Car Crash Advice – Rear ended in 3 car shunt

Yeah one reason I don’t always choose the cheapest insurance….

Neither do I. Did that once and ended up with Admiral and the customer service was terrible. Very glad I didn’t have use them for a claim.

Current insurer is Direct Line and I’ve been with them for a while because the customer service has been good. The parties I’m dealing with now are not DL directly though. In fact I’ve no real idea about who the people are that I’m dealing with for the car seats. I’ve just been referred to them by DL.

It will probably happen anyway. The base premium is calculated according to the risk you present. As you’ve suffered a loss, your base premium will go up. Then you apply your No Claims Discount to that figure. NCD is a %, so your premium will go up. Fault doesn’t matter in that calculation. If you have lost some NCD then clearly you’ll be expecting a rise anyway.

However, your premium might go up, or down anyway due to the movement of the market. Motor is, I think, quite benign in terms of claims right now. We’ve all been off the road for a year or two so claims will be lower, so premiums are less.

Plus there’s a rule about existing customers cannot be charged more than new ones. Either way, my renewal with LV just went down by 20% or so.

As far as your car seats go, insist on the spec being the same as what you have?

Have you all been to see a GP yet?

A couple of years ago we got shunted in a car park. Damage to the rear bumper and advice from the car seat manufacturer was (obviously) that it would need replacing. Direct line just advised us to buy a new one and send them the receipt. They werei interested in the original receipts, just how much it costs to replace like for like. That’s what I’d ask for

Have you all been to see a GP yet?

We were checked by paramedics and my daughter attended A&E as a matter of procedure (she’s under 2).

I’ve also called NHS 111 to do a minor injuries assessment. Both to log that I was having issues and get advice. Generally I’m ok, but struggling with sitting in an office chair. Just going to see how this develops. I had issues with my neck, shoulders and arms a few years ago and which needed physio. Feels like these have returned.

Physios seem to be v busy round here so I’d get booked in for some asap. (rumours about all the hip and knees replacement surgeries currently happening to catch up means lots of private physios are booked solid).

Keep a diary with what you’re experiencing and bills etc. Might be worth WhatsApping them to your partner so there’s a timeline with photos and backups.

Pay and receipt the physio. Unless you’re talking to someone helping you with the personal injury claim, in which case get them to arrange it.

A very stressful situation, but you’re not claiming against your own insurance, you’re claiming against the other party (via your insurance). This means that your insurer is working in your interests and shouldn’t be fighting you, which is the best situation. It also means that the 3rd party insurer has no business in knowing whether your tow bar was declared to *your* insurance. The onus is on them to put you back into the same position as you were. It’s the same deal with the kids’ seats – they need replacing and it doesn’t matter what the original price was.

We had a very similar incident a few years ago (we were stationary at lights, another car slammed into the back of us causing lots of damage to us and the car in front, kids seats etc). Our insurer (NFU) were great and it’s part of the reason we have continued to pay a bit more for the premiums in order to stick with them.

Talked to the personal injury solicitors Direct Line passed me on to, seemingly part of DL Group. First of all seemed ok and a date for a call was arranged to start the process. Then they called back today and said they couldn’t proceed as it happened in Scotland. They gave a referral as to who they could pass me on to (Friends Legal). I did think jurisdiction issues might crop up at some point.

Another thing, both callers were South African, which makes me wonder about the control of my data. I think many years of blocking calls from ambulance chasers is ahead.

I’ve also complained to Direct Line about the third party they are using for the car seat settlement.