Had an accident in France..

[Tomatefarcie]

A couple of Saturdays ago, someone went into the back of my car while I was stopped in a traffic jam. I think the guy wanted to change lanes but didn't realise we had stopped. The rear quarter (right hand side) of my car is smashed in. His front left side is all dented in.

I have contacted my insurance, who are not helping as they said I only had third party cover. (normally have European cover every year, but have just renewed in June and apparently didn't mention I wanted that again grrrr!).

I have all his details, and contacted his insurance the next day, who confirmed he was indeed insured with them. I have sent them a full report of what happened along with a dozen pictures my husband took of the guy, the scene, and the damages.

I have no news since. I have tried to ring again but it's an 0825 French number which I can't access from here. I have asked for email confirmation from them, still nothing.

What do I do now?

[ripstheirthroatoutliveupstairs]

First of all I am going to put my cross face on at you forgetting insurance that covers other parts of the world.
Then I am going to suggest you repost in living overseas for help.

[beck79]

Sadly, insurance companies in both the UK and overseas are both very slow at responding. Under UK law there are no real rules as to how long they should respond if there is no personal injury claim. Were you injured and did you mention the injury in your correspondence?
The other issue may be whether they understand your correspondence if it was written in English.
Foreign insurers usually have a UK handling agent and the MIB should be able to give you information on who the UK agent is for that particular French insurer, so you could write to them requesting that info.
Finally, if you are injured, your personal injury solicitor could do most of this running around for you.
I deal with this stuff on a day-to-day basis so am happy to post more if you need any more info.

[Tomatefarcie]

Thanks for your replies.

No injuries, thank goodness.

I am French myself, so spoke to them while in France, and wrote to them from England where we live, in French.

I just wondered whether I had any legal leg to stand on. I know the guy never contacted his insurance to declare the accident, and that the lady on the phone said they would chase him up.

So I'm here waiting, not even having an acknowledgement of my correspondence, and driving a wonky car!

[beck79]

sounds very typical of insurers I'm afraid. They obviously need the opportunity to undertake their enquiries with their policyholder, but that can take quite some time. If their policyholder didn't bother to report the accident, that could mean he/she is not particulary cooperative or proactive. If the insurers simply send letters to the policyholder, they will wait for replies, you could be in for a bit of a wait I'm afraid. I think you'll have to keep sending letters and trying to call them I'm afraid. Good luck

[Tomatefarcie]

Thanks for reassuring me.

The bloke was a Chinese national and looked terrified, along with not being able to speak a word of French or English.

He did have all his paperwork in order though so hopefully will save everyone a load of hassle and accept his responsibility. I have pictures of him inspecting the damage on our car and his, can't deny he was there!

Thanks again.