In September I was coming out of a junction which appeared to be clear, out of no where came a speeding BMW M3 which I failed to notice until the last second, I avoided it as much as I could and didn't feel an impact. The lady got out swearing and shouting saying I crashed into her, and pointed at a 3cm graze on her offside wing. Not a dent, a graze. My car was unmarked.

The lady took my insurance details, later that day her husband called me and asked if I wanted to settle the claim out of the insurance by giving him a cash sum to repair the car, I sharply refused and said that he should claim as I am fully comp.

A few weeks later I got a phone call from my insurance company, and I had to send off a description and diagram of what exactly happened, saying I accept 50% liability for the accident. I returned the forms immediately to One Call Insurance, my insurance company.

I didn't hear anything for a few months, and the other day I recieved a letter from Direct Line, the ladys insurance company saying that my insurance company has refused to pay out a claim of £1800 (why its so high for a sightly grazed wing, I don't know) and if they don't contact Direct Line within 14 days, then I will be liable to pay this out of my own pocket, plus legal fees etc.

I am currently jobless, without a car and my insurance policy was cancelled a couple of weeks back due to losing my job. I am really unsure where I stand, and what to do about this, does anyone have any advice or information about what I can do? I am constantly worried as I have several other debts hanging around which need to be sorted asap. Any help would be great, cheers!

The first question is why are your insurance refusing to pay? Write to direct line telling them that you are currently seeking legal advice, and your solictors will be in touch in due course.

It might be worth having a talk to a Citizen's Advice or a solictor, solictors will normally do an initial half hour/hour for free, and you'll probably qualify for legal aid as you're unemployed.

My wife reversed into a parked car putting a dent in the rear quarter, took photos and it looked like a quick dent pull with a possible skim and respray. The insurance claim came to around the same amount, due to the fact that he wanted an identical car whilst his was being repaired(which took nearly a month for some reason)

The photos my wife took were different to the ones submitted by the bodyshop due to theirs showing a bigger dent with actual creases in the bodywork. As she'd admitted liability, the insurers paid out, but are now challenging the claim due to her challenging the amount and sending them the photos she took.

Moral is, if you are involved in any car related accident, take some photo's (damage, location, road signs etc) to give yourself as much protection as possible.

If you included legal cover with your insurance, use it. Her insurance should not write directly to you, plus your insurance should have notified you that they are refusing the claim.

It might just be that your insurance have been slack in replying to their letters.

tell your insurance they contacted you and forget about it - they need to deal with this shit... thats why yuo pay!

^ true my insurance told me not to talk to or reply to any letters from the other party or their insurer and just forward everything to them.

Polo is right. Just send everything to your insurance company and don't worry about anything.

I've been working here for 23 years and it is common practice what you are saying.

Kind regards

Tim

Chris Knott Insurance - official insurance scheme

QUOTE REF 045 WHEN RINGING

0800 917 2274 or 01424 200477 (cheaper if phoning by mobile)

http://www.chrisknott.co.uk

QUALITY FULL UK BREAKDOWN COVER POLICY = £54.50

Cheers for the all the advice, I was just scared I will have to fork out near 2 grand for a silly scrape which I could repair myself for about a tenner. I will contact my insurance company in the morning and see what they make of the situation, and yes, I thought I was paying insurance for a reason, not just wasting hundreds a month and then paying loads when I am involved in a petty accident.

mate as above send everything to your insurance.. some guy on a motorbike was trying to sue me for bloody ages regarding a crash we were involved in.. it had already been settled by the insurance but then he went to one of them "have you had an accident in the last ten years? are you a liar? do you want to really piss someone off?" solicitors places and they were sending me letters saying I had to go to court and give him like thirty grand!!

turns out they shouldnt have even sent it to me in the first place, everything should go to the insurance, and also (according to my solicitor) they would have been basically trying a shock tactic trying to scare me into just giving him the money