Involved in small accident, how long to wait for insurance to settle?

j4vier

I was involved in a small accident which involved someone reversing into my back passenger door.

Got insurance companies involved, the other person insurance sent an assessor which had no hesitation in saying I was in the right. He asked him if I got a quote for the repair, I showed it to him and he said that the next step will involve me receiving a call form the repair company.

This was 2 weeks ago and I have heard nothing since.

I did receive a letter a few days after the assessment from the insurance company that they received the assessor report but they were still investigating.

Is this normal? and does anyone know how long these things can go on for?

thanks

NUTLEY BOY

Not being smart, but it is a "how long is a piece of string" situation.

It depends on a number of factors including whether or not the other fellows insurers are definitely indemnifying him under their policy and if he or they are actually accepting liability and so on.

There is an onus on you to minimise your losses. Principally, you need to get your car repaired as soon as is possible. If the other fellows insurers delay for weeks on end get the repair completed under your policy if you are comprehensive and let your insurers purse recovery of outlay and your uninsured losses.

Practically, the best thing to do is to get in the other insurers face until they confirm that they are dealing with your claim. Be sure to get confirmation in writing and don't forget your uninsured losses like depreciation, car hire and so on.

j4vier

Hi,

I was told the other party is declining liability so they need to waiting to source cctv evidence from a nearby pub.

I suppose I'm not sure how long does it take for a pub to release their cctv video, if it's a straightforward process or it can take several weeks?

j4vier

how do i respond to the insurance company saying that they do not know when they ll get the video of the accident without any time frames?

is it a delay tactic? so what if they keep going for months telling me that they are waiting for the video, does that mean they'll never have to pay out?

Liam McPoyle

j4vier wrote: »

how do i respond to the insurance company saying that they do not know when they ll get the video of the accident without any time frames?

is it a delay tactic? so what if they keep going for months telling me that they are waiting for the video, does that mean they'll never have to pay out?

If they do not have the video footage its pretty obvious that the pub is dragging their heels with providing it.

There is no delay tactic there, they cannot force the pub to give it to them.

j4vier

Yes but it's not my problem if they are relying on video footage which is hard to get. What if they never get it?

It would make more sense to me if there was a timeframe after which if they have no video they would have to reach a decision without it based on the assessor's opinion. Right now there is no timeframe. Not all accidents will have a video footage anyway.