Insurance

[GrangeMouth]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone will be able to advise if there's anything I can do about a claim against my car insurance in terms of amount of money due.

I reversed into my neighbours wall which I freely admit (was taking my one week old DS2 to hospital as he wouldn't feed and was in a rush and misjudged my 3 point turn).

The wall is a boundary marker at the front of the property, about 5 bricks high by 2 meters and one brick deep and was in a poor state already as it's about a hundred years old. I damaged a brick and cracked the top stone that goes the length of the wall.

I offered to pay £300 to have the wall repaired but my neighbour wants the wall replaced as it was already in need of attention and I think sees this as an opportunity to get me to pay for a complete rebuild. My neighbour admitted that she knew she had to do something about the wall before I hit it. Another neighbour is a bricklayer and said she too had noticed the poor state of the wall.

My neighbour contacted her home insurers who estimated the damage at £620 and have in turn contacted my car insurers. I have emailed them photos of the damage as requestd and asked what the next course of action is. They have said that they dont send about loss adjusters for any claim under £1000. I don't believe the damage is worth £620.

This morning there are bricklayers replacing the entire wall with new bricks before we have settled the claim against the insurers. Can my neighbour do this without informing the insurers? Should she be providing an invoice?

Is there anything I can do to persuade my insurers that I didn't cause £620 worth of damage and that the wall could probably have been repaired to the state before I hit it rather than replaced?

TIA

I think you need to consider the cost of challenging the £620.00 in comparison to what you offered. A loss adjuster would cost money, with no guarantee they would reduce the cost involved. You could suggest to your insurer that they make an offer which reflects the condition of the wall and damage caused i.e. a reduced offer but the to-ing and fro-ing trying to make that offer and get it agreed just costs money too (for both insurers) so there is no incentive for your insurer or your neighbours insurer to look into this as in depth as you want.

I think its understandable that it bothers you, but the economics just don't seem worth making a big deal of what your neighbour is gaining. The effect on your motor policy would be the same no matter how much is paid.