[blakec111]

Looking for advice – non-fault accident (other driver accepted liability) and now stuck with insurer issues.
My Hyundai i30 was hit in Jan from behind and the other party have accepted
liability. Since then:

• Aviva refuse to repair the car
• Say cash settlement isn’t appropriate
• Won’t provide the engineer’s report
• Car is undriveable (brake fluid leak + intermittent electrical warnings)
• Hire car has now been removed
• Car is being held as “unsafe” so I can’t even get it back

There are also complications with previous filler repairs, which garages say affect whether they can guarantee work.
One garage refused to repair, another will only do a limited repair with reduced warranty. Meanwhile, insurer won’t confirm what they’ll actually do.
I’ve raised complaints and gone to the Ombudsman, but this could take months and I currently have no car (single parent, need it for work/school runs).
Feels like I’m stuck with no resolution, no transport, and no clear outcome.
What can I realistically do next? Has anyone dealt with similar—especially around insurers refusing both repair and payout?

[Nick]

@blakec111 do your comments here relate to your own insurer, or the other driver's? Who's dealing with the claim for you?

Generally speaking (and please bear in mind that I've been out of the insurance industry for quite some time now, so take this with a pinch of salt) if an insurer declares your car as a Total Loss (write off) this basically means that it doesn't make financial sense to repair the car - the cost of repairs likely exceed a certain percentage of the car's actual vale. When I worked in the industry there was often the possibility of a cash in lieu of repairs payment where essentially you get a smaller payment for the car and you get the car repaired yourself with that money. This is usually only possible for certain categories of total loss - i.e. no structural damage that negates the integrity of the vehicle's safety design structure.

If the other driver has accepted responsibility then they should be able to provide you with alternative transport until your claim is dealt with. A lot of your conundrum lies in these two spaces. It's very difficult for us to guide you with knowing the specifics - my advice? If you're not happy with the decision from your insurer (assuming that's who your post is about), then you need to go through the claim's process, the ombudsman once you've got the insurer's final decision. As you say though, that all takes time. Unfortunately it's not ideal.

Do you have legal cover? Maybe you could use that to claim for alternative transport from the third party? Again, you should speak to your insurer about that.

Hope that helps in some way, my fingers are crossed for you.
Let us know how you get on.

Nick