MAKING A CLAIM

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR YOUR GUIDANCE

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MITIGATE YOUR LOSSES
It is the responsibility of everyone who wishes to make a claim against another party to mitigate their loss.  Mitigation means keeping all your losses and expenses resulting from an accident to a minimum.  It is essential that you treat all your losses as though there were no assurances a recovery can be made.  Treat the losses as though they were at your own expense.

THE COST OF REPAIRING YOUR CAR
You are entitled to claim the reasonable cost of repairing your car from the responsible party or their insurance company.  Two competitive estimates should be obtained from competent repairers and it is your duty to ensure these are reasonable.  If the damage is extensive the third party may wish to inspect your car to agree the cost of the repair.

The cost of repair is your responsibility to pay unless you have Comprehensive Insurance.  We appreciate this is not always possible and if you are unable to meet the cost of repair, you must obtain a pro-forma from the garage.  A pro-forma is not the same as an estimate; it will provide a detailed breakdown of the total cost of repairs including labour and parts.  You should always look into the possibility of carrying out a temporary repair to your vehicle, simply to keep it useable,   thereby mitigating your loss.

IF YOUR VEHICLE IS A TOTAL LOSS / BEYOND ECONOMICAL REPAIR
It is common practice for the third party Insurer to arrange to inspect your vehicle.  Your vehicle will then be assessed and you will be informed of the pre-accident market value less the salvage value.  This may be lower than your own valuation placed for insurance purposes.  You are only entitled to claim the pre-accident market value less the salvage, which means the value at the time of the accident.

If you do not agree with the valuation placed on your vehicle, it is your responsibility to provide evidence to support your own valuation.  Regional trends may affect the valuation of your vehicle.  We recommend you obtain local advertisements for similar vehicles, a description of your own vehicle’s condition and any additional accessories purchased.  It would also be helpful to provide us with the original purchase receipt, MOT and Registration documents with an indication of the registered mileage at the time of the accident.

We ask you to bear in mind that if your vehicle is confirmed to be a loss then it is your responsibility to purchase a replacement.

HIRING ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT
It is in your interest to avoid delays in reporting your claim should you need to hire alternative transport.  In any event you must ensure the vehicle hired is similar or of a lower specification to that of your own.  Taking into account the precautions detailed in sections 2 and 3 above, you must ensure the period of hire is reasonable.

In the event you are aware your vehicle has been declared a total loss, the third party insurers will only agree to consider a claim for hire for a reasonable period thereafter.  Your duty to mitigate applies and you are not entitled to incur losses from the date of the accident until settlement of your claim.

TOWING AND STORAGE CHARGES
Reasonable towing charges are recoverable.  You should endeavour to move your vehicle to a place of free and safe storage i.e. your driveway or garage at home.  If this is not possible, then to the nearest competent repairer if your vehicle is repairable.  It is important to realise that charges will be incurred whilst in storage and these are your responsibility to pay.  If it is not possible to arrange an inspection of your vehicle within a period of 14 days following the accident we recommend you arrange removal of your vehicle to a place of free storage.  Excessive storage charges will not be recoverable.