Sister got into a car accident. Got rear ended and other party not answering or picking up calls. We have all details including driver licence and number plate.
Sister only has third party (AAMI). Not sure what insurance the other party has.
If the other party doesn't pick up can we do anything other than go to small claims court? Or is there something else we can do? I called AAMI to see if they can help but they said no.
only if they're uninsured
should've asked if they're insured and by whom
If they don't answer it's the same as uninsured right?
Ummm your insurer should handle it from here..this happened to me before and they pursued the other party whilst covering my damage
Because we only have third party property insurance our insurance company said they will not chase the other party.
Not sure if this is normal or not.
I had 3rd party as well at the time.
Which insurance is that?
Sounds like comprehensive.
@Ughhh: Pretty much all car insurance are there to cover damage YOU cause.
Under comprehensive, most (all?) insurers will assist you with damage to YOUR car caused by somebody else. If you provide details for the person causing the damage they will recoup costs from them and refund any excess you pay in the process (if applicable).
Some insurer's do this irregardless of your coverage level.
Ummm your insurer should handle it from here..this happened to me before and they pursued the other party whilst covering my damage
Thanks for the explanation, but see the above comments who I was replying to.
I was referring to the bolded. Jason Genova only had 3rd party.
@Ughhh: Noted. I'll leave my post there since it's (IMO) good information for others :)
I wonder how common it is for an insurer to repair (a non-comprehensively covered vehicle) prior to getting a settlement from the at-fault party (or their insurer).
This is why you pay for comprehensive. Third party property is only there for the time you drive your old dunger into a Lambo. With third party property, you have to assume that any accident you're involved in, whether at fault or not, will result in the write off of your car at your own expense.
Yeah, not buying it. I’ve had plenty of cars in the past that once I pay comprehensive and then the excess in the event of an accident, it’s almost 50% of the cost of the vehicle.
On a $30,000 car, sure, it makes sense. On a $2,000 shit box run about, you’re dreaming.
result in the write off of your car at your own expense.
This covers the scenario of the $2,000 shit box.
Soooo… what you’re saying is, I should pay a $500 premium and a $600 excess and lose my No Claim Discount over $900 return?
Nice…
@pegaxs: What I think @tshow is saying (and certainly what I'm saying) is if you only hold third party property and get into an accident (whether your fault or not), assume your car is going to be written off and just eat the cost of the $2k shit box. The savings you are making vs. having comprehensive should compensate you for the loss of the vehicle.
Of course, if you can get the cash from the at fault party, then great, but as has been discussed a great length across umpteen posts on this site, getting cash out of punters for road accidents is just a total pain in the jacksie. If you need to get the cash back, get comprehensive … otherwise, get third party property and bank the savings, but recognise that your own car is then entirely your responsibility.
nothing wrong with third party insurance. Atleast you sister is responsible. so many people dont even have that.
Yep, last person who ran into me had none. I had comprehensive on that car, but the insurance company is having hells own chasing her down. My insurance payout is being stalled all because this other uninsured arsehole won’t pick up their phone.
For the cost of it, I think 3rd party property should be the mandatory minimum to get rego as well as CTP.
You can contact the Financial Ombudsman. Shouldn't be your issue
I agree with knick here pegaxs - insurer getting their money is not your problem. You pay them to cover you - why pay for comprehensive if they're going to pull shit like this.
You can easily get your own payout stalled because they won't pick up the phone, as in OP's case.
Im giving them until next week, then it's just too far out of wack. They have told me the payout figure, but told me that until they can make contact with the other involved party, they cant close the file out and cant send anything till they hear from them.
FIO, here I come!! :D
You could try a place like this https://acornrentals.com.au/
Basically they make money from situations exactly like yours. They will give you a hire car, fix your car and recover all of the costs from the other parties insurance.
Where it’s 100% clear the other party is at fault it's good service and risk free. If there’s any chance of your sister being at fault though then she’d have to pay some some of the repair and hire costs (which I assume may not be the cheapest).
I’ve never used them but the business model seems good for your situation
and when they failed to recover costs from other parties, guess who they're charging it to …
It still surprises me how people don't know what they're paying for when they buy insurance.
When things go wrong, they turn straight to a free forum rather than the company they pay hundreds (or even thousands to)!
And then get shitty when we don’t give them the answers they want to hear…
I am absolutely not shitty about the answers that you guys are sharing.
I genuinely appreciate every answer (Beside the ones that tell me not to ask the question in the first place).
Hahaha, all good, OP. It’s more a dig at the usual OzB. meme of shopping ones questions on here and WP and then getting upset when no one gives the answer the question poster was hoping for and then turning on the thread and in turn getting the question poster further roasted by the community…
Im actually surprised that the first comment wasn’t;
What did your insurance company say when you asked them?
Insurance time… Ooo. This one covers everything. It's great.
Oh look, this one is cheaper.
Click
A few moments later.
Crash
Why doesn't my insurance cover everything?
Ok steps:
Send a letter of demand you can look at a template see here for a sample. Send it via registered post with signature on delivery. You'll need to get a quote to fix your (sisters) car.
Wait for their response
If they don't respond then contact them again and threaten legal action (at the same time go and see legal aid)
I wouldn't use any of those services like 'itwasn'tmyfault' or acorn rentals as they will charge you the full amount if they can't contact the other driver. It is usually way more than a day rental.
Instruction unclear for step 2. How long to wait for response?
Thanks.
Sometimes it's just not worth getting anything other than third party property insurance on a car.
In my case for example, the car is worth $2000 and the driver is 19 years old. The quote for comprehensive insurance is anywhere from $1500 to $2500 premium with $750 excess.
In the worst case scenario we would either fix the car ourselves or throw it away.
and this the way you should look at 3rd party policies.
i have 2 cars worth 10K + comprehensive policies
i have 2 cars worth less than 5k 3rd party only, i except the risk and if i get hit with either of these its up to me to recover the money or accept the loss.
Check out Bingle, cheap in my experience for younger or new drivers.
There are things about the policy that people don't like, such as paying your excess regardless of fault and being refunded if found not at fault. But the price difference between Bingle and others was astounding when I was on my P license.
i took your advice and had a crack at Bingle, fyi RAC in WA was $31 a year cheaper than Bingle for same car same driver, it might be because iam on the other side of 50
I'd say so - but it was good when I was mid twenties in my Ps.
There's no reason why someone with even an average IQ wouldn't be able to fill out the necessary forms and represent themselves during this process.
Have you considered the other driver is insured by AMII too,and the company is sitting on their hands til you find this out for yourself?
I didn't give them any details of the other party yet.
However maybe the other party has given my sister's details to AAMI and has just not gone ahead with the claim?
Just an update.
AAMI were really helpful about the whole incident.
AAMI covered the cost of my sister's car as the other party was deemed to have "no insurance", was at fault and they were not contactable (Phone number and picture of licence was given to AAMI).
My sister's car was written off.
I find this amazing as I have never been covered for a not at fault accident with my own third party property insurance policy.
Lucky you were with AAMI, as they like to say!