Car insurance refusing payout - now threatening court

[ditzzy]

Someone reversed into the family car in the summer in a car park. No question of fault, we were nowhere near it and the driver immediately came to find us, apologised and handed over insurance details.

We handed everything over to the insurance company who sent a like for like hire car for three days while ours was fixed. It wasn’t a massive bump, but the bumper had to be taken off and some sensors replaced as well as cosmetic clean up.

All seemed fine until a few months later when our insurance said that their insurance was now refusing to pay up, citing that it was too expensive for the damage caused (£2000 of which £1600 was repair, £400 hire car).

The insurance company is fighting it on our behalf but DH has now been told that it’s going to court and he needs to be prepared for a court appearance!!

Is it just me, or is this ridiculous for a car park bump?

Has anyone else had this happen?

Unfortunately the emails come straight into his individual email rather than one of our family email addresses, so I can’t intercept. What I do though is to read the documents quickly and summarise them for him so that he has reassurance that he’s not being scammed or signing up to anything he shouldn’t do.

It doesn’t stop him worrying though! Usually by the time he even tells me that another one has arrived he’s created a whole negative scenario about it in his own mind.

Trust me, he’s capable of winding himself up about anything, so this is like fresh canon fodder for him.

I started this thread so that I could reassure him that it happens all the time and will be fine, which quite a few people have said. Still seems a bit ridiculous to me though.

This is an issue between the insurance companies. I have had it twice, in similar circumstances, and the other company has always blinked at the last minute. It's just a way to avoid paying out for as long as possible.
It's better in the long run if you go through the other party's insurers. I didn't the second time and they kept avoiding settling with my insurer for about two years which raised my insurance as it was fault hadn't been officially settled.

We all were too. Family member argued with the insurance company when they learned they were making a payout to the ‘injured’ party. The insurance company were aware that it was all fabricated, cctv evidence, judge ruiling etc. But their view was that it was cheaper to settle out of court when the ‘injured’ said they were making a personal injury claim through a no win no fee solicitor 🤷‍♀️ They said a policyholder has no say in how the insurance company deals with claims 🤷‍♀️ Personally, I would have tsken it to the insurance ombudsman, but family member just let it drop.

@JSMill It's better in the long run if you go through the other party's insurers.
Do you mean, it's better to accept third party capture? If they say "hi there, we admit liability, we'll pay you," it's better to accept it? I've heard this can go very wrong, especially if injuries develop later, and then you don't have a leg to stand on. It feels like doing a deal with the devil, or if the other driver offers you money privately, to avoid going through insurance.