Q: Do I need to contact the police after an incident involving my car?
Q: What happens if my car is stolen?
Q: Who repairs my car?
Q: What happens if I want to use my own repairer?
Q: What is a total loss?
Q: If my vehicle is a total loss what will I receive in settlement?
Q: How long will it take to sort out my claim?
Q: What are the different levels of cover?
Q: What is a Policy Excess?
Q: What happens if the accident was not my fault?
Q: What happens if the accident was my fault?
Q: What if the other driver disputes the accident circumstances?
Q: What are Uninsured Losses?
Q: What measures do Direct Line take to prevent fraud?
Do I need to contact the police after an incident involving my car? If your car has been stolen you should report the theft to the nearest Police
Station and obtain a crime reference number. If you have been involved in an
accident and there are injuries to another person you should also report the
accident to the Police.
What happens if my car is stolen? The first thing you should do is report the theft to the nearest Police Station and
obtain a crime reference number.
Then contact our Personal Claims Advisers who will take the details from you.
After this, a number of insurance industry database checks designed to protect
our customers from fraud are carried out. A Claims Assessor may also be
appointed to discuss the claim with you.
When our enquiries are successfully completed an offer will be made to settle
your claim.
Who repairs my car? One of our Network Repairers will repair your car. Our Network Repairers are approved garages which have been appointed by Direct Line to provide the highest customer service and quality of repairs for our customers.
In most cases the Network Repairer has the authority to carry out the repairs to your car immediately.
Each repair is carried out in accordance with recognised industry standards, it is guaranteed for at least 5 years and all replaced parts are approved by the car manufacturer.
Our own Engineers regularly visit the Network Repairers to ensure that our high quality standards are met.
We also have our own accident repair sites which allow us to understand the latest repair technology and ensure that the best possible standards are being adopted for our customers.
What happens if I want to use my own repairer? You can use a repairer of your own choice but doing so means that we can't guarantee the work and you will need to obtain an estimate for us to approve before work can commence.
What is a total loss? If the cost of repairs exceed the market value of your car then it is likely we will consider it to be beyond economic repair. This is often referred to as a total loss.
If my vehicle is a total loss what will I receive in settlement? A Direct Line Engineer, or one appointed by us, will inspect your car and place a value on it. We obtain our valuation by researching market trends and car value guides.
We take into account the condition of the car before the incident took place including the bodywork, mileage and interior.
The engineer will contact you to discuss the valuation and, once settlement has been agreed, they will arrange for your Personal Claims Adviser to carry out a series of industry database checks designed to safeguard our policyholders against fraud. Once these have been successfully completed, payment will be sent to you, subject to the deduction of any excess.
How long will it take to sort out my claim? When you call to register your claim a Personal Claims Adviser will give you an approximate indication of the timescales involved.
What are the different levels of cover?
Comprehensive - This gives you both of the cover elements below and also covers accidental damage to your car.
Third Party Fire and Theft - Covers you for claims made by other people for bodily injury or damage to their property following an accident, plus your car is covered if it is stolen or damaged by fire.
Third Party Only - Covers you for claims made by other people for bodily injury or damage to their property following an accident.
What is a Policy Excess? This is the part of the claim that you agree to pay - we cover you for the remaining amount. The Personal Claims Advisor will inform you of the amount and details can also be found in your policy schedule. You should get the excess back if an incident is proven to be the fault of another driver and, if you have Direct Line Car Legal Protection cover, we will attempt to regain any uninsured losses on your behalf. You will only pay an excess when there is damage to your car or if it has been stolen.
What happens if the accident was not my fault? Our first priority is to get your car repaired or settlement to you if it is a total loss.
After this, we will try to recover our outlay from the person responsible for the accident. If we are successful then making the claim will not affect your No Claims Discount. If you have Direct Line Car Legal Protection cover we will also include in our recovery any uninsured losses that you can not recover from any insurance policy.
If the incident circumstances are straightforward this is usually a short process and, whilst in the majority of cases we are successful, we can't guarantee to always get our money back as sometimes the unexpected does happen.
What happens if the accident was my fault? If you have comprehensive cover we will arrange the repairs to your vehicle or it's inspection if it is likely to be a total loss and we will also handle the other driver's claim as quickly as possible.
If you receive any correspondence from the other driver or their insurers please forward it to us and we will respond on your behalf.
What if the other driver disputes the accident circumstances? We will do our very best to persuade the other driver, or their insurer, that the accident was their fault by presenting them with all the evidence we have gathered and you have provided us with.
We will always attempt to defend your position, but on occasions if the evidence does not fully support either driver's version of the incident, everybody involved may have to take some responsibility. If this happens we will negotiate the best possible settlement with the other driver.
What are Uninsured Losses? Uninsured losses are costs for which you are responsible. Examples are, the policy excess, the cost of a hire car and any medical expenses you may incur. However, if you have Direct Line Car Legal Protection cover we will pay any reasonable cost of legal proceedings against another person who is responsible for the accident, if it results in injury to you or uninsured losses being incurred.
What measures do Direct Line take to prevent fraud? Our main aim is to ensure that our honest customers, which of course are the vast majority, are back on the road as soon as possible. However, we know that fraud is a reality and that a very small number of people provide false details in order to make up, or inflate claims. We believe that it is important that we identify these people and avoid paying such claims as they affect the cost of motor insurance for everybody. As fraud is a criminal offence, we believe it is our duty to forward details of fraud to the Police.
There are a number of insurance industry databases through which we share information with other companies about claims and fraudsters. This allows us to use the latest technology to make many checks looking for unusual features and fraud. We also share some information about fraud with other companies within the financial industry, the Police and other bodies where the law allows us to do so.
These pages are for information purposes only. They do not form part of the contract of insurance.
Link to previous article : Direct line Car Insurance Claims process
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