Motor Insurance company not accepting liability

machu

Registered User
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My partner was involved in a car collision where a person reversed out of a parking space and crashed into her drivers side rear door. A guard arrived and saw that the other person was in the wrong which they admitted too. He advised both parties to contact there relevant insurance companies which both agreed to do. There insurance co. has said they got no call from there client and they are not able to get in contact with them this was over two weeks after the accident. They then asked my partner to bring the car to a garage of there choice to get an assessment of the damage done which she did. This came to over €1200 so a significant amount of damage. Today nearly a month later she received a letter stating We are not currently in a position to accept liability or deal with your claim. Our investigations into this matter are on-going and we will contact you as soon as we have an update. Any advice appreciated on how to get this resolved asap.
 
I'd phone tomorrow; ask to speak with supervisor; tell them your version; that their person admitted they were wrong in the presence of gardai who also confirm that they are wrong and ask what exactly the delay is. If not satisfied tell them you are going to a solicitor and then go to one. If what you say is correct, then the other persons insurers must pay up.

That is of course assuming that the car was insured!

An alternative would be to claim from your own insurers and have them seek recovery of all outlay from the other insurer.
 
The person she spoke to claimed they had to give there customer a reasonable amount of time to respond and now four weeks later tomorrow still no nearer a resolution.They also seemed to be pushing her to claim on her own insurance which she enquired about and was told she would have to pay the €300 excess towards the damage and it could effect her no claims bonus. My partner has been very patient and was full sure the letter from them today was going to be the go ahead to get the damaged fixed.

I think you are correct and she will have to reluctantly contact a solicitor due to them giving no reason for the delay.

Thanks for your advice.
 
Call the other insurance company and tell them you have been advised not to drive your car due to the damage and you will now be adding the cost of a rental car on top of the bill. That may get their attention.

Under no circumstances should you claim from your own insurer. You will lose out on the excess plus lose your any no claim bonus you have. Even if you have a protected bonus, you will be limited to just your current insurer until you build up a new bonus over a number of years, as such protections are not transferable.
 
The €300 excess is refunded to you on satisfaction of your insurance recovering their costs, likewise, your No claims bonus returned to its original state. All you are doing is using the facility of your Comp Policy to have the vehicle repaired while the discussion are on going. In the meantime, you are driving around with €1200 worth of damage to your car. If its as clear cut as you say, and the other party has cover, it makes perfect sense to use your comp cover to sort it out, you will be back on the road within a few days.
 
I think you are correct and she will have to reluctantly contact a solicitor due to them giving no reason for the delay.

I highly recommend going this route. Their insurance company will just give you the run around.
 
From past experience I would say never trust insurance companies. If you phone anyone confirm their name and write down the conversation you had with them. If they are going to respond to you then reconfirm this and diary it so you have detail if you have to contact them again.
 
Under no circumstances should you claim from your own insurer. You will lose out on the excess plus lose your any no claim bonus you have. Even if you have a protected bonus, you will be limited to just your current insurer until you build up a new bonus over a number of years, as such protections are not transferable.[/QUOTE]

You are obliged to mitigate your loss. What if the other driver is uninsured? Then you must claim from your own policy and seek recovery of other uninsured losses from MIBI. What if liability is not as clearcut as OP says it is?
 
You are obliged to mitigate your loss. What if the other driver is uninsured? Then you must claim from your own policy and seek recovery of other uninsured losses from MIBI. What if liability is not as clearcut as OP says it is?

If the other driver is uninsured, then their insurance company wouldn't be in the picture. There is nothing the OP has said that even suggests the other party is not insured.

If you claim via your own policy, even if you do manage to recover from the other side, you will have to declare that when seeking insurance next year. That'll effectively trap you with your current insurer.
 
Leo,

You are correct in that OP does not suggest the other party is not insured. However, it is strange that the other persons insurance company has not confirmed indemnity at this stage. That, to me, suggests that all may not be in order.

I do not understand your second point. If you are transferring from one insurer to another, and during the currency of the first insurer, you had an accident in which you were not at fault and/or for which another insurer paid you, you are not 'trapped'. If you feel that you are/were in that position, then you should complain firstly to your 'trapping' insurer and if not satisfied to the FSO.
 
Agreed, that is very strange. Insurers almost always settle immediately when one party was reversing at the time. Perhaps the other party gave a very different version of events and is now not engaging to clarify?

When you answer the question 'have you had any claims in the past 5 years', that automatically loads the quotes you will receive from other companies.
 
It might load it on an online system, but if you speak to a human and give the full circumstances, that your insurers were fully reimbursed, then it should nto matter. Its the same if you are unfortunate to have an accident with an uninsured driver, where you MUST claim under your comprehensive policy for your own car damage. All insurers in the Irish market have agreed that a claim in these circumstances, when the uninsured driver is fully liable, then it will NOT affect your NCB, even though a payment will be made under your policy.
 
Maybe things have moved on but it happened me quite a few years back. Truck hit me from behind, insurance broker who was a family friend recommended getting it sorted myself. Rang a couple of insurers to get quotes as if I had gone through with the claim and was refused cover with one and got a price with another that was well in excess of what I was currently paying plus the total repair bill.
 
Just to clarify a basic point.

If you propose for insurance and give a false answer to the question about having had an accident within the previous 5 years that is misrepresentation.
Misrepresentation can lead to your cover being cancelled retrospectively.
Misrepresentation is also an offence under the RTA 1961 - section 64.

People might be understandably tempted to answer the question in the negative where the other side was at fault and you were paid in full with no fault attaching to you. The question has to be answered strictly correctly and irrespective of what you might think !
 
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