Damage dealt with as multiple insurance claims

General discussion
#1

Hello All,

I had to report damage to my rear bumper (2 small chips and dent to plastic and one alloy . I am replacing the tyre myself. I was put through to driverline who then immediately put me through to Zurich insurance who logged two separate accident claims.

I am now in a position where I have to declare these claims when I renew my normal car policy.

I was under the impression that repairs would be carried out up to 1k excess (at my cost) and anything over will be dealt with via an insurance claim. Onto have told me that all damage that is not tyre or fair wear and tear is forwarded to Zurich to be treated as accident claims. I think this should be made a lot clearer upon joining maybe a FAQ.

It seems overkill that such small damages would be dealt with as insurance accident claims from the outset. I asked what if I damaged all 4
alloy wheels, would Zurich register 4 accident claims and the answered was yes.

Just wanted to check if others have experienced this and ended up in a position where they’ve had to declare multiple accident claims for minor damage to their insurance provider on a second car? I’m considering returning the car now as I probably can’t afford another hit on my second car policy which is already extortionate in London.

Thanks

Max

#2

I never had to declare the Insurance claims on a Fleet Policy to my own insurers, as from what I was told by Direct Line a long time ago its only Policies in my name they cared about, but things may have changed.

Others will be able to advise better

#3

Thanks for the reply.

Just spoke to my insurer and I’ve been informed that these accident claims do not need to be declared provided that the insurance is not in my name. Worth checking individual policies though for others that are interested in this issue.

Will see if I can claim back via Insurance4Less.

I still think it’s overkill doing it this way. Have others had to go through Zurich when cars have been returned and Onto claiming damage?

Thanks,

Max

#4

@Mozzauk - thanks for the replay, great to see such an active community here.

#5

How did this damage come about?

#6

I think the car was bumped or scraped when parked. The two small chips are on the corner of the bumper so maybe someone trying to squeeze into a space. The alloy wheel was damaged when I went over a pothole.

1 Like
#7

Hi @MaxE ,

Thank you for reporting this!

There is 2 processes we follow regarding damage:

  1. You have had an accident, this is reported to Zurich as a third party may have interest in pursuing as well. In this instance they would repair the insurance work e.g if you were hit in the rear they would repair the rear only.

  2. You have damaged the vehicle e.g 4 alloys, this would be reported to Onto rather than Zurich as if this was to be a claim you would have multiple due to the damage being separate instances.

I and my team can always help provide clarity here, should you ever have damage to your vehicle please do not hesitate to contact me on [email protected]

1 Like
#8

Hello All,

Just a quick update. The damaged e208 was swapped on 5th April. I did this just to be safe with regard to a future I4Less claim as I have read some have had issues with needing to confirm car return. It actually went to the garage for repair on day of the swap so win win for onto and garage i.e. no courtesy car was needed.

I received a call two weeks ago from the garage informing me that the work was complete but they couldn’t tell me the full cost due to ONTO rules. I called Onto repeatedly over the a 2 week period but both ONTO and driverline had no information on the repaire and I kept being passed between the two with usual queries being raised to the ‘second line team’ but no call back or update. Fast forward to present, I just received two separate excess charges for £2k 2 x £1000. I have no idea what Onto are playing at but getting to the bottom of charges with Onto has been a total nightmare the last 2 weeks.

I expected at least a single 1k excess charge early on but given that the repairs are now complete, surely they could easily just charge me the repaire cost which I’m pretty sure is less than 1k.

Onto seem to be in a habit of a ‘charge first and sort out later later’ policy. The issue with this is that refunds take 5 days and I cannot afford for 2k to be taken and 1k refunded 5 days later. I have decided to freeze my card to avoid above and expect a full explanation ASAP from ONTO before any charges are taken. I’m not paying a single penny until I get a response from Onto on this.

Personally I think ONTO should provide at least 4 days to pay invoices (excluding stadard subscription cost) to mitigate the poor back office function and provide a reasonable time frame for customers to sort things out with Onto before any payments are taken.

I just wondered if others have had issue with multiple excess charges?

Thanks

Max9

#9

Will flag @Adam_at_Onto and @Raheel_at_Onto to follow up on this issue for you.

1 Like
#10

Hi @MaxE - if the damage involves another party, whether present or not, then this would always be escalated to our insurers.

You shouldn’t have been charged two excess amounts, so I’m not sure what’s going on there. From the sounds of it, as they’ve registered these as two separate events, this may explain why you’ve been billed twice

I’ll chase an update with our Claims Team for you on this & drop you a DM with any updates :slight_smile:

Thanks - [email protected]

1 Like
#12

Hello,

Thanks for chasing this. I still can’t understand why it has taken over 3 weeks to get to the bottom of the damage issues.

The damage to the e208 was bumper damage and alloy wheel damage. The alloy are not covered by the excess so I only expect one excess charge early on in the claim.

More importantly, the repair is now complete and has been for the 3 weeks, so is there any reason why I have not been informed of the actual damage cost despite repeated phone calls?

Thanks

Max

#13

STILL NOTHING! It’s been 8 days and no news or luck getting through to anyone with answers. I

#14

@MaxE - I’ll chase this again for you with Claims in the morning - you should have been contacted-already.

1 Like
#16

Three weeks on now and still NOTHING…this is beyond a joke now!

#17

Unfortunately 3 weeks in the insurance world is not even a coffee break.
I’ll flag @Adam_at_Onto on this, but I suspect you may have a long wait ahead of you.

#18

It’s taken 12 to resolve mine

#20

I do not expect the insurance claim itself to be resolved in the last few weeks but expect the repair cost, which has been with Onto for 5 weeks now (garage confimed), to be provided by Onto. Also, I should not expect to wait this long to be informed why I’m being charged two sets of 1k excess, as this is part of Onto’s hire agreement and being invoiced by onto not the insurance company.

Thanks

Max