Has anyone claimed for equipment after a car crash?

AberSteve

New member
As per title:

My friend had a bit of an accident on the b4246 yesterday after swerving to avoid an oncoming motorist in the middle of the road and he ended up with his car wrapped around a tree (driver and passengers are all ok).  The one small problem is that in the boot of the car was all of our clubs kit, not really worried about fabric products as they'll be fine, it is the helmets I am a little more concerned about.  The car was a complete write off if that gives you any indication as to the force of the crash.

Can things like this usually be claimed through the car insurance?
 

ttxela

New member
Not quite the same thing but we once successfully claimed for camping equipment lost when a dhingy capsized.
 

Blakethwaite

New member
If the owner is not the negligent party then the insurer of the negligent party will pay for the damaged items providing a loss can be proven and likely with reductions for depreciation/wear & tear.

If a claim is made against the Motor Insurers' Bureau due to a presumably untraced other driver then no if the negligent vehicle cannot be identified.

The driver of your vehicle may have a small amount of personal effects cover but you would need to examine his policy to establish the amount & what's covered
 

grahams

Well-known member
Glad he's OK and yes you most certainly can. His insurance documentation should give details of upper limits etc.

I'm not an ambulance chaser but in a case like this, I would consider making a personal injury claim (assuming he has even minor injuries) as insurance companies often do not give the full value of the car. When I had a car written off a few years ago the Insurance Co. claimed that the bodywork had been scratched before the crash despite the fact that the only bit of the car that was not mangled was the rear hatchback door. The personal injury claim (for minor injuries) plus the insurance claim just about covered the true value of the car.

If he's in the RAC/AA, they provide no win/no fee solicitors.
 

Blakethwaite

New member
Yes, that's the common view.
If there are four injured people in the vehicle then that's 20 to 30k in damages and costs assuming unremarkable injuries, all of which we have to pay for out of our premiums.

No such thing as free money in the long run!
 

Alex

Well-known member
Aye please don't claim for trivial injuries such as brusing and scrapes, it costs us all a fortune as too many people are doing it.
 

badger

Active member
you could also find a problem if you claim for club kit as it may not be covered by your car insurance, if it is not your personal kit. depends on interpretation of the wording, and you can be sure an insurance company will try to wriggle out of paying if you not covered all the dots and crossed all the t's.
A car can be written off with very little visable damage, perfectly safe to drive, its down to the value of the car and costs of repair, a rough figure is if the repair costs are more than 60% of the car then it will most likely be written of.
 

kay

Well-known member
By coincidence I was re-insuring my car this morning, and noticed cover included ?1000 for contents. But it would depend on whether they had to be your contents or whether other people's stuff was included -  need to read the small print for that.

Look also at the club insurance. Many household contents insurance policies include cover for stuff that you take away from home, so if you have similar cover for the club stuff, then you may be able to get reimbursement through that.
 

grahams

Well-known member
Alex said:
Aye please don't claim for trivial injuries such as brusing and scrapes, it costs us all a fortune as too many people are doing it.
That's not true. The main reason for high premiums is that every minor bump and scrape (to the car) costs a fortune to repair. This is partly due to car construction e.g. very expensive to replace colour matched plastic bumpers, wing mirrors and light clusters, and to collusion between insurance companies and garages. Other reasons are the astronomical accident rate of boy racers and the huge number of uninsured drivers - about 30%.
 

graham

New member
If car insurance routinely covered contents to any high degree, then it would make financial sense (though no other) to store your valuables in your car instead of your house.

However, that is not the point here as, I am supposing from the account that the other driver was at fault. In that case his insurance should be obliged to cover all consequential losses to third parties, including your club.
 
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