Insurance Claim - Loss Adjusters Advice Please

[bhouse]

So there I was at 6am last Friday when I heard a large thump accompanied by a slight but definite shake to the house. The house is on the straight 30mph main road through a village.

I got up and discovered that a car had veered off the road and driven into and partially demolished part of our front garden wall. Luckily an ambulance happened to be passing. The car driver was a lad of 20 and was unhurt. The police called and breathalysed him with a positive result. An independent witness (who had been following him) stopped and gave a statement saying that the driver had suddenly turned sharp right and driven straight into our wall.

His insurers have asked me for 3 quotes for repairing the wall. However, most builders around here are very busy and not interested in quoting. Also, the wall is constructed from bricks with a non standard size and appearance, so getting replacements for the damaged ones is going to be tricky.

The wall is about 80cm high and 7m long. About 3m of it (and an end pillar) have been completely knocked flat (damage into foundations) and a further 2 - 3m shows obvious cracking that wasn't there before. There's also oil staining and other damage to paving slabs and a dozen or so brick paviors.

Here's what it looks like:

Getting this sorted is taking ages and frankly I have better things to do with my time that sort out a problem caused by someone else.

I was wondering about passing the entire matter over to a claims management type company and wondered if anyone had any advice or recommendations.

Thanks in advance.

[Norman Verona]

Are you insured direct or through a broker?

[bhouse]

Hi Norman,

This will be a claim against the driver of the car - I won;t be claiming on my insurance at all.

Brian

[Norman Verona]

Then you'll have to do it yourself. I'm not sure an accident management company will be of much help.

I think I would get an estimate, send it to the insurers and arrange for a loss adjuster to visit. One meeting should tell you if you have a fight on your hands or not. If you have maybe a solicitor would be best to obtain restitution, rather than spend anymore of your time.

[Burlers]

I'd recommend that you contact your buildings insurers, just to make sure they're fully aware - they MAY even get involved then pursue the driver/his insurers. Buildings policies usually only kick in when damage is to the buildings, but best to be sure that your insurers are aware

[Captain Colonial]

^^^^ This - plus they have may also their own list of approved builders, which would stop you needing to chase for quotations.

[bhouse]

Thanks for the suggestions and advice.

B

[bhouse]

I called my household insurers and they basically said that unless I intended to claim from my household insurance they woudl not do anything relating to the claim so it's back to square 1.

[geoffd]

When we were dealing with a burglary claim earlier this year, we had a loss adjuster working on our behalf. This was part of our policy. The chap was very good and extracted more out of the insurance company than we could have done. The firm is www.lorega.com It might be worth asking them if they could work for you in this case.

Geoff

[Darrell O'Neill]

Very suprised you cant get quotes and builders are too busy.

Most in the building trade see ££££££ signs when the word 'insurance' is mentioned.