car insurance claim

Dont know if this is the right forum to post this but I was wondering if anyone could advise me as to a problem we have. On Wed my other half was driving his car when a car in front braked suddenly, my partner braked behind and while both cars were stationary another car came from behind and hit my partner. As a result our car was badly damaged and my partner taken to hospital with back and neck injuries, my 1 year old was also in the car but thankfully was ok. Anyway everyone that seen our car including paramedics and fire crew thought our car would be written of and although they arent professionals they obviously have experience in these matters. We have gotten a call from the garage today to say that the other driver admitted liability and that they are willing to fix the car and are ordering parts in, however when I seen the car yesterday to collect our personal effects I noticed all doors inside the car are extremely loose and feel very flimsy. The mechanic says the asessor never mentioned fixing these and I was wondering if we can argue the case with the insuarance company or should I involve a solicitor because I wouldnt feel safe in the car now and also Ive been told the car would be devalued as a result of being in a crash. We are both down in earnings as my partner has to take time off work and I have to too cause he cant mind the baby whilst Im in work. Never been involved in anything like this before so not up on the procedures, thanks for all advice!

1997,

your best bet is to contact a motor loss adjuster to act on you behalf who will deal with the insurance companies involved directly, this should have been done asap if you thought the car was a write off but try anyway, you'll find them on the net or goldenpages depending on where you live.

their fee is a % of the overall claim... i have used one for both home and car insurance claims and would highly recommend it, as insurance companies tend to fob off claimaints but seem to deal with insurance professionals more easily.

Also contact your solicitor to let them know what is going on...

best of luck,

You should certainly get a second opinion on whether the car is repairable and I would be getting in contact with the rear ender's insurance company and not letting the garage make the call on when and if the car gets repaired.

Get to a solicitor who should be able to look after both the car, the loss of earnings and the personal injury.

1997

As you are the 3rd party you have more rights than you think. But first, you already seem to have made up your mind you do not want the car back. Most insurance companys are realistic when it comes to repairing a car as, and if they feel the repairs are excessive and likley to rise they will economically write off the car and give you the market value. However if the feel you are looking to squeeze and squeeze them, they can offer to pay you for the damage caused and leave you to do what you want with the damaged car and the money they give you. As a rule of thumb a write off generally occurs where repairs are two thirds of value or up to 50% of a new car..If this garage is competant they should know if the car is repairable or not, as they will not want to put their namr to a shambolic repair as "you can always have car checked out by reconised body after repair" and I would let them know that.

By the way, the garage has no authority to start repairs unless given by yourself only.

Thanks for your replys, just to let you know we have involved our solicitor in the matter as we have had no joy from the insurance company, over a week and a half with no contact from them, as a result I was sick of dealing and being given the run around by them, so hopefully he can resolve the matter quickly for us, will post how we get on and thanks again!