Hi all,

I was in a car accident last holiday Monday (30th April) and my car was written off. The accident was not my fault, we filled out an 'Europäisches Unfallprotokoll' and I signed a form at my garage last Thursday to say I would like them to take the wrecked car off my hands and I will take the money. I have since found a new car and I have paid the deposit, but I cannot afford to buy it in full until I receive the insurance money! The other drivers insurance company is Allianze Suisse (I have rung them but the claims office was closed).
If anyone could give me an estimation for how long I will have to wait for this money I would really appreciate it. I have a courtesy car for 10 days...can they keep me waiting longer than these 10 days as then I will be left carless after an accident which was not my fault?
I have no experience in this area so any estimation would be massively appreciated!
Many thanks,
BeckyP

If the Police were involved & the matter goes to court then it could be months. If it's very simple then a matter of days, I have been paid out within 14 days, 3rd party claim like yours.

It's your legal obligation to reduce your expenses as much as possible, don't expect a hire car to be paid for indefinitely. Amazingly calling the claims office whilst it's open, will get the answer relevant to your case.

Thanks so much for your help! It was a simple accident, no court, so fingers crossed I will receive the money soon!
Thanks again :-)

I'm with the Zurich, with "Relax" in addition.

When my car was written I got a free hire car for three weeks, until the new car was delivered, and the payment for a generous current market value within 7 days. No police involved...

Golden rule, don't involve the police unless there is personal injury. They are not independent and therefore their reports are not always accurate. They were not a witness so don't have any super human knowledge.

Hi Becky

If it's definately not your fault and the other involved party is fully liable it shouldn't take too long to have the claim settled. Bear in mind that you've got the right to claim your damage and all other expenses that occured directly from the other person's motorinsurance. So discuss it there. But the main question is always whos fault it is. Have you got a collision insurance with your own car? If yes, you could have it sorted via them first. If your car is not older than 7 years you'll get a higher indemnification as from the other person's motorinsurance.

Kind regards
Stefan

Whilst correct, complicating the insurance claim will slow matters down, possibly by a very long time. This is not something the OP wants to get involved in based on the original post. As medical bills & loss of earnings are covered under employment accident insurance, there seems little point in getting complicated with insurance claims in CH.

You can be sure if the OP had collision insurance, they would be contacting their own insurance. FWIW I got paid out at least twice real value from a 3rd party insurer on a 9 year old car. Mistakenly I called the police as it was clearly the other drivers fault, an appeal of the original court decision took 9 months before I was paid.

Similar situation for us, accident with both cars written off...I was not at fault, several witnesses, police report & trip to the ED involved...Offending driver was less than 3 months with driving permit and will apparently suffer a series of consequences from fines to losing their permit etc.

Unfortunately, getting the money for a replacement car nevermind a rental is still unresolved 2 weeks after the accident with the other insurance needing to wait on the police report and the rental held up because the offending driver has not returned documents to his insurance company

All seems a bit convoluted and certainly not fair for us, as victims, to have to go through hoop after hoop...Wondering if there's a way to expedite or even go after the offending driver in court...But, tbh, I've never done this even in the US so not a clue how that works en Suisse

Anyone with some insight on procedures like this?

If police involved it will take time & don't be surprised if you get charged with dangerous driving , it's fairly standard.

We were told the police report route takes time, minimum a month...but seems odd that nothing can go forward without it

Would be even stranger still to be charged with dangerous driving, the specifics of the accident make it virtually improbable...I've never been in an accident before and regardless of how I've replayed the moment over & over, there's no chance I could've avoided being hit...All the witnesses, the driver himself & police corroborated that on the scene...But, again, I have no idea how these things work en Suisse

allianz?

you could wait a LONG time.

20 years ago i crashed into a yorkshire farmers wife's old golf , it was my fault and my car was a total wreck as well.

it took the allianz( maybe they were still elvia then, i can't remember) 15 months to settle the claim. the farmers wife got nearly £8000 for her car which was worth about £120 maximum at the time.

nice work.

i am with the mobiliar now.

if it's not a write-off, your insurance will pursue the 3rd party to pay the costs of repairs....that's where I am but there does not appear to be a delay - even though the police were involved as I was injured.

write-off would have seen my insurance pay out and get it back from the 3rd party.

I'm Zurich, the 3rd party Axa.

The police have already suggested that the person who hit me will likely get a ban for a month but it's not processed yet........

And I have to contact the 3rd party insurer to claim some other things....wish me luck!!

It sounds like your car is insured All Risks, so damage to the car is covered. In that case your insurers will pay regardless so the work can start today!

Your insurance company should pay out, it is up to them then to claim the money back from the other party's insurance company. You should not need to contact them.

indeed I do have fully-comp insurance, for what I pay I am happy to transfer almost all risks to the insurance company

and it's been at the repair shop for 3 weeks since it was moved from the recovery firm's yard.

oh and it's a motorbike. If she hit me in my car, I think she would be a different story.....some cosmetic damage to my car, the other car written off and all caught on camera

Only true if you have voll-kasko.

Tom

In the end, it took just under 7 weeks for the police reports to arrive to both of our insurance. Allianz deposited the money in our account pretty much 7 weeks to the day from the accident and would then pursue the other party's insurance to cover their expenditure.

Well, as a followup to this little story of ours - things became more complicated (As my father in law predicted)

Turns out the other driver was unhappy with the judgement/fines, police report, witnesses etc. and tried to appeal...A couple of weeks ago our insurance told us the judge initially decided to split the costs between our two insurance companies which left us and our insurance company stunned...Mainly because it was fairly open/shut along with sufficient witnesses and the driver's admission of fault at the scene...Part of the driver's appeal involved claiming I failed to use a turn signal or give enough time for it - despite attempting to pass 3 cars who did see it

Our insurance told us that it's a process and while this was the first step and that the case is not finished, we were confused how a judge could look at the case/evidence and make any changes...On top of which, my medical bill was not paid and remains outstanding

Just curious if there is any legal course either in a parallel fashion or after this process is finally over (Whenever that might be)...I don't know anyone with any legal experience en Suisse, especially in traffic accidents and was curious if any EFers have

You can appeal just as the other person did.

So the 3rd party finally paid up for my claim, I was out my deductable until last week. I therefore assume the insurer for the 3rd party was awaiting the "process" which has more than likely resulted in the lady who hit me having some vacation days from driving.

Six months.......but my insurer based on the information did not load my premiums for this so I'm relatively happy.