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#Post#: 59012--------------------------------------------------
Insurance - third party capture following car collision
By: gge12 Date: February 20, 2025, 7:35 am
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Last night someone drove in to the back of our car whilst my
wife was waiting at a roundabout. They exchanged details at the
scene and fortunately no one was injured but our car sustained
significant damage to the rear. This morning we reported this to
our insurers who offered a hire car and full repairs - though we
hadn't heard from the other driver despite calling a number of
times we were informed she had admitted full liability for the
crash. We also have dash cam footage to prove this.
Shortly after coming of the phone with our insurers, the other
driver's insurers called and offered to repair the car, provide
a hire car but also to pay us £500 to go with them. They then
sent a letter stating that their driver was at fault and
reiterated the aformentioned offer. Clearly they know that this
will save them significant money in the long run. I am a bit
dubious though because we are not their customer and we have
little recourse going forward if something goes wrong. On the
other hand, it is a tempting offer considering there were no
injuries involved, the other driver admitted fault which means
it isn't likely to go to court in the future. Any thoughts or
advice please as both firms are calling us constantly and we are
completely confused!?
#Post#: 59089--------------------------------------------------
Re: Insurance - third party capture following car collision
By: andy_foster Date: February 20, 2025, 1:48 pm
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Basically, as you are presumably already aware, insurance
companies are basically crooks who rip each other off with
absurdly inflated hire costs, etc. And pass on the costs to
their customers.
Your insurance company do not work for you. They work for
themselves. Unless you are impecunious and the liable party's
insurers are being difficult, going through your own insurers
only benefits them. Potentially, you could be stuck with the
crooked hire car costs if the other party's insurers refuse to
pay - although I would love to see an insurer try to sue their
own client for their inflated costs in such circumstances.
The liable party's insurers have a vested interest in
controlling the costs and keeping you on-side. Your own insurer
has a vested interest in using you as a patsy to rip off the
liable party's insurer, and potentially throwing you under the
bus for their actions.
edit: Some years ago, a driver insured with LV went into the
back of my 11 year old car at a pedestrian crossing. Within an
hour, LV were on the phone to me offering to sort everything out
(although they stopped short of offering me a kickback). They
asked what my requirements for a hire car were - and as I only
needed to commute 15 miles each way, I said that anything would
do. After all, they didn't make bad cars any more, and a new car
would be far nicer than my old car. Or so I thought. They
arranged for me to collect a 1.4i Corsa from a national car hire
place 200 yards from my house. I did not understand the term
"malicious compliance" until I drove that unmitigated piece of
s**t. Arguably more Vauxhall's fault than LV's, but a cautionary
tale nonetheless.
#Post#: 59198--------------------------------------------------
Re: Insurance - third party capture following car collision
By: The Slithy Tove Date: February 21, 2025, 10:26 am
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Some years ago, I was front-ended (reversed into) as I was
dropping my son off at nursery. Other driver admitted fault at
the time and we exchanged details. By the time I had
subsequently driven to the station, got the train to London, and
was on the bus to my destination (i.e. less than an hour and a
half, and not even 9am), their insurance called to start making
arrangements for repair. It all went smoothly, and I only had to
tell my own insurers as a matter of courtesy (and policy
requirement). The other party was insured by Admiral. I guess
it's a case of whether you trust the other party's insurance
company to do the right thing.
(P.S. I'd only just got my car back after 6 weeks off the road
for repairs after having been sideswiped in queueing traffic by
a foreign HGV. Two no fault collisions in a short time like that
prompted me to get a dashcam in case of future disputes. Since
then, no further incidents.)
#Post#: 59246--------------------------------------------------
Re: Insurance - third party capture following car collision
By: sparx Date: February 21, 2025, 5:41 pm
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The only downside I understand of dealing direct with the third
party insurer, is that if you need to make a complaint (for
instance, if the repair is not satisfactory), you may not be
able to take it to the insurance ombudsman as you are not the
customer of the third party insurer.
#Post#: 59409--------------------------------------------------
Re: Insurance - third party capture following car collision
By: Sander333 Date: February 23, 2025, 11:16 am
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Andy Foster has pointed out some pitfalls a similar incident
happened to a number of years ago when a person collided with my
parked car. When I reported it to my insurance company within a
few hours I had car management company well known by many
offering me a car and to cut a long story short it was really
car hire which was taken out in my name hidden amongst the T&C
was that there was a possibility that if they could not claim
the money back I could be held liable. There are a load of hoops
such as need for a car your financial circumstances etc.
The car hire came to almost £6000 for approximately a month
hire. I ended up in court with all bank statements etc. So I
assisted my insurance company and did not have to pay for any
losses incurred.
Upon reflection I would have taken the third party vehicle the
accident damage repair was not on the table
#Post#: 59588--------------------------------------------------
Re: Insurance - third party capture following car collision
By: coffee pot Date: February 25, 2025, 3:18 am
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My original advice based on a degree of knowledge in this area
appears to have been removed for some reason, so I'll try again.
Always go through your own insurer, not the third party's. There
are several very good reasons for this I enumerated initially,
but one worth noting is that you have paid your insurer to do
this work for you.
#Post#: 60105--------------------------------------------------
Re: Insurance - third party capture following car collision
By: Sander333 Date: March 1, 2025, 10:53 am
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You will always have to engages with your insurance and look at
their advice. If they advise going through an accident
management company be aware of what has been said in previous
posts.
#Post#: 60574--------------------------------------------------
Re: Insurance - third party capture following car collision
By: sparx Date: March 4, 2025, 12:35 pm
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[quote]You will always have to engages with your insurance and
look at their advice. If they advise going through an accident
management company be aware of what has been said in previous
posts.[/quote]
Only as far as you're contracted to do so, i.e. informing them
of an accident. You absolutely do not have to claim through
them, but if you don't, there are benefits and risks.
#Post#: 64082--------------------------------------------------
Re: Insurance - third party capture following car collision
By: gge12 Date: March 25, 2025, 9:35 am
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Just to update on this, we ended up going with the other party's
insurer, Direct Line who contacted us from the their 'third
party capture' team. They offered the same as our insurer,
rental car and repairs but also offered a £500 incentive. We
only agreed to this after they said we could use our own
mechanic (my neighbour) for the repairs to our car, as opposed
to one of their approved ones.
We received the rental car the day after agreeing to Direct
Line's offer and our mechanic collected our car for repairs. We
received the £500 incentive the following week once Direct Line
had confirmed the car was in the garage. There was then a wait
of a few weeks for my mechanic to submit the quote for the
repairs and for Direct Line to inspect the vehicle. I did have
to call them once to chase them to arrange the inspection - they
said they hadn't been able to get through to my mechanic. This
was then sorted and the inspection took place on the Monday and
our repaired car was returned to us on the Thursday.
All in all, the whole thing took about 4 weeks and although
Direct Line are not our insurer, they did do what they said they
would. It was a stressful experience but in hindsight I think we
made the right choice as we did not need to make a claim. We did
notify our insurers, which will likely increase our premium when
we are next due to renew but if that happens we will shop around
for an alternative insurer.
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