Insurance / accident advice, much appreciated

[Nemesis]

Right, on tuesday I had a non-fault accident. Guy went into the side of me and admitted fault in front of the policeman who attended the scene.

I've been onto my insurers, who have passed me to an accident management company. They in turn put me in touch with a hire firm to supply me a car (brand new merc )

My car will be assessed shortly by an engineer. I'm 90% sure it will be a write off

What can I do to move things along quickly and speed up the process of getting a payout? Not bothered about whiplash claims etc... as I'm too honest.

Cheers in advance

[Melv]

Keep in touch with the accident management company and push the point that the guy admitted fault at the roadside in front of the copper.

Might be an idea to get the coppers details too. Where (s)he is stationed, badge number etc so that the AMC can contact them for details.

Do you still have the car / is it being assessed at yours? If so Point out all the good bits to the assessor. FSH, good condition, well looked after, that you are part of an owners club and not a Chav It might mean that you are given a realistic value first time around.

Ecotec Calibra breaking thread coming soon?

[Nemesis]

Yep got badge number, name and station for copper

Yes still got the car, engineer is coming Monday. And yes it's a minter, 65k, full history

It's that black Astra actually :-D

[the-darkhorse]

your driving around in a brand new car why the major concern ??? they will access it and get in contact , the only issue will be if you dont agree with the value they say its worth, so do some homework see what the car in question is worth and see how much on ebay/ autotrader they going for if you was to sell etc and get some proof so you can argue the value cars on the south coast seem to get more money ,

[Nemesis]

your driving around in a brand new car why the major concern ???

That's the problem it's horrible.

I'm meeting up with young girls and pulling up in some Mercedes E-class thing gives the wrong impression.

[Melv]

Oh well, another one that won't survive. The less ACT's on the road the rarer mine becomes

I assume that your on a traders policy that covers modified vehicles? Even so it may be worth putting on the standard wheels etc to save any potential hassle.

[Nemesis]

Yes im on traders and it covers modified. It's pretty standard except lowering springs, ph1 ecu and that exhaust

[garymanc]

had a similar accident a few years ago as person went into a police car afterwards,i also went with a accident management company i took around 12 mths to get a payout for a car worth about 2k. must have phoned them every few weeks to ask whats going on.
the bill for the hire car was 12.5k and i had to go to court to prove that i needed the hire car and i had no other car i could use.
in the end i won the case after getting grilled by the judge about my personal circumstances.
so be careful if you have another roadworthy car,

[Mike-vec]

It took about 3 months for my insurance company to pay out on my written off Nissan.

[the-darkhorse]

if the merc is the wrong image ask for another car then ??? maybe a nissan micra

[jp6]

sorry to go off topic hear but who do you go for trade insurance that allows modified cars please? hope your ok btw.

cheers jp

[Nemesis]

Thanks for the advice. I think im in the right and fully legit, just need a way of speeding it all up.

sorry to go off topic hear but who do you go for trade insurance that allows modified cars please? hope your ok btw.

cheers jp

I'm with Tradesure.

[Nemesis]

if the merc is the wrong image ask for another car then ??? maybe a nissan micra

I did reject it when it showed up, no chance im driving anything that isn't quick. Send it all the way back to the hire company and complained to their manager but they insisted there are rules and regs on what they can bill the 3rd party insurer for. Regardless of the fact I was driving a 240bhp, 150mph petrol coupe with leather, a diesel Mercedes SUV seems to be a "like for like" replacement.

Wankers!

[RobJenko]

I did reject it when it showed up, no chance im driving anything that isn't quick. Send it all the way back to the hire company and complained to their manager but they insisted there are rules and regs on what they can bill the 3rd party insurer for. Regardless of the fact I was driving a 240bhp, 150mph petrol coupe with leather, a diesel Mercedes SUV seems to be a "like for like" replacement.

Wankers!

you think thats bad, when my subaru got hit, i was given a derv skoda octavia, and not a sporty VR jobbie either

[Nemesis]

Unlucky Rob!

Update: I've offered my accident management company a bribe and all of a sudden things are moving again, lol. I'm aiming for £3500 payout for my Astra. Not bad for a shonky X-reg

[Melv]

Plus what you will get for breaking it too. Not too bad

[Nemesis]

Yeah im gonna sell it as a rolling/running Z20LET conversion Sale thread in a bit...

[MSG]

I wouldn't have got a middle company involved into this, no wonder the cost of our insurance has rocketed, i would have simply taken that other guy's insurance details and two estimates and demanded a settlement with his company, and their loss adjuster could visit you to check the car and approved the garage for repairs, from the two estimates, you then had a choice where you ask the company to pay you directly for the repairs to include parts and materials, up front, and later on you do not have to proceed with repiars, because thats your choice, and you couold if you wished to break the car for spares.

With you getting these useless leaches in the middle who would all make mega bucks out of a small accident, inflate the cost of repairs to such an extent, no wonder this could also effect your premiums, even though its not your fault.

My way you do not even have to get your insureres involved in this at all.

well thats how it was done 20 or 25 years ago! now it may be different, it seems as we have lost our manufacturing industry, each such industry has ended up giving birth to all these nonesence loss adjusters, accident claims management, what is broadly termed as insurance and financial products, what a load of balls this is, there are no real skilled people in Britain today, the are all working with ties and suits to rip off each other.

My next door neighbour had a phone call from an insurance company who would cover him on his car against any mechanical failure, so he thought £20 a month seems ok and took on a 24 months contract, only to find when the T&C came through that he would have to battle in courts to make even a smaller claim, because within those terms, his car would need to be srrviced by a proper dealer, and serviced regularly even if it wasn't needed, and if they do replace any parts when the mevchanical filure occurs, he would get paid only a proportion of the cost based on the fact his car was already old and had covered x number of mileage, plus the fact there was a £75.00 access charges against any claim, now like us miggers, he services his own car, so needless to say he picked the phone up and cancelled this pretty useless insurance product that is designed mainly to rip innocent motorists.

[Paul]

Glasses trade value is £700-800.

Will start snapping these up again.

Re tradesure. They asked for 'proof' you trading in the motor trade?

[simonsri]

Unlucky Rob!

Update: I've offered my accident management company a bribe and all of a sudden things are moving again, lol. I'm aiming for £3500 payout for my Astra. Not bad for a shonky X-reg

I doubt very much you will get that sort of figure from the insurance. They go on market value not what its worth to you.
Good luck with the claim though.

[Nemesis]

Yes Paul they did. It's not difficult though, somebody who picks up a neighbour's car and drives it a metre on a public road back to their house to valet it and files a tax return is in the "motor trade"

I doubt very much you will get that sort of figure from the insurance. They go on market value not what its worth to you.
Good luck with the claim though.

That's not quite how it works mate but thanks

I've got a payout of five times a car's value before when my 106 GTi was wrote off.

[Nemesis]

Just an update

- Policeman who attended the scene says he's happy to give a statement to support me.

- My insurers are pushing me to accept a 50/50 fault.

- They are trying to give me a cash in lieu settlement from the 3rd party insurers for 50% of the damage sustained to my vehicle. I've told them to send the money back, I don't want it

- They are now trying to take the hire car back off me. Can they do this before the claim is settled?

[Paul]

Regards to the hire car. Who gave it you?

Its not on some hire agreement with some doggy 3rd party accident company is it?

[jimbo87]

when I had my crash in May 2010, my Insurers handled the claim themselves, they contacted the other partys insurers, and Liability was admitted by the woman, (she admitted it at the scene, she had no choice she shunted me 4ft sideways and wrote my baby off!)

My car was taken away later the day of the crash by natioonwide repair centre, for asessement, which was completed 4 weeks later, and paid out by end of july,

I was offered initially, a 'like for like courtesy car' but a 1l fiat 500 does not compare to a 2lt 150brake mk3 Astra Sport. the only like for like was it had a door on each side, a steering wheel and 4 wheels! I did decline it, on the basis, I couldnt live with a tiny car, and i had a busted knee, arm and neck from the accident and couldnt drive, nor would they cover my mother to drive on my behalf (she wasnt on my policy) I also wouldve had to have paid a deposit on the car, and i refused to do that on the basis my insurance included a FREE courtesy car!

I would never have gone through an AMC, and i would have told the insurers that. I cant believe they want you to settle on a 50/50 basis, that actually seems strange. id be informing them that i was off to see my solicitor with a copy of their 'proposed settlement' and a copy of the Police Officers RTA report. and then see what happens. in hindsight, with mine, I wish i had gone straight to the womans insurers, rather then mine, I might have got my mk3 repaired then, but it was my first accident after nearly 6 years, and i was naive.

[Nemesis]

Paul - Yes it's from the accident management company my insurers insisted upon using

Jimbo - Same here mate, Mercedes B-class CDi is not an Astra coupe turbo!