This is v boring and probably a bit trivial but it is worrying me - if there are any insurance experts out there I'd love to know what you think.
In March 2007 a supermarket delivery van crashed into my parked (thankfully empty) car causing damage which made it undriveable. Supermarket admitted liability - I wasn't there but someone must have seen them do it as they left a note tucked into the windscreen telling us to get three quotes for the repairs and claim the money back from them. I was on my own with a 1 yr and 4 yo, reliant on the car, and didn't see why I should spend the entire week trying to do that with two dcs in tow, so rang our (fully comp) insurer, instead. They arranged for the repairs with their preferred local garage, who also gave us a v tiny courtesy car while the work was being done.
Supermarket have refused to settle the claim for the courtesy car. They're not disputing our right to one, but they say that we should have shopped around for a cheaper hire car, paid for it ourselves and applied to them for a refund. I don't think hire cars get much more modest than what we had (a Chevrolet Matiz), I was just following the insurer's advice, and in any case shopping around for and going to pick up an alternative hire car would have been extremely difficult to do with two v small dcs. And it was so not my bl**dy fault they crashed into my car!
We've just had a letter three and a half years on from the insurer's solicitors to say they are taking the supermarket to court in my name to recover the costs. I am worried about where I stand - is there any chance I would end up having to pay? Seems bonkers when we weren't even in the car at the time and just did what the insurer told us to do...I don't mind losing my no claims bonus but would I actually have to pay out for court costs and so on if they lose?
Please tell me the insurance company will pay either way, and/or that the supermarket will probably back down before it gets to court....