Car insurance payouts to be sped up

Richard Aucock, Contributor
Tue, 07 Jan 2025

Obtaining police reports is described as the key bottleneck in settling car insurance payouts – and a specialist believes a new report process can help speed things up.

Claims Management & Adjusting (CMA), a motor insurance loss adjuster, has developed the new police report request process and wants forces across the country to adopt it.

Often, information is not disclosed due to a "misguided or onerous application of data protection law," says CMA.

This is leading to the time from loss to payout being prolonged on many theft and collision claims. The public understandably blame car insurers, says CMA, who in turn point to red tape and a lack of resources on the law enforcement side.

To get around this, CMA simply asks the policyholder to give their consent to the police to disclose the crime report as part of its initial claims handling procedure.

"It seemed obvious to us, with our road traffic collision, theft and highway claims expertise, but apparently no one else thought to try it," says CMA technical director Philip Swift, himself a former detective.

"At a stroke, it solves several issues. Most importantly, it means faster resolution and reduced inconvenience for customers. For the insurance industry, it has the added benefit of treating all legitimate providers equally, unlike the current Memorandum of Understanding which favours certain insurers."

It could even be a welcome money-earner for the policy, by encouraging the purchase of reports for around £160 each, rather than pushing insurers towards alternative methods, such as ‘Subject Access Request’.

The move sounds disarmingly simply but will be of interest to many motorists who have suffered because of a rise in thefts and decline in recoveries.

"We have proved this process works and very much hope that others embrace it and make it standard practice nationwide," says CMA.

Ask HJ

Can we contest a 50/50 insurance claim decision?

Last year my daughter, intending to travel straight on using the outside lane of a two lane roundabout, was hit in the rear by a large grey van exiting the roundabout from the inside lane. Her car was spun around leaving her dazed, she panicked for her safety and pulled off the roundabout. The van briefly stopped but then left the scene without giving details. Apparently this is not a police issue and her own insurer has not been much help. Through a lot of hardwork on our part we managed to track down the van owners. Who, eventually, gave us their insurers details. The car has only just been repaired but her own insurer has suggested 50/50 responsibility. A short video we obtained clearly shows her car to be in the correct lane. On what basis could they suggest 50/50 is fair?

Your daughter’s insurer could be suggesting a 50/50 split responsibility because it is unclear from their end who is at fault. However, we strongly advise you share all evidence (written statements, photographs and video footage) with her insurer. Once they have all of the evidence it might be best to have a phone call with them to discuss their decision to give you and your daughter some clarity. However, if you are unhappy with the insurer’s decision, you can escalate the issue to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). They can review the case independently and determine whether the insurer acted fairly based on the evidence provided.

Answered by Rhydian Jones

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