Has anyone got experience of being the no fault party in a car insurance claim where the at fault driver is insured by a Tesco policy? I’m wanting advice regarding getting the money to replace car seats in my car and how quickly this might happen
So, the other day, my car was hit by a car that had been parked in a bay on the opposite side of the road (my car parked parallel to pavement on one side of road, their car parked in a bay at 90 degree angle on other side of the road, so the front of their car was facing side of my car). Other car’s handbrake has apparently failed and, due to road being on a hill, it rolled into mine. Other driver explained that he had issues with the handbrake, had had to top up fluid recently and it’s booked in this week for a garage to look into the issue. He has accepted accident/incident is his fault and has informed his insurance company (Tesco).
No obvious damage to other person’s car; unfortunately, the same can’t be said for mine - there are a number of dents in the drivers door, the bottom of the door and the side sill under the door (damage lines up with their number plate and the bottom edge of the spoiler under the bumper). The door is no longer sitting flush with the front wing and, while I don’t think there’s any damage to the wing, there was definitely some impact as it was visible in the dirt on my car (thanks to driving on country lanes during the current wet winter the car was filthy) so that needs checking too.
I’ve informed my insurance company (Hastings Premier policy) and they are handing the claim over to Enterprise who will arrange repair of my car and provide me with a hire car while mine is in the body shop. They have said that they will be claiming all costs of the claim back from the other party’s insurance.
I’ve also explained to them that I had 2 car seats in the car and the manufacturer’s recommendation is that they need replacing. With my policy, you get maximum of £300 towards car seat per claim and, with 2 car seats that would cost £500 to replace at current prices (the seat has been discontinued and only a couple of places still have stock; the newer model that has replaced mine, are a similar price) so I’m looking at a hefty contribution if I only get the £300 quoted by Hastings. I have explained that I should be given current replacement value for the car seats not what my insurer offers, and they should claim the full amount from the other insurer.
Obviously now I need to get new car seats, just before half term holidays and it would be very helpful if the insurance company (whichever one) were to pay out first so I can get the new seats without having to juggle money until they do.
What I’m wondering is whether anyone has experience of being the no fault person in this sort of situation or has experience of whether Tesco will pay me directly when they’re not my instance company?