Inform the other insurance company?

ldxo15wus6fpgm

A stupid van driver reversed into me today in northern ireland, he initially accepted liability and then changed his tune. It was 100% his fault and I have 2, possibly 3 witnesses to back me up. I rang my insurance company to make the claim and they asked if I had contacted the other driver's insurance company.

I said no and they didn't say whether I should or shouldn't contact them. I didn't pay this any attention until after I got off the phone. What should I do?

flutered

this happened to me down here, we had agreed on a very basic figure with three 0's in it, i went to a solicitor with all the details including his insuraance details, after six weeks i got a check in the post for fourteen times the figure that i asked for, add to that the solicitors fees, the op really stitched himself up.

robtri

Kelsey Unkempt Numerology wrote: »

A stupid van driver reversed into me today in northern ireland, he initially accepted liability and then changed his tune. It was 100% his fault and I have 2, possibly 3 witnesses to back me up. I rang my insurance company to make the claim and they asked if I had contacted the other driver's insurance company.

I said no and they didn't say whether I should or shouldn't contact them. I didn't pay this any attention until after I got off the phone. What should I do?

I would be contacting his company as you will be claiming off his insurance not your own..

ldxo15wus6fpgm

robtri wrote: »

I would be contacting his company as you will be claiming off his insurance not your own..

Will my insurance co not do that for me though?

Del2005

Kelsey Unkempt Numerology wrote: »

Will my insurance co not do that for me though?

Yes they will , that's part of the contract you have with them they deal with all claims you make.

No Pants

Kelsey Unkempt Numerology wrote: »

Will my insurance co not do that for me though?

They will, but now you will have a claim open with them that could have an impact on your premium come renewal time. If that's not due for another 11 months, you'll be fine. But if it's due next month, you could be screwed.

I had a small matter requiring insurance interaction. The PSNI had sorted out the liability issue at the site. I called his insurance company to open a claim and called my own to report the incident. I made it clear on that first call that this was for notification only.

ldxo15wus6fpgm

No Pants wrote: »

They will, but now you will have a claim open with them that could have an impact on your premium come renewal time. If that's not due for another 11 months, you'll be fine. But if it's due next month, you could be screwed.

I had a small matter requiring insurance interaction. The PSNI had sorted out the liability issue at the site. I called his insurance company to open a claim and called my own to report the incident. I made it clear on that first call that this was for notification only.

luckily enough I renewed last week so not too worried about that one!
thanks all

Kelly06

Be careful op, the exact same thing happened to me on Friday 13th as well.

I witnessed him reversing into my car along with someone else. There was slight damage to the bumper and the fella admitted liability there and then. He gave me his number and I took his details. All ok.

The next day I called his insurance company to report the incident and stated that we were going to sort it out between ourselves. I had a quote from a garage where I knew the owner and they were going to do the work cheaply for €400.

When I finally got through to the chap he launched into a tirade of abuse called me every name under the sun and then said that I crashed into the back of his car. I wasn't even in my car at the time I was thirty feet away !

Being the type to never let someone get the better of me I contacted the insurance company which would be considered to be a top player in the Irish market. To say that they handled the incident in a Shambolic way would be an understatement!!!

They opened an investigation and I didn't hear from them for weeks. I called and called but the claims handler never called me back until finally I got her on the phone one day and she informed me that the investigation was closed and that I had crashed into the back of the other parties car. No one from the insurance company had taken a statement off me or any witness and no one had questioned the other party as to why they did not have the reg of my car, name or insurance details or the fact that their car had sustained more damage than mine which would be proof that my car was stationary at the time. She also threatened me that I should have reported the incident to my own insurance but as I wasn't even in the car at the time I didn't think it was fair that I had to pay for the accident myself as the amount was less than the excess!. I fought on the phone with her for half an hour before she would even look into it. Eventually three months after the fender bender I got a cheque for €400!

Another time a little sweet old lady reversed into my car while I was driving behind her. She just stopped her car put it into reverse and reversed full pelt without looking into her mirror. She then got out of the car and said I had to be speeding! I had been driving behind her the whole time... Scary! Anyway she gave me a sob story that her husband had just had a heart attack and she didn't want to stress him so she would contact me and I shouldn't contact her. I had a smashed headlight a bumper hanging off my car and my bonnet was sticking up and warped.

Did the honest little old lady ring me? Hell no! When I contacted her she just said .. I told you not to ring me young lady and put her husband on the phone threatening that their friend is a guard and that they didn't have to give me insurance details. I got a quote and she wouldn't accept it , said she couldn't afford it even though she had an address in quite an affluent area of dublin. They sent me to a garage of their choosing and the quote was even more expensive so she agreed to let me go through the garage I had chosen, the mean old bint wouldn't even give me a cheque to pay for the damage she insisted on attending the garage and paying herself because she was looking down her nose at me.

Sorry for the long post but the moral of the story is Trust no one and always go through the insurance. I learned my lesson the hard way don't listen to the sob stories if they are drunk call the Garda, no insurance call the Garda etc!

Del2005

No Pants wrote: »

They will, but now you will have a claim open with them that could have an impact on your premium come renewal time. If that's not due for another 11 months, you'll be fine. But if it's due next month, you could be screwed.

I had a small matter requiring insurance interaction. The PSNI had sorted out the liability issue at the site. I called his insurance company to open a claim and called my own to report the incident. I made it clear on that first call that this was for notification only.

It doesn't matter whose insurance company you deal with, your's or their's, there is an open claim and it'll affect you come renewal. If the claim is settled in your favour you may get something back mid term.

CiniO

Kelly06 wrote: »

Be careful op, the exact same thing happened to me on Friday 13th as well.

I witnessed him reversing into my car along with someone else. There was slight damage to the bumper and the fella admitted liability there and then. He gave me his number and I took his details. All ok.

The next day I called his insurance company to report the incident and stated that we were going to sort it out between ourselves. I had a quote from a garage where I knew the owner and they were going to do the work cheaply for €400.

When I finally got through to the chap he launched into a tirade of abuse called me every name under the sun and then said that I crashed into the back of his car. I wasn't even in my car at the time I was thirty feet away !

Being the type to never let someone get the better of me I contacted the insurance company which would be considered to be a top player in the Irish market. To say that they handled the incident in a Shambolic way would be an understatement!!!

They opened an investigation and I didn't hear from them for weeks. I called and called but the claims handler never called me back until finally I got her on the phone one day and she informed me that the investigation was closed and that I had crashed into the back of the other parties car. No one from the insurance company had taken a statement off me or any witness and no one had questioned the other party as to why they did not have the reg of my car, name or insurance details or the fact that their car had sustained more damage than mine which would be proof that my car was stationary at the time.

Hahahahah.
Did physics law suddenly stopped operating during that accident.
I would love to hear why would that fact be a proof that your car was stationary?

She also threatened me that I should have reported the incident to my own insurance but

Because you should. No matter who is at fault, it should be reported to your own insurance company. That's a requirement put pretty much by every single one insurer in Ireland.

as I wasn't even in the car at the time I didn't think it was fair that I had to pay for the accident myself as the amount was less than the excess!. I fought on the phone with her for half an hour before she would even look into it. Eventually three months after the fender bender I got a cheque for €400!

Another time a little sweet old lady reversed into my car while I was driving behind her. She just stopped her car put it into reverse and reversed full pelt without looking into her mirror. She then got out of the car and said I had to be speeding! I had been driving behind her the whole time... Scary! Anyway she gave me a sob story that her husband had just had a heart attack and she didn't want to stress him so she would contact me and I shouldn't contact her. I had a smashed headlight a bumper hanging off my car and my bonnet was sticking up and warped.

Did the honest little old lady ring me? Hell no! When I contacted her she just said .. I told you not to ring me young lady and put her husband on the phone threatening that their friend is a guard and that they didn't have to give me insurance details. I got a quote and she wouldn't accept it , said she couldn't afford it even though she had an address in quite an affluent area of dublin. They sent me to a garage of their choosing and the quote was even more expensive so she agreed to let me go through the garage I had chosen, the mean old bint wouldn't even give me a cheque to pay for the damage she insisted on attending the garage and paying herself because she was looking down her nose at me.

Sorry for the long post but the moral of the story is Trust no one and always go through the insurance. I learned my lesson the hard way don't listen to the sob stories if they are drunk call the Garda, no insurance call the Garda etc!

oldyouth

Just a few things

Liability admitted at the scene of an accident has no bearing

As Kelly06 says, trust nobody and report everything. Versions of events change as soon as the other party are away from the face to face situation at the scene. If you don't let your own insurance company know of an incident, even if you are 100 in the right, it can come back to bite you in the ass

Your insurer will only handle/contact the other insurer on your behalf if you are lodging a claim under your own policy, which gives them a right of recovery against the 3rd party.

Photograph as much as you can, especially any damage to the other vehicle which was there prior to the crash (compare the height of impact etc to your own vehicle, vehicle passengers walking freely, bending over etc)

Kelly06

CiniO wrote: »

Hahahahah.
Did physics law suddenly stopped operating during that accident.
I would love to hear why would that fact be a proof that your car was stationary?


Because you should. No matter who is at fault, it should be reported to your own insurance company. That's a requirement put pretty much by every single one insurer in Ireland.

Generally the moving car will sustain the most damage in my limited experience of fender benders that's just what has happened to me in the past no need to be like that about it !!!

As for reporting to the insurance when I contacted my own insurance company I was advised that as I wasn't driving my car at the time and I wasn't even in the vehicle they (RSA) said that if I wasn't going to claim on my own policy that I wasn't legally obliged to contact them as they had no liaibility. The obligation to contact your insurance company is when your involved in an accident and I was not! They did offer to deal with the other insurance company for me but as another poster said a claim would be open and would affect my renewal which was coming up... So for the sake of €400 would you loose your no claims for someone reversing into your parked car?

The moral of the story is don't agree to settle with a stranger outside insurance it's usually more hassle than it's worth in my opinion anyways!

oldyouth

You would only lose your bonus temporarily until they recover their outlay

Kelly06

oldyouth wrote: »

You would only lose your bonus temporarily until they recover their outlay

True that, but as I drive a car that insurance companies hate to insure (most won't even quote me!) I wouldn't have been able to afford the doubling of my insurance and would have been off the road or had to take a loan out ! The renewal was due in a months time !