I was charged £100 after a car accident that wasn’t my fault – I don’t know what to do

LUCY Alderson sorts out your money issues.

Q) My car was damaged in an accident that wasn’t my fault.

The other driver admitted they were liable, so the repair costs were covered.

But I had to pay a £100 excess which I’ve been struggling to claim back. After five months I’m at the end of my tether. Can you help?

Steve Gostlow

Even when you are not at fault for an accident, it can be a punishing experience dealing with insurance claims.

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This saga has been dragging on since you had the accident in April.

It can be very confusing getting to grips with the technical jargon and who owes what.

Initially, you thought your insurance company, KGM, owed you money for the excess.

But it was actually the other person’s insurer who should have paid this out to you.

An insurance excess is the amount you pay towards making a claim on your insurance.

You can find out how much it is by looking on your policy documents.
If it is proved that the accident wasn’t your fault, you can recover the amount you paid on your insurance excess from the other side.

But it can be confusing as a customer to claim this back and you struggled trying to get what you were owed.

The other party agreed that you weren’t in the wrong in August, and you were still £100 down in October.

It’s been an extra stress and demand on your time that you can ill afford as you’re caring for your father, who is terminally ill.

Your insurer should be able to help you get the excess back if they dealt with your claim.

You can take the other driver, or their insurance company, to court if you are having trouble getting them to cough this up.

When I wrote to your insurer, KGM, to see if it could help you track down your money, the firm agreed to pay you back the £100 excess.

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It said that while it wasn’t responsible for paying the excess back to you, it was concerned that you were still out of pocket at a time when money is tight.

I’m relieved you can finally put this matter behind you and focus on spending time with your father.