Making A Car Insurance Claim
When can I make a claim on my car insurance?
If you're involved in an accident and you cannot agree with the other person who is at fault, you should simply take the details from the other person: their name, address, and vehicle details, and inform your own insurance company. If you're fully comprehensively insured, your own insurance company will pay for the damage to your repairs, and if they feel you that have a strong case, they will then persue a claim against the other person, or their insurers for damages. If you don't have fully comprehensive insurance, then you're going to have to pursue a claim for damages to your vehicle directly yourself from that other person, or their insurance company.
Are there any situations where my car insurance won't pay out?
A situation where your car insurance would not pay out would only be if you have misrepresented or told an untruth at the time of taking out the policy. It is absolutely vital that when you take out the car insurance policy and you're asked questions, that you answer them truthfully and fully. In that situation you'll have no fear, your car insurance policy will always pay out.
What happens when neither party can agree who was responsible?
If you are involved in an accident and you cannot agree with the other person who is at fault, you should simply take the details from the other person, their name, address, and vehicle details, and inform your own insurance company. If you're fully comprehensibly insured, your own insurance company will pay for the damage to your repairs and if they feel that you have strong case, they will then pursue a claim against the other person or their insurers for damages. If you don't have fully comprehensive insurance, then you're going to have to pursue a claim for damages to your vehicle directly yourself from that other person or their insurance company. It really does depend on the cover that you've purchased. And it really would depend to a large degree on the degree of fault that's involved. The best advice that can be given is where possible, buy comprehensive insurance. And where possible, try and protect your no claims discount, and then leave it to the insurance company, the experts, to pursue the claim on your behalf.
Can I decide who carries out repairs to my car?
This is within your gift. Yes, you can decide , it is your vehicle , you can advise the insurance company that you want your own repairer to repair the car. However, this is not a particularly good starategy to take because you'll find that most insurance companies will have specialist approved repairers. In a lot of cases they will be able to guarantee the repairs, get the repairs carried out quickly, and in some cases you may get a courtesy car where you haven't had to pay an additional premium. It really is a lot better for you to put yourselves in the hands of the insurance company and allow them to handle the repair for you .
Can I decide who carries out repairs to other damaged cars?
The simple answer is no. If you are going to seek cover under your policy, and ask your insurer to pay for the damage to that vehicle, then, clearly, you have to allow them to decide who should repair that car and how much should be paid. In most cases, if the other car is comprehensibly insured, then the other party's insurer will pay for the repairs and seek redress from your insurer. But, all parties have a duty to mitigate their loss, which means they have a duty to make sure that the loss is not inflated in any way. Really, all you can do is allow your own insurer to handle that claim and put trust in them that they won't want to pay more than they really have to – but that they must pay the claim quickly and fairly.
Do repairs carried out by the insurance company's preferred garage cost more?
No. There's no reason to believe that they would do so. Why would your insurance company want to pay more to their own approved repairers? In fact, in most cases what tends to be the situation is that the insurer will appoint approved repairers and guarantee to them an amount of business and get some preferred rates. They may also be able to get a courtesy car for you at no cost. The final situation is that by using the approved repairer of your insurer you will probably find that your car will be repaired a lot quicker and without the need for a pre-repair inspection. So always put yourself in the hands of the insurer and allow them to handle the repair of your vehicle.
Will I be covered against uninsured drivers?
All insurance companies have to contribute towards a fund called the "Motor Insurers Bureau." In the event of you being hit by somebody who's not insured, you can seek for compensation from that fund. If it's a question of there's injury to you or people in your vehicle, that fund will offer unlimited cover to you at no cost whatsoever; i.e. there'll be no excess for you to pay. If it's a question of just damage to your vehicle, you can still seek cover from that fund but you will have to pay a small excess.
Can I claim for damage caused by pedestrians?
With regards to making a car insurance claim, you need to contact your insurance company if your vehicle is damaged by a pedestrian. If you're comprehensively insured, your own insurance company will pay for the damage to your vehicle, and will seek redress from that pedestrian, providing you have got the pedestrian's details that you can supply them. If you're not comprehensively insured, then you'll have to seek redress yourself from that pedestrian, and that may mean going through a court of law to claim for damage. The other aspect is that even if you are comprehensively insured, you will almost definitely have an excess to pay, and that excess will still be payable and you will have to seek redress or recover that excess from the pedestrian yourself.
Can I claim for damage caused when the car was unattended?
If your car is damaged whilst unattended, you can claim in exactly the same way as if your car was damaged while you were in the vehicle. If you have comprehensive insurance, your insurer will pay for damage to the vehicle. However, if you do not have comprehensive insurance then of course you won't know who the fault party are, so sadly you will have to accept the cost of the damage yourself.
Can I claim for a stolen car stereo?
In the event that your radio is stolen, you can still claim under your policy providing you have third party fraud theft or fully comprehensive insurance. However, you must remember you will probably have a policy excess and you must decide whether it is worth claiming because if the excess is as much as or close to the cost of the insurance claim it is really a pointless exercise.
