Third party insurance

[Geoff_5068923]

On January the 8th a horrendous storm lifted and catapulted a caravan twenty feet away on top of our caravan,totally wrecking our van.We paid fifteen hundred pounds for our van a year before the accident.We did not have the van insured,but the owner of the van that hit us was.His insurance company is *&*. Despite many phone calls and letters sent the outcome is.Quote "We will not pay out on a freak accident". But we are the third party surely,this was not our fault.Ok I agree it wasn't their fault either but they hit us.What can we do?

Geoff from Yarm.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Geoff,

You don't say if, or how much the other caravan was damaged (though I assume it was).

Without knowledge of the terms of the other caravanner's insurance policy, especially their limitation clauses, it is very difficult to give clear advice.

If the other caravanner had his caravan repaired or replaced by the insurance company, then you might be able to claim that the incident was covered by the caravanner's insurance policy, and thus a third party claim might have some legitimacy.

But I don't hold out a great deal of hope for you as you cannot make an insurance company pay out for what they are not liable. If the other caravan owners policy excludes sever weather, then the circumstances you describe I think might fall into that category.

If you could show that the other caravanner's had been negligent in some material way in the way their caravan was not secured or positioned, such that it was likely to cause damage to your property under severe weather conditions, then you might have a case against the owner. The burden of proof would be on you and I believe it would be difficult to obtain expert witness to support your prosecution.

With the benefit of hindsight, it may have been wise of you to insure your own property against such a loss, after all that is what insurance is for.

 

[Matthew_5040954]

How would you have reacted if it had been your uninsured van that had been blown onto another van, would you be putting your hand in your pocket to pay for the damage or would you say 'it wasn't my fault'?

The real point here is not who is to blame, but to do with responsibility, your complaining because the other owner went to the expense of insuring there van and you didn't, if this had been the other way round you could have caused thousands of pounds of damaged and I can see you standing there say 'well your insured'.

Get a life and get insured.

 

[Geoff_5068923]

How would you have reacted if it had been your uninsured van that had been blown onto another van, would you be putting your hand in your pocket to pay for the damage or would you say 'it wasn't my fault'?

The real point here is not who is to blame, but to do with responsibility, your complaining because the other owner went to the expense of insuring there van and you didn't, if this had been the other way round you could have caused thousands of pounds of damaged and I can see you standing there say 'well your insured'.

Get a life and get insured.

Thankyou for that Matthew, this story does have a happy ending-

We have purchased another van and yes it is insured,we were so nervous about towing it that we had it insured beforehand.

 

[CliveV]

I think John L & Mathew just about sum it up!

But can I just make sure I understand what you are asking here Geoff?

You make decide NOT to insure your van and expect to be able to claim against the policy of the other party?

If this is not a classic example of why Insurance Companies are treating any claim with a high degree of suspicion then I do not know what is!

For those who have problems making genuine claims it is worth noting that idiotic nonsence claims like this are making your life more difficult and increasing the costs of the insurer, which will of course be passed onto you.

All claims however stupid have to be dealt with and this incurs cost.

I am amazed that Geof had the brass neck to advertise what he did.

 

[Lutz]

It would be unreasonable to expect the insurance of the third party to pay for something that the third party cannot be blamed for. So, unless negligence can be proved, which is unlikely, then this is a case of force majeure which is an uncalculable risk that everybody is left with.