Third Party Insurance Claims

[Rick Sanchez]

Evening,

I hope everyone is doing well.

I have a question regarding third-party insurance claims. How long do they typically take to resolve?

My younger brother (20) was rear-ended at a red light in January. His excess is around R7,500, with a premium of R3,800. Since the cost of damages is only est R6,500, our insurance won’t pay out and advised us to claim directly from the other driver’s insurer, Hollard.

We provided Hollard with a police case number and all relevant details, but they recently stated that it would take an additional 15 days to verify and investigate the accident. They only updated it further to be investigated on the 12th Feb. Given that it has already been over a month, I’m wondering if this timeline is standard or if they are simply delaying the process. We requested an escalation on the offender's part but he said that our insurance must claim from his insurance. But our insurance won't pay out due to our high excess, and thus won't do anything.

Do we just wait now?

Would appreciate any advice on how to proceed.

Thanks in advance!

 

[RedViking]

Surely for that amount you can just go to small claims court? I think anything less than R20 000 ?

OR can't your brother's insurance chase the other insurance. He is paying them for a service, whether there is an excess or not. R3800 is not a small amount for them to just throw the ball back at you. He should really just put pressure on his insurance to sort it out. You should not personally need to deal with the other party.

 

[FiestaST]

Small Claims Court are for claims up to R20k.

Small Claims Courts offer a quicker and easier way of resolving certain civil disputes that involve amounts up to R20 000.
You do not need a lawyer to represent you at a Small Claims Court. All official languages may be used in a Small Claims Court.

What amount can be claimed?

An amount not exceeding R 20 000. (This amount is determined by the Minister from time to time in the Government Gazette, GG 42282, GoN 296, 05 Mar 2019, which comes into effect on 01 Apr 2019. If your claim exceeds R 20 000 in value, you can institute a claim for a lesser amount to pursue your case in the Small Claims Court.

Justice/SCC/Home

The Small Claims Court allows you to institute minor civil claims in a speedy, affordable and simple manner without using an attorney

www.justice.gov.za

 

[RedViking]

Small Claims Court are for claims up to R20k.

Justice/SCC/Home

The Small Claims Court allows you to institute minor civil claims in a speedy, affordable and simple manner without using an attorney

www.justice.gov.za

I still think the insurance must sort this out. It should be no issue for them to deal with the other party to pay for the excess. You pay the excess, your insurance claim from the other party and return your excess. It's standard practice.

 

[Rick Sanchez]

We thought about it but we honestedly don't know the process with the small claims court and that it takes up time due to the fact my younger brother is studying full-time, and working at the hospital. Our insurance suggested if we want to fix the car now, we pay the damages ourselves, so with premiun, that is like 10k, and 10k is not something we have at the moment on short notice. The chasing may take more than a year, or so I heard.

Surely for that amount you can just go to small claims court? I think anything less than R20 000 ?

OR can't your brother's insurance chase the other insurance. He is paying them for a service, whether there is an excess or not. R3800 is not a small amount for them to just throw the ball back at you.

 

[Rick Sanchez]

I still think the insurance must sort this out. It should be no issue for them to deal with the other party to pay for the excess. You pay the excess, your insurance claim from the other party and return your excess. It's standard practice.

Even if our excess is higher than the cost of damages? I will ask my parents for the insurance policy and have a read. Thanks for the advice.

 

[RedViking]

We thought about it but we honestedly don't know the process with the small claims court and that it takes up time due to the fact my younger brother is studying full-time, and working at the hospital. Our insurance suggested if we want to fix the car now, we pay the damages ourselves, so with premiun, that is like 10k, and 10k is not something we have at the moment on short notice. The chasing may take more than a year, or so I heard. Do we wait, or just ask our insurance again for a chase?

I'm not sure, I make it my broker's problem. I don't chase after people if I already pay a small fortune for insurance. That's their job.

Last year I claimed from Santam for insurance and they came back and said the panel beater quote is more than 80% of the insurered amount (2006 model). Told my broker to sort it out and Santam must send the assessor to negotiate with the panel beater until they have agreed on price they are willing to pay. It went from 80% to less than 20% of the insured amount. Make them work, you pay for it. Excess is unfortunately their way to always win, specially if you are still a youngster.

I understand what your say about not having finances, in that case small claims court is the other option. But they will most likely ask you why is your insurance not sorting it out.

 

[RedViking]

Even if our excess is higher than the cost of damages? I will ask my parents for the insurance policy and have a read. Thanks for the advice.

To be honest. Panel beaters ask as much as possible when dealing with insurance. Sometimes for valid reasons (I find that Santam was strict and thorough with the follow ups after repairs and didn't pay until I was happy) and some are just sneaky. Have you tried asking the panel beater how much they will charge if you pay cash because you can't afford the excess from the insurance?

 

[Rick Sanchez]

I'm not sure, I make it my broker's problem. I don't chase after people if I already pay a small fortune for insurance. That's their job.

Last year I claimed from Santam for insurance and they came back and said the panel beater quote is more than 80% of the insurered amount (2006 model). Told my broker to sort it out and Santam must send the assessor to negotiate with the panel beater until they have agreed on price they are willing to pay. It went from 80% to less than 20% of the insured amount. Make them work, you pay for it. Excess is unfortunately their way to always win, specially if you are still a youngster.

I understand what your say about not having finances, in that case small claims court is the other option. But they will most likely ask you why is your insurance not sorting it out.

I see, some things we have to think about further. Maybe it is time to change insurances and have a broker. But due to our age, 23 and 20. Our insurance would still be expensive right?

To be honest. Panel beaters ask as much as possible when dealing with insurance. Sometimes for valid reasons (I find that Santam was strict and thorough with the follow ups after repairs and didn't pay until I was happy) and some are just sneaky. Have you tried asking the panel beater how much they will charge if you pay cash because you can't afford the excess from the insurance?

Actually, we haven't asked the panel beater how much if we pay cash yet. We never thought about that.

 

[RedViking]

But due to our age, 23 and 20. Our insurance would still be expensive right?

Insurance has gotten expensive in general. But age do play a role.

I thought my insurance was too much and started looking around after being with the same insurance for 15 years, I was shocked to see how much the others expect me to pay and the excess. That's just the price we pay living in a high crime and lawless country.

 

[Supervan II]

To be honest. Panel beaters ask as much as possible when dealing with insurance. Sometimes for valid reasons (I find that Santam was strict and thorough with the follow ups after repairs and didn't pay until I was happy) and some are just sneaky. Have you tried asking the panel beater how much they will charge if you pay cash because you can't afford the excess from the insurance?

Best advice in this instance (damages less than excess)!

 

[Rick Sanchez]

Best advice in this instance (damages less than excess)!

Going to do some calls. But if lets say the panel beaters are willing to fix the bumper for much cheaper. We still have to wait for Hollard from the offender? As I think, they may send out an assessor? But like still 15 days later is like 2 months since the accident.

 

[RedViking]

Going to do some calls. But if lets say the panel beaters are willing to fix the bumper for much cheaper. We still have to wait for Hollard from the offender? As I think, they may send out an assessor? But like still 15 days later is like 2 months since the accident.

What do they say when you keep on harassing them because they said 15 days. Would have helped if it was in writing as phones calls means nothing.

 

[Rick Sanchez]

What do they say when you keep on harassing them because they said 15 days. Would have helped if it was in writing as phones calls means nothing.

They said to wait until we are contacted, and if only there is no contact after 15 days, contact the Hollard Call Centre again. We do have some written emails, where we requested a follow up. For the 12 Feb update, we called the centre, and the centre updated it.

They said this:

Good day


Without Prejudice

We acknowledge receipt of your documents sent. We have verified all critical information with regards to this claim and wish to advise that your claim is in the process of being allocated to a consultant who will be attending to your claim through to finalization.

A negotiator will be in touch for the introduction within 14 working days.

 

[Lupus]

Generally you go through your insurance, but also why is the premium so high if the excess is so high? What is being driven?

 

[Rick Sanchez]

Generally you go through your insurance, but also why is the premium so high if the excess is so high? What is being driven?

Yes, I do understand that but our insurance didn't want to pay out due to the damages being lower than the excess. My brother is 20, and had his license for 2 years now. He drives the family's old BMW E90. My peers say that usually premium for our age group is super expensive?

 

[Lupus]

Yes, I do understand that but our insurance didn't want to pay out due to the damages being lower than the excess. My brother is 20, and had his license for 2 years now. He drives the family's old BMW E90. My peers say that usually premium for our age group is super expensive?

What you're paying is super expensive and the premium is way to high, especially if it's a 20 year old car. You might need to shop around for insurance as almost 4k and 7500 excess is ridiculously high

 

[RedViking]

What you're paying is super expensive and the premium is way to high, especially if it's a 20 year old car. You might need to shop around for insurance as almost 4k and 7500 excess is ridiculously high

It's not a cheap car and high premiums and excess seems to be the new norm these days.

But definitely shop around.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I see, some things we have to think about further. Maybe it is time to change insurances and have a broker. But due to our age, 23 and 20. Our insurance would still be expensive right?

Or consider changing the cars…with a premium that high I can only imagine it’s something much fancier than the average 20 year old is driving.

Both a high excess and high premium are insanity. Too late now but your parents should have just kept it on their name and added you as drivers if required.

Third party direct claims do take time and unfortunately you just have to keep hounding them.

Your insurance will wash their hands of you as you are effectively not using them.

Definitely get a second opinion from a broker. I use Stepp.

 

[epah]

First and worst mistake was not getting a broker, everyone without a broker struggles come claim time. This is what happens when you deal with a call centre.

Secondly third party claims are usually a schlep too, they make it is as difficult as possible to get money from them simply because they don’t want to pay, they will prolong the claim process hoping you eventually give up.

If your excess is higher than the damages then insurance usually recommends you fix the damages out of pocket.

I got no positive words for you but this is going to cost you heartache, stress and eventually money. If you want to avoid the former just fix the car yourself and just be done with this entire ordeal.

Then once you are done fixing, it’s time to get a broker and insure with Santam, get that excess low because R7.5k is a lot of money for excess.

Brokers are a god sent!!

Goodluck!