A. No - but the Bollington Group provides an uninsured loss recovery service for our customers via their claims department, which is manned by 3 professional and highly qualified staff with a combined experience in claims of over 35 years. The claims department will pursue recovery of any out of pocket expenses in the event of a non-fault Road Traffic Accident. They will also instruct solicitors in the event of a personal injury claim resulting from a non-fault accident.
A. You are entitled to pursue a claim directly off the responsible party's insurance company however you must realise that you are not entitled to the same benefits as with your own insurance policy. If you are Comprehensively insured and claim off the responsible party's insurance, then the process of claiming for the damage to your vehicle takes longer as you are claiming off an insurance company to whom you do not pay a premium and therefore they have no obligation to act quickly in settling your claim. You would also have a duty to mitigate your own losses and would not be entitled to claim for extended hire / storage charges as these would not have been incurred if you had claimed via your own policy. The Bollington claims department would negotiate settlement on your behalf.
A. Inevitably there are always 2 sides to every story. Although you will have completed a claim form providing a description of the accident circumstances, the other party involved will also have completed a claim form for their own insurance company which usually has a slightly different version of events. Each party's insurance company will believe their own respective customer's description of the circumstances however, until it is established who was actually at fault by way of settlement of the claim, both parties will lose their No Claim Bonus.
A. Your insurance policy will always be subject to a policy excess irrespective of liability. If the accident wasn't your fault you are entitled to pursue recovery of this back from the responsible party or their insurance company. The Bollington claims department would negotiate settlement of this on your behalf.
A. Any person involved in a Road Traffic Accident has upto 3 years to pursue a claim for personal injury and 6 years to pursue a claim for property damage. Although you may not be claiming for your own losses you never know when someone will be claiming off your policy. The longer you leave it to report an accident the likelihood is that you may forget the circumstances of the accident, witness details, vehicle details etc or possibly a former employee may have left your company and you will not have any details to report. If a claim is submitted against you, your insurers will find it difficult to defend the claim without a claim form or full statement of circumstances.
A. By completing a claim form you give your insurance company the subrogation rights to settle the claim on the best possible terms. The insurers will always act with your best interest in mind, based on the information given to them from the claim form, however they will base their decision on liability on the overall evidence presented. The insurers will avoid incurring additional costs in defending a claim where there is no possibility of a recovery.
A. After an incident your insurer's obligation is to place you in the same position, or as near to the same position, as you were before the loss. You are not entitled to make a profit out of a loss or be in a better position. Therefore in the event of a claim the insurance company will take into consideration wear and tear on the damaged item. An example of this is a tyre on a vehicle - by claiming for a brand new tyre the policyholder will be better off than having the old tyre that might be worn and therefore the insurers will ask for a contribution towards betterment.
A. In the event of a claim where your vehicle is damaged beyond economical repair (the vehicle will cost more to repair than what the vehicle is worth) the insurers will not automatically pay the cost of a new or replacement vehicle. The insurer's obligation is to reimburse you for the pre-accident value of the vehicle that has been damaged. Insurer's will take into consideration the age, condition, mileage, service history etc. of the vehicle prior to the accident and if this valuation is not acceptable you should supply documentary evidence to support an increase in the insurer's initial offer i.e. adverts from local papers etc
A. If you are Comprehensively insured and the accident was your fault you are entitled to alternative transport only where your insurers provide cover for courtesy vehicles and these are subject to availability. If you are covered third party then you will only be entitled to alternative transport if the accident is not your fault and then you have a legal obligation to mitigate your losses at all times. You are not entitled to hire a vehicle and claim this off the responsible party just simply because you have been involved in an accident. If your own vehicle is driveable you have a duty to drive it even if temporary repairs are required to make it roadworthy. If you have another vehicle, you must use this rather than incurring unnecessary expenses.
A. No, however it is recommended that where an approved repairer scheme is in place, the insured would benefit from using this facility as the majority of the time repairs will be authorised and completed quicker at an approved repairer rather than a garage of your own choice. Also the chances of getting a courtesy vehicle are higher when using an approved repairer.
For further information call 0800
970 2465 or click here.
Bollington
Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the
Financial Services Authority.
