Car Accident..Process Claim Through My Insurance Company or Theirs

athtrasna

This might sound like a stupid question but I'm unsure about what to do. Had an incident tonight, not my fault (other driver acknowledged liability and I had three independent witnesses, photos also prove that he caused the incident).

Anyway, I've never had to make a claim before. Front wing of my car is a mess and I think there may be an alignment issue with the left front tire. Do I contact my insurance company or theirs? What happens next?

Other driver doesn't want me to go through insurance but I'd prefer to do it all above board. I also don't want to deal with the other driver, he was not a pleasant guy. I have his insurance details, photo of his licence and photos of the damage to both cars.

I need a car for the weekend as I'm due to head down the country tomorrow for a family wedding. I don't know what to do next? Any help appreciated. I'm still a little shaken. Thanks!

BuffyBot

Ring your insurer. They'll take the details and deal with the other parties involved. Most of the large ones have a 24/7 claims line, and the agents will talk you through it.

As for your car: it sounds like yours won't be an option for the weekend. Depending on your insurance policy, some may cover the costs of a car rental/replacement car for a number of days.

oldyouth

Phone both insurers, yours initially for notification purposes, his to claim against him. Your insurer will not handle a claim directly against the other parties insurance on your behalf, unless you are claiming under your own policy in the 1st instance. In other words, they will only seek to recover what they pay out to you (most will add in any uninsured costs you incur such as depreciation, car hire etc and give it to you when they get it in).

If you claim directly against your own policy, it would need to include specific cover for car hire, or you will have to fund this cost initially yourself until your insurer successfully recovers

If you claim directly from the other party's insurance, you can get this cost picked up by them from day 1.

My advice is to claim directly from the other insurance, but if you start to hear noises that he is changing his story and denying liability, then claim from your own and let the 2 companies fight it out.

I would never suggest settling outside of insurance. I have seen it go wrong many times

the_syco

Let yours know, and ensure you mention he accepted liability.

athtrasna wrote: »

Other driver doesn't want me to go through insurance but I'd prefer to do it all above board. I also don't want to deal with the other driver, he was not a pleasant guy. I have his insurance details, photo of his licence and photos of the damage to both cars.

If he wanted you to play ball, he should have been nice. As it stands, f**k him, get his insurance involved.

athtrasna wrote: »

I need a car for the weekend as I'm due to head down the country tomorrow for a family wedding. I don't know what to do next? Any help appreciated. I'm still a little shaken. Thanks!

If it weren't for the need of the car, you could keep it off the books, but as you need the car, ring his insurance, state the damage, and state that you need to hire a car. Also state you have photos of the damage. You'll find out very quickly if he has reported the accident or not.

athtrasna

Thanks guys, did all as advised and the f*cker is now denying liability and claiming against me, all because I didn't let him bully me into settling privately!

I spoke to a legal friend and they advised me of a trend of private settlements followed by personal injury claims whereby the innocent party loses out as they haven't involved the insurance company to start with.

Having to process the claim through my insurance company for now, recovery guy who collected my car and brought replacement took one look at my car and told me not to worry, the damage was crystal clear that it wasn't my fault.

So the saga continues, thanks for your help

bee06

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. A girl turned straight across me and damaged my left front wing. She then made up a story to try and make it seem my fault when my car damage made it obvious she was lying and the assessor knew that. I got a solicitors letter and all (which I gave to my insurance company). I eventually got my claim paid by her insurance company but it took about 2 months because she tried to delay the claim. I just kept onto them, rang them once a week so they wouldn't forget about it.

dellas1979

athtrasna wrote: »

Thanks guys, did all as advised and the f*cker is now denying liability and claiming against me, all because I didn't let him bully me into settling privately!

I spoke to a legal friend and they advised me of a trend of private settlements followed by personal injury claims whereby the innocent party loses out as they haven't involved the insurance company to start with.

Having to process the claim through my insurance company for now, recovery guy who collected my car and brought replacement took one look at my car and told me not to worry, the damage was crystal clear that it wasn't my fault.

So the saga continues, thanks for your help

As they say, its not the world thats the problem, its the people that live in it, unfortunately.

I saw an accident lately, on the side of the road. And both cars were stopped where it happened (so the rest of us had to move around). They were probably waiting for the gardai (didnt look like anyone was injured).

But its so hard nowadays to know what to do. Because yes people (who cause the accidents) can re-neg and allocate blame else where. All I can say is, yes, let your insurance company deal with him. Cause thats what you pay 'em for