Non-Fault RTA, what are my legal rights re the ins co?

[maddogsx]

I was in my car on the 28th September, seen a combine harvester cutting the corner i was aproaching, i pull off the road, and he hits us.

I have good photographic evidence of the accident scene whilst awaiting the ambulance and police.

 

Farmer has been charged with it, and it will be a nice list, from his road tax being out of date since 2006, even though it's nil duty he still has a legal obligation to have a valid one to no escort vehicle driving the machine farther than allowed (almost 15 miles was his intended distance)

 

Anyhow, from the start it's been a pest.

 

Day after accident I call my his ins co and mine, mine are to be honest a bunch of I'm fully comp insurance, my company tell me yes, we'll get onto it, no courtesy car!

His ins co Chaucer are less than helpfull, they say they need to wait for him to call them, which is fair comment, the following Fri he decides to report it, and after being charged and the photographic evidence etc...F:mad2: denies liability and blatantly lies about the circumstances.

to date he still hasn't returned the form whichever one that may be to his ins co, and it's delaying the process.

If I go through my ins co i'll need to pay £750 excess, which is utter garbage since it's non-fault.

 

anyhow what legal rightsw if any do i have to 'demand' the car is fixed, the car is a Subaru Impreza CATALUNYA LTD Edition, only 200 built and a replacement cannot be had for less than £5000, the car has suffered extensive panel damage...but NO structural damage, ie chassis leg A pillar etc.

 

My ins company said if they write it off i have absolutely zero right to any of the salvage and will absolutely not be allowed to keep it or buy it from them.

Is this correct?

My intention is right reason or not, the cat is going to be fixed, whether by myself or a bodyshop.

It is fixable, easy repair and i'm 100% competent enough to do the job.

 

Short of beating mr farmer profusely to the head and body with a stick what the heck can I do?

[unclebulgaria67]

I really find it depressing that Insurance companies are bl**dy useless in explaining issues.

 

In short this is not going to be an easy process with an uncooperative 3rd party driver an 3rd party Insurer. You need the Police report on the accident to be helpful to you.

 

You can't buy the salvage if the category of the write off does not allow the Insurers to sell it to you. They would be breaking the law if they did. You can of course have the car inspected to determine the write off category yourself, but this will be at your cost. I don't know how you would go about getting another inspection. Would you just arrange for a qualified vehicle examiner/engineer to inspect and to provide a report.

 

I really suggest that you contact your Insurers and ask to speak to a manager or someone senior to discuss the claim, advising them that so far the company have not been helpful.

[sailor sam]

Couple of questions; have you got legal protection? If yes, why arn't they dealing with this for you? Also ask them why you can't have a courtesy car as it is quite clear you are not at fault here.

 

Because of your insurer's position regarding the possible write off (and courtesy car), I would be tempted to write to the TP (recorded delivery) stating that as he was clearly at fault and been charged accordingly, you will be hiring a car while yours is off the road and will be claiming for this in addition to all your other un-insured losses and of course for the repairs to your car. Include a copy of at least 2 estimates (unless your car is un-driveable). From what you have said, it is clear that the police consider that he was totally at fault so as suggested, you need a copy of their report. At the end of the day, your claim seems pretty solid to me so although you may suffer some out of pocket expence intitially, you stand to recover these including your excess. End your letter by saying that you will require settlement of any costs in full within 14 days to avoid any recovery action and advise him to pass the letter onto his insurers should he wish them to act on his behalf.

 

Others will no doubt add to this but please keep us posted.

 

Please Note

 

 

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[maddogsx]

I failed to mention (my bad I'm sorry) I've went to driver assist, and they have supplied the courtesy car and arranged a lawyer up here to deal with my uninsured losses and my wife and two daughters injury claims, I only suffered a bit bruise and sore neck, which is actually still painfull so won't really be claiming for that be a bit silly?

I do have legal cover but first central say they will not and would not give a courtesy car untill vehicle went for repair, if it was deemed a write off i still wouldn't get one.

The market value for the car is £5000 it';s an impreza catalunya, which is a Ltd Edition, 200 built this being build no 20. How much can I insist on to an aprox rough figure that they repair it? (i've actually got all the panels required to fix it myself) and would they compromise if I were to give the parts I have to the bodyshop to use in it's repair.

Truthfully I have every reciept and full service history inc original bill of sale for the cat, it is in immaculate condition and I've got tons of pictures to back this up, and as such I was going to argue that since it wasn't my fault the car should be repaired up to perhaps £4500 worth (the bodyshop quoted around £2300)

Just need some lee-way on my side before it ends up I need to fix the car and take farmer to court to attempt to re-coup the losses for repairing it.

[Mwynci]

The info regarding keeping the salvage is wrong, it's always yours until you tell the insurer they can keep it. Regardless of catagorisation. You may not legally be allowed to put it back on the road, but that does not stop your right of breaking a it for parts. The FOS in most cases will side with the policyholder, it's your property not theirs.

If a cat A (burn out) or B (break up only)You really don't want to do this though, only if it's a cat c or d you can put it back on the road (will need an mot or a VIC test , your current insurers may not even offer cover back for it).

Re: figures, a cat c is where the repairs would be more than the £5k value, if they cat d it, it wil work on the salvage figure, if they work n a standard say 15% salvage return, if the repair costs come to more than 85% it will be written off. There are variations in how this is deal, my figures are only hypothetical. with a car like this, they could be geting a good salvage deal, hence the lower margin for repair

If you want them to repair the vehicle, you could always provide your own garage quote, they may accept this, or offer you the csah settlement, or get the garage to do a contract repair, where they do it for a set price, without any opportunity to negotiate if futher damage found - not too many garages take up this offer.