QLD Insurance Law - Can I Withdraw My Car Insurance Claim?

[Desi Saini]

Hi,

I lodged a claim for the damages sustained in a road hit with the Kangroo. The car was towed to the repairer and the car insurance company is asking for more and more information and evidence. It seems the repairer is unnecessarily increasing the bill for the repairs.

In the meantime, I consulted a friend of mine who is also a mechanic and he is confident we can get the parts from the wreckers and repair it for much lesser. Now I realise that the claim history will unnecessarily increase my future insurance premium cost and affect my driving history. The cost payable towards the excess and remaining premiums will be much more than the cost to repair the actual damages.

Can I now withdraw my claim and get the car fixed on my own? What are the ramifications under insurance law?

Please help. All ideas welcome and much appreciated.

Warm regards

 

[Sophea]

Hi Desi,

The insurance company will most likely happily drop the claim and not pay you out on it, however, they will still have a record of the incident. Therefore, you will not be able to say the following year that you have a no claims history or that you have not been involved in an accident - however you were not at fault here obviously so that's a plus.

Point being, it may impact your premiums anyway, and if you haven't already paid your excess, they may not give it back, since you have already filed a claim and they have had to do administrative work on it. If you haven't already paid the excess you may be able to get away with the repairs being cheaper.

Read your policy to determine your rights with regard to withdrawing a claim, it should be in your terms and conditions.