Hi all,
So my car has been rear ended with my dad as the driver. Weve got the details of the offender and said he will pay for the damages. However he has since stopped replying. My question is, if i report this to my insurance am i gonna be paying excess? Note that ive got a comprehensive insurance but only named to me('named drivers only'), and excess for unauthorised driver is 500+1750.
Any advice on this would be appreciated. Thanks
Making the assumption your dad is over 25 unless you have a 'named drivers only' policy, then he should be automatically covered?
Sadly its a named drivers only policy
My own experience previously has been that, if your insurer can recover all the costs, then you won't be up for the excess, but you would definitely want to confirm that explicitly with your specific insurance company / policy.
Just a guess here - they might deduct the excess initially, then refund it to you if they recover all the costs, but again, you'd need to check for your specific policy.
Also, not sure what agreement you 'shook hands on' with your insurer, but I believe I have agreed to inform my insurer of any accident, claim, or potential claim, as soon as practical after it arises, regardless of whether I expect a claim to actually arise or not, and that would include if the other party offers to pay me directly.
Hmm, well firstly just check if it is worth spending the excess of $2250 to get it repaired thru your insurance.
Some shops might quote a repair for less than that, so easier to repair on your own.
Other thing is, most insurance companies have an innocent party cover. See if you can claim that instead as its the other parties fault.
Like others have said, check your policy wording.
Out of curiosity, on my policy:
Not at fault excess waiver
If the insured person is involved in an accident which is caused by the driver of another vehicle, and the insured person can
provide, and we can confirm:
• the identity and address of the driver; and
• the make, model and registration of the vehicle the driver was driving; and
• to our satisfaction that the other driver was completely at fault,
we will not require you to pay the excess once we have accepted the claim for accidental loss.
Better ask your insurance company and even if they say you have to pay the excess and ask if you could include your dad's name now for a discount and see what they says, they might not reject based on you will be paying for more premium in the future. As there's no extra cost to them to claim from the other driver's insurance company if he has one.
Who's your insurance with?
Who are in insured with? I've been with a few and they have all covered drivers above 25 for comprehesive cover. You should definitely start a claim with your insurance, regardless of whether or not you or they are at fault. The insurance company will launch their own investigation and determine who is at fault. This also allows you to initiate the repairs quicker. You may be asked to pay an excess initially, but if they find you not at fault, they will refund that back to you and chase the other party for payment. At least this was my experience from the last claim I made years ago.
I also had a thought that if the insurance company are unable to track and recover costs through the other driver then they may still make you pay the excess too :\
Best to just call the insurance company and let them handle it (thats what you pay them for) and at the time confirm what to expect with them directly.