The car insurance information contained within these pages is based on information supplied by The Claims Guru, a site packed with useful information about the inner workings of insurance companies and their products.
Car Insurance - Third Party Claims
When an accident happens that involves someone else, you have a 'third party' aspect to your claim. This could include another driver, a pedestrian, a cyclist, a passenger, or the owner of a house you hit.
Who is at fault ?
"The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve several times before I hit him. "
Extracts taken from actual claim forms submitted to
a number of UK car insurance companies
That is not a question you or the other third parties (there could be more than one) have to decide or worry about. Give your insurers all the facts and information that you can. If anyone witnessed the accident obtain their name and address and pass this promptly to your insurers. They will consider all the facts given to them and decide if any further investigation into the circumstances is needed. For example, they might want to ask you some more questions to clarify what you have told them. They will send questionnaires to witnesses. They might arrange for an outside investigator to examine the scene of the accident, take photos, produce a sketch plan. They might arrange for you and the witnesses to be interviewed and more detailed written statements to be taken. THEY ARE COLLECTING EVIDENCE - help them as much as you can
Once they have done all they can they will re-examine all the facts and decide whom they believe to be negligent. In other words they will form a view of who is to blame and proceed with the claim accordingly. In the event of a dispute with the other party and their representatives the matter might have to be decided by a judge in the civil law courts .
Please remember - the civil legal system in this country (and I include Scotland here) is adversarial in nature. You 'take sides' and enter a battle with your opponent. Your insurer is on your side and looking after not only their interests but also yours as well. I have come across many instances where you, the customer, take issue with the insurer over what they should be doing regarding the third party claim. I would make the following observations
Your insurers staff are professional,trained, experienced people and have a much better appreciation of how the case should be handled than you do
The terms of their policy mean they can take whatever steps they think appropriate irrespective of what you think
