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Original poster

Neighbours car hit by joy riders, shunted hers into mine......HELP/advice needed...

28 replies

Wolfgirl · 24/09/2007 10:26

Ive spoken to my insurers and they think I will be responsbible to claim from my own insurers - which means we have to cough up the very hefty excess fee. Neighbours car is total write off btw, but she said she is happy for her insurers to settle both cars. Ive yet to find out if her insurance will actually cover mine, but as I say....my insurers say they wont.

Would this be the norm - does anyone know? IF it is, bangs goes DS birthday party

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Original poster

Wolfgirl · 24/09/2007 10:33

anyone?

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PinkChick · 24/09/2007 10:37

i would say its her claim not yours but not 100%, hers caused damage to yours(sad for her tho!), so you shouldnt have to fork out excess then lose no claims bonus?..might be cheaper for her to get yours repaired without insurance? is yours bad?

ib · 24/09/2007 10:37

If your neighbour is happy to put a claim on their insurance you may as well try it on, but I don't see why her insurance would cover it as she didn't cause the damage.

ladymuck · 24/09/2007 10:37

Unless she is as fault in some way I'm afraid that you are right: you have to claim on your insurance. Here the fault would appear to lie with the joyrider, and I assume that they didn't leave their details.

Original poster

Wolfgirl · 24/09/2007 10:52

LOL ladymuck no, they didnt leave their details - strangely enough. BUT... postman chattd with DH this AM, and said a damaged car had been abandoned a few streets away, which might be same car which did the damage. Thing is, my neighbour went to the police, and they were totally disinterested. I wonder what stance they will take now, if the abandoned car does turn out to be the car that did the damage? could then not take finger prints or soemthing, or have I been watching too much CSI? Neighbours car is a complete write off and I have to cough up £225 excess.

Pinkchick....there is enough damage to warrant it going in for repair. the bonnet is ski-wiff and dented and the paint around the headlight and bumper has splintered badly. It is driveable though, so if we really wanted to not pay for the repair then we could just leave it. But Ive looked after my car since day one, and although it is N reg, it runs beautifully and looks like new. Im so cross. really annoyed! and

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ladymuck · 24/09/2007 11:00

90% of car crime goes unsolved, so generally the police are only taking down the details so that your neighbour has a case number for the insurers. Even if they took prints they don't have any suspects against whom they can check, and it would still be difficult to prove who was driving the car at the time of the crash.

Original poster

Wolfgirl · 24/09/2007 11:02

I know. but I guess if it was one of their own (in the force I mean) they would pull out all the stops to find the buggers. (is that a bit harsh?)

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ladymuck · 24/09/2007 11:03

But I know how annoyed you must be - this happened to me a few years ago - the loss of my no claims bonus was the most costly part as I didn't have it protected. It was my car which was then pushed into my neighbours. She did look to see if she could claim on my insurance (and couldn't), but it was cheaper for her to get her car repaired without resorting to her insurnce. If your no claims is at stake I would get some quotes.

Original poster

Wolfgirl · 24/09/2007 11:23

I think we have protected NC. I guess we will get a quote for repair and then decide what to do. Could really do with out this.

thanks ladies for your input. xx

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Wisteria · 24/09/2007 11:28

I don't understand this. If you are in a pile up and car behind you is shunted by another into you the claim comes from the car that hit you, no? Therefore why can't you claim from your neighbours insurance?

Can understand how you are, hope it gets sorted without too much cost to you.

Original poster

Wolfgirl · 24/09/2007 11:30

ahhhh Wisteria I agree, but they would say that the car that did the original shunting could be claimed from - so a line could be followed - iykwim? but here, it was hit and run, and no one to claim from, and it was not my neighbours fault.

still waiting to confirm that her ins. def wont accept the claim and deal with damage.

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PinkChick · 24/09/2007 11:56

Hi wolfgirl, i meant maybe would it be cheaper for nieghbour to actaully pay for replair instead of claiming for both on her insurance but from what you've said(sounds similar to ours when i 'bumped' it..it was gunna cost £500 at main dealer, got it done for about £200 from normal repair shop but still a lot?, get a quote and let them wiegh it up!?.

PinkChick · 24/09/2007 11:57

who is she with?, check online for their t&c?

Original poster

Wolfgirl · 24/09/2007 12:18

dont know pc. will try and speak with her tonight. she is a lovely lady, and already agreed/offered that her insurance should cover my damages. but my insurers said they doubt that will happen.

Yes, I will get a quote from the repair garage that my insurers suggest, and then one from an independant source.

the annoying thing is, someone bashed into the rear end of my car back in August, and we have only just gotten it back from the garage. same amount of damage looking at it, but it cost over £800. they had to totally replace the boot part, as they dont bash or repair the panels any more. so I doubt it will be less than £250 - my excees payment.

will stop thinking about it now and wait to speak with my neighbout. be pulling me hair out otherwise. Grrr....

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ladymuck · 24/09/2007 14:15

Just because her car hit yours does not mean that she is at fault. If a series of cars are involved in a shunt then usually everyone claims from the driver who first caused the accident, not by making a series of claims against each other.

Look at it from the neighbours insurance company's perspective: they are already having to pay out for the neighbours car. Why would they pay out for any other car unless the neighbour was at fault? If your neighbour's car is a write-off then presumably she has to claim on her insurance, but if she didn't for some reason I still can't see why she should pay for your car. You wouldn't pay for hers if your car had been hit first would you?

Original poster

Wolfgirl · 24/09/2007 14:19

Ummm....its not a case of 'would-I' its a case of what the insurance companies will pay for.

and as we/I have already acknowledged below, I doubt very much they will cover it. so yes, all down to me and my wallet

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ladymuck · 24/09/2007 14:28

Yes but if you think about it insurance costs will only pay out for costs for which you are liable. They take a view of what costs they could reasonably recover in the event that the claim has to go to court. They may cover a few extras (eg cost of courtesy car for repair that is your fault) as a sweetener to attract customers but of course they recoup those costs by increasing your premium.

So the question your neighbours insurance company will be asking itself is whether your neighbour could ever be held liable by a court for the damage to your car. It is not a question of whether your neighbour is happy for her insurer to pay the cost - her insurer would go bust if they just paid up for all shunts.

If of course your neighbour was willing to accept blame (eg she had left handbrake off or was parked illegally) then you might get away with it, but it would have had to be recorded in the police report.

HappyMummyOfOne · 24/09/2007 19:05

To claim off another parties insurance policy you have to prove they were negligent - as she was not in the vehicle your insurer is right in saying that they cannot claim off her insurance.

She cannot ask her insurers to honour the claim as its not her money that is paying the claim.

Unless they trace the culprit, the claim has to be settled by your insurers.

FabulousKbear · 24/09/2007 19:15

Contact the Motor Insurers Bureau (I will try and find the details) - they are there to help when you or your car is hit by an uninsured driver or an unknown party. We went to them when DH was hit by a car that didn't stop.

FabulousKbear · 24/09/2007 20:08

www.mib.org.uk/Default.htm

Original poster

Wolfgirl · 25/09/2007 08:43

I think Ive resigned to the fact that we will have to cough up.

FKB - thanks for the link, I will check them out.

and thanks ladies, for all your input.

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lilybubble · 25/09/2007 21:26

Hi, just wanted to say that my parents found themselves in this exact position a few months ago. A drunk driver crashed into neighbour's car, writing it off. In turn this shunted into my parents car, causing quite a bit of damage. The driver drove off but eventually handed himself in to the police, who could hardly have been less interested in it all. He was uninsured so neighbour got stung there,and my parents had to claim from their own insurers too.

As if that wasn't bad enough, they got a letter from the police saying that driver had been let off with an unofficial caution! So bloody unfair.

Good luck with it all!

Original poster

Wolfgirl · 26/09/2007 10:11

thanks LB. xx

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TheMuppetMuggle · 26/09/2007 13:42

WG - who you insured with??

And i think you will have to claim and pay the xs. it will go down as fault, due to the fact the TP had no one to claim from.

Original poster

Wolfgirl · 26/09/2007 14:42

Fortis

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