Hi all you insurance specialists.

Someone hit my car while it was parked up outside my house, they did the honest thing and left their phone number, so well done them. They happened to also be insured with esure.

Put in a claim to esure and they ultimately came back saying it was beyond economical repair, they offered £2189 less £150 so I would receive £2039.

What I am questioning with them is why I should be paying an excess when I was not at fault, there initial (online chat) response was that they could not waive the excess as it was an esure to esure claim !!!!

Also I am pretty sure I will not get anything back from my policy payments. I have had the insurance for 4 months. Seems unfair that I would be losing 8 months of insurance because of a non fault claim.

I have emailed them to explain all the above, but if anyone knows how this works I would appreciate a bit of ammo to go back to them with. So basically I was not at fault but will be out of pocket for the £150 excess and also 8 months of insurance !!

I welcome the collective knowledge

Thanks, Andy

It certainly sounds a bit like b***ard scamming insurance companies perpetuating the expectation of doing everything they can to not pay out!
But they are in business to make money and so with small print, you need to go through your policy and other documents to find where it says that this (or not) is their expected actions and costs to you in event of a claim, to have a serious challenge to it.

As an aside, presume this is not your "toy" car?
How does this (market value?) offer sit with you for whatever the vehicle is, before the costs/deduction's?
As you could also provide evidence (market reality) of what it will cost you to replace or repair the vehicle as mitigation to improve the offer and therefore the net cost/payout?

I had similar many years ago. Normally you'd get your excess back from the other insurance company. You may need to threaten a claims company to get that.

In my case, the insurance policy didn't expire with the payout. I just bought a new car and moved the continuing policy to it. As you say, they can't rob you of 8 mounts cover.

Now I remember - I wrote to the other company, told them my expenses ran to the excess, a car seat and one week's car hire whilst I looked for a new car. They paid in full without any query - probably just relieved to avoid any personal injury claim.

The fact that you're both with esure is irrelevant, just demand your excess back against the other driver's policy, and don't give up. They haven't got a leg to stand on.

[Edited on 17/8/23 by JoelP]

Thanks guys, luckily it was the tin top .... we were looking to sell it anyhow and would probably got less than the offer which is a bonus.

Still don't like being ripped off by big corporations !!

Yeah this doesn't sound right to me. I'd be inclined to threaten to go get legal advice unless they give you a prorated refund on the unused insurance and your excess back. Don't take no for an answer and just keep the case open until you get what you want.

I had a non-fault claim recently and was paid promptly minus my £200 excess. When I queried this with my underwriters claims handling dept, I was told that I'd have to request my excess back separately by going back to my broker and accessing the legal-assistance part of my policy. I did this and that part took another month.

The whole set up is crazy. Don't get me started on why my brokers claims handlers (The AA) abandoned me mid-claim because I had refused the credit hire vehicle that they tried to push onto me, and therefore they had no real interest in helping me any more.