Car Insurance and getting back my excess

[Katy May]

Hi

A few months ago I was parked at traffic lights when a Taxi went into the back of me. There appeared to be very little damage so I took the taxi driver's reg number and details and drove off to a garage to have my car checked. Actually, there was a fair bit of damage and my insurance company paid for the repairs but I had to pay the excess. The insurance company are saying that unless they retrieve the excess from the taxi driver, then I won't get it back. The driver of the taxi hasn't reported the bump to his insurance company (which is the same company I use) so they have written to me asking for any details I have - such as a physical description, car make and model etc. I will provide what I have (which is very little, it was several months ago and my memory isn't that good) although I've already provided what I could when I made my claim.

What should I do next? Is there anything I should be doing / can do to speed things up? What else do I need to know?

Thank you.

K

[factor-fiction]

You could submit a claim to the small claims court

[dizmouk2009]

Personally I would contact my insurance company, tell them over the phone that you have already given them the details when you first made the claim. They don't require anymore information apart from the car registration and driver name and address, especially if the driver of the taxi is/was insured with the same company. If you don't mind me asking what company are you insured with? I've had a few run-ins with a few insurance companies in the past. In the end Katy you are paying them for a service, it is their job to retrieve the excess and I would advise you to put pressure on them.

Dizmo,

[DONNA1458]

in this instance if your car is drivable always get an admission of liability but since that has gone past you have made a claim on there behalf they have three attemps to contact them and if no response they should take further action i.e look to refuse insurance, have you thought of going to the taxi rank, the xs will be very high for him being a taxi and losing no claims would put his premium through the roof so you can see why he is not responding but why should you be out of pocket i would suggest ringing your insurance again to make a complaint an speak to a team leader this means that action must be taken to resolve this.

[dizmouk2009]

An admission of liability at the roadside is all well and good but unless you have a witness it doesn't actually amount to alot; he said, she said etc. I woudn't suggest going to the taxi rank as they may not even be aware of the incident (the driver isn't required to inform them if he is only hiring the radio and not driving a company vehicle), if you want to contact the driver do it via letter (make a copy and send via recorded delivery) as meeting in person could be uncomfortable. As far as premiums and no claims bonus are concerned; if the driver of the taxi has more than 4 years no claims bonus it is likely he has his 'no claims bonus' protected as this sort of incident happens often (the cost of protecting NCB (no claims bonus) is low).

Dizmo,