How to claim from your insurer after an accident

Claiming through your insurer

When you claim through your insurer, you are bound by the terms and conditions of the contract you have entered into. The contract of insurance is there to indemnify you, this means you should be put back into the same material position you were in prior to the loss occurring. You should be in a no better or worse situation.

The original premise of insurance was to provide 'pecuniary compensation' in other word financial monies, for the loss that occurred. Insurers have now manipulated this under the guise of customer service by offering to repair your car, when what they are actually doing is saving themselves money.

On the one hand you may get your car repaired fantastically well as approved repairers have had to jump through many hoops to attain the British Standard most insurers require. Though you do need to be aware that this standard approves the use of second-hand and non-original parts in the repair of your van.

It is very important you read the contract of insurance along with the terms and conditions of that contract prior to making a claim

An insurer will provide indemnity by either repairing your van, providing a cash settlement at the cost of repair (this is not necessarily what it would cost them to repair your car) or dealing with your vehicle as a total loss.

It is very important you read the contract of insurance along with the terms and conditions of that contract prior to making a claim.

You might find clauses you were not aware of. For example, a lower level of glass cover for your windscreen should you have it replaced somewhere other than the insurer's choice of supplier. This can be very important on modern van where advanced driver assistance systems, like adaptive cruise control or automatic city braking, are fitted.

The insurer may try to add an additional excess should you wish to have your van repaired at your own choice of repairer. You can have your vehicle repaired wherever you wish, but insurers try to restrict this.

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