Vehicle insurance issue.

bogman

Would appreciate your advice on this , my sister was sitting in her parked car when another vehicle glanced off the front wheel completely disabling the front steering, car only drives in a straight line forward and backwards, the driver of the other car accepted responsibility and my sister took the car to be accessed by the other persons insurance company, they have stated that they are not responsible and refuse to pay for the damage saying that the impact wasn't strong enough to cause this much damage to the car, this is a strange case as the car was driving perfectly until the other car impacted with it, she was uninjured fortunately and has not taken this case any further yet.... Thanks for your attention.

slimjimmc

Moved from Consumer Issues to Motors

Alanstrainor

Surely she should have gone to her own insurance company, and let them bash this out with the other insurer? If she hasn't done that, she should immediately.

porsche boy

It's hard to say how much damage could have been done, it depends on the speed of the other car, angle of impact etc. Was the person from the insurance company in the car when it happened? How would he know how hard the impact was.

Get yur sister to inform her insurance, let them send out an assessor and let it go from there. It's part of what you pay for when you take out a policy.

Alanstrainor

porsche boy wrote: »

Get yur sister to inform her insurance, let them send out an assessor and let it go from there. It's part of what you pay for when you take out a policy.

And also, you are required to inform your insurance company for any knock such as this. And since she is the not in the wrong she shouldn't be concerned.

bogman

She is insured fully comprehensive, her company has informed her that an assessment from them will cost between 150 and 300 euro and that the assessor might agree with the other assessor's evaluation and she will be at a total loss....

She informed her own company of the incident right away.....

Alanstrainor

bogman wrote: »

She is insured fully comprehensive, her company has informed her that an assessment from them will cost between 150 and 300 euro and that the assessor might agree with the other assessor's evaluation and she will be at a total loss....

She informed her own company of the incident right away.....

Something is not right here surely. If I inform my insurance company that I have been crashed into, and the other party has admitted liability, then there should be no assessment fees? This sounds bonkers!

To Elland Back

bogman wrote: »

She is insured fully comprehensive, her company has informed her that an assessment from them will cost between 150 and 300 euro and that the assessor might agree with the other assessor's evaluation and she will be at a total loss....

She informed her own company of the incident right away.....

Don't accept that. Investigation fees do not affect your bonus. However, in all insurance claims, the onus is on the insured to prove their loss. You must provide a garage estimate that identifies the damage and it is up to insurers then to assess it. You cannot ask your insurers to establish what is wrong with your vehicle

To Elland Back

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Something is not right here surely. If I inform my insurance company that I have been crashed into, and the other party has admitted liability, then there should be no assessment fees? This sounds bonkers!

The other party's insurers appear to contend that the loss is not as a result of the impact, even if liability for the impact is admitted (it does sound odd alright). The insured is now moving on to their own policy, which is a new assessment

Grab All Association

bogman wrote: »

Would appreciate your advice on this , my sister was sitting in her parked car when another vehicle glanced off the front wheel completely disabling the front steering, car only drives in a straight line forward and backwards, the driver of the other car accepted responsibility and my sister took the car to be accessed by the other persons insurance company, they have stated that they are not responsible and refuse to pay for the damage saying that the impact wasn't strong enough to cause this much damage to the car, this is a strange case as the car was driving perfectly until the other car impacted with it, she was uninjured fortunately and has not taken this case any further yet.... Thanks for your attention.

So according to the assessor she drove a car that can only drive in a straight line that day

Any chance the car was picked up on CCTV around the area driving perfectly?

mgbgt1978

OP this is just another case of an Insurance Company using stalling tactics to keep money in their own coffers for as long as possible.
A quick solicitors letter should sort this out. It will probably cost her in the region of €100/120 but the few 'extras' (Depreciation, etc.) that they will advise her that she is entitled to will more than cover this cost.
As long as she keeps dealing with them herself they will string her along.
Her other option is to claim her on own Insurance Policy....but until her Insurers get recompense from the other Insurers she will be considered to have made an 'at fault' claim and will pay the price for this if her renewal is anytime soon.

tonic wine

Talk to a solicitor straight away and only communicate with them.

To Elland Back

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Surely she should have gone to her own insurance company, and let them bash this out with the other insurer? If she hasn't done that, she should immediately.

Just to clarify this point in general. You are, of course obliged to notify your insurer of any incident which may give rise to a claim.

However, if you want to claim from a 3rd party, without first claiming on your own policy for own damage, your insurer will not provide this service. You need to do this directly yourself or engage a solicitor.

If you claim off your own policy, your insurer will be entitled to pursue the 3rd party on your behalf to recover their outlay in order to clear your record. They will also happily tag on any recovery of losses which your own policy has not provided, such as excess, depreciation, vehicle hire, loss of use (but not personal injury) and refund these to you upon success

4ensic15

bogman wrote: »

Would appreciate your advice on this , my sister was sitting in her parked car when another vehicle glanced off the front wheel completely disabling the front steering, car only drives in a straight line forward and backwards, the driver of the other car accepted responsibility and my sister took the car to be accessed by the other persons insurance company, they have stated that they are not responsible and refuse to pay for the damage saying that the impact wasn't strong enough to cause this much damage to the car, this is a strange case as the car was driving perfectly until the other car impacted with it, she was uninjured fortunately and has not taken this case any further yet.... Thanks for your attention.

Did your sister arrange her insurance through a broker or directly?