[Cokes]

Hey guys, I ain't been on here for ages and ages, but i'm back now, and will be trying to get the ol' post count up a bit...!!

OK, this story might seem like it's gonna go on forever, and I might have posted in the wrong section, but I think anyone should read it, it tells my experience of a first accident, and tips I would have for anyone in the same situation at any point...If you can't be bothered reading, fair enough :-)

I fell outta love with my Puma for a wee bit you see, 5 months ago some idiot was in the left hand lane of a roundabout wanting to go right, unfortunately I was in the middle lane going straight ahead, this guy ploughed into the front wing of my car and left me a nice big dent along with a scratch running the length of the car...!!

Now as noone was injured and I know my highway code, I pulled into the nearest pertol station, and the guy followed me, didn't want to cause an obstruction to other vehicles since this was rush hour in Aberdeen! It was raining, so I got outta my car and checked out the damage, the other party came over to me saying 'what happened there', i was saying,'well, you were in the wrong lane'....he tried to deny it, so i told him he should check his highway code!!

Anyway he got into my car and I started to get all his details from him....he wrote everything down, and I found out it was actually a business work car, and so got all the details of his boss and works address etc. Now as I was getting these details I thought i'd be a little bit crafty, just incase...so I flicked on the sound recorder on my phone, and asked him the question 'so you admit you were wrong there', he replied 'no, i though i was right to go round there'. OK, I was happy...

Anyway, i've never been in an accident before, and either has anyone in my family so i didn't know what to do. I phoned the guys contact number on the instruction of my insurance, Elephant. The guy said that his employee was now saying he meant to go ahead, I told him about the recording, in which the guy said he was wanting to go 'round' the roundabout, which you don't do if going straight ahead, this guy then laughed in my face and said that it wouldn't stand in court, because I hadn't told the guy....this followed a wee bit of back and forth conversation with him telling me he'd see me in court.

Ok, I started gathering all information together, went to the petrol station, asked if their cameras would detect up to the roundabout, they said no, fair enough, was just on the offchance...i went to the roundabout and took pics from the side I was at, and the other guy was at, showed my intended route on a Google Maps zoom in of the roundabout, took pics of my car (wish i'd taken pics of the other guys car now, damn rain), put all this into a report and got it printed and sent to Elephant...

OK, to try and cut a very long story into a long one, this all happened in February of this year, Elephant have done very little to help me, I thought i would lose everything and have to pay for all repairs myself. It was very much drawn out because of the other guy not returning the letters Elephant were sending, or phonecalls too, supposedly...also the guy claimed he wasn't even in Aberdeen, so I went to the garage to see if they still had the tape of the forecourt, they tape after them after 3 months, and it turns out the camera does actually go to the roundabout, must have just been a new employee at the time, grrr....

Anyway, one day 2 weeks ago, the other party's insurance company, Royal & Sun Alliance gave me a call, they had recieved a letter form Elephant, and would come and inspect the vehicle...sounded promising. And it was, the guy had admitted full liability and my car is in the garage right now getting repaired!! Sweeet!! I asked the guy if he had ever seen the report I had made up for Elephant, he said no, I asked if they had had letters from Elephant from 5 months ago, he said no!! All in all I feel Elephant just treated me appaulingly, really bad, they were obviously just holding out so I would have to claim off my own insurance and lose all no claims and end up paying for more insurance, etc! Absolute chancers! Not happy with them, I warn you, i would never go with them again, and have just cancelled my policy with them...idiots!!

So at the end of the day, all is well, I have my no claims back, and my car is in being fixed (although i have to put up with a Citroen C4 for a week!! haha)

If anyone is involved in an accident (heaven forbid)...here's my advice...
1. Don't move the car, and call the police
2. Tell the person you want to record them, and get something detailing their side of the story
3. Ask Petrol Stations etc. about their CCTV
4. Get photos of all cars involved
5. Don't go near Elephant with a bargepole!!

Anyway, i'm back, and i'm happy and I love my Kat again!!

The end :-)

[P7 TNY]

In my experiences all insurance companes are the same , once you need to claim , they take your money, but do not wish to pay out



I was with elephant , now with FLUX

[BenF]

a good result for you in the end

sadly I do not think your point number 1 will hold up though because if nobody is injured and there is not serious risk of major hold-ups the police are not usually interested

have to say I had an incident similar to yours when someone drive into the side of my car on a roundabout; he was in the wrong lane. There was a 'witness' who gave an account that put me in the wrong. My insurance compant sent me a copy of the 'independent' witness' statement and I looked on a map - if he was where he said he was the white van man could not have been there, and the witness could not have driven up behind us to say he had 'seen it all'!

To cut what turned out to be a long story short, I stood my ground and confirmed to my insurance company that I would go to court over the incident. Like you, I did not lose my ncd. Another result; good for you!

[PG12]

I sticking with companies with a good customer service approach from now on ie Virgin

I wouldn't recommend Privilege and NUD


...and avoid accidents - if you end up in one assume your gonna pay out anyway - I tend to drive more carefully now and give way to more aggressive drivers - just can't stomach the consequences....

This post has been edited by PG12: 18 July 2006 - 12:32 PM

[BOK]

In my experiences all insurance companes are the same , once you need to claim , they take your money, but do not wish to pay out

It's called a business

The old saying, 'you pay for what you get' springs to mind yet again.

[Spleen]

This is very similar to my story... which I would tell you, but I've lost the will to live with 'em.

:<

This post has been edited by Spleen: 18 July 2006 - 12:32 PM

[Hugs]

I use Direct Line, and although they cost a fortune, they are very good in the event of an accident.

Had a guy hit me from behind a few months ago, and despite his insurance company not returning any calls etc they still carried out the repair without me having to pay an excess, and they wanted to take him to court without me prompting at all.

[Cokes]

The old saying, 'you pay for what you get' springs to mind yet again.

That's it exactly man,

I'm a young driver, wanted the cheapest insurance possible, won't be going down that route again!!

Would rather have to pay more, and have much lessle hassle and stress if I need to use it!!

[Zero]

Glad you eventually got it sorted mate, after my first accident I made a checklist similar to yours.

[PG12]

That's it exactly man,

I'm a young driver, wanted the cheapest insurance possible, won't be going down that route again!!

Would rather have to pay more, and have much lessle hassle and stress if I need to use it!!

Second that - I went with the cheapest on confused.com - NUD - it cost me TWICE the original premium to cancel a claim following an accident and repair damage myself that they wouldn't fix to the minimum standard suggested by the garage I used

I'll never use confused.com again and select insurance on cost - it's false economy in the long run...

This post has been edited by PG12: 18 July 2006 - 01:04 PM

[Del 66]

I just go for the cheapest insurance, drive carefully and hope I don't get in an accident. I've been with More Than for 4 years with the puma and only pay Å“385, that with me and my partner.

[pumapilot]

I use Ford Insure - costly but relativlely hassle free, although my Mum is with them too and got grief, but only because she wouldn't stand up in court.

[007matt]

A lot insurance company are bad when it comes to claiming. When you dont have protected ncd it can be a problem if the other party have not admitted liability.

It sucks big that you have to wait 5months before getting the puma repaired. I have never been involved in an incident like yourself, hopefully never will. I had a fault claim on my bmw 2months ago and my insurer (zurich) paid out a week after it was assessed as a write off, all in about less than 3 weeks to pay me. Thankfully im protected with full ncd.

[BenF]

That sounds a good service Matt.

Beware, though - although you have a protected NCD it can be that your insurance premium still goes up after you have made a claim. I have claimed twice in the last 10 years or so (with a protected NCD).

The first was the one I cited as the second reply to this thread, and there was no real change in my premium when I came to renew as the other party accepted liability.

The second was for malicious damage, which goes down as a 'no-fault' claim, but which still made my insurance premium go up because the insurance company had no-one to claim their losses from.

Unfair, I know, but it taught me not to claim for malicious damage again unless there was a serious bill to pay.

[Spleen]

Im in this situation right now... Å“75 for no reason at all! Theres NO WAY I is backing down tho. Scumbags!!

[Red]

The quote "You get what you pay for is true", but a bit of a harsh n silly statement regarding the circumstances.

As a young Puma driver i was lucky at 20 to managed to find a Å“750 quote from Elephant. The next lowest quote was direct line at Å“1400 if it was this price i would have just stuck with my Punto, why there was such a diffrence i will never know?!?!?.

Now try tell me that you would pay almost double just for the name of a company, because they might not be "all that great" wouldn't you be willing to take the chance?

This post has been edited by Red: 18 July 2006 - 03:00 PM

[BenF]

Im in this situation right now... Å“75 for no reason at all! Theres NO WAY I is backing down tho. Scumbags!!

I suspect this means taking your business elsewhere then my friend...

[xxshellxx]

Cheers for letting me no. I was looking into getting insurance with them the other day. If they treated u like that what stops them treating other like it.

Many thanks. x

[PG12]

Beware, though - although you have a protected NCD it can be that your insurance premium still goes up after you have made a claim. I have claimed twice in the last 10 years or so (with a protected NCD).

For this reason - I'm thinking of not having NCD protection on my policy next year (save me Å“130)

I've got protected 5 year NCD - I had an accident in a hire car (not my car or insurance) last year and they STILL put my premium up Å“100 this year...

This post has been edited by PG12: 18 July 2006 - 03:50 PM

[Pumagirl19]

Just to confirm - never ever ever EVER insure your car with Elephant - unfortunately had 2 claims in the past year (broken into and hit in the side) and they are USELESS!!

I was told that parts of my car, including the dashboard were 'not standard' and it took approx 4 months to get it repaired with 100's of problems along the way, finally got it sorted and about 2 weeks later I got hit in the side - poor car got written off in the end. Second experience slightly better but still not happy - they give mis leading information and don't do as they say.

Their communication (if that's what you call it) is AWFUL

Am now with RAC and hoping to have a clear year **fingers crossed**

BEWARE