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Hello AA
I have a question concerning car insurance.
On the 22nd February 2017) we bought a car for my son . On his first trip out in the car the day after the purchase, another vehicle hit the car, damaging the three panels on the passenger side, as well as removing the side indicator light and front left hubcap. The passenger door can no longer be opened from the outside. My son stated that the other driver was at fault, and the police officer who was called to the scene agreed with this.
My son has third party insurance with company A and the other party was insured with company B. We talked to Company A and they said we should make a claim against company B and not to use the car. The other party had made a claim and they supplied us with the claim number. We contacted Company B and they said we would have to wait a month for the case to be processed and advised us not to use the car in the meantime.
We waited a month, during which time my son got a costing for a repair of the car from a panel beater and attempted to obtain the police report. The police official he dealt with was not very sympathetic and said it would be delivered to the insurance company. He had contacted Company B several times to see if there had been any developments but was told the case was confidential and no information could be supplied.
After a month had passed my son was contacted by company B and was told that the insurance claim had been declined. They could supply no other information as the case was still confidential, apart from the fact that they had received no police report, though from what they said my son concluded that it would have made no difference either way. They also gave my son the contact details of the other party, stating that we needed to sort the insurance out for ourselves.
My question is: What do we do next?
Do we approach the other party for compensation as Company B suggested?
How do we go about doing this?
Is there a procedure for dealing with cases like this?
We have a car which we have been instructed not to drive, but which still needs to be paid for. The panel beater we consulted said that damage to the steering or chassis could not be ruled out without further examination.
The damage to the other party's vehicle was minor and confined to their bumper.
This whole train of events has been very disappointing.
What do you suggest we do?

Thanks
Ken Gorrie

Hi there,
Because the vehicle was only insured as third party, the insurance company "A" would be of any help.
As you have done, the claim needs to be made with party "B", however if the owner of the car at fault has not paid their premium or had their policy declined/ cancelled, then this may be the outcome you currently have.
So the claim will be a personal (distributes tribunal) claim for the costs of repair. For this, you will need to obtain a full quote for repair/ vehicle replacement and take the matter to the small claims court. https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/assets/PDFs/CP-Factsheet-The-Disputes-Tribunal-June2014.pdf