Hit and sod off - should I bother?

[AntMB]

So a while ago I put my E270 up for sale, I was semi serious as at the time I had two Golfs, a motorbike and the Mercedes, so I put one Golf up for sale and the Mercedes and at the time was happy with which ever sells first, I keep the other. Semi serious meaning I only put the advert here, didn't actually properly advertise the car, so nothing really happened.

Anyway a few months ago, someone overshot a give way line in a narrow country lane, jamming his car against mine, scrapes down the right hand side of my car. We exchanged details, though he thought I was at fault, basically he was totally stoned and it turned out he had a car full of drugs

. Fast forward months later, my insurance company haven't heard a thing from his insurance company, my insurance company are just giving me a wet lettuce "well we haven't heard anything from the third party" - which is all they can say, despite countless emails, phone calls and elevating it to the complaints department.......

I'm not sure I can be bothered anymore. I want a smaller car anyway, should I just f-k the car off as it is? I really don't need the stress with a massive change to personal circumstances coming in the new year also.......

 

[st13phil]

I'm not sure I can be bothered anymore. I want a smaller car anyway, should I just f-k the car off as it is?

Frankly, that's a decision only you can make.

The practical consideration is what's the delta in value between the E270 with and without the damage and are you prepared to sacrifice that?

On a broader point, my experience of being the victim of a third-party caused collision is that my own insurance company was completely hopeless at getting the third party's insurer to engage. Only when my uninsured loss solicitor became involved did things happen, and then they happened quickly. If you have uninsured loss cover with your policy then remember that any excess on your own policy is an uninsured loss, so take advantage of it and get someone on the case. My personal position is that I would pursue it to the bitter end because insurance companies rely on people giving up as part of their business model.

 

[AntMB]

The wilful neglect from my insurance company just leaves me wondering. I could have one last go and demand the use of the legal cover I pay. I shouldn't think now that the difference would be much if any at all on selling the car on as it is rather than getting the scuffs sorted.

 

[baxlin]

I’d contact them once more, making a formal complaint (if you haven’t already worded the correspondence as a complaint). They have a limited time by which they have to resolve the complaint, one way or the other, before you take it to the Financial Ombudsman.

 

[AntMB]

It has been escalated to complaint level, but even so, they've been all talk, no action. I gave them until the end of October to come up with a plan on where things are going instead of "ooooooh welllllllllll we haven't heard anything from the third party". I've asked them how long am I going to be getting that as an answer? End of October, or I'll no longer be a customer - they weren't bothered. This is Esure, utter shambles.

 

[baxlin]

I’d take it to the Ombudsman now then. It’s free service.

 

[StMarks]

I’d take it to the Ombudsman now then. It’s free service.

This ^ for sure.
Although fwiw I would disagree that it's a "free service". It may be "free at point of, but we all contribute towards it every time we cough up our annual insurance premium, don't we.?

 

[GrahamT]

I was once hit by aPomanianlorry on the M25 which caseda fair bit of cosmetic damage - the car was still driveable. Saga, my insurers were great. They rapidly organised repairs and a courtesy car.
However Both the Romanian logistics company both refused to play ball since the driver failed to report the accident. It was all on CCTV and a VOSA patrol were soon on the scene, which dealt with the 'No understand' issue.
Saga would not give up , and asked me if I would appear in a civil court action . Clearly a summons was issued, because within ten days of my affidavit being pinged off I receiced a chqueue in full for my excess and after a further three days another for the extra my renewal had cost whilst this was all going on.
Saga may not be the cheapest , but you do get what you pay for !

 

[st13phil]

but you do get what you pay for

A truth that often gets forgotten.

 

[BigJase88]

My car got damaged 2 years ago by another car.

They have yet to accept liability so it is going to court.

Still not word of a court date.

So it's a long road ahead of you

 

[NewbieAMG]

I've been in a similar situation as you are right now and bloody time wasting from my insurer, let alone the third party, was a proper pi$$take. Long story short, a guy turned into my car from another lane, screamed abuse at me and drove off without leaving details. I was messed about quite a lot by my insurer at first. It turns out that the third party does not have to respond until there is an actual cost involved.

Well, I got my car repaired. Did it get things moving? No. 6 months down the line, I submitted a complaint. The lady was really helpful and then nothing. Got lawyers involved, which were really crap too. I will spare you all the details but after more than 1 year of waiting, I got really annoyed and sent an email to CEO of third party's insurance co. 3 weeks down the line, claim was settled in my favour.

The amount of effort and stress I had to go through was absolutely not worth it. Do it by the book and still get screwed by a guy who doesn't really care. So unless you feel it's a matter of principle(in my case it was) and cost is not too high, repair it yourself. Hope that helps and genuinely hope you don't get messed about much more but something tells me it will take a while.

 

[baxlin]

This ^ for sure.
Although fwiw I would disagree that it's a "free service". It may be "free at point of, but we all contribute towards it every time we cough up our annual insurance premium, don't we.?

I agree, as a (now retired, thankfully) IFA, we had to pay not insignificant Ombudsman levies. However these were paid whether or not anyone used their - or indeed our - services. So in nett terms, it’s as free a service as you can get, because it isn’t funded on an individual case-by-case basis.

 

[BigEyd]

I think with all the hassle me personally I would just get it smart repaired and sell it.

On a side note,I truly believe solicitors,estate agents and people in insurance are all going straight to hell as soon as they pop off, utter dregs imho.

 

[BigJase88]

I've been in a similar situation as you are right now and bloody time wasting from my insurer, let alone the third party, was a proper pi$$take. Long story short, a guy turned into my car from another lane, screamed abuse at me and drove off without leaving details. I was messed about quite a lot by my insurer at first. It turns out that the third party does not have to respond until there is an actual cost involved.

Well, I got my car repaired. Did it get things moving? No. 6 months down the line, I submitted a complaint. The lady was really helpful and then nothing. Got lawyers involved, which were really crap too. I will spare you all the details but after more than 1 year of waiting, I got really annoyed and sent an email to CEO of third party's insurance co. 3 weeks down the line, claim was settled in my favour.

The amount of effort and stress I had to go through was absolutely not worth it. Do it by the book and still get screwed by a guy who doesn't really care. So unless you feel it's a matter of principle(in my case it was) and cost is not too high, repair it yourself. Hope that helps and genuinely hope you don't get messed about much more but something tells me it will take a while.

Yes i was the same they won't chase it until there is a repair cost.

So you have to stump up the excess out of your own pocket in the hope it will be deemed in your favour.

It is a complete con the whole thing

 

[NewbieAMG]

Yes i was the same they won't chase it until there is a repair cost.

So you have to stump up the excess out of your own pocket in the hope it will be deemed in your favour.

It is a complete con the whole thing

Yup. I absolutely feel for you mate. Let me know if I can help with any advice from my experience!

 

[AntMB]

I think with all the hassle me personally I would just get it smart repaired and sell it.

On a side note,I truly believe solicitors,estate agents and people in insurance are all going straight to hell as soon as they pop off, utter dregs imho.

Possibly an option, then bill the company involved and let it go on and on for years.

 

[NewbieAMG]

Also, once you make a claim, even if it’s non fault, it’ll be showing up as open in the claims database. Come renewal time, some insurers will look at it as your fault and charge you more until it’s resolved. So what happened for me was - I renewed, paid a higher price, claim resolved and closed in the database, got a refund from my insurer (it wasn’t too big though, around £70)

 

[Rory]

What's the extent of the damage? What you've described may well be a write-off.

 

[st13phil]

Also, once you make a claim, even if it’s non fault, it’ll be showing up as open in the claims database. Come renewal time, some insurers will look at it as your fault and charge you more until it’s resolved. So what happened for me was - I renewed, paid a higher price, claim resolved and closed in the database, got a refund from my insurer (it wasn’t too big though, around £70)

I had exactly the same experience around 30 years ago when someone drove into my car which was parked. I was reimbursed the additional premium my insurer charged at renewal when the third party’s insurer settled, but - surprise, surprise - when I asked for interest on the AP charged and then refunded I didn’t get it.

 

[NewbieAMG]

I had exactly the same experience around 30 years ago when someone drove into my car which was parked. I was reimbursed the additional premium my insurer charged at renewal when the third party’s insurer settled, but - surprise, surprise - when I asked for interest on the AP charged and then refunded I didn’t get it.

Of course not. In the same way, money that is a deposit for rent is put to work somewhere but you aren't getting extra back. Not going to delve into the fairness point. Simply agree with you...