Car insurance

[Pezza]

My wife had a small car accident and our car insurance company, Aviva, waivered our excess and past liability to the other party. We also have this in writing.

Then 4 weeks later they are blaming us and saying we do not have a leg to stand and it is 100 percent our fault.

We belebel very strongly that is not our fault and want to contest.

Do I have a case to the fact they have both verbally and written that we are not to blame but then changed their mind?

They will also not consider a witness as they are our next door neighbor?

Thanks in advance for any help

[des8]

Hi and welcome

If you have an accident involving a third party your insurers take over the settlement of the claim.
They will have your side of the event, and also that of the third party.
Based on their experience they will know whether or not it is worth contesting the matter

They have an absolute right to take over the management of the claim, and are unlikely to change their mind unless you can bring new evidence to the table.

would you care to give us details of the incident?
I'm not sure what you mean when you say " Aviva, waivered our excess and past liability to the other party."
Could you post up their letter (suitably redacted of course)

[Pezza]

Well to start with they put all blame on the other party and therefore waivered the excess and carried out the repair ..saying that they would claim against their insurance.

They also sent us a document stating we were not to blame and now they have changed their mind.

The other person has also told countless lies in their report, for example saying there was 2 of them in the car and there was only 1. Also that their car cannot be used but they live down the same road as me and I see them driving it everyday.

Thank you for your help.

I have uploaded photo of document sent to be 4 weeks after the accident.

[des8]

I'll get back tomorrow
In meantime remove that photo as you have left your name on it

[des8]

So you would appear to have comprehensive insurance and AVIVA have had your vehicle repaired and said they would not require you to pay the excess because they intended to recover that for you from the third party, as based on your description they held the third party 100% responsible for the incident.

Subsequently they revised their opinion, and said they thought your wife was responsible for the accident.

Are they now requiring you pay the excess?

It would seem their initial assessment was made on the basis of the account from your wife. Possibly the third party had not contacted their insurers and so not to delay matters AVIVA just got on with the job.
When the third party realised he was possibly going to have problems with his insurers he eventually gave his version of the incident, which happens to be the more convincing. (were you given a copy of his statement about the incident?)

Ask any policeman about the differences in witness statements about the same event!
There are nearly always contradictions about what was seen.
This is no reflection on your wife.

AVIVA have done what they are supposed to do ie protect their policy holder from harm.
They have paid for the vehicle repairs and are avoiding a possible costly court case,
You pay your premium for this sort of service, and this is what has been delivered.

IMO you are best off just accepting the situation, as there is little you can do any way, and even if you could have the decision reversed it would not make much difference to the outcome.