Insurance payouts .... or not

[Hazell B]

It's been several months now since my partner's vehicle was rear ended by somebody in a van on a motorway.

At the time, the culprit was in a loaned works van while the company's own van was being repaired (after yet another accident, I'm told :rolleyes: ). The company was insured with Norwich Union, now Aviva. They've been paid out for the van.

Oddly though, Aviva are now claiming the van wasn't insured and are refusing to pay out to us, the victims who did nothing wrong :mark:

Few points - Firstly I had no idea the usual payment for whiplash was about £800 plus. That's a lot of money for a sore neck! Secondly, how can Aviva pay out on something they say isn't insured? Thirdly, Aviva are the worst company in the UK industry for such "we don't insure that, we're not paying" claims, I'm told. Fourthly, they should try paying us instead of paying Bruce Willis to advertsie their crappy name change.

And finally, SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!! :p :

[Dave B]

Weren't Norwich Union the ones who refused to pay out on Shergar's death, due to lack of proof? :s

They did once, however, quote me to the point of laughter at how expensive they were.

[Hazell B]

Shergar? Dunno.
I can actually see their point on that one .... leaving several million quid in an unsecure field is rather taking the piddle out of your insurers :p :

[GridGirl]

Sounds pretty rubbish Hazell. Hope you get the money soon. :)

My car insurance is up in less than 2 weeks. When I rang up my current insurance company and told them I had a quote that was around £120 cheaper than their renewal they miraculously managed to matched it. To be fair I did have a quote that was £120 cheaper but they didn't actually check before agreeing to discount my renewal premium.

My worst quote was in somehwere in the region of £2050 more that what I'm actually going to pay. I'm sure some insurers just start making random numbers up for the fun of it because you have a car with quite a high insurance group number. :s

[Jag_Warrior]

My worst quote was in somehwere in the region of £2050 more that what I'm actually going to pay. :s

For 1 year? That's almost 3 grand American! :eek:

Are you rolling in an Enzo or just a tricked out Lambo? :D

[Hazell B]

Are you rolling in an Enzo or just a tricked out Lambo? :D


A tired old Range Rover can get you quotes bigger than a mortgage repayment on Buckingham Palace in this country. And that's with zero points, zero claims and zero convictions to your name :(

Car crime's huge here, quotes are high because of steal-ability as much as anything :mark:

[GridGirl]

For 1 year? That's almost 3 grand American! :eek:

Are you rolling in an Enzo or just a tricked out Lambo? :D

I wish I was in an Enzo or a Lambo...sadly its just a Fiesta! :)

[Jag_Warrior]

Well, that's just outrageous for 1 year of basic insurance. I bet half the people stealing cars are doing so in order to make their next car insurance payment.

[GridGirl]

To be fair my Fiesta has a 2.0L petrol engine that can give out 150bhp. The actual premium I'm going to pay includes my other half and is under £500 to cover me for business as well as private use. :)

Insurance premiums can be huge here for reason such as theft and vandalism in certain areas like Hazel said. Age is another reason. If your a young driver a years insurance premium can often be worth more than your car's value which gives temptation to not actually bother getting any. This in turn can affect everyone else's premiums.

[Jag_Warrior]

Well, that's more reasonable and a lot closer to what we'd pay here.

But that 2000+ pounds was more than I paid back in the early 90's with a Porsche 944 and a pocketful of tickets (the car had a mysterious throttle control problem ;) ). As best I can recall, right after a judge asked me if I enjoyed walking (smart a$$ judge :dozey: ), my insurance went up to about $1800/year... which I think is about 1200 pounds at current exchange.

[Jag_Warrior]

A tired old Range Rover can get you quotes bigger than a mortgage repayment on Buckingham Palace in this country. And that's with zero points, zero claims and zero convictions to your name :(

Car crime's huge here, quotes are high because of steal-ability as much as anything :mark:

Do you have what we call basic liability policies there? For older vehicles, many here get policies that just cover the other vehicle and driver should you be at fault for an accident. If your vehicle gets stolen or is damaged by you or someone else, you aren't covered. But that type of insurance is usually super cheap... depending on your record and age.

[GridGirl]

Five years ago when my younger brother was 17 his 1.2l petrol Citroen Saxo that was worth about £1000 cost him £1400 in insurance a year. £1200 for a Porche...in my brothers dreams! LOL The idiot with 5 years no claims bonus is paying about £1000 on his Honda Civic Type R now. Stupid boy! :p

[driveace]

Can I just give you my opinion,and some advice.When you are involved in an accident that is not your fault,your claim is not with the other drivers insurers it is with the other driver.After 47 years of being a driving school proprietor and having to make over 20 claims,I have never had a problem getting paid.Here is what you do,immediatly after the accident has happened you write out on a piece of paper I (their name)accept FULL responsibility for the accident on (date) at (place of accident) involving (their car make and registration number) and mine(make and registration) AND then you make them sign ...If you dont they think of all sorts of evidence that they think will save their case once they have left the scene,AND even come up with some freind as a witness,so they can squirm out of blame..You are assuming that they are insured and you DONT KNOW if they are.THE SAME DAY as the accident you post them a letter,telling them you are holding them resposible for the accident and ALL costs AND ask them to forward that letter to their insurer.THEN if they are insured their insurer will send you correspondence.Itis what my solicitor ALWAYs told me to do,and it NEVER failed

[jim mcglinchey]

who in their right mind, guilty or not, would sign that?

[driveace]

WELL Jim they DO ,and after it working for me over 47 YEARS then you needs to try it next time someone runs up your arse.I HAVE NEVER had anyone refuse to sign.THEY ADMIT their fault at the scene BUT once they leave the scene they squirm and change their mind ..YOU JUST TRY IT NEXT TIME YOUR SHUNTED,you are thinking about it too long .Immediatly after an accident you admit your guilt exactly likeyou do when the police pull you up for speeding,then after you have driven off you think of an excuse that might have got you off!

[Drew]

This is a proper legal document then, is it?

Sounds pretty anal to me..

[Bezza]

Sounds pretty rubbish Hazell. Hope you get the money soon. :)

My car insurance is up in less than 2 weeks. When I rang up my current insurance company and told them I had a quote that was around £120 cheaper than their renewal they miraculously managed to matched it. To be fair I did have a quote that was £120 cheaper but they didn't actually check before agreeing to discount my renewal premium.

My worst quote was in somehwere in the region of £2050 more that what I'm actually going to pay. I'm sure some insurers just start making random numbers up for the fun of it because you have a car with quite a high insurance group number. :s


I despise the way they work out the cost of car insurance.

I have no points on my license, no convictions, never crashed, never claimed and been driving for 5 years now but yet my quotes are still ridiculous compared to :

a) women of the same age

b) men with convictions of an older age

Just because other men crash their souped-up Saxo's doesn't mean I'm going to crash my brand new Leon after no crash history at all! It is a joke and is very very sexist and ageist.

[Jag_Warrior]

Hazell, is it too late to file suit against the driver? As I think someone else said, that's really who you have an issue with. Here, you would have a claim against both the driver and his employer, if he was on company business at the time of the accident. In my state, you wouldn't even need a lawyer for this one, if it's under $5,000 or so.

[Hazell B]

This is a proper legal document then, is it?

Sounds pretty anal to me..

Anal it may be, but if it works it's brilliant. But no, it isn't a legal document for several reasons. You have a paper with no witnesses, for starters. Plus we all have seven days to wriggle on signed paperwork involving money in the UK. On top of that, they could claim to have bumped their head and signed without realising the implications .... but all the same a signed admission is as good as gold dust in these cases, I am willing to bet.

As it happens, we have one :D

Jag, we have something called Third Party, Fire and Theft here as basic cover. It covers for whomever you hit, plus the vehicle's theft and fire. As we have to pay for recovery after theft or fire, we have to be insured for it legally. Mine's only about £300ish, but some quotes for me where over £1000 as the vehicle I have is stealable and the ram-raider's chosen weapon. I bartered and got the price down.

[Hazell B]

Oh, sorry forgot the last question.

No, not too late to sue the driver/his company. Within a few weeks I will do probably, but as the Men in Black (Motor Insurance Bods) have my claim with them I have to wait a while for their judgement. They're treating it as an uninsured crash and claim, but also taking Aviva to task.

[Drew]

Anal it may be, but if it works it's brilliant. But no, it isn't a legal document for several reasons. You have a paper with no witnesses, for starters. Plus we all have seven days to wriggle on signed paperwork involving money in the UK. On top of that, they could claim to have bumped their head and signed without realising the implications .... but all the same a signed admission is as good as gold dust in these cases, I am willing to bet.


I would personally never sign it, even if I did admit to being the guilty party. Insurance companies seem to be pretty slow. I was a witness to a crash (hardly a crash, more of a scrape) and I stopped and gave my details to both of them and a few months later I got a letter from one insurance company asking me to describe what happened and draw it then 4 months after the crash I got a phone call from them. I'm sure nobody has to tell you to keep at it Hazell!

[driveace]

Hello Hazel,my system DOES work.I have been a driving instructor for over 47 years in Leeds and Bradford ,not a million miles from you.You know the aggression that you see on the roads in these towns,and your claim is with the guy who hits you .DONT assume he is insured.
My Mecedes costs me £104 ,my new Kia Sorento £ 96,and my Fiesta 1.8 deisel for instruction costs me £290 for ANY driver,I dont let anybody claim knock for knock on MY insurance all way claim on their insurance

[GridGirl]

I know this is going to sound quite bad but are you sure they actually know what they are signing in somewhere like Bradford? Same goes for I dunno Dewsbury or Beeston in Leeds. :s

[Jag_Warrior]

I know this is going to sound quite bad but are you sure they actually know what they are signing in somewhere like Bradford? Same goes for I dunno Dewsbury or Beeston in Leeds. :s

See, I probably couldn't find those places if you gave me a GPS. But somehow, I have a feeling that I know what you're trying to say.

Here, I would have the same question, only I'd say, "West Virginia." :D

Hey now, a big shoutout to all the Mountaineers in the house! :wave:

[Easy Drifter]

It does get a bit tricky when the signature is ---- X. :D

[Daniel]

See, I probably couldn't find those places if you gave me a GPS.

You're not the only one :p

[Mark]

WELL Jim they DO ,and after it working for me over 47 YEARS then you needs to try it next time someone runs up your arse.I HAVE NEVER had anyone refuse to sign.THEY ADMIT their fault at the scene BUT once they leave the scene they squirm and change their mind ..YOU JUST TRY IT NEXT TIME YOUR SHUNTED,you are thinking about it too long .Immediatly after an accident you admit your guilt exactly likeyou do when the police pull you up for speeding,then after you have driven off you think of an excuse that might have got you off!

Bit like the bloke that hit me up the arse in Tesco's car park. All very nice and admitted liability at the time. But months later changed his story to say I reversed into him. He eventually settled the day before it was due to go to court.

[Mark]

"West Virginia." :D


"In West Virginia, oh no!" :p