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My car has been hit amd badly damaged by a foreign (Czech Repulic) HGV. For avoidance of doubt it was not my fault and I have a witness.
My insurance Co have written off car due to damage, age, value etc. They have paid out less the excess and have said that they are not hopeful of it being recorded as non fault or that I will get excess back.
Does anyone have any tips or how to ensure I don't get stiffed anymore than i already have?
Insurance Co are saying it could be more than 6 months before it is settled...
Unless you have dashcam footage proving you were at fault I'm afraid it will be 50/50.
2 friends have had frightening incidents on a motorway involving a friend truck driver being at fault. Both 50/50.
Same happened to me with a Romanian truck. Driver admitted fault there and then, gave me all his docs which I photographed. Supplied it all to the insurance co who basically said ‘can’t trace it’ and put all blame /cost on me. C-units.
You lose your no claims if your insurers can't recover their outlay from the other side, it's not simply about being innocent, sadly.
Does sound like insurers can't be arsed to make an effort though.
This is not encouraging. We do have a witness who saw what happened. I hope they contact them and actually do their job and represent us!
Exac6same thing happened to me back in June. I have however got protected no claims so I keep that, didn't stop the bar stewards trying to double my premiums though (gone elsewhere).
They were/are useless at helping me get my excess back, so I'm doing it directly through the claims management company, most foreign insurance cos use Dekra Uk. I'm now stating I'm claiming the full amount just to keep my old insurer from getting their money back, they'll win eventually but it's principle. I was told as soon as I phoned the insurance co that I shouldn't hold out hope of a meaningful resolution..
Sorry, not great news I'm afraid..
Does sound like insurers can’t be arsed to make an effort though.
Exactly.
We had someone hit the back of our car while we were stationary. I went with them chap to his home driveway - about 200metres away to exchange details.
Despite this, Churchill failed "find" him, failed to discover who his insurance was and decided to find it 50/50 and closed the case, losing me my excess and NCB.
.
Cue letter before action and insurance ombudsman letter cc'ing Churchill in.
A week later they sent us our excess, full policy premium refund and £50 M&S voucher asking us not to take them to court and involve ombudsman any more.
.
Utter shysters who decided it would save them 5p to not investigate - no thought of the customer.
Despite this, Churchill failed “find” him,
Yeah, well those ****s made me, and the rest of our management team, redundant when they took us over, so they can shove their nodding dog up their arse.
"A “fault” claim is recorded when an accident is either:
--the driver’s fault
--not the driver’s fault, but the cost can’t be claimed from another party – for example, if a parked car is hit and the other driver can’t be found"
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/insurance/motor-insurance/fault-claims-no-claims-bonuses
I would be doing some legwork sooner rather than later, CCTV and independent witnesses will be more difficult to find in six months. Have a look for likely places, shops, filling stations, etc.
A lot of international companies have a UK agent so that if the driver needs major repairs to the truck or a UK address for the service of summons, etc then it's sorted with minimal fuss.
Bear in mind that a written-off car will mean minimal time with any courtesy car, you get longer if waiting for repair. Make sure that it'll be funded by the insurer regardless of outcome
The whole thing is a massive pain, you have my sympathy
@stingmered Subject Access Request to insurer asking for details of their "search" for the foreign driver.
Then do as matt_outandabout and lawyer up.
This seems completely unreasonable from the insurance companies POV.
You pay a premium for a service from a company. There is an agreement in place for a service that you have paid for. They can't complete their side of the service which is entirely their responsibility and the client ends up being penalized for the insurance company failing to recover what is essentially, their job and their responsibility to recover.
Is this opt-out written into T&C's? Did something change connected to Brexit here?
TBH, it was 10 years ago now, CBA. Car wasn't written off, but it was fairly traumatic. Overtaking a foreign artic' on the m/way and the lorry pulled out into me for no reason (there was nothing for them to O/take on the nearside lane!) Clipped my rear NS quarter and first thing I knew I was pointing at 45deg towards the hard-shoulder at 70mph.... don't know how, genuinely don't know how but I managed to wrestle an Aud A6 back under control without hitting anything. I wish fish-tailing for about 200m down the m-way across all three lanes. I put it down to karting prowess and THOUSANDS of hours on Gran Turismo... 🙂 This was on the M6, between j18 and 17 on a Friday evening, so peak traffic. God knows how I didn't hit something. Terrifying. Proper brown trousers time for me and Mrs Stingmered.