Insurance Problems

[hungryman]

Hi All, I have some insurance related questions I hope someone here could advise me on. My apologies if this is the wrong area of the forum.

The incident started about a month ago, when my car (VX calais gen3) was parked outside my inlaw's home. My sister-in-law had here car (a magna) parked directly behind mine. A driver travelling in the direction our cars were facing lost control and crashed into the back of the sister-in-law's car and pushed it into the rear of my car. (I'll just add at this point that the only visible damage to my car was to the bumper which was pushed in (it later popped out of it's own accord) and the some of the clips holding it in place were snapped.) It was quite a hard hit and the driver was pretty shaken up, though not injured (thankfully). He immediately accepted responsibility and was very apologetic about the incident. We called the police as his car was blocking half the road and could not be moved. The police took statements and he was (apparently) charged with neg driving which, I'm told, is standard practice when police are called to an accident with a clearly responsible party. The good news is that all 3 parties involved had comp insurance so I was pretty confident things would work out fine.

That was until I took my car in to be assessed. I contacted my insurance company (b u d g e t) and had them take care of everything (that's what I pay them for) and was told I would have to take my car to Parramatta during work ours to have the car assessed. The only way to do this was for my wife to take a few hours off work, which pissed us off quite a bit, but what can you do? The real drama was when the assessor told her the car is not covered because it has extractors. My wife told them when we joined that the car had a modified exhaust but did not specifically state it had extractors as she did not even know what that meant (and they didn't ask, btw). Besides; I don't see how extractors make a difference to a claim for a new rear bumper.

Anyway, after calming down from the realization I had been paying insurance premiums for 3 years without being actually covered, I took the philosophical approach and was thankful that it did not take a big accident where I would be liable for major damages before realizing this.

I have now changed insurer (and saved money in doing so) but had to make a personal claim against the at-fault driver's insurance. This was quite pain-free and only involved getting a single quote from a local repairer (so it was actually easier than doing through my own insurance) and this amount (just under a grand) was put into my account a couple days ago.

Now, here is my main question: Do I have to use this money to repair the car? The bumper is still secure, and that is the only real damage, so I have no trouble driving the car. We are currently in the process of moving, so really can't be without a car for any time and, when we do move, it will be a few hundred k's away so will not be convenient to bring the car back to the place we got the quote. If I use this money for other expenses (such as moving) and then get the car fixed myself at a later stage, is this classed as insurance fraud? If I have an accident before getting it repaired (which would be some time either way because of needing the car for moving) can my new insurer refuse payment because of prior damage?

Sorry for the long post, but I'm concerned about doing the wrong thing, however I do not feel I should be inconvenienced (by having no car while it's repaired) for something which was not my fault.

Long story short: once an insurer puts the money in my account, does it have to be used to repair the car?

[Bombaman]

You can request reimbursement for the cost of a Hire-Car whilst yours is repaired.

Or contact Acorn Rentals, they do just this and will invoice the Insurance Company directly (no out-of-pocket cost to you)

http://www.acornrentals.com.au/

[02PRUV]

They have paid you for the damage of your car and you have accepted it. Then it's up to you what you do with that money. If you don't use it to fix the car that's your choice.

When you go to get your car insured with a new company they will ask you about past claims and existing damage. If you don't tell the new insure about existing damage and they find out about it later they can cancel your whole policy. So if you don't get it fixed make sure you advise your new insure about existing damage if they ask.

[hungryman]

You can request reimbursement for the cost of a Hire-Car whilst yours is repaired.

Or contact Acorn Rentals, they do just this and will invoice the Insurance Company directly (no out-of-pocket cost to you)


Thanks for the link, I was not aware of such services. There are a couple of problems with this, however, as I have already received payment from the insurer, I would imagine that the case is settled and they would have no further liability. Also, we have so much going on at the moment with moving, the inconvenience is more than just being without a car. There is also having to plan around the car being in the shop (even if we have a rental car, if the car is not finished before we move, we will have to travel hundreds of k's to swap the cars back).

I guess my main question is whether or not I am bound to have the car repaired at the quoted bodyshop once the payment has been made to me and, if I can get the car repaired later for less money, is that insurance fraud?

[hungryman]

They have paid you for the damage of your car and you have accepted it. Then it's up to you what you do with that money. If you don't use it to fix the car that's your choice.

When you go to get your car insured with a new company they will ask you about past claims and existing damage. If you don't tell the new insure about existing damage and they find out about it later they can cancel your whole policy. So if you don't get it fixed make sure you advise your new insure about existing damage if they ask.

Thanks for the reply. That's what I thought but have not been able to find any evidence for it. The only examples of insurance fraud I have found, from the actual companies, involve making false claims or staging accidents. I will definitely call the new insurer today and tell them about the bumper damage (I don't want another incident akin to the extractors). Thanks again for the reply.

[aratic]

From memory when I was looking at insurance on my SS almost 2 years ago I know Budget wouldnt insure me because I had some minor mods and they dont insure cars with mods period.

Its lucky it was a monor incident to find out they wouldnt cover you, although I reckon technically you could taken them on considering a 'modified exhaust' could be deemed to include mods to any part of the system, including extractors

[lukey73]

How they can refuse your claim is beyond me, you are not at fault and have clear identified the third party. The "extractors" were not a contributing part of the accident and they should have processed your claim without any trouble.

As for the funds, that would be your "settlement" payment and you can do what you wish with the payout. If you choose to use those funds to move house its your money do use as needed.

With any insurer you need to make them aware of any pre-existing damage to your car, if that area is not noted previously on a new policy then you will not have any further repair work done by the new insurer or they will make you contribute to the cost of repairs on top of any excess that is applicable. You will also need to notify of them of a Not At Fault claim which shouldnt count for anything with most good insurers.