Two months after both her family's parked cars were hit on Auckland's North Shore, a mother has answers at last after the driver's insurance company finally paid up.
Aries Chen, 41, said her family's Mazda CX-5 and Nissan Tiida cars were parked on her Bayswater street on January 2 when both were hit by another vehicle shortly after 6am.
She said the Tiida was primarily used to transport her five-year-old daughter, who is disabled, to her specialist school 10kms away in Glenfield. She uses a specific car seat which was also damaged in the crash.
Chen said the Tiida was insured through AMI under third party cover, which meant the other driver's insurance needed to cover the costs of repair.
But the claim went "on hold" for two months as Chen said she understood the driver had defaulted on their premiums.
"We've been quite polite and friendly. We're not pushing the third party too much, but we want answers, and we want to get things sorted out," she said.
Chen said due to her daughter’s chronic lung disease and cerebral palsy, she was prone to asphyxiation and could therefore not be transported using a taxi or other option for disabled people.
She said the family was stuck using their parents' smaller car while they waited months for the other driver's claim to be processed.
She got the person’s insurance company details, full name and phone number from the police officer who responded to the crash. She then went to work getting answers from the person's insurer, which police informed her was Quest Insurance.
She claimed she called them every week but was told their client was the problem as they were not responding.
She said she provided the police report and "all the details, photos, and video to their insurance company".
The response
1News reached out to Quest Insurance but did not receive a response. However, shortly after this request for information was lodged, Chen said her insurance company AMI let her know the matter had been resolved.
"They will pay me in the next couple days. So it's been sorted out," she said this week.
She said the whole saga had been "frustrating" since January, and urged others in a similar situation to speak up.
"I just wanted to be a patient and good person and let the driver sort his things, but yeah... I just feel my power and it's a good result."
What are the rules?
In New Zealand, it is not compulsory to have car insurance. This can make things more difficult if a car is damaged by a motorist who has defaulted on their payments, or has no insurance at all.
If you have full or comprehensive insurance, your insurance company will repair your car, and then chase the uninsured motorist for the costs. However, you may need to pay an excess to your insurance company and you might lose your no-claim bonus.
According to the Insurance Council of New Zealand, most Kiwi motor insurers generally include an 'uninsured motorist extension' (UME), or innocent party protection, in their comprehensive or third party policies to help ensure that insured motorists caught in this position won’t be penalised.
Under the terms of this extension, the insurer will waive the policyholder’s excess and maintain their no claims discount if the vehicle is damaged by an uninsured driver — provided the uninsured driver can be identified and they acknowledge their involvement in the accident.
Most insurers' UME provides limited cover of around $2000-$4000 as long as you can identify the person responsible for causing the damage to your car. If you can't identify the person responsible, or the damage to your car exceeds the cover provided, you might find yourself out of pocket.
A spokesperson for the Insurance Council said: "In general terms, when a driver has insurance in place but has fallen behind on premium payments, insurers will often place the policy and any related claims on hold rather than cancelling cover immediately. If a claim is lodged while premiums are in arrears, it may not be progressed until the payment issue is resolved."
They acknowledged this is frustrating for the person not at fault and advised they contact their own insurer as early as possible.
The spokesperson added: "More broadly, insurers encourage customers who are experiencing payment difficulties to contact their insurer early, as there may be options available to help avoid disruption to cover."
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