Other query on insurance claim

Hi all,

Mr P is a part owner in a boat. Last August, the boat was in a collision with another boat and it is now a write-off.
The other party accepted liability and we put a claim through their insurance. Unfortunately, things have really dragged on and as the claim didn't seem to progress our insurer thought it would be quicker to process the claim through our insurance.

Last week, the other partys' insurer offered us 8000 euro which we refused. The boat is insured for 15,500 euro.

The following day, our insurer came back to us and offered 7000 euro and also said we could take the 8000 euro the other party were offering and also sell the boat for salvage if we want to. We would lose our no claims bonus.

We are all fairly happy with the offer but several people have mentioned that they never saw a claim settled like this before.

Anyone know if this is standard practise and if there are any down sides to accepting this offer besides losing the full no claims bonus.

Unfortunately the sum insured doesn't have any real bearing as to the actual worth of the property - you are however not under any obligation to take the sum offered by the other insurance company.

You are entitled to be returned to the same position that you were in PRIOR to the incident and if you can show that it isn't possible to purchase a similar replacement for the sum offered, then their offer might increase.

I would be VERY reluctant to claim through my own insurance for something that wasn't my fault. Your own insurer will deduct any excess (and possibly outstanding premium) from the sum offered to you. You will lose your no claims bonus and your policy will be loaded for making a claim for 3 years.

I work for an insurance company and the only time that I've come across this situation is if the incident was deemed to be 50/50. It would be highly unusual for your insurance company to advise you to claim and take monies from the other insurer.

PM me with more detail if you like.

Thanks Aca for your reply.

Unfortunately, we are a bit thick when it comes to insurance.
Our excess is about 300 euro which wouldn't be bad to lose and we don't have any outstanding premium.

What I would be worried about is the loading of our policy for the next three years, how much extra would that cost us?.

Also, by going through our insurer, does that imply we were somehow responsible for the accident?.

Initially, our insurer said they would suspend our no claims bonus until they were reimbursed from the other partys insurer but if we accept this offer we would lose this.

The thing is, this has been dragging on for ages and we just want shot of it. The money from the two insurers make it an attractive offer but is there anyway to estimate what the loading is going to cost us and are there any other drawbacks.

Thanks again,

Priscilla.

Your excess being €300, means that the offer currently on the table from your own insurer is €6700. Not knowing what NCB you have or your current annual premium makes it difficult to give you a ballpark figure of what to expect at renewal. (Maybe have a look on-line and enter all the correct details but leave off the NCB?)

1 years NCB is worth 19%, 2 years 25%, 3 years 30%, 4 years 40% and 5 years 50% - these are rough percentages as all insurers vary and may give larger discounts if you have other insurance with them.

Going through your own insurer doesn't imply that you are responsible BUT your NCB will be affected until such time as your insurance company recoup their outlay - and if the other insurance company are paying you also... that may be never!

Maybe a snotty letter will move things along?