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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I shouldn’t have to use my car insurance for this?

91 replies

Mar124 · 03/12/2023 12:10

In my work place carpark, a large tree limb fell on my car damaging it badly. I was in the car when it happened. The car is now financially written off, and I’ve had no car for two weeks. This is because I was told my employer’s insurance would cover it. I was since told, they will not cover it now and I’ve to use my own insurance. I’ve never had to touch insurance in my life and now face losing my no claims bonus higher premium etc. for something completely not my fault. AIBU to not want to use my own insurance, when I was told it was being sorted by my employer?

OP posts:
Overthebow · 03/12/2023 13:01

I wouldn’t have thought your employers insurance would cover it, but that’s for your insurance company to work out. Did you protect your no claims bonus?

baileybrosbuildingandloan · 03/12/2023 13:02

Mine was written off, whilst legally parked, by an uninsured 26ft flatbed lorry.

It now sits as a 'fault' on my insurance.

It truly sucks.

DidiAskYouThough · 03/12/2023 13:05

Yeah, ‘fault’ just means whose policy paid out. @Rocksonabeach how do you know she won’t lose her NCB? She hasn’t said if she protects it, the underwriter could yep back the years.

FoleyHuck · 03/12/2023 13:06

Surely insurance is also there to cover things that aren't anyone's fault? I'm currently claiming on both buildings and contents insurance meaning my premiums will go up, but the F12 storm that damaged my home was nobody's fault. Unfortunately that's just life.

Hmindr68 · 03/12/2023 13:09

This is one of the most surprisingly sensible threads I’ve read in ages!

maximist · 03/12/2023 13:24

Munchyseeds2 · 03/12/2023 12:37

They will try and offer the lowest amount possible for the car, especially if it was more than a few years old
If you think it's worth more, it will be up to you to prove it to them by finding cars of similar age, mileage, condition on the market and showing them

I thought this, and had loads of screenshots to prove that it would cost me £2.5k to replace the car they'd said wasn't economic to repair. Then they offered me £4.3k straight off....!

Angelou79 · 03/12/2023 13:26

I work in Insurance if your company owns the building & land then their third party property liability will cover it for you however you will need to claim via your insurance first

Original poster
Mar124 · 03/12/2023 13:28

@Angelou79 Thank you. Is that not only
if there is liability there, or would
it cover regardless? And if I go through mine, and they recover costs from theirs, does that mean I don’t lose my no claims?

OP posts:
Ghostgirl77 · 03/12/2023 13:32

My car was set on fire outside my house by someone who tried and failed to steal it. Not my fault but I still had to claim on my insurance and would have lost my NCD if I hadn’t had it protected. It’s just the way it goes unfortunately.

ActDottie · 03/12/2023 13:34

Mar124 · 03/12/2023 12:21

@Floralnomad You don’t understand the impact of losing your no claims bonus and higher premiums for something that isn’t your fault in any shape or form? Right so!

Agree with this it’s definitely the kind of thing you shouldn’t be losing the no claims for.

Id say to your employer that your car insurance wants the details of your employer’s insurance to sort it out. I think it’s definitely your employer’s insurance that should pay as you parked there is good faith that they kept their trees maintained so that it was safe to park there.

Goldenpashmina · 03/12/2023 13:35

This is exactly what insurance is for so of course you'll need to claim on it

junecat · 03/12/2023 13:42

This happened at my work but a tree fell on two customer's cars

We assumed we would be liable but the customer's had to claim on their own policies as our insurers said they weren't liable.

MigGirl · 03/12/2023 13:48

@Mar124 if you didn't already make sure you get you NCD protected, this normally costs a small amount extra but can be well worth it.

Even so insurance will often go up if you have made a claim, it's they way it works. My dad had tiles from our neighbours house land on his car. It was the car insurance that paid for the work not the neighbours house insurance. I guess it's just the way it works 🤷‍♂️

VeniVidiWeeWee · 03/12/2023 13:49

Angelou79 · 03/12/2023 13:26

I work in Insurance if your company owns the building & land then their third party property liability will cover it for you however you will need to claim via your insurance first

Really? Do you make the tea for the people who actually do the job?

As various people have pointed out the employers insurance will only pay out if the employer was negligent.

skyeisthelimit · 03/12/2023 13:53

YABU as this is what your insurance is for. You make the claim and then the insurance company goes after anyone that they can for it, ie your employers insurance company. The employers insurance company will fight to prove that it wasn't their fault. That is what they all do.

You would get your excess back if you can prove its not your fault (I did after a bus reversed into me). My premiums didn't go up either and I didn't lose my NCB as none of it was my fault.

Throwawayme · 03/12/2023 13:55

I worked in insurance for a long time and you really do need to claim via your own insurance. If they feel like your employer was negligent they may then try to reclaim their costs but it's the reason you have insurance.

Aprilx · 03/12/2023 13:56

Mar124 · 03/12/2023 12:21

@Floralnomad You don’t understand the impact of losing your no claims bonus and higher premiums for something that isn’t your fault in any shape or form? Right so!

If your car was stolen it would not be your fault either, your insurance would still need to pay and your no claims would still (probably) be impacted. It is just bad luck.

Your employer was kind enough to investigate whether their policy covered this. Personally I would not have expected it (based in 20 years of working in insurance), it was not their fault a tree blew over. It was an accident and this is what you have insurance for.

Doubleespresso33 · 03/12/2023 13:59

Wingedharpy · 03/12/2023 12:20

Who owns the tree?

It’s classed in insurance as an “act of god” so to speak when they look at the proximate cause. Her work place isn’t liable as the tree branch didn’t fall as a result of them trying to cut it down for example. So the OP would need to claim it on her own insurance

Doubleespresso33 · 03/12/2023 14:08

Angelou79 · 03/12/2023 13:26

I work in Insurance if your company owns the building & land then their third party property liability will cover it for you however you will need to claim via your insurance first

This isn’t true - it isn’t a case that a ceiling was badly mended and caused an injury to an employee/customer. It was a tree which isn’t their liability as it’s classed as an “act of god”. It’s out of their control. it’s not their fault or an action of negligence that led to that happening. It will go down on the OPS insurance

Doubleespresso33 · 03/12/2023 14:09

Mar124 · 03/12/2023 13:28

@Angelou79 Thank you. Is that not only
if there is liability there, or would
it cover regardless? And if I go through mine, and they recover costs from theirs, does that mean I don’t lose my no claims?

It will go down on your insurance and you will lose your no claims if it isn’t protected - it’s what insurance is for and your work isn’t liable xx

Balloonhearts · 03/12/2023 14:29

Look into it before you accept a write off. My car was written off for over 3k when repair only cost 1500. I accepted the write off, bought the car back off them, got it repaired and was still £800 up.

Fieldofbrokenpromises · 03/12/2023 14:31

Mar124 · 03/12/2023 13:28

@Angelou79 Thank you. Is that not only
if there is liability there, or would
it cover regardless? And if I go through mine, and they recover costs from theirs, does that mean I don’t lose my no claims?

As @Angelou79 must know if they actually work in insurance it will only coer the employer if they are legally liable. I notice you are studiously ignoring contributors who actually know what they are talking about.
I sympathise that it's not great, but it does make sense if you think about it - there are very few things where the simple fact of owning something makes one liable for anything that happens in connection with it.

witchypaws · 03/12/2023 14:37

It's shit but, it happens

I got a years free insurance when I bought a new car, only I didn't check if no claims were protected (they weren't)
A passerby punched my brand new car, causing over £1000 worth of damage. Lost my no claims and my premiums went up
He had to pay me £100, which he did at £5pm...

CurlsnSunshinetime4tea · 03/12/2023 14:53

you did park under the tree though.

msbevvy · 03/12/2023 15:06

A huge tree at the bottom of my Mum's garden came down in a storm and damaged the roof of the neighbouring church.
Mum was worried that she would be liable for it but the vicar said that was not the case as it was 'an act of God'