Car bump/insurance/Winns - anybody had experience?

[Geraldgee]

Last week my car was parked outside a supermarket within a bay. A car has came and tried to park next to me and banged into the back of me and subsequently left my bumper cracked and hanging off. A witness saw this and wrote the reg's down and went in and a tannoy was called for me to go out and have a look.

My car had blue paint on the back and there was a blue car parked 3 spaces down which funnily enough matched the reg given by the witness and had my car colour paint very obviously on the front of it.

Had to wait for the driver to come out and they tried to very quickly get in their car I assume to get away (having not came out when a tannoy call was made for them to do so).

They offered to settle outside of insurance if it was going to be cheap enough but after taking it to the garage it is going to be too much to pay.

I rang Winns who have been brilliant and having rang them at 3pm I had a hire car dropped off at my house at 5pm after they deemed my car unroadworthy and would fail it's MOT in its current condition.

I have now had many phone calls and texts from the other parties insurance offering free repairs and a hire car plus compensation. They said they will only pay £18 per day for a hire car to any other company I choose

I am happy staying with Winns as they will have an engineer check my car etc as not sure of any damage underneath - and already have my hire car

My issue is I know that this hire car is likely more than £18 a day. If Winns can't reclaim that from the other parties insurance, will I have to pick up the shortfall?

Be great to hear others experience of this!

Let your insurance company deal with them?

I haven't responded to the other parties insurance and will be letting my insurance/Winns deal however I was just wondering if I would have to pick up the shortfall money wise if they won't cover the costs of the hire car

That will depend on what your insurance cover is?

I have comprehensive insurance but was under the impression the at fault parties insurance would cover all costs - I haven't been driving long and this is my first incident so not confident with it!

Cease all communication and let your insurer handle all of it.

Did your insurer connect you to Winns?

I'm having something similar at the moment and haven't even had to talk to the person who drove into me as they left their details at the location and I just passed them on to insurance. I would be informing my insurance company about the other people trying to contact me and like others have said if anyone calls again just say they have to talk to your insurance company.

No I went through them in the first instance, the other party got in touch to say they'd informed their insurance and their insurance is now contacting me (repeated calls/texts). I haven't responded

My main concern is if their insurance won't cover the cost of the hire car I've been given then I will be liable for the shortfall and have to pay it as I know the cost is much higher per day than what they are saying they can pay

OK, I have no idea why you didn't go through either insurer, but it's a bit late now that you are signed up to an accident management Co.

When you signed the credit hire documents it will have clearly stated what the daily hire rate is. £18 per day is bloody low, but the third party's insurer can argue the costs if the costs are unreasonable, or you have been given a higher class of vehicle than your own, or you cannot prove that you were unable to afford your own hire vehicle.

In a word,yes they can although in these cases it tends to be the hire car company taking the hit for the shortfall. It should all be there in the credit hire agreement that you should have signed prior to taking the hire car.

Why didn't you go straight to your insurance?

You'll be liable for any costs if you've gone through an independent company, yes.

You absolutely must report to your insurers, as per pp. It is part of your contract with them. They will advise you what to do.

The third party insurers are not scary, there is no reason to avoid them as it sounds like they acknowledge liability.

If you haven't reported to your insurance you may find they won't pay anything and will cancel your policy.

My insurance states I have to inform them of any accidents within 24 hours for them to be able make any claims on my behalf.

I agree with the others. Contact your insurer right now. You've already breached the terms of your contract (and the law) by not informing them.

Report it to your insurers. Usual practice is for them to pay upfront and recover their costs later. Let insurance deal with it all, that is what you are paying for. Stop taking to Winns, stop talking to the other party.

When doing a credit hire agreement charges will be more then normal rental car. People above are not advising correctly. If you cancelled you would be liable for any outstanding Costs. If you look on the agreements you will have a insurance that protects you as long as you co operate with them and don't make a fraudulent claim. Insurers do need to report as information only but you do not need to use them. Also rates are evidenced so can not just charge anything they want.

Source - work at a claims company

In future, always go through your own insurance company who will deal with things for you.