My baby has been injured

**gerhard** · 21-01-2009, 08:51 PM

A truck backed into the mudguard of my Jackaroo a few years ago. It was parked, and I was inside a warehouse. I heard the crunch, but didn't see it, although the storeman saw it all.

I got the truck driver details, and he pleaded with me not to go through insurance because of his claims history, etc, etc.

I thought about his request a bit, then totally rejected and banished the thought of trying to deal direct and extracting $1100 from a stupid truck driver who lived 50ks away across town.

I got a witness statement from the storeman, contacted AAMI and sent all the paperwork to them.

They assessed all the info, and sent me a form

"How your claim affects your Policy"
Policy Excess - You were the innocent party and were able to identify the driver at fault so no excess applies.

No Claim Bonus - From the information provided, you were not at fault and your no claim bonus will continue as if no claim was lodged.

I got my repairer to do the repair and all was good.

From conversations with them, it appeared the driver of the truck had lied about what happened and tried to blame me, and the witness statement I had was the evidence I needed to make it "not his word against mine".

Seems you have a Police statement/report available so your situation is, from a technical sense, almost identical to mine in that the guilty driver was identified irrefutably.

My advice is to claim through your Ins co, but confirm with them first in case there are surprises in the fine print.

**brad** · 21-01-2009, 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by gerhard

They assessed all the info, and sent me a form

"How your claim affects your Policy"
Policy Excess - You were the innocent party and were able to identify the driver at fault so no excess applies.

No Claim Bonus - From the information provided, you were not at fault and your no claim bonus will continue as if no claim was lodged.
t.

But what about the yearly policy cost? Was that affected?

I had a policy with AAMI in the early days with a protected NCB, etc and a not-at-fault/other driver identified claim put my renewal up by 20%. AAMI claimed this was because of other factors but getting my girlfriend to get a quote using the same details as mine (but no claims) had the price back to where it was pre-claim.

I agree though - easier to let your insurer be the bully

**gregozedobe** · 21-01-2009, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by mrgolf

Who are you with? When my MkII got damaged by someone (similar incident to woofy, but on a roundabout with the monger exiting the in the left lane from the right lane...) I claimed through my insurer and they chased the other party... Isnt this the way things just work???

I'm with Allianz, and have a $1,000 excess. They have told me verbally that I can claim through them and they will chase NRMA (insurer of the at fault driver) for payment and that it won't affect me at all. I'm not totally convinced this will be the case, as once I make a claim I suspect this will affect my premium for the next 5 years ! (based on the questions they ask you when you are applying for insurance cover). This has certainly been the experience of some others. Even if it is not your fault it is still a claim, and goes on your insurance record.

Originally Posted by gerhard

Seems you have a Police statement/report available so your situation is, from a technical sense, almost identical to mine in that the guilty driver was identified irrefutably.

My advice is to claim through your Ins co, but confirm with them first in case there are surprises in the fine print.

Yes, no problem apportioning blame in my case, but I need to work through the fine print and decide what is best for me in the long term. I need to consider the long term results, not just what is cheaper this year. If I am slugged a higher premium for each of the next 5 years then it may be cheaper in the long run to pay for the repairs myself.

If it is better for me to pay up front for the repairs (ie not making a claim on my insurance) whether I can get any money from the other driver or not then that is what I'll do. I'll get my car assessed first, once I know how much repairs will cost I'll have a better idea which is the best way for me to go.

I wonder how the corolla's driver reacted ? They would have come out to their pranged (two month old) car with just a note from the police under the wiper.