in an accident on the way to get my NCT done in November 08. A girl cut across the roundabout and smacked into the side of my car. There was no damage to the front of her car, but significant damage to the side of mine. The garda who came to the scene said he could not say who was at fault because he did not witness the accident. So we exchanged information, and left it to our insurance companies to decide, as neither one of us thought we were at fault.

My insurance was up for renewal (4years no claims bonus) and since the claim is open, I have lost my NCB, my insurance has more than doubled, and this wont go back down and my NCB wont be reinstated until the claim is settled. Problem is neither mine nor her insurance company will claim fault.

She is claiming she has a written statement from the garda saying she was in the right. Unfortunately, the garda is off work due to a motorcycle accident. So there is no way of getting a statement from him.

This is ongoing for months now and its killing me! Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone has suggestions? When is this going to close? Numerous calls to my insurance company has left me angry and wanting to move to another company, but since I have an open claim, no one will take me on. They said the claim could be open for years until someone accepts responsibility! Thats ridiculous!

Kimbot

Get a copy of said letter from Guard off the woman that hit you.

you*ess*bee

Yeah she 'cant find it' at the moment, so were waiting for the garda to come back from leave.

Páid

Something similar happened to me a few years ago.

Take legal advice and ask your solicitor to initiate proceedings against her insurance company for the full amount of the repairs & legal fees.

The legal fees in my case were pretty cheap (about €250) and the insurance company settled in full a week before the case was due in court.

You'll find that her insurance company will put every obstacle in your way to stop you from claiming and they only seem to take notice when a court date is in the near future.

Farls

Expect around 12 months to sort out something of that nature...possibly more where neither party will take responsibility.

I'm in a similar position myself and you just have to put up with the hike in insurance, if your in the right ( and it certainly sounds that way ) stick by your guns.

Do you have any evidence of the scene? Did you take pictures of how the cars ended up? Or of the damage caused? Have you any witnesses?

If you haven't got a solicitor on the case then get one ASAP. I was hit head on by a drunk driver on the wrong side of the road and because he managed to flee the scene I have to fight him in court...I got a letter from his solicitor not so long ago asking me to take responsibility :mad:. Whilst these things are maddening etc you just have to take them in your stride and let your solicitor deal with them, karma's a very sore thing you know. you should be refunded fully the extra you were out on insurance along with other things when the case gets cleared up, but know that these things are very slow.

Also it sounds strange that the woman whom ran into you would offer up a statement from the gardaí? Get your solicitor to request a copy of this from the super of the station if the guard is off sick.

pyramuid man

If she is lying and has said this I would imagine that she would be in a bit of trouble.

Páid

OP, did she state that she has the Garda's statement or did the insurance company tell you that she has it? They could be just trying to dissuade you from claiming off them by giving you the impression that they have a stronger case than you. They will try every trick in the book.

The sooner your solicitor initiates proceedings the sooner it will be settled.

smash

Leave your insurance company! If they're not willing to help you out then stop paying them. Go here - http://www.xsdirect.ie/

BeardyGit

steve06 wrote: »

Leave your insurance company! If they're not willing to help you out then stop paying them. Go here - http://www.xsdirect.ie/

Are you absolutely stoned?

Why would someone who will be entitled to a 4 year NCB pay good money for a policy with a several thousand euro excess?

Well done, that's possibly the worst suggestion I've ever read on boards.ie

:rolleyes:

OP, if your insurance company offer 'legal assistance', tell them to go legal. If the don't, just employ a solicitor yourself.

Gil

Dampsquid

If there is no damage done to her car then she is not claiming on your insurance.
So just pay for the damage yourself, and claim off her insurance.

That should not affect your ncb as your not claiming off your own insurer.

you*ess*bee

For some reason unknown to me she did have work done on her car, although myself and the garda at the time both said there was no damage to her car.

We both had our own insurance companies out to the scene and my insurance company sent out an independant assesor to both myself and her. He filed a report saying I was in the right.

She is claiming to her insurance company that she has a statement from the garda, which my insurance co told me.

They are so blah blah about how peed off I am! I already had my car fixed, and the insurance co paid for it, so I can go back and pay it myself. Nor would I have the money, it cost 2k to fix.

Plus, I dont really have the money to hire a solicitor. I mean 250 euro is alot of money to me right now.

the_syco

Ask the Garda's super can you get a copy of said letter. If there's none, you can tell your insurance crowd, and the girls defence won't be really legit any more.

smash

Gil_Dub wrote: »

Why would someone who will be entitled to a 4 year NCB pay good money for a policy with a several thousand euro excess?

because...

"My insurance was up for renewal (4years no claims bonus) and since the claim is open, I have lost my NCB, my insurance has more than doubled, and this wont go back down and my NCB wont be reinstated until the claim is settled."

BeardyGit

When the matter is resolved he'll be refunded the difference between what he has paid this year and what he would have paid with his NCB applied. If, [deity] forbid, he has another accident in the meantime, he'll not have to worry about a €4K-ish excess....that just makes no sense to me.

The OP needs to get the finger out and go legal, otherwise he's just leaving himself out of pocket.

mikemac

You're out of your depth OP and that's no sleight on you.
You tried to resolve it but it isn't working through no fault of your own.

Go legal and get a solicitor, this sort of thing should be no problem to any decent solicitor