I thought Insurance was supposed to insure you

[The Beard]

Mrs. Beard wrote off her Stilo a few months ago by running it into the back of a Nissan X-Trail. After a few weeks of messing about, they made an offer which we declined and they came back and made a better offer which we accepted.

All well and good you might suppose, but last month we received a letter from the other party's Insurer stating that the Wife's Insurer had not coughed up. We gave the letter to our Broker who said that this sort of thing went on all the time with one Insurer delaying and the other sending out nasty letters to the Insured.

We've had another one today which stated:

'It is unfortunate that is now necessary to contact you directly. Despite corresponding with your Insurance Company requesting reimbursment of the cost of our claim, we have not received payment.

We have now informed your Insurers that if payment is not received within the next 14 days, it is our intention to pass the file to our nominated solicitors who will commence legal proceedings. As we are holding you responsible for this accident, these proceedings will be issued in your name at the above address.

You should be aware that such proceedings will also include a claim for costs and statutory interest.

We strongly suggest that you contact your Insurers to resolve the delay of our claim, if litigation is to be avoided.'

So, I'm presuming that this is yet another tactic, one to offset the delaying tactic of Mrs. Beard's Insurers. So the question is: Could this come down to us having to cough up or is there some mechanism that will force the Wife's Insurers to pay up?

Anybody know?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Basically, from what I understand, they're sueing you directly for the costs to 3rd party. This is something that they can do, and then you'd have to claim re-imbursement (sp?) from your insurance company.

I'd advise you call your insurance tomorrow, advise what is happening and give them 48 hours to resolve the issue. Advise them that you shall be contacting the finacial services ombudsman (is that the correct one?) and are concidering taking legal action against them yourself, ie counter sue your insurance company.

Have they settled you yet for the Stilo payout?

 

[The Beard]

Have they settled you yet for the Stilo payout?

We accepted their second offer about a month after the crash.

 

[sledge]

Send the letter on to your own insurance company and forget about it.

 

[sduffield]

Just send the letter to your insurance company. It is, after all, why you pay for insurance and it is their job to look after you.

As a backup, I would try to invoke any legal protection policies that you may have (check your car insurance, home insurance, sickness cover insurance etc). This will help you just in case your insurance company thinks that they can just sweep in under the carpet.

Seriously, any correspondants (be it from the 3rd party insurance or solicitor) are require to be forwarded to your insurance company.

 

[The Beard]

This was actually the second such letter we've received from the other party's insurance company, the first one was indeed given to Mrs. Beard's broker who is just round the corner. We've already done the same with this letter as well, one of the benefits of a local broker.

Since I put this post up, we've found out via a company called BD (Brokers Direct) Elite, that our insurer's paid out to the other on the 17th of this month; this latest letter is dated the 24th. I get the feeling that delaying payment is a bit of a common ploy in that it keeps the cash in their account longer and therefore reduces charges. What pi**ed me off was the tactic of the other party's insurer in writing to us in a manner which could certainly put the wind up some poor unsuspecting person who opens that letter, possibly even bringing on an illness. Presumably the idea is that my wife would then ring up her insurance company and, suitably frightened, beg and plead for the bill to be settled.

Nonetheless, a pretty reprehensible tactic in my opinion. If Direct Line have a problem with MMA coughin up the dough, they should deal with them, not us. That is the kind of approach practiced by loan sharks: "Tell your son (or whoever) to pay up or we'll break your legs."

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

The other partys insurer is Direct Line is it? Say no more. Biggest bunch of :tosser: about in insurance.

 

[sledge]

Strongly worded letters and the threats of legal action are very common when businesses are owed large sums of money, but until the court docs` actualy pop through the letterbox they are not to be taken too seriously

I seriously doubt you would ever have actually found yourself being dragged into court as a result of this but I agree, using these tactics on individuals who are not familiar with the game is a bit naughty. Perhaps a complaint to the Ombudsman and all those concerned would be in order. It may at least put them in the spotlight and prevent someone else from suffering the stress and aggro` you have had to endure as a result of this.

 

[stephen01]

The other partys insurer is Direct Line is it? Say no more. Biggest bunch of :tosser: about in insurance.

Im with DL and i have had three claims go through in 8 months, 1 fault (even no one was in the car) 2 non fault and i must say they were very good, all i had to do on each occasion was ring with other drivers details and let them get on with it. this is what i pay for!

also my insurance only went up about 70 quid

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Just curious, what happened with the 'at fault but not in car' incident? Was is a handbrake fail on a hill?

 

[stephen01]

Just curious, what happened with the 'at fault but not in car' incident? Was is a handbrake fail on a hill?

yep, not just that the handbrake was up tight, and i could have sworn i left the car in gear, it also managed to go around a bend, (and the steering wheel was straight) and hit two other parked cars glad it did in a way otherwise it would have ended up in someone's front room still no one was hurt and my insurance sorted all cars out,

then about 2 months after that the same thing happened but this time my Citroen was on the receiving end!