LV Motorhome Insurance claim. Big problem

jerryz

jerryz

Joined
Jul 13, 2023
Posts
940
Likes collected
4,092
Location
All over Europe now
Funster No
97,311
MH
Adria 680ST Gold
When my MH was hit by a Renault van on M27 a few weeks ago all seemed clear

The driver of Renault admitted to me and Police that he caused the incident when he drifted into my lane and his wing mirror and then bumper made my van unstable and then go into his lane . This is in Police report ,

However a third party dash cam only shows the last part of the incident and not his intial drift into my lane or impact so his insurers are now claiming against me and LV have caved in?????

The police also saw the dash cam evidence from 3rd party and they say it does not show the start of the incident but that the Renault driver clearly admitted to drifting into my lane and causing the whole accident..

LV are obviously being lazy and say they will dump the whole thing on me and my unblemished 33 years NCD record when I am the abused party ,,m I need to fight this and will need advice on what to do now , I am very upset as it is after the accident and now to be blamed for it as well when I was not at fault is aweful.

I am now serously thinking about giving up on MH as I have not had any problems in 30 years with cars or motorcycles

How can I get LV to put this right?????
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Do you have legal cover to pursue uninsured losses? If you do it might be worth talking to the legal team, it could provoke an internal argument at LV. I think most insurers have knock for knock agreements so it probably just an internal matter at LV. However worth remembering that bonuses etc are based on “no claim” not “no blame”.
 
Upvote 0
Insurers tell you never to admit fault. The car driver shouldn't have done this and I am not sure it is taken into account by the insurance companies. It's really up to the insurance companies to decide how to settle the incident.

I really don't understand your thoughts about giving up the motorhome due to this incident. You could have had a similar experience in your car or motorbike. With no proof this would just be decided as a 'knock for knock' incident by insurance companies with each company looking after its own policyholder and both losing no claims.

I understand it is annoying and upsetting and I would try and fight it is I were you but when it comes down to it, if you lose, it will just be a small claim on your record which you will need to declare for the next 5 years when you renew and you will lose some no claims entitlement but in the grand scheme of things it will just be 'undefineable' increase in your premium next year with could possibly be negated by shopping around for a new insurer next time anyway.

Personally I wouldn't let it spoil my enjoyment of my motorhome. Just put it down to one of life's annoying incidents and get on with enjoying your motorhome.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
VXman said:
Insurers tell you never to admit fault. The car driver shouldn't have done this and I am not sure it is taken into account by the insurance companies. It's really up to the insurance companies to decide how to settle the incident.

I really don't understand your thoughts about giving up the motorhome due to this incident. You could have had a similar experience in your car or motorbike. With no proof this would just be decided as a 'knock for knock' incident by insurance companies with each company looking after its own policyholder and both losing no claims.

I understand it is annoying and upsetting and I would try and fight it is I were you but when it comes down to it, if you lose, it will just be a small claim on your record which you will need to declare for the next 5 years when you renew and you will lose some no claims entitlement but in the grand scheme of things it will just be 'undefineable' increase in your premium next year with could possibly be negated by shopping around for a new insurer next time anyway.

Personally I wouldn't let it spoil my enjoyment of my motorhome. Just put it down to one of life's annoying incidents and get on with enjoying your motorhome.
Click to expand...
All well and good , but for the OP this is very unfair,, especially as the Police have clearly stated it was not his fault and have evidence of the other party admitting liability.
Does seem like very sloppy practice from the OP's insurer, who are supposed to look after THEIR clients interests, ( or customers if you prefer).
And especially if there is evidence that their client ( or customer ) is in no way at fault.
 
Upvote 0
Captain Yoghurtpot said:
All well and good , but for the OP this is very unfair,, especially as the Police have clearly stated it was not his fault and have evidence of the other party admitting liability.
Does seem like very sloppy practice from the OP's insurer, who are supposed to look after THEIR clients interests, ( or customers if you prefer).
And especially if there is evidence that their client ( or customer ) is in no way at fault.
Click to expand...
LV will be working on the principal of what’s the cheapest way to resolve this , not ‘we have a duty to our clients’ they will not fight the claim no matter who thinks they are in the wrong unless there is compelling evidence.
The fact that a Police officer at the scene and the other driver initially said it was their fault will not make much difference especially if driver is now saying ‘not my fault’ our OP could have got it wrong and caused the accident, who knows without full evidence, some one saying ‘it’s my fault’ isn’t evidence it’s an indication that he may have been confused and dazed !
LV will just want to clear the case through the system knowing that they will get their money back one way or another.🥴

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
I have not made a claim for any vehicle in 31 years and as I am not at fault I will not be the fall guy for another persons error.
LV clearly have not seen the police report or other witnesses who saw his van hitting mine ,

I have asked to see the dashcam footage , but LV say that DPDR rules may prevent this ???

I just got off the phone to LV .. they also said that police reports are of no opinion to insurers when accruing blame ???!!!!!!!
 
Upvote 0
Captain Yoghurtpot said:
All well and good , but for the OP this is very unfair,, especially as the Police have clearly stated it was not his fault and have evidence of the other party admitting liability.
Does seem like very sloppy practice from the OP's insurer, who are supposed to look after THEIR clients interests, ( or customers if you prefer)
Click to expand...

I think you are reminiscing of a different times no one gives a damn anymore about the people they are working for particularly insurance companies. They will just look for the simplist, easiest way to resolve this. The police won't be bothered either - it's not a criminal case.

All the OP could do is fight it with the insurance company (which I would do also to a certain extent but perpare to be disappointed) take legal action or just accept it as a small annoyance of life. (Which is probably the most sensible route if you don't want a lot of stress and pain)
 
Upvote 0
jerryz said:
I have not made a claim for any vehicle in 31 years and as I am not at fault I will not be the fall guy for another persons error.
LV clearly have not seen the police report or other witnesses who saw his van hitting mine ,

I have asked to see the dashcam footage , but LV say that DPDR rules may prevent this ???

I just got off the phone to LV .. they also said that police reports are of no opinion to insurers when accruing blame ???!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
That’s what I said 😉
The fact that you haven’t had a bump in 31 years indicates that under the law of averages you were due to cause one anyway 😝
 
Upvote 0
Captain Yoghurtpot said:
All well and good , but for the OP this is very unfair,, especially as the Police have clearly stated it was not his fault and have evidence of the other party admitting liability.
Does seem like very sloppy practice from the OP's insurer, who are supposed to look after THEIR clients interests, ( or customers if you prefer).
And especially if there is evidence that their client ( or customer ) is in no way at fault.
Click to expand...

My recent experience of LV is they will choose the path of least resistance in the event of a claim by a third party. They are not interested in making any efforts to protect the interests of their policyholder even when the amount claimed against them is highly inflated. In our case, the other driver had said he wasn't going to make a claim (we have his text message confirming that). We didn't claim, because there was no damage to our car, which speaks volumes. We only found out that this third party had made an inflated claim, and that claim had been paid without referring it to myself as policyholder, until several months later, at renewal time. Quite shocking poor service. They don't care.

All that will happen is your no claims record is toast, and you get hit with several years of higher premiums. Shop around? In practice, other insurers might decline to cover you when renewal time comes, which becomes a nasty catch-22. It is unfair, but there is little you can do.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
VXman said:
I think you are reminiscing of a different times no one gives a damn anymore about the people they are working for particularly insurance companies. They will just look for the simplist, easiest way to resolve this. The police won't be bothered either - it's not a criminal case.

All the OP could do is fight it with the insurance company (which I would do also to a certain extent but perpare to be disappointed) take legal action or just accept it as a small annoyance of life. (Which is probably the most sensible route if you don't want a lot of stress and pain)
Click to expand...
I tend to agree. If I were the OP I would clearly put the facts as I have them to the insurer in writing. Then for my own peace of mind I would probably treat it as out of my hands and move on.

For them it's just another admin transaction between insurers and they try to get things done with the least fuss, dispute between insurers and cost. That is probably what is on the other side of this - another insurer who says what proof do you have, within the protocols of the kind of proof we have agreed to accept between insurers?

It is unfair, but from experience your premium would increase a bit anyway (you've either hit someone or you're the sort of person who gets hit by others). The difference between the two outcomes may not even be that easy to distinguish. If you have a protected no claims bonus you may even have some leeway in terms of the number of incidents they allow.

(I got hit from behind in stop-start traffic once. My premium went up. My wife got hit by someone who cut her up, initially stopped and then raced away. Her premium went up...)
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
this Is why dash cams are needed as you can’t rely on insurer's as you once did, they will always look for a way out of paying up who ever is at fault.
the world we live in is not what we are used to at times
 
Upvote 0
Do feel for the OP 19 years ago my DIL was hit at a roundabout, car overturned and she was, heavily pregnant, left sudpended upside down for a time. Other driver had been prosecuted and found guilty of a driving offence and other driver's insurance was still disputing the claim.
nothing new
 
Upvote 0
Get legal advice from somewhere. Somewhere in the ensuing process the police officer at the scene can be interviewed. While the other drivers statement to him is admissible both civilly and criminally, what is only admissible civilly is the officers opinion of the cause of the accident. You would need this to successfully challenge the other driver. There will be a payment for this interview, but then you can decide if you think it's worth taking further. The dash cam evidence is still critical so preserve it properly.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
In a similar incident many years ago when my clean licence was essential for my work as a Heavy Vehicle Test Driver, my insurance included Legal cover and my/their Solicitor managed to get the(heavily redacted), Police constables note book entry and because I challenged the third party, it finished in court.
I was exonerated!

Can you not, in this day & age, appeal to the Ombudsman?

PS. I'm slightly confused about the third party dash-cam footage, in the first post you state that it only covers the end of the incident.
Later you say that LV will not let you see it?
I believe you are, or at least your Solicitor, allowed to see it as it is pertinent to your claim.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
jerryz said:
I have not made a claim for any vehicle in 31 years and as I am not at fault I will not be the fall guy for another persons error.
LV clearly have not seen the police report or other witnesses who saw his van hitting mine ,

I have asked to see the dashcam footage , but LV say that DPDR rules may prevent this ???

I just got off the phone to LV .. they also said that police reports are of no opinion to insurers when accruing blame ???!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Insurance ombudsman perhaps?
 
Upvote 0
Every large company these days will gladly take your money. but as soon as you have a problem, our something goes wrong they all run for the hills and do not give a toss. All done online or the phone, you get passed from pillar to post until someone tells you what you want to hear, and then puts the phone down and forgets all about you. Customer service for large companies is a thing of the past and saves on staff and therefore increases profit.
 
Upvote 0
As your no claim bonus will be lost dealing with your hit and run incident and I would guess the damage from the first incident is the greatest , I would just move on, the repairs can be sorted and you get to enjoy your time away 👍

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
PaulW2 said:
I tend to agree. If I were the OP I would clearly put the facts as I have them to the insurer in writing. Then for my own peace of mind I would probably treat it as out of my hands and move on.

For them it's just another admin transaction between insurers and they try to get things done with the least fuss, dispute between insurers and cost. That is probably what is on the other side of this - another insurer who says what proof do you have, within the protocols of the kind of proof we have agreed to accept between insurers?

It is unfair, but from experience your premium would increase a bit anyway (you've either hit someone or you're the sort of person who gets hit by others). The difference between the two outcomes may not even be that easy to distinguish. If you have a protected no claims bonus you may even have some leeway in terms of the number of incidents they allow.

(I got hit from behind in stop-start traffic once. My premium went up. My wife got hit by someone who cut her up, initially stopped and then raced away. Her premium went up...)
Click to expand...
deleted.
 
Upvote 0
I had an accident in 2012 where a cyclist in the dark road across me at the top of a motorway slip road. The cyclist was injured and did £1500 damage to my car. She broke her arm. The cyclist admitted to the police she was at fault and had chanced it. This was all passed to the insurance company. They even sent out an insurance assessor to view the scene and take photographs. I heard nothing until I had my renewal. Oddly my insurance had not increased significantly. I did have NCB protection. I telephoned to ask why I had not heard anything only to be informed that they had paid out around £13K to the cyclist. I was told cyclist and pedestrians accidents are never challenged as they are deemed the vulnerable party.

Doesn't help your case but I think highlights how insurance companies will view certain accidents. Just to pint out this wasn't LV.

What I don't understand from your post is how the initial drift in to your lane was not captured on the dash-cam when the rest was. It could only have been a matter of a few seconds for the whole event to unfold and why aren't the police dealing with careless driving by the Renault driver on the basis of his admission.
 
Upvote 0
DavidG58 said:
As your no claim bonus will be lost dealing with your hit and run incident and I would guess the damage from the first incident is the greatest , I would just move on, the repairs can be sorted and you get to enjoy your time away 👍
Click to expand...
It is not hit and run though. The other drive admitted fault to the police. Hit and run is where the other party leaves the scene.
 
Upvote 0
Upvote 0
I am wondering what would happen if both drivers are insured via the same company? after all LV like many others have subsidiary companies, so its too easy for them to do a knock for knock as an easy way to resolve issues & claims.
My wife had a similar incident a few years ago in our brand new car, she was sideswiped by another car entering a merging road, he simply didnt see that my wife was beside him as he moved across lanes. He admitted fault, but then denied it later, the claim was via RSA and they went for a knock for knock, even though the surveyor recognised it was the usual side swipe from left side damage, but as usual no one stopped to act as witness.

I feel strongly that the law needs changing, and the ombudsman should never have allowed that if you have a no fault claim, that it goes against you for 5 years at least, causing higher premiums through no fault of your own. Its stupid to assume, like they suggest, that if you have had someone run into you, that its more likely to happen to you again.:swear:
LES
 
Upvote 0
To be blunt this is purely a financial transaction between two financial institutions. Who’s to blame whilst emotional for the OP has little or no bearing on the case. If the OP has protected NCD his premium next year will go up whether he was to blame or he wasn’t. That’s just the way it is and in my view isn’t worth getting too exercised about.
 
Upvote 0
Upvote 0

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top