[Lawrenced]

Long story short my parked car was hit while I was at work by a scaffolding truck, luckily a witness saw this and got pictures because apparently the driver was 'about to do a runner' anyways I initially filed through my insurance but some family members advised me to make a third party claim direct as I shouldn't have to pay the excess and it could affect my premium.

I've been trying to get in touch with this company for weeks the line for third party claims no one picks up, I emailed 6 days ago no response. I emailed today saying I was going to report to the financial ombudsman and they've responded saying I can't do that as I'm not a customer with them and that I will need to pursue via County Court.

What can I do? I dont understand why they're being so difficult, my parked car was hit it's a clear cut case no?

I'm new to this so any advice is really appreciated 🙏

[olduser]

This one is for @Nick really but just to get things moving for you.

I am afraid you have been misinformed.

Claim through your own insurers, if it is going to affect your No Claims (NC) discount it still will, even if you claim through the scaffold company's insurance.

The third parties (scaffold companies) insurer, will repay your excess if you claim it as an uninsured loss, your own insurer will do this for you, or at least help you but ask about it.

If you read the Terms and Conditions (the small print) of your insurance policy, you will find you must advise them of all crashes/accidents, or risk finding yourself uninsured.

Any increase in insurance premium, or loss of NC discount is made after a crash only if in the opinion of your insurers, your insurance risk has increased, if the crash was your fault, or say you regularly park your car close to the entrance of the scaffolders yard where there is a good chance of it been crashed into again.

Best wishes.

[Nick]

Hey @Lawrenced - welcome to the RAC Community and thanks for making your first post!

These situations can definitely feel awkward and definitely spark debate about how best to handle them. Sometimes it can work smoothly and flawlessly by going directly to the other party's insurance company - however, as you are unfortunately finding out, it can be hard work. My recommendation would be to get your own insurance company back on the case. I'm assuming you have the registration number of their vehicle? And your witness that gave you the image - have you also got their details - would they be able to provide a witness statement to your insurer?

Assuming everything goes through smoothly, if you have an excess to pay, your insurers will claim it back from the other party - some insurers don't even charge it for cut and dry cases where liability is not in dispute. You could tell your insurers to not progress your repairs etc until liability is resolved and accepted by the other party if you are able to as well. But the first thing would be to get them involved now - they will no doubt have a greater impact in sparking something from them than you as an individual can.

Hope that helps,
Nick