Collision with a Deer on motorway. HELP

[Wowbagger]

A similar thing happened to me early this year, a deer ran out in front of me on the A9 north of Perth, I was going at 55 miles per hour and managed to brake a fair bit so the damage wasn't too bad and the car was still drivable.
My insurer is Churchill, it took a few months to get the car booked in and I got an appallingly bad MG 5 as a loan car through Auxillis.
I am 57, live in rural Perthshire, have full protected no claims and no points, I just got my insurance renewal and the premium went from £800.00 to £2200.00, I made the mistake of allowing them to automatically renew it so it is probably a good idea not to let that happen.
Good luck with getting it all sorted out.

 

[thewishy]

Looking at mine, with "plus" insurance I get a car "the same physical size" as my car, but no guarantee it'll be the same standard or an EV. So I guess that leaves me with a Mondeo? (Needed plus primarily for EU driving, which isn't guaranteed to be covered these days...)

End of the day, the hire car is a cost to your insurer, so kinda makes sense to minimise it on a standard policy (after all, who reads the policy details before the price?). You'd hope they could at least match an automatic for an automatic though...

Hope it gets repaired soon, and glad nobody was hurt

 

[GlynG]

There are quite a few insurance companies that advertise (Direct Line is one) that if you hit by an uninsured driver or vehicle damaged when parked up and your not present that they stand the cost without any loss of your NCB.
You haven't said who your insurer is - or I've missed it but could this be a case whereby the person you spoke with says its your fault and will loose your NCB thinking they are right. don't see the difference personally if it was an uninsured driver or a deer unless there is a catch in that an uninsured driver must be able to be identified so perhaps litigation could be taken against them by your insurer. Good luck with it all anyway, hope the experience turns out better than you are expecting.

 

[Danno_]

I am just in the middle of a claim/repair process as my wife reversed our MY into another car on the street. She later admitted to not using the reversing camera .

I am with Churchill and will only get a like-for-like car because I paid an additional fee for 'premium' cover which was primarily due to better Europe cover as well. Protected no claims also comes at a cost but I have 10 years and can claim twice in a 3 year period before it drops so I figure it's worth it even if the insurance cost still goes up (the accident added £200 to my premium this year).

Auxillis are also responsible for my hire car. Churchill have also found an approved repair shop. The accident happened at the end of July and the car was supposed to be in last week but then the part (rear tailgate) changed back to being on backorder with no date. This is a Tesla issue not the repairer. This was after all repairs were booked in, hire car arranged, pick up arranged etc.

So far, my experience with Auxillis has been fine though. They offered a replacement electric MG and it was quite straightforward to speak with them to cancel it after the repair shop had to cancel the repair. Obviously when I finally get the car repair it might be different, but so far the only annoyance is the length of time it's taking Tesla to supply the part!

As an aside the repair bill for a scratched bumper and dented tailgate is £5k, which I think is taking the piss and if I thought it could be repaired at reasonable without claiming on the insurance I would have done, but as it is we are trapped in the system...

£200 for a tailgate and £125 for a bumper on eBay, plus paint if it‘s not the correct colour…

 

[Blueskye]

I just claimed against Churchill for some debris damage, exactly the same Veetec and Auxillis. But my cover should give me a same size car.

Guess will see what happens.

Sorry to hear that..
Hope it all goes well.

 

[Blueskye]

To add to other feedback…..

Veetec repaired my car a couple of years ago and returned it with paint in a shocking state - fish eyes all over bonnet. The guy who dropped it off was so embarrassed when I pointed it out. It went back and they did make good but be prepared to inspect it like you hopefully did when you picked it up from Tesla.

My loan car was due to be an Aygo (my insurance only allowed for basic car) thru Enterprise rent a car. Enterprise looked after me and offered me a Hybrid Hyundai estate car for a surcharge of £5 per day. A dog of a car but at least it was more practical for the many weeks I had to have it. Maybe an upgrade to the car you’re being offered would be possible?

That’s good to know, thank you.
I will enquire tomorrow if that’s an option.

 

[Blueskye]

To add to other feedback…..

Veetec repaired my car a couple of years ago and returned it with paint in a shocking state - fish eyes all over bonnet. The guy who dropped it off was so embarrassed when I pointed it out. It went back and they did make good but be prepared to inspect it like you hopefully did when you picked it up from Tesla.

My loan car was due to be an Aygo (my insurance only allowed for basic car) thru Enterprise rent a car. Enterprise looked after me and offered me a Hybrid Hyundai estate car for a surcharge of £5 per day. A dog of a car but at least it was more practical for the many weeks I had to have it. Maybe an upgrade to the car you’re being offered would be possible?

Oh noo.. but it made me think…
Tesla is customary to stuff like that.. so maybe they want to ensure you get the manufacturer’s experience with them too?

 

[Blueskye]

Not wanting to scare you but here are the issues the delivery driver and I found on my bonnet and he highlighted with his special pen. I’d forgotten quite how bad until I found this pic again.

View attachment 979321

Gosh You deffo can see it quite a bit of that orange peel..

 

[Blueskye]

I am just in the middle of a claim/repair process as my wife reversed our MY into another car on the street. She later admitted to not using the reversing camera .

I am with Churchill and will only get a like-for-like car because I paid an additional fee for 'premium' cover which was primarily due to better Europe cover as well. Protected no claims also comes at a cost but I have 10 years and can claim twice in a 3 year period before it drops so I figure it's worth it even if the insurance cost still goes up (the accident added £200 to my premium this year).

Auxillis are also responsible for my hire car. Churchill have also found an approved repair shop. The accident happened at the end of July and the car was supposed to be in last week but then the part (rear tailgate) changed back to being on backorder with no date. This is a Tesla issue not the repairer. This was after all repairs were booked in, hire car arranged, pick up arranged etc.

So far, my experience with Auxillis has been fine though. They offered a replacement electric MG and it was quite straightforward to speak with them to cancel it after the repair shop had to cancel the repair. Obviously when I finally get the car repair it might be different, but so far the only annoyance is the length of time it's taking Tesla to supply the part!

As an aside the repair bill for a scratched bumper and dented tailgate is £5k, which I think is taking the piss and if I thought it could be repaired at reasonable without claiming on the insurance I would have done, but as it is we are trapped in the system...

That’s good to hear
When I spoke to them today they seemed nice but I heard the problems are usually after.

I since this afternoon looked at my policy properly and realised Direct Line have Guaranteed Hire and GH Plus and I let you guess which one is on my policy .

I take it adding it on now won’t matter, will it
? (I’m confident it won’t )

 

[Blueskye]

A similar thing happened to me early this year, a deer ran out in front of me on the A9 north of Perth, I was going at 55 miles per hour and managed to brake a fair bit so the damage wasn't too bad and the car was still drivable.
My insurer is Churchill, it took a few months to get the car booked in and I got an appallingly bad MG 5 as a loan car through Auxillis.
I am 57, live in rural Perthshire, have full protected no claims and no points, I just got my insurance renewal and the premium went from £800.00 to £2200.00, I made the mistake of allowing them to automatically renew it so it is probably a good idea not to let that happen.
Good luck with getting it all sorted out.

Good god that’s close to being tripled.

I can only stay with Direct Line on renewal as for some reason every other company offer me quotes for £5K + for no reason.
It’s been like that since I took my first car
So they have me by the balls quite literally, luckily, they don’t know that

 

[Blueskye]

There are quite a few insurance companies that advertise (Direct Line is one) that if you hit by an uninsured driver or vehicle damaged when parked up and your not present that they stand the cost without any loss of your NCB.
You haven't said who your insurer is - or I've missed it but could this be a case whereby the person you spoke with says its your fault and will loose your NCB thinking they are right. don't see the difference personally if it was an uninsured driver or a deer unless there is a catch in that an uninsured driver must be able to be identified so perhaps litigation could be taken against them by your insurer. Good luck with it all anyway, hope the experience turns out better than you are expecting.

I thought I’ve mentioned it in my OP.
I’m with Direct Line.

Do you have any suggestions of how I could try to argue this?
(I’m definitely up for an argument if it has the potential of getting me anywhere..)

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Do Novo still do claims management? That was a popular option at one point. Worth a call if so.. they've got to be better than Auxillis.

 

[M1tch]

The other day was travelling apprx 300miles and at about 290miles I hit a deer!

oh dear…..

(sorry couldn’t resist and surprised no one else had done it.)

 

[GlynG]

I thought I’ve mentioned it in my OP.
I’m with Direct Line.

Do you have any suggestions of how I could try to argue this?
(I’m definitely up for an argument if it has the potential of getting me anywhere..)

Well Direct Line do make their claims over the media that the insured shouldn't suffer a loss if they weren't responsible for it, clearly you were not responsible for a deer running into you.

As i mentioned before, sometimes staff working for a company believe they are right in what they are saying and will speak with confidence to a customer but wrongly advise them - I would seek a second opinion and present your case as the victim in all of this and given the fact they do pay out with no loss of NCB for claims submitted a result of an uninsured driver collision then what's the fundamental difference with an uninsured Deer - either way the other party responsible isn't going to pay.
Perhaps you need a response from the underwriters or someone more senior in the team rather than the operative on the phone to get a definitive answer - and if they explain the reasons for their decision - and its a refusal, at least you will have a proper understanding of their position.

 

[Wattsisname]

I am just in the middle of a claim/repair process as my wife reversed our MY into another car on the street. She later admitted to not using the reversing camera .

I am with Churchill and will only get a like-for-like car because I paid an additional fee for 'premium' cover which was primarily due to better Europe cover as well. Protected no claims also comes at a cost but I have 10 years and can claim twice in a 3 year period before it drops so I figure it's worth it even if the insurance cost still goes up (the accident added £200 to my premium this year).

Auxillis are also responsible for my hire car. Churchill have also found an approved repair shop. The accident happened at the end of July and the car was supposed to be in last week but then the part (rear tailgate) changed back to being on backorder with no date. This is a Tesla issue not the repairer. This was after all repairs were booked in, hire car arranged, pick up arranged etc.

So far, my experience with Auxillis has been fine though. They offered a replacement electric MG and it was quite straightforward to speak with them to cancel it after the repair shop had to cancel the repair. Obviously when I finally get the car repair it might be different, but so far the only annoyance is the length of time it's taking Tesla to supply the part!

As an aside the repair bill for a scratched bumper and dented tailgate is £5k, which I think is taking the piss and if I thought it could be repaired at reasonable without claiming on the insurance I would have done, but as it is we are trapped in the system...

A friend's Hyundai EV was rear ended by a London bus. The repairers have been waiting more than a month already for a tailgate. Another friend waited three months for his CRV to be mended.
In both cases brand new hire cars were provided of at least like quality.
Conclusions:The delay in car part supply is not exclusively a Tesla issue. Neither is the ubiquity of the issue a valid excuse for Tesla - we expect better!
Secondly, we are all paying for these extended period car hire charges through ever rising premiums.

It would be nice if the motorists' new best friend the PM, would commission an inquiry into the motor insurance industry.

 

[Zigway]

I just got my insurance renewal and the premium went from £800.00 to £2200.00, I made the mistake of allowing them to automatically renew it so it is probably a good idea not to let that happen.

Depending on the small print of your auto-renewal with your insurer, you might be able to cancel it within 14 days and get the rest of your premium back if you can find a better quote. Always worth shopping around as you say. I have almost zero customer loyalty with insurance companies!

 

[hsfrank]

well, I cannot speak for other countries, in the US striking an animal is a driver fault claim. it is no different (as an example only) from striking a pedestrian. You are required when driving to anticipate circumstances such as animals or objects in the road and to drive and appropriate speed, so as avoid them. Please consider yourself lucky that you were not injured.

 

[MrBadger]

My issues are the following:
- Car is nowhere near comparable to mine in size
- I was travelling and planning to stay 2-3 weeks here and therefore I had a boot full (including rear seats down) of belongings and other things. There is 0 chance to fit all that into a Micra or Aygo if I had to go back home (likely, given the car isn't going to be fixed that quickly).
- Due to the nature of my work I can't roll up with a car like that as it will make look half dodgy and half not serious or not good at my job given I can't afford something more premium. (I know it's superficial AF and insurance DGAF but it is a problem for me and I definitely cannot afford to hire one myself for 2 months or more while paying all my other expenses and the loan on the car )
- I drive a LOT and have quite a few commitments (hence the trip) with a lot of medical and work appts and gas on a car will cost me a lot compared to charging the car ).
Do any of the above matter? - Possibly the auto thing and not similar to my car size/capacity is the only thing I can leverage I take it?

I obviously do not know what your car insurance policy covers [edit, just noticed you do mention it later. sorry to rub salt into the wound...], but I thought that I would post this as a reminder that not all car insurance policies are equal. Many years ago, my wife had a no fault claim (someone hit the car whilst it was parked) and during repair she got a loan car. It was only for a couple of days thankfully, but learned the cons of saving a few £ on car insurance. As well as getting a small loan car, as a named driver I was not allowed to drive the courtesy car, it was only for main driver - I remember mentioning that I could also drive third party on my personal insurance and they really didn't like that comment as they deemed that it was 'emergency cover only' and not day to day driving of their courtesy car. I think we were both with direct line at the time, who for future reference pointed us in the direction of a 'guaranteed car hire' type policy.

This is their current policy details. Only 'Comprehensive Plus' would give you a similar sized car. But you pay a bit extra for that.

 

[Durzel]

Do Novo still do claims management? That was a popular option at one point. Worth a call if so.. they've got to be better than Auxillis.

I doubt Novo will be of much use unless they plan to take the deer to court to recoup the costs (if they can find and identify it).

 

[Wattsisname]

I doubt Novo will be of much use unless they plan to take the deer to court to recoup the costs (if they can find and identify it).

Stop it!