[Closed] Car Insurance Claims - the good and the bad

Two claims with Admiral; one my fault, one not. Both were dealt with very quickly and with no hassle at all.

They did try and push me to make a personal injury claim though when I wasn't injured. I made it very clear I was not injured but they persisted in suggesting maybe I should think really hard about whether I was in any pain at all and whether I was absolutely sure I wouldn't like to make an injury claim as the process was really very easy.

I pointed out that I was a CII qualified insurance underwriter and I was a little uncomfortable they were suggesting I commit insurance fraud. They backed off at that point.

Currently insured with Direct Line but no experience of their claims service.

I think it's luck of the draw and complexity of claim.

My wife and I are/were both insured with Aviva - I had a crash and all was dealt with really easily, my wife had a crash resulting in car write-off and it was a ball-ache from start to finish.

I'm still with Aviva, my wife is now with Admiral! 🙂

they persisted in suggesting maybe I should think really hard about whether I was in any pain at all and whether I was absolutely sure I wouldn’t like to make an injury claim as the process was really very easy

I had the same with a while back (can't remember the insurer).

In the end I was sure I was speaking with a 3rd party claims processor type rather than the underwriters. Backed off when I got really firm with them (but after 2 or 3 calls attempting to persuade me).

No wonder car insurance is expensive.

They all have their faults... I've recently claimed and couldn't even get through on the claims line. So I got, via online chat, a direct line to the underwriter. Which was ok - but the official repairer they provided were a bunch of cowboys. Couldn't find damage that was even noted by their driver when he collected the car! They charge £250 on top of the excess if you want to use a different repairer, which is crap.

Hastings were good (eventually) with my incident last year.

Originally I got linked to a Claims Management Co. through RAC - by the time I realised who they were I was far enough down the info and claim process that I left it with them as they seemed ok.

However, when the driver who hit me turned out to be an uninsured **** they were next to useless. A lot of 'computer says no'. Seems they can't cope with a claim that's slightly unusual.

Went to my actual insurers Hastings and it was sorted, including payout on my insurance within a couple of weeks.

BUT - a lot of insurers now have an 'Uninsured Driver Promise' - i.e. you won't pay your excess on a claim if the other driver turns out to be a ****.
This appears to be bollocks, and you will only get your excess back if they are able to reclaim costs from the uninsured driver.

ALSO - The Motor Insurance Bureau - we are all paying this organisation through our insurance policies to cover drivers in the case of an uninsured driver hitting you. But they will only pay out if you have 3rd party insurance. If you have fully comp you have to take the hit on your insurance.
Smells like a ****ing scam to me.

One with Admiral, I had to brake hard to avoid a car driven by an very elderly driver who failed to stop at a stop sign, I didn't hit him but he ended up on the pavement. The driver who ran into the back of me was on the phone at the time. Id glanced in my mirror as I was braking and could see the handset in his hand. He was also insured by Admiral.
I gave both drivers the option of admitting liability there and then, in writing, or recording it om my phone, what they had done or I was phoning the police. Both agreed, we exchanged details, and it was all sorted with no hassle.
I did get a few phone calls from the Ambulance chasers wanting me to put a claim in but wasn't injured so didn't bother. I also visited the elderly driver to make sure he was OK as he was very shook up. His wife said that he had decided to sell the car and give up driving, I don't think I was his first near miss

Car theft with LV, near faultless claim, fast payout (initial £1k under market offer, one email back with photos of adverts got us a fair payout).

Comms from LV were not great, for example did not send us all the info they should have, resulting in us not throwing away spare keys and when the car turned up 3 months later it could be opened and driven (massive bonus for them). Not having that info however meant hassle trying to deal with police with a car that was no longer ours once found, and LV not being able to get us in contact with the right team there side to agree recovery and collection etc.

This appears to be bollocks, and you will only get your excess back if they are able to reclaim costs from the uninsured driver.

ALSO – The Motor Insurance Bureau – we are all paying this organisation through our insurance policies to cover drivers in the case of an uninsured driver hitting you. But they will only pay out if you have 3rd party insurance. If you have fully comp you have to take the hit on your insurance.
Smells like a **** scam to me.

Couple of things here, and not justifying anything before anyone accuses me of being an industry stooge... 😋

MIB are considered a 'payer of last resort', and for property damage (including motor vehicles) they will only get involved usually if there is no 'insurer in the background' e.g. your comprehensive cover/the other party/s being insured etc.

They also cover compensation claims for innocent victims for personal injuries e.g. pedestrians who would have limited compensation routes to go down if a driver of a car who injured them was uninsured or untraceable, as was the case when a work colleague's girlfriend was hit by a car, driven by an uninsured driver, that had mounted the pavement and she broke her leg and pelvis and some other bits and bobs 🙁

They manage the Motor Insurers Database and are the data controllers for CUE & MIAFTR - other claims and fraud databases.

EDIT: Apologies - meant to add that the Uninsured Driver Promise very much depends on your insurer and their policy wording. Mine, for example, I only have to give the VRN, make and model (in case VRN is dodgy or I don't catch it), and based on information supplied my insurer can identify that the vehicle and, or, the driver are uninsured. Excess would be refunded and NCB reinstated if there had been any step back of entitlement.

I have also had great claims experiences on car insurance with Esure, however, abysmal claims service on home insurance with Esure. Excellent claims service with MoreThan. Both of these car examples were as an at fault driver. Churchill were amazing when I was the 3rd party and not insured with them, but this is quite usual, in my experience generally, as it saves them money if I let them deal with my claim too, and its great advertising. As aninnocent 3rd party - Insure the Box were absolute 'See you next Tuesday's' threatening to take me to court and all sorts even though they had already admitted full liability for their driver t-boning my car at 50mph. Idiots

Admiral were great for me

They were my insurers and happened to be 3rd party's (who were at fault) too and they said this made it very straightforward. But I'm sure they'd have been good if they had to fight another insurer

They organised recovery within a few mins of me initially phoning them (they were very concerned about getting me home safe - that's all they wanted to do - they didn't want any details at all until the next day, not even who was at fault)

They got a hire car sorted for 8am the next morning (xmas eve) with enterprise and confirmed via a letter that it would be paid by them. Let me have it for two months too

I have suspected the big name insurers generally would be better and this thread seems to back that up. I'd rather pay extra and deal with professional companies

@fazzini

That's good info, cheers.
Think my perception is somewhat coloured by the injustice of being hit by an uninsured driver, and all the extra costs I've ended up incurring 😟

I'm also aware through mutual acquaintances that said driver (who is from a local farming family) still has his license and as far as I know hasn't been taken to court or seemingly incurred any costs nearly a year after the incident.
In fact I'm pretty sure he's still driving without insurance.....I called the police about it and was fobbed off.

Think my perception is somewhat coloured by the injustice of being hit by an uninsured driver, and all the extra costs I’ve ended up incurring 😟

Have no fear @ajantom wasnt having a go at you and I despise the intentionally uninsured/un-licensed bar stewards as much as you, and am in no doubt that some insurers are gits generally too. Police can be too, although without the resources I suppose what are they to do.

The issue with being uninsured is that a fair few folks end up driving technically/actually uninsured for a number of reasons - didn't realise auto-renewal wasn't in force; using driving other cars extension incorrectly etc. This happens all the time. Its way overdue that financial awareness was a mandatory part of school curriculums IMHO. I'm sorry maths-geeks but WTF have I ever used a quadratic equation or sin, cos, tan for since GCSEs??? 🤔🤔🤔

I had a bad experience with Direct Line and would never touch them again. I had to threaten to take them to court to get my car repaired.