Making a claim on your car insurance

[Saunders]

I was in a collision the other day, on a tight windy bend. I know I had stopped and they still came at me because when I opened the door I felt angry and wtf, not oh god I’m so sorry.
I thought I’d filled in all the forms and sent the relevant photos and had the long telephone conversation with someone in a loud call centre but I obviously didn’t because I keep getting text and email reminders to give them information. I’m so shit at this stuff

 

[Saunders]

Still haven’t filled in the form but I have cut back a load of brambles from around my prettiest camellia

 

[dessiato]

Last time I went through this I sent everything they asked for but still got requests for what I'd already sent them. Insurance companies are shit sometimes

 

[Saunders]

Last time I went through this I sent everything they asked for but still got requests for what I'd already sent them. Insurance companies are shit sometimes

Thanks for that, it reassuring to know it’s not just me. I will fill it in and send it, just in case, but I hate filling in forms at the best of times and I found the whole experience a bit unsettling

 

[dessiato]

Thanks for that, it reassuring to know it’s not just me. I will fill it in and send it, just in case, but I hate filling in forms at the best of times and I found the whole experience a bit unsettling

I completely understand. They make a side job so needlessly difficult.

Hooe you got properly checked over. Whiplash can be very painful and doesn't always appear immediately

 

[Riklet]

Yeah see if the insurance offers a private medical checkup plus whiplash treatment or anything.

 

[Saunders]

It doesn’t and they have been very clear that if I do find I have any problems, I don’t have legal cover (apparently that’s one of those boxes you should say Yes to and pay the extra few pounds on your policy, I’ll know to do that when I renew). Quite honestly I just want it to all go away and for my door to open properly.

 

[Tones]

I hate dealing with insurance companies. Always seem to cock something up.

 

[weltweit]

Saunders if you don't mind me saying your explanation of your accident on this thread isn't very convincing. I hope you were more verbose on the reporting forms!!

 

[Saunders]

That’s the problem. I doubt myself and second guess myself all the time. Plus, it all happened so quickly. I just had a long call with my brother for some moral support and talked the incident through with him. Dunno why as I already have talked it through with my friends and neighbours and they have all seen the damage to my car and the photos I took of the van, and I spoke to one of them just after it happened; no one else but me thinks it’s anything other than straightforward and I think they all think I’m being a bit of a drip about not just filling in the form and sending it off. But it’s tricky, as I don’t know the name of the driver or his address or anything. And I thought I’d talked it all through on the phone with the insurance people last week and they said I didn’t need to worry about that and that they’d sort it all out.

 

[Ax^]

just look at the excess vs your fault damage


other peoples if you can prove it


if its a banger why do you want to be explaining it for 5 years

 

[two sheds]

Does your house insurance cover you for accidents?

People also often draw a map and give a short description of the accident and say who in their opinion was at fault. When I lived in the Netherlands a bloke I worked with drove into a tree avoiding a rabbit on the road so he drew a map and marked 'road', 'rabbit', 'tree' and in the box 'who in your opinion was at fault' put 'the rabbit'.

 

[MBV]

Try not to see worry Saunders, this is bread and butter stuff for your insurer. Sounds like you did well getting photos at the scene which should help the insurers determining who was at fault.

Write/draw it out the best you can whilst the details are still fresh. Worst case scenario your insurance is slightly higher next year.

 

[Saunders]

It wasn’t my fault
I had pulled into the hedge, and come to a stop and had a moment of thinking ‘phew that was close’ when they hit me, flapped my wing mirror against the window and buckled my door.

 

[Ax^]

if the cars worth it or you need it

Run with it ya, fools..

if you have not write down a timeline of events

 

[Saunders]

if the cars worth it or you need it

Run with it ya, fools..

if you have not write down a timeline of events

Seriously if the door worked properly, and someone has had a proper look at the front wheel and said it’s safe I couldn’t give a toss about how the car looks
I think maybe just some people are good at dealing with this sort of thing and some people aren’t.

 

[izz]

It wasn’t my fault
I had pulled into the hedge, and come to a stop and had a moment of thinking ‘phew that was close’ when they hit me, flapped my wing mirror against the window and buckled my door.

That, right there, is your explanation for the form. You had pulled over into a hedge to avoid the other vehicle and came to a halt, waiting to see what the other driver would do. They carried on anyway and hit your car.

 

[Saunders]

That, right there, is your explanation for the form. You had pulled over into a hedge to avoid the other vehicle and came to a halt, waiting to see what the other driver would do. They carried on anyway and hit your car.

Thank you izz. That is what I told them and what I wrote on the form when I finally started filling it out last night. I just keep thinking I should have stopped sooner and then they wouldn’t have hit me. Anyway, I rang the insurance this morning and when I finally got through to someone they confirmed that they did already have the information they were asking for, and all the photos I sent. It’s so ridiculous this whole thing just makes me tearful. With any luck it will all get sorted fairly soon.

 

[izz]

Thank you izz. That is what I told them and what I wrote on the form when I finally started filling it out last night. I just keep thinking I should have stopped sooner and then they wouldn’t have hit me. Anyway, I rang the insurance this morning and when I finally got through to someone they confirmed that they did already have the information they were asking for, and all the photos I sent. It’s so ridiculous this whole thing just makes me tearful. With any luck it will all get sorted fairly soon.

You are really very welcome and it's understandable to be a bit shaken, someone's just hit your car and now you have to fill in fucking forms !

Has the insurance company said anything about getting the damage fixed ?

 

[rubbershoes]

It doesn’t and they have been very clear that if I do find I have any problems, I don’t have legal cover (apparently that’s one of those boxes you should say Yes to and pay the extra few pounds on your policy, I’ll know to do that when I renew). Quite honestly I just want it to all go away and for my door to open properly.

Legal cover is a box you should not tick.. it is the insurers charging you for something you have for free anyway, which is the right to instruct a solicitor .

Legal cover is a massive scam by insurers. All they do is sell your details to a firm of solicitors who you could contact anyway

 

[Saunders]

You are really very welcome and it's understandable to be a bit shaken, someone's just hit your car and now you have to fill in fucking forms !

Has the insurance company said anything about getting the damage fixed ?

Yes apparently one of their engineers/ assessors will contact me and I will get a courtesy car. If I want to use my own garage I have to pay £200 (which is possibly my excess) and don’t get a courtesy car. I’m sure it’s all fine and thank you again for kind responses.

 

[Saunders]

Legal cover is a box you should not tick.. it is the insurers charging you for something you have for free anyway, which is the right to instruct a solicitor .

Legal cover is a massive scam by insurers. All they do is sell your details to a firm of solicitors who you could contact anyway

Oh. I think that’s what I’d thought, but then my friend (who used to work as a solicitor) said I should have ticked the box.

 

[Saunders]

Fuckers have written my car off. No one looked at it apart from the photos, no courtesy car ensued. I think this means that it’s no longer insured, which means I can’t drive it to work, or anywhere, and am stuck without a car. Should have taken it to my own garage, who are lovely and would have fixed it up safely and cheaply.

 

[rubbershoes]

Fuckers have written my car off. No one looked at it apart from the photos, no courtesy car ensued. I think this means that it’s no longer insured, which means I can’t drive it to work, or anywhere, and am stuck without a car. Should have taken it to my own garage, who are lovely and would have fixed it up safely and cheaply.

You may be able to buy it from them, I think it depends on the category

 

[weltweit]

Fuckers have written my car off. No one looked at it apart from the photos, no courtesy car ensued. I think this means that it’s no longer insured, which means I can’t drive it to work, or anywhere, and am stuck without a car. Should have taken it to my own garage, who are lovely and would have fixed it up safely and cheaply.

My Corsa was rear ended and written off. I bought it back from the insurers for a paltry sum, drove it on third party insurance then had it re MOTd and it was then able to be covered fully comp again.

Are you sure it is just the door that is damaged? Could the sills also have been impacted? That might be a problem, I would get your friendly local garage to take a look at it if I were you.

 

[newme]

My Corsa was rear ended and written off. I bought it back from the insurers for a paltry sum, drove it on third party insurance then had it re MOTd and it was then able to be covered fully comp again.

Are you sure it is just the door that is damaged? Could the sills also have been impacted? That might be a problem, I would get your friendly local garage to take a look at it if I were you.

I watched as me neighbours convertible was reversed into at high speed and they smashed the column between front and back, somehow thats back on the road already after one day at the garage. Things get written off for baffling reasons and not so for others. I figured that was knackered immediately, it got hit by a huge chelsea tractor by someone who apparently did not realise when reversing things will be behind them.

 

[cupid_stunt]

An insurance company will often write off a car if the cost of repairing it, at an expensive place, it likely to cost over 50-60% of what they consider is the value of the car.

 

[Ax^]

if you car is over ten years old mostly they scarp it

buy it back

 

[Saunders]

My Corsa was rear ended and written off. I bought it back from the insurers for a paltry sum, drove it on third party insurance then had it re MOTd and it was then able to be covered fully comp again.

Are you sure it is just the door that is damaged? Could the sills also have been impacted? That might be a problem, I would get your friendly local garage to take a look at it if I were you.

You may be able to buy it from them, I think it depends on the category

Thanks for that; I’ve just been looking at what the categories are and don’t know what they’ve written mine off as so shall ring them in the morning

 

[hash tag]

The owner of this C1 is totally convinced he was 100% not to blame, complete with dash cam footage. As of a few days ago he had still not been paid out. This was October last year

This is the result of an accident with a lorry that someone I know had on a motorway recently. Do you think the result is really clear cut? Thoughts please.
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