Crash costs

Hi
Just wondering if anyone can guide me on this. A couple of months ago my Mum’s car was crashed into. It was parked in a shopping centre and a woman came into the space opposite her and accelerated instead of hitting the break. She hit it so hard it came out of the parking space into a car in another space which hit another car onto the footpath! Anyway my Mum’s car was a write off. My Mum couldn’t afford to buy another car, she has low mileage and it’s an automatic as she has arthritis and is 80 years of age. They had to fight with the insurance company not to write off the car and to allow them have it fixed. They had a rubbish broker company who was just not helpful at all. They are now 2K out of pocket. I think this is really unfair and people have advised them to sue to get the money back. The couple who crashed into the car admitted liability on the spot. My parents don’t want to sue as they are old and can’t cope with it all. As they only want back the amount they are out of pocket I thought the small claims court would be sufficient. I sent a letter to the person who crashed into the car letting them know out of courtesy that we had no choice but to go to the smalls claims court. My parents today got a snotty letter from a solicitor threatening all sorts. My parents are really upset about it. To say the least I’m flipping furious. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions on my next step.

Thanks

My wife had a similar situation. Our insurance company were no help. We went to a solicitor and he sorted it out, it did take a while though. Anyhow, I strongly advise getting a solicitor to avoid getting messed around...there is no reason why your parent should be any way out of pocket, or inconvenienced by all this.

You need to push harder on the insurance company of the responsible party, not your mum's. You shouldn't be left 2k down, though if you have already accepted the deal, there may be little you can do at this stage.

In my experience insurance will try anything not to pay up. You have to persevere to get a result from them. Took me two years once to get something simple sorted. You may end up ringing them every day for a a few weeks, followed up by letters. May even require a solicitor.

Can I ask a question re an accident Im familiar with. Car was rear ended, they admitted liability..their insurance paid to have car fixed, took two weeks...hit driver has had neck and back pain for last few weeks (have a medical card but have had to pay for private bits as med card not getting certain things or too long to wait)...offered €7k if accepted immed....any advise on what to do...accept or look for more (not keen on getting solicitor etc as theyv others things goin on in life and this was just the icing on the cake for them)...

Sandals said:

..offered €7k if accepted immed....any advise on what to do...

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Any guidance from the medical professionals what the total expenses there are likely to run to? That's the only way you can really judge if the offer is a good one.

AlbacoreA said:

In my experience insurance will try anything not to pay up. You have to persevere to get a result from them. Took me two years once to get something simple sorted. You may end up ringing them every day for a a few weeks, followed up by letters. May even require a solicitor.

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Very true,and they always go for the easy option,one thing i learned is though, if someone crashes into you,dont approach them first,go to the person in the vehiche behind,at the side or in front and get their details. An independent witness is worth their weight in gold.

A friend of mine used Owens McCarthy loss assessors when her neighbour caused damage to her house when building their extension and she had battled for months without being able to get any resolution with the neighbour's insurance company. OMC stepped in and dealt with the insurance company and got it all sorted. They make sure to claim for everything that should be claimed for and then take a % of that I think, so my friend was far better off getting them because on her own the insurance company were trying it on basically.
No connection with this company other than my friend having used them.
Might be worth giving them a call.

Uh oh I just looked at their site and seems they don't deal with car, only with home or business insurance. Still might be worth giving them a call to see if they recommend anyone who deals with this for cars.

Hi Caz, do you mind me asking what the 2,000 that they're out of pocket is made up of?..