Hi,

Thought I'd report back in case anyone else gets the same approach following a non fault incident.

I called Admiral (3rd partie's insurer) who advised that they would be very keen to help me get back on the road as they admit liability and I wouldn't need to pay my excess (via Direct Line) and subsequently claim it back. The lady was extremely helpful and professional and I explained my suspicions to her.

She in effect said that this approach is to minimise their costs as Direct Line would likely farm out the claim to a claims handling company and given my car would likely increase costs exponentially.

Within half an hour of calling them, they had faxed my Porsche approved body centre and approved the claim (even before it was assessed).

So, an interesting tack for insurers, but it's nice to know that claims handling companies are as big a pain in the backside as they are to the customer.

Hope this helps.

Pete

Might be ok, provided that you are actually dealing with the third parties Insurers. My only concern is when they say you don't have to report to your Insurers. They should know that this is not correct. You still have to advise your Insurers of the accident, even if the third party Insurer arranges the repair of the car and pays relevant additional costs.

Remember that if you use the TP Insurers, you can't use the FOS, if you needed to further a complaint later on. The FOS will only accept complaints from the policyholder about their own Insurance company.

It is up to you. If the TP Insurers are a decent well known company and you are happy to use them to sort out the claim then go ahead. You won't then have the own damage excess on your own policy to worry about. A claim under your own policy, means paying the relevant excess and then claiming back from the TP Insurers. The same is the case with a hire car. Unless your own policy covers this or you are lucky to get a courtesy car, you would have to hire a car, sign an agreement and then hope that the TP Insurers settle the costs. The TP Insurers may arrange a hire car whilst yours is being fixed and pay for it.

Also remember that a claim under your own policy could mean a reduced no claims discount and a higher renewal premium to be paid, until your Insurers have recovered their outlay. This sometimes happens if you have a claim shortly before renewal. The Insurers dock you 2 years no claims and you have to pay the extra, only getting it back, when the Insurers have received the claims payout back from the TP Insurers.

Hit in the rear today and the 3rd party was very nice and apologetic and has text to say that they have reported it ("and what happened") to their insurance company. That company has text and called several times (missed due to meetings) and left a voicemail to say that they are keen to deal with this by me not reporting it to my insurance company.

To me, this sounds suspicious... Why would they want to do that, or is it a rouse to get me to say something (recorded, of course), which could be used against me. Or... it could be that they save money by dealing direct and not engaging the legal / claims teams.

Any views gratefully received.

Regards

Pete