Motor Accident:Out of pocket expenses

[Troy_Tempest]

Ladies & Gentlemen,

I had a motor accident in February in which my car was written off. I was deemed not at fault and insurance payout for my vehicle was dealt with quickly and I was provided with a hire car.

My problem is in claiming out of pocket expenses from the Third Party Insurers. This is being dealt with through a company called "Claims assist" for which I paid a "Legal Assistance" premium.

I carefully logged all incidental losses and submitted what I thought was a very reasonable claim of about £750. This consisted of Loss of Earnings (endorsed by my empoyer and including 3 months payslips), phone calls, travel to source a replacement vehicle and accident photographs.

The third party insurers are of cause stalling at every turn and have sent a cheque for a mere £35!

"Claims assist" although sympathetic, are obviously happy for this to sit on the back burner .

How can I get them to be reasonable about this? I don't really want to involve a solicitor due to the cost.

Have I claimed enough? After all, the administration and replacement car sourcing have taken up days worth of lost time. Am I allowed to add to the claim after it has been submitted?

As an additional insult , I now find that subsequent insurance quotes have gone up due to this accident, even though I was not at fault.

Please help!

[louandgra]

If you truly purchased a 'legal expense' product then this product should effectively cover the costs of a solicitor to issue proceedings against the third party insurer should they refuse to pay up within a reasonable time period.

Who is Claimassist? How did you come across their policy?

[Troy_Tempest]

Originally Posted by louandgra

Who is Claimassist? How did you come across their policy?

Sorry I got the name wrong.

It is actually "Drive Assist" This is the legal assistance "extra" that I forked out for with my Halifax policy.

[louandgra]

Is it underwritten by any insurer?

Drive assist are primarily a 'credit hire' organisation which specialise in the hire of replacement vehicles to people who have suffered non-fault accidents.

It should ordinarily cover claims for uninsured losses with legal costs covered in the event that proceedings are issued agsinst the third party.

If you are not happy with the service so far, you should insist that this claim is passed to a legal representative under the terms and conditions of your legal expense policy.

If this does not work, play hell with Halifax.

Drive assist are not renound in the marketplace for providing an uninsured loss recovery service.