Information on what happens when you claim on insurance

[dads Taxi x3]

Hi everyone. Hope your all OK.  

Right my son got a yaris 11 days ago and we did all the insurance and tax so on .

Then today he got T boned by a bus. so now I got to (or him as well) will be dealing with insurance ones  now it's been many many years since I had to make a.claim and was hoping some you might have had the unfortunate situation to have had to claim .

So he had insurance for 11 days. 

He will be claiming off the bus comps insurance 

How much af the insurance premium will he have to pay as the car is a Write off .

So the excess he will get that back . I do remember that bit . 

What about the car can we ask them to get us another car or will they give us the money .

He needs a car to work  iv heard bad news regarding curtesy cars  .as we do have another car he could use but it's my daughters car .(which he did Larn to drive in) 

Will that matter as he has another car to use or not . 

If anyone can add somthing I might not added or thought of  plz let me know . 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Have a look at the following, which is general guidance and may differ for your sons insurance:

https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/what-happens-if-my-car-is-written-off/

[Stevie J]

Normally you would contact your own insurer and instruct them to make a third party claim. They will need to know all the details of the accident, and will go about getting a resolution on your behalf.

When this happened to me last year, and I had a no fault accident, I contacted my insurer in the first instance and they asked me for the other driver's details  and all the details of the accident. After this, they went through the claims procedure liaising with her insurer and I had loads of forms to fill in, had to take pictures of the damage to my car, show them pictures of the other driver's car and the scene of the accident, supply witness details, and all other details about the accident.

It took about 4 weeks from making the claim to them paying me out for my car at the "market price" for the car, and instructing Copart to come an collect my car to take it off to insurance auction.

They paid me a set sum on completion, and the rest when my old car had been taken away. All done within 4 weeks as she admitted guilt for the accident.

Painless really, but I did get hounded by accident claims companies left right and centre wanting me to pursue no win no fee claims for whiplash etc etc - that was the worst part about it, as your insurer sells your details to these vultures who then pester you.

I did not request a refund of insurance premium as I continued on that policy with my new car without cancelling it - I just amended the policy to my new car details and had to pay an extra amount of premium to take me up to then renewal date for the policy. On renewal you have to declare that you have had an accident claim or conviction within the last 5 years, and this usually increases your future premium - even if the accident or claim was not your fault, so be careful here - your son may be hammered the next time he tries to renew his insurance - find out from your insurer what future projections of renewal price will be based on a not at fault accident claim being made.

[dads Taxi x3]

Hi thanks  looks like nothing changed much . I like the part where you added the new car to the policy as that be fantastic as its only been 11 days . So like the whole year wasted still have to pay . Il try that when we call . Just the **** of looking for a car again . .I found one it's bit more but its got sat nav lol an clean so might be OK.  I'll update you all later cheers 

[Stevie J]

Further to my last post. If the accident results in the third party paying for your claim, you will not have to pay any excess - it will be charged to the bus company, and you will be offered the full list price of your car if it is deemed a write off - that is, the market rate of a car of its age and average mileage, not what you think its worth - you will be offered what THEY think its worth. You can dispute what they offer you if you think the value is too low, but you would have to prove the car was in better condition than average and they can wrangle a better offer if they choose to.

 

You can ask for a courtesy car while your claim is being processed - I was offered one myself but declined it.

They are not going to get you another car if yours is written off, they will only pay you the money for it once it is taken away from you and then becomes the property of the insurers. It is up to you to use the money to get another car yourself.

If you are going to get another car soon, you can persist with the current policy you have, rather than cancel it, and then contact the insurer to modify the policy when you get him another car, but you may find they increase the premium and you have to pay more. If your son drives his sister's car, he will need to ensure that he is insured to drive it - speak to your own insurer to find out about this.

[Stevie J]

Sorry, have to add a bit more here, which could be relevant. With regards to your existing policy, I am unsure if you will be allowed to continue with the current policy if you no longer own the car you are insuring, ie, after it has been taken away by the insurers following them paying your claim out. 

In my case, I still owned the car that was being written off on the day I got my new car, so I was able to transfer the policy straight from my old car to my new car, as it was done the same day.

If you get a new car before the old one has left your ownership, you should be able to carry on the existing policy just amending it to go from your old car to your new one as a direct continuation. However, if you cannot buy a new car until you have had the money for the old one, you may be able to ask the insurers to pause your policy for a short period while you obtain another car - they may or may not agree to this, it all depends on how long the gap is between your old car leaving your ownership and the new one being obtained and thus needing to be insured.

I dont think you would be able to transfer his sister's car onto his policy in the meantime as that car would be covered by her policy and I dont think the same car can be covered by 2 separate insurance policies. He would have to be added to her policy as a second driver.

Ideally you'd need to source another car before they take your old one away and then do a transfer on the same insurance policy to carry that one on till its renewal date. If your insurer insurer is not willing to pause the policy for the time between your old car being taken away and you getting a new car, they must then be willing to give you a refund of the 11 months remaining of the policy if you paid for the full year upfront. However this means that your son would need a new policy again from scratch and would have to declare he had an accident claim in the last 5 years when going through the application for it.

[dads Taxi x3]

Thanks   I got what you ment about the new car 1st then swapping  once you said it its 100% oo yea  lol bit like a light bulb moment .. I got you yea . Well the car juat had a new gear box or clutch I can't remember what .your think it's only like two weeks lol .

When I found the car I messaged him an said pretty much we was having the car an not driving all way up there an him sell it  so he took the add down  which I thought at the time thanks .. now I want to check I can't find the add . 

So I know it had one thing done gear box or clutch . And the full service booklet not arrived so I guess it's a trip in to toyota  and find out if they did them all ( I know they didn't do the last one as the sellers garage did) 

As for my daughters car he's still on the policy as he used that to get to work before buying his . So we ok on that .  

So best policy if we  can get the new one before the old one goes  that sounds a plan .

Also if my sons insurance is going up as he had a NON fault accident can't we put that in as expenses as its there fault his insurance going up ??? .  OK thanks I got load to chat with them  and sort out . 

Thanks yous been fantastic help 

 

Ps anyone got 5K lend till  no lol ha ha 

[Stevie J]

Unfortunately you cant add the increase in your son's premiums as a result of him having to make a claim to the other party. 

My premium increased on my new car in part due to the fact that I had to declare I had a non fault claim - the insurer knew this anyway as they processed the claim. The main increase to my premium on the changeover was the fact I was taking a 2006 Yaris off the policy and adding a 2014 Yaris worth a lot more.

If you are replacing a 2014 (14 reg) Yaris 1.33 with something very similar age and spec you should find the change in premium if you are updating the same policy from the old car to the new one should not be too bad. The bigger rise in premium will come after 11 months or so once the current premium you paid up front ends and you need to renew the policy in April 2025 - that is when the policy will likely have a rise in premium due to the "claims accidents and convictions in the last 5 years" clause.

 

With regards to the clutches on Yaris Mk3, they do seem to get through them quite quickly and it is likely it would had have had a new clutch rather than a gearbox, or possibly a hydraulic component failed such as the master cylinder or slave cylinder. as that would not be unheard of at higher mileages. The clutch slave on the 1.33 engines is of the concentric thrust bearing type that resides inside the bell housing so if it fails it is a gearbox out job to replace it, unlike older engines where the slave was mounted on the outside of the bell housing and operated a conventional thrust bearing via a pushrod link assembly.

My Yaris is a 1.33 and the clutch biting point is pretty high on the pedal already and it only has 33K miles on it, so I anticipate it will need a new clutch sooner rather than later, but that was down to my mother who owned it for 7 years before I got it, riding the clutch a lot and over-revving the engine before take off in 1st gear thus slipping the clutch too much which is what a lot of older people tend to do, it just means I now have to pretty much take my foot all the way up the clutch pedal travel now before the clutch fully bites. Apparently the Aygo Mk1's  are renowned for high biting points too and short lived clutches.

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, dads Taxi x3 said:

Will that matter as he has another car to use or not . 

If anyone can add somthing I might not added or thought of  plz let me know . 

Bear in mind that he is (presumably) a named driver on any other policies, so you are expected to declare this incident to those insurers as well ... Possibly now, definitely at next renewal. That may result in increased premiums.

Eg. My other half decided to argue with a lamppost last year - entirely her fault. Stupidly, in hindsight, we claimed on her insurance. It was £200 excess and I suspect the repair was probably not more than £400-500. But when I had to renew MY insurance, which she's a named driver on, with Direct Line and then declared her mishap, the renewal jumped £200. I shopped around and got it down by £100, but it was aggro and expense I didn't need.

So don't be surprised if this has effects well beyond the obvious epicentre.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think the best thing to do would be to talk to your insurer, outline what happened, and check their stance on what happens with the policy especially as regards the replacement car, etc. 

[dads Taxi x3]

Hi thanks again . Just about to start the ball rolling . 

The aygo clutch when you change gear it's almost allway to the top  but the kids got that very easy and the gear stick is loose to move .

The yaris is much the middle  still bit high rev till you get it time you get to 3rd .the gear stick don't move at all it's very firm  .so why I'm not sure what they said they did . 

Anyway it's going to be a same car again like for like (poss with sat nav lol) so we just had a chat to see if we can club together toget him a car so we can swap it over . 

When I took out the insurance I paid extra for legal protection  .and personal cover . He says he fine no aches or pains which is fantastic.  

So as I took out legal protection they basic do all the work (hope) as its an add on is it still part of his insurance as iv paid extra for them to do the work but not claiming  off the policy  all coming out of the bus comps   not sure if I'm explaining it right 

If the legal was all ready included in the insurance then it's all one but as its add on as i paid to have it on . 

[Cyker]

Lots of good advice already posted but I'll throw my bit in  

Usually it's best to go through your insurance company as they are supposed to be 'on your side' and will handle everything with the other party. Some times the third-party insurer tries to get you to go through them directly, as it saves them money, but it can make it more complicated in the future. With my rear-ending last year, the other party was underwritten by Axa and I had a mildly aggressive phonecall from them trying to convince me to not go through my insurers, with BS like saying my premium would go up and implying if I went through them it wouldn't. Because the guy was so rude and aggressive I told him to get stuffed (Politely  )

Because the other party was at fault, your insurer will happily lay any more claims at them and so will gladly offer you the courtesy car of your choice, although as this won't be a repair job it likely won't be very long (If it's being repaired you usually have the courtesy car for the duration of the repair, but with a write-off you'll get it for as long as it takes for them to take the old car and finish processing the claim.)

With mine, if it had been my fault, I'd only have the CC for a week at most, but because it wasn't I had it for about a month with the charges being passed on to the other party  

 

They should be okay with transferring it to a new vehicle, although it'd be worth notifying them of this intention so they can advise - I'm not sure how long they can put things 'on hold'.

Normally they will charge the Excess and then refund you when the other party agrees (Or you can tell them to wait until the other party agrees), but if it's a writeoff I don't think the Excess will come into it, since they need to pay you for the car.

 

And that reminds me - Now is the time to go on Autotrader, Exchange and Mart, Car Gurus  etc. and find as many similar examples of the car as you can find - The insurer will usually low-ball you for the value of the car, so don't accept their first offer, but use examples you find to bump the pay-out up as much as you can. My brother managed to get a good chunk more for his written-off BMW because his vehicle was a fully-loaded top spec one and he was able to show it was worth more than they were offering.

 

[Rhymes with Paris]

Yes, lots of good advice given.

But just to chuck in my twopence worth on courtesy cars pushed by insurance companies and accident management outfits.

As I understand it the business model is similar to the car hire one,as in claim for none existent damage, smoking in the car, missing parts,spare wheels, miniscule scratches not detectable by the human eye etc. that the victim, sorry customer finishes up paying for, well them or their insurance company.

Of course, this may just be cynicism on my part, and they push this for the benefit of legitimate claiments.

 

[Cyker]

Well they have to be a bit careful, as the other insurer will contest anything that is, in technical terms, Taking The Utter ****, but the non-fault insurer will be for sure milking the at-fault insurer for as much as they can legally get away with!  

I mean, I'm not complaining - I got a courtesy car for a month and a completely new rear-end for my Mk4!   

(TBH I'm still slightly disturbed by how much damage a van running into the back of it from a standstill could do to it!   It's a far-cry from the iron-clad backside of my Mk1!)

 

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, Cyker said:

It's a far-cry from the iron-clad backside of my Mk1!

Rear ends are generally very fragile - compared to the front these days. With weight savings paramount the strength will go to the place of most (likely) benefit ... ie. the place that benefits the NCAP rating.

[dads Taxi x3]

Hi all thanks  

Well called the insurance chatted about what happends . They need to contact the bus company .  (It was a full size bus  not a small one  I 1st thought)

they said it might  go to a garage or they come to I

Uses once they work out ifnits repairable or write off .

We asked if we could buy another car and swap insurance Like you guys said  and pay the extra   they said that be fine .as we not claiming off our insurance as we using the legal protection . So been looking and found one with a.galss roof  what the deal on that good or bad .. 

We have to max out our credit cards and him small.lone till they pay up .

Once they say how much we got then we get the new car . 

[TonyHSD]

Once insurance are informed above an accident the next year policy will go up as a result no matter the circumstances or who was at fault.
If your car is written off once you can expect to get paid 20-30% less than what you can get for a car without accidents. 
In some situations like that you can win but in others you lose money. 

[dads Taxi x3]

Hi guys  my next door neighbour he's in to rallying  and we was  chating about my sons car and he says two new doors and repair work on the back end and respray and it be OK  so if they do repair the car . As I guess it be a cat S or N . So if we sell the car we have to tell them about the cat .so it be worth less if it not been in a bump .so how do we get the money for the loss value ?? .. 

[Stevie J]

The insurance will go down the route of what costs them less to settle the claim. If they decide it would be cheaper to repair your car at a body shop of their choice, then that is what will happen and yes, it will likely be a Cat N if there is no structural damage, only damage to panels and doors. If there is damage and distortion to the chassis, it will likely be a Cat S.

They will usually get several quotes from repairers if they think it would be cheaper to repair it than to write the car off completely, and the cheapest quote will usually end up with the job of repairing it.

If they consider the cost of repairing the car is greater than its current market value, then they will offer to take the car away from you and pay the current book price for it.

It is the insurers who will decide whether they repair the car or pay you the list price and take the car away from you.

If they do repair it and you get it back, as a Cat car it will be worth significantly less, and will have the fact that its a cat car recorded on the V5, so you have to declare it when you come to sell it.

[RonYarisX]

On 5/8/2024 at 2:09 AM, dads Taxi x3 said:

Also if my sons insurance is going up as he had a NON fault accident can't we put that in as expenses as its there fault his insurance going up ?

Haven't read everything in this thread but from what I have, I agree with the advice you've been given.

Besically if the other party is at fault, then you shouldn't be out of pocket. You inform your insurer of the accident, pay your excess and that's it. Your excess will then be returned when the claim is settled.

Your insurer will then pay out the market value ( if the car has been written off ). That's the only contentious issue - just make sure it is the market value.

You need to purchase an identical car but it costs more? Or you need to keep mobile until the replacement is ready etc ( hire car etc )?  That's what's called out-of-pocket expenses as a result of the accident and if you don't have legal cover with your insurance, you may need to claim those yourself from the 3rd party insurer.

But you have to be reasonable with out-of-pocket expenses. Example you wrote above that if your sons' insurance has gone up as he had a non-fault accident.  How do you prove it?  Insurance premiums change on almost a daily basis, so how do you know the premium has increased as a result of the accident? In reality as it's a non-fault accident, the premium wouldn't increase. However the insurance premium for the 3rd party who was at fault will !

Re: insurance quotes: One downside however is that because there has been an accident ( at fault or not ) some insurers may not provide a quote. Esure used to be one of those companies.  I had a non-fault claim but they wouldn't provide me with a quote the following year, it's just the way their business operates ( or used to operate, don't know if they're still the same ).

hope that helps

 

[Cyker]

Just a point - If the insurer repairs it, it will NOT be CAT anything, as it will be repaired to factory specs in order to retain it's current value, that's how it works - They're supposed to repair the car to a state as if it hadn't been damaged at all.

It only gets a CAT designation if they write it off.

None of my cars had CAT-anything attached to them after an insurer repair, and I wasn't even legally obligated to disclose that they were even in an accident because of the repair being done to manufacturer spec, although it will show up in car reports I believe.

[Stevie J]

3 hours ago, Cyker said:

Just a point - If the insurer repairs it, it will NOT be CAT anything, as it will be repaired to factory specs in order to retain it's current value, that's how it works - They're supposed to repair the car to a state as if it hadn't been damaged at all.

It only gets a CAT designation if they write it off.

None of my cars had CAT-anything attached to them after an insurer repair, and I wasn't even legally obligated to disclose that they were even in an accident because of the repair being done to manufacturer spec, although it will show up in car reports I believe.

Is that so, I was under the impression if a motor trader buys a car from a copart insurance auction that has been in an accident and graded as a cat S or N, and repairs it, the Cat status will stay with the car despite it being repaired. So its only if the insurance write the car off and take it away from the owner that it gains the cat status. I stand corrected on that one. 

[Cyker]

Oh yes in that case the car will get a CAT status.

Basically if the insurer repairs it, it won't get a CAT tag, but if they don't and just write it off and e.g. sell it for scrap or auction, it gets one, even if someone else repairs it later.

It's a bit weird and slightly nonsensical but that's apparently how it works!

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, Cyker said:

It's a bit weird and slightly nonsensical but that's apparently how it works!

I think (the law?) probably requires that a trusted agent decides if it's CAT something before it gets sold off to anybody else. Otherwise any cowboy repairer could make fast money doing cheap fixes. Like any supply chain - the more links the less control.

[Mjolinor]

They are a law unto themselves. I sent them pics of my mangled Smart car and they put it on HPI as an "S" before we even started talking about paying me for it. It had two scratched front wings and bonnet, one broken headlight and a mangled grill.

No amount of arguing would change their mind or make them come to actually see the car. Had I been younger I would have ripped their shirt with a court case, they had no right to HPI anything until it was their car.