All questions are answered subject to validation of the policy and level of cover available.
Please click on the heading to jump to the relevant section
General Claims Queries
Claim Validation
Repairs
Total Loss / Theft Claims
What should I do at the scene of an accident?
Firstly, you should make certain that you and everybody else involved in the accident are not injured and are safe. You should also consider the safety of other road users and, where necessary and possible, and only if it does not place you in a position of danger, move the vehicles to a position of safety.
If anybody is injured or you are causing or likely to cause danger to other road users, the emergency services should be contacted immediately by dialling 999.
If you are unable to move your vehicle and it is presenting a danger to other road users, consider whether any action is possible to warn approaching motorists of the danger without placing yourself or others at risk.
Once you have dealt with any immediate emergency, you should exchange details with the third party. Please obtain as much information as possible to include the name and address and contact details (telephone numbers/email address) of the driver, the make, model, colour and registration number of the third party vehicle and the number of passengers carried in any other vehicles involved.
If the accident was not your fault, please obtain the name, address and contact numbers of any independent witnesses.
If the accident was your fault and there were no serious injuries, please provide the third party with our name and your policy number and invite him/her to contact us on 0330 024 8000. As soon as you report the accident to us, we will be able to assist the third party with vehicle repairs and a replacement vehicle whilst theirs is off the road. We will in any event contact the third party within 24 hours of your report of the accident to offer these services if he/she has not already made contact.
In all case, please take any photographs that might assist in the determination of liability and photographs of damage to the vehicles. If you were at fault, this may protect you against claims for additional damage at a later date or claims from passengers that were not there.
What can I expect when making a claim?
Who are we?
Your insurance policy is taken out via an Insurance Broker, who aim to place your insurance with the most suitable insurer for your needs. Sabre are the underwriter of your policy, meaning that we will be responsible for investigating and negotiating settlement of any claims you wish to make against the policy.
When can I contact you?
Should you need to speak to a claims handler, you may do so between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday. You will be provided with the name of your dedicated claims handler and a direct contact number when we first write to you within 2 working days of the first notification of your claim.
You may email us at any time, although we will only respond between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday
For full contact details please click here.
Call costs may vary depending on your service provider. If phoning from a mobile please check with your mobile operator. All our calls are recorded for training purposes.
How do I contact you?
Who are Motorcare?
Motorcare are an Accident Management Company who act on behalf of Sabre Insurance and its associated products. They offer repair network & engineering services to our customers, ensuring that the claims journey is as simple as possible.
How long will my claim take?
We will endeavour to settle your claim as quickly as possible and to update you where necessary.
I am not making a claim, must I still report the incident?
It is of particular importance that you report any accident or incident that results in injury or alleged injury to any vehicle passenger, cyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian, even if you believe that the accident was not your responsibility. It will serve to protect your interests if we are given the opportunity to investigate such claims as early as possible to ensure that the evidence is fresh and still available. Claims can be brought against you for up to three years after an accident, or longer still where children are injured or the claimant is without capacity.
You may prejudice our position if you do not report these claims as soon as you can and, if this occurs, you might not be entitled to the protection of your policy.
If you report a claim for information purposes only, it will be recorded as such and your No Claim Bonus (NCB) will not be affected if we are not ultimately required to make a payment. The costs that we incur in investigating any claim will not in themselves affect your NCB.
I was not at fault for the accident, how do I reclaim my excess?
There are multiple ways in which your policy excess can be reclaimed, should the other party admit fault for an accident.
(i) You can reclaim this via a solicitor. If your policy was taken out with a broker, you may wish to check with them if you have a legal expense cover, (Which is an additional cover) as they can put you in contact with a solicitor. If a solicitor is already dealing with any other claims that you are pursuing, (E.g. a personal injury claim) then you can contact them to include this loss, which they may pursue on your behalf.
(ii) You may reclaim your policy excess by contacting the other party’s insurers directly. Should we have their contact details/reference number available, we can provide this information to you. The other insurers should reimburse this loss to you if they have formally admitted liability for the accident.
The policy excess is an uninsured loss and therefore, Sabre are unable to recover this on your behalf.
I have a telematics box fitted to my car. How will you use the information from it?
In the event that you are involved in an accident, the data may be obtained to provide us with a greater insight as to the cause of the accident and, if we consider it appropriate, may be submitted in evidence in court proceedings to assist in your defence.
How do you establish who is responsible for an accident?
When you report an accident, we give careful consideration to the information you provide and we aim to give you an early indication of the likely outcome.
Some accidents are easier to determine responsibility for than others. It is important, therefore, that you provide us with as much detail of the accident as you can. This might include your statement, a sketch, photographs or video evidence. The more factual information that you are able to provide, the better.
Where you provide us with details of witnesses to the accident, we will write to them and ask for a statement if necessary. In certain circumstances, we may need to interview you. We might also interview witnesses or visit the scene of the accident to prepare diagrams and take further photographs.
Where it is felt that it is necessary we might also obtain a copy of the police report, if they attended the scene of the accident.
Once we have gathered together all of the evidence that we consider is needed, we will make a decision and settle the claim on that basis.
Why may you want to meet me?
Where such a firm is instructed, you will be notified by us beforehand. Do not allow anybody into your home unless we have told you of their appointment. The appointed firm will contact you by telephone or letter and identify who they are. They will make an appointment convenient to you and you can expect the representative to be professional, polite and courteous throughout.
The representative is there to help us understand your claim so that we deal with it in the most appropriate way and as efficiently as possible, so it is in your interests to meet with our representative as soon as you can and provide your fullest cooperation.
Why do you want to inspect my car?
Depending on the nature of the inspection and the extent of any damage, the inspection may be a physical inspection or it may take place remotely by digital imaging.
In all cases, where an inspection is necessary, we would normally expect this to take place within 3 working days of the engineer being instructed.
Will my no claims bonus (NCB) be lost?
NCB is not lost where a claim is made under any windscreen cover that may be available under the terms of your policy.
How do I make a complaint?
If you are not satisfied with any aspect of your experience with Sabre Insurance we would encourage you to make a complaint. Where we are not performing as our customers would expect, the making of a complaint enables us to review what we are doing to see if we can improve our service and prevent similar circumstances arising in the future.
Our complaints procedure is clearly explained in your policy documentation and on our complaints page.
If, as we hope, you have been pleased with our service please let us know so that we may pass your message on to the various members of our team, who all take great pride in their role in serving you the policyholders.
What happens if the claim settles 50/50?
When a claim is settled on a 50/50 basis, we are entitled to recover 50% of our outlay from the third party insurers and likewise the third party insurers are entitled to recover 50% of their outlay from us. If you do not make a claim, we will not have any outlay to recovery from the third party insurer however we will still be liable for 50% of any outlay incurred in repairing/replacing the third party vehicle.
In regards to liability, if a claim is made by either party and we make a payment against the claim, the file will be recorded as fault with the no claim discount disallowed (however if you have protected no claim discount, this will not have an effect, as long as you remain within the terms set out in your policy wording). Protected no claim discount is an additional cover you must purchase at inception of your policy to take advantage of the cover.
You may wish to reimburse us the cost of any claims made against your policy to preserve your no claim discount. To do so, please speak directly to your claim’s handler.
Will I need to attend court?
We will notify you if this is likely and inform you of the identity of any solicitor appointed to act on your behalf.
You may also be required to attend court if you pursue a claim and the amount of your claim is disputed by the other side.
Can I send you photographs of the accident?
Are telephone calls recorded?
I have been advised by the police that I am to be prosecuted. What should I do?
You should notify us immediately of any intended prosecution. We may, at our discretion, arrange and pay for legal representation for you.
I have received a letter from a representative for the third party. What should I do with it?
The other driver has said they are claiming for injury, but they were uninjured at the scene of the accident. What will you do?
In all cases where you raise a concern or we have our own concerns, whether that is in relation to third parties, their passengers or your own passengers, the case will be referred to our counter fraud team.
The law has recently been changed to allow us to recover costs against the claimant where the claim is found to be fundamentally dishonest and, where this is the case, any legal expenses policy that is supposed to protect the claimant will not operate, meaning that the claimant is entirely responsible for our legal costs.
Where the evidence enables us to do so, we take a very hard line against claimants in these circumstances. In this way, we seek to protect you from paying additional premium to meet the cost of these fraudulent claims.
What is my courtesy car cover?
A courtesy car is a small vehicle provided by one of our Approved Repairers for use while your own vehicle is being repaired.
We guarantee a courtesy vehicle will be provided for the duration of
your repair once the claim has been accepted and your vehicle is
confirmed as repairable by our approved repairer. In the event that
your vehicle is a total loss there is no entitlement to a courtesy
vehicle. The courtesy vehicle will not be
an exact replacement for the type of vehicle you have on cover,
typically, it will be a small car with manual transmission.
When may I have a courtesy vehicle or hire car?
You should exercise the same degree of care when using the vehicle as you would with your own and you should return the vehicle on completion of the repairs in the same condition and with the same amount of fuel as it had when you got it.
Whilst specific requests, e.g. automatics, will be considered, we cannot guarantee that it will be possible to meet the request. If you are disabled and require particular assistance, please contact your dedicated handler who will be able to make the necessary arrangements for you.
All courtesy vehicles are provided by the approved repairer under the agreement that we have with them. If you choose to use a different repairer, you will need to speak to them directly about courtesy vehicles.
A courtesy vehicle is not available if your own vehicle is a total loss. If it is a borderline decision, the repairer might not provide you with a courtesy vehicle until the work has been estimated and it is determined that they will be undertaking the repair.
A courtesy vehicle is provided as a convenience for social domestic and pleasure purpose only. If it is covered by your policy, you may also use it to travel to and from a permanent place of work. You may not use the courtesy vehicle in connection with any business and you may not take the vehicle out of the country.
If you are involved in an accident that you do not consider was your fault and you require a vehicle of similar specification to your own damaged vehicle, we will refer you to our business partner, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, to see whether they can assist you. If they agree to accept your case, you will be provided with a hire vehicle for the duration of any repairs and the hire costs will be recovered from the responsible driver’s motor insurer. They will also consider providing you with a vehicle if your own vehicle is a total loss and is not driveable following an accident.
Please note that a vehicle will only be provided in the event that Enterprise considers that you have reasonable prospects of recovering the costs of hire from the third party. If Enterprise will not accept your case, they will explain why and you will remain entitled to a courtesy vehicle as described above.
Will repairs to my car be guaranteed?
May I go to my own repairer?
We will arrange an inspection, agree costs, and authorise repairs to your chosen repairer, subject to the terms and conditions of your policy. In the event that we are unable to agree costs with your chosen repairer, we will give you the opportunity to use an approved repairer or accept a cash payment in lieu of repairs, allowing you to make your own arrangement for repair.
We will not pay for any work or other expense incurred without our prior agreement.
Courtesy vehicles are provided by our approved repairer, so we will be unable to guarantee a courtesy vehicle if you use your own repairer. You will need to arrange this with the repairer directly. Similarly, you will need to agree any guarantee with your chosen repairer and we will not be able to intervene in any subsequent dispute that might arise with the repairer about repair quality or any other matter.
Why do I have to pay an excess?
Policy excesses are applied by insurers to encourage care on the part of the customer regarding property covered under the policy and to dissuade trivial claims and thereby reduce the premium that you pay.
If an accident is not your fault, your excess will be your responsibility until we are satisfied that we will be able to recover the full costs from the responsible party’s insurer. In the event that we are unable to recover the full costs, you will remain liable for the policy excess.
What is the difference between an approved repairer & a non-approved repairer?
When we refer to an Approved Repairer, this is a repairer whom we have a contract with which enables us to control aspects such as costs and the provision of courtesy vehicles. Whilst we appreciate there are large repairers who may be Tesla or Mercedes approved (as an example), they may not be approved by us at Sabre therefore, will be classed as a non-approved repairer. When we refer to a non-approved repairer, it is a repairer whom we do not have a business relationship with. We are unable to provide you with a courtesy car for the duration of repairs should you choose a Non-Network repairer to carry out the repairs to your vehicle or guarantee the quality of the work carried out. Plus, there may be an additional excess for you to pay.
I have chosen to use my own repairer, why do I have to pay an additional excess?
It will be stated in your policy wording that if using a Non-Network Repairer an additional excess on top of your policy excess will be applicable. We encourage our customers to use our Approved Repairers as we are able to closely monitor the repairs and ensure that you receive the full benefits you are entitled to. With Non-Network Repairers we are unable to do this due to the absence of any prior business relationship with them. You will also not be entitled to a free courtesy car when utilising a Non-Network Repairer.
Why are repairs to my vehicle taking longer than anticipated?
If you are concerned with time it is taking to repair your vehicle, you should speak to the repairing garage directly to understand what is causing the delays. Should you be unable to speak to the garage or you are unsatisfied with the information provided, then you should speak directly to our repair management team. Their contact details can be found below (see – Important Contact’s List)
If my car is stolen, what will happen?
If your vehicle is recovered and repairable, it will be recovered to an approved repairer or
repairer of your choosing and repaired in accordance with the terms and conditions of your
policy.
If your vehicle is not recovered or is damaged beyond repair, we will require you to
complete a claim form and send us the following documents:
- Vehicle registration document
- Purchase receipt
- Evidence of payment
- Vehicle photographs
- All sets of vehicle keys
- Driving Licence Validation
We will require original documentation, which we recommend is sent to us by recorded
delivery.
You will receive a call from your claims handler shortly after the theft claim has been
reported to us to guide you through the procedure.
A copy of your documentation can be sent by email or uploaded to our website to speed up
the process. We will send you a link if you wish to upload documents directly to our website.
The keys will need to be sent to our offices by recorded delivery with the original vehicle
documentation. You will receive a letter shortly after reporting your theft notification with
full instructions. If you have any queries, please contact your claims handler (details of
which will be provided on any correspondence sent to you)
On occasions, we will ask you to keep the keys and instruct an Agent to collect the vehicle
keys from you.
The vehicle keys may be sent off to be forensically examined as part of the claims validation
process.
It is likely that we will then need to interview you at your home address and take a
statement from you about the circumstances leading up to and including the discovery of
the theft. If we intend to do this, we will write to you with the name of the investigation
company carrying out the interview.
Subject to your availability, we would expect this to take anything between one and two
weeks.
Once our investigation has finished we will pay you the market value of your vehicle at the
time of the theft. If there is finance secured on your vehicle, we will need to pay the finance
company first and any remaining balance will be paid directly to you. You will be responsible
for the balance of any finance agreement if the amount owed is higher than the value of the
vehicle. If you have purchased GAP insurance from the dealer that sold the vehicle to you,
you will need to ask them about the operation of that policy.
When we settle your claim, the vehicle becomes our property and you must notify us
immediately if it is recovered.
Why has my vehicle been declared a Total Loss?
Your vehicle has been declared a total loss because the cost to repair the vehicle is likely to exceed the pre-accident value, less the value of the vehicle in its damages state. For example, if your vehicle is valued at £3,000 and the damaged vehicle would return a salvage figure of £500, and the repair cost exceeds £2,500 then your vehicle would be deemed beyond economical to repair (a total loss).
If my car is stolen or written off in an accident, do I have to keep paying my instalments?
If you have paid your full annual premium in advance, you will not receive a partial refund. If you agreed to pay by instalments, you must continue to pay the monthly instalments until the policy is fully paid. If you default on an instalment, the balance of the premium becomes payable immediately.
We do allow you to substitute a vehicle on to your policy in place of the vehicle that is lost or written off for the remaining period of the policy, provided that you do so within a short period of being paid. An additional premium may be payable based upon the age, specification and value of the replacement vehicle.
What happens if my car has been stolen/written off and my MOT had expired?
You must ensure that your vehicle is maintained in a roadworthy condition at all times and that it has a valid MOT certificate where required.
If you do not have a valid MOT we will deal with your claim unless it is established that your vehicle was suffering from a fault that would have been identified in an MOT test and that the fault has contributed to the cause of the loss. If we agree to deal with your claim, you will be required to submit your vehicle for MOT following any repairs and you will be directly responsible for the costs associated with putting the vehicle through MOT. If your vehicle is a total loss, you can expect the value of the vehicle to be reduced to reflect the difference in value between a vehicle of similar specification being sold with a valid MOT and one being sold without.
My car is a total loss. How is it valued?
The amount that we offer you will be based upon the engineer’s valuation. It is intended to be a sum of money that will put you in a position to purchase a replacement vehicle with one of similar make, model, year, specification, mileage and condition from the market in which you are likely to purchase the replacement. Whilst certain insurers may have had a reputation for making low offers, we offer the full amount of the valuation. Although we are happy to review any valuation on request, you should not expect this to result in an increase in the offer, as every care is taken to ensure that we get it right first time.
If you are not happy with the valuation, you should do some research to see whether vehicles advertised for sale in your local area support your view. If you still think that our valuation is low, telephone your dedicated claim handler and ask for the valuation to be reviewed.
If we can identify suitable vehicles offered locally for a similar amount than we have offered, we will not increase the valuation.
If similar vehicles cannot be found advertised in your locality, a nationwide search will be undertaken to identify the likely sale value of the vehicle if one were available in your area.
If the advertisements cause the handler to believe that the valuation is inadequate, the matter will be discussed with an engineer and you can expect a decision within 48 hours.
If you remain unsatisfied with the valuation, we will refer the matter to an alternative engineering firm who will contact you within a week to discuss and agree the valuation with you. We will also issue an interim payment in the sum offered. Please note that you are free to bank any payments that we make to you in respect of your vehicle and continue to escalate the matter further. We will send you an additional payment in the event that an increased settlement is agreed.
If you are still unhappy with the valuation you have the right to pursue the matter through our complaint procedure which is described in your policy documents and on our website. The matter will then be reviewed at a senior level and a final decision relayed to you, which you may then refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you choose to.
I am unhappy with the valuation of my vehicle; can I dispute this?
Yes, you can dispute the valuation placed on your vehicle. If you are unhappy with the pre-accident value of your vehicle, please email your claims handler with a response to the following questions (please include your reference number in the subject line):
i) Why do you believe the valuation is too low?
ii) Have you researched the current value yourself? If so, what did you use?
iii) Were these vehicles like for like? (same year, make, model, spec, mileage, transmission, condition or service history) If so, please provide us with copies of the examples that you have found, to allow us to review further.
iv) Do you have any recent images of the vehicle?
v) If recently purchased, do you have a purchase receipt?
vi) Does the vehicle have a full documented service history?
If my car is a write off can I keep it?
If your vehicle is written off, you are permitted to retain the salvage, although we strongly recommend against it.
Where it is assessed that the vehicle is beyond economical repair, it is placed on the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register and the damage is recorded on Hire Purchase Interest. In the event that you wish to retain the vehicle or even if you withdraw your claim, these markers will remain against the vehicle and may make it difficult to sell or insure.
In the event that you or somebody else repairs the vehicle and returns it to the road, it may require a Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) before it can be taxed. Full details can be found on the Gov website here. The Gov website also provides details of what happens to vehicles that have been written off. For more details visit the Gov website here.
Where a vehicle is incurring storage charges, it will be moved to a place of free storage, but it will be disposed of rapidly. You will receive a letter to advise you that this is going to happen. The value of the salvage is held to your benefit pending settlement of the claim.
If you wish to retain your vehicle, you must notify us as early as possible and we will make certain it is kept safe for you. If you do not designate a location to deliver the salvage to, we will store the vehicle at a cost to you of £5 per day + VAT.
Why should I pay a salvage figure to retain my own vehicle?
A vehicle that is deemed a Total Loss still holds value in its damaged state; this is called the salvage value. For example, if a vehicle is deemed beyond economical to repair, it does not mean that the damaged vehicle has no value. We use salvage agents to collect and dispose of vehicles which may include being sold to other buyers to break for parts or to repair and sell on to be driven again. The salvage agents will pay us the salvage value, in exchange for the damaged vehicle. If you choose to retain the salvage, we will not receive payment from the salvage agents and would instead deduct the salvage value from your settlement.
Where do I send my vehicle documentation?
Please send via recorded delivery to the following address:
Sabre Insurance,
Sabre House,
150 South Street,
Dorking,
RH4 2YY
For any electronic documentation, this can be emailed to Claims@sabre.co.uk , please ensure you add a reference number in the subject line of your email.
My car has been stolen - how long will it be before I receive an offer?
Please see the section explaining what will happen if your vehicle is stolen. You can speed up the process by sending us the required documentation when you first tell us about your claim, instead of waiting until we ask for it and by cooperating with our representative and arranging an appointment as soon as it is offered or dealing with any other request made of you as rapidly as you can.
If you do everything you can to assist in the process, we would aim to be in a position to make you an offer within 2 to 3 weeks. If you do not cooperate in the process, or fail to provide satisfactory documentation, the process could take considerably longer.
We will keep you informed at all stages.
What if my vehicle is on finance?
If you purchased your vehicle on finance and there is a financial interest recorded against you vehicle, we are obliged by law to pay the finance company the entire balance of the finance up to the value of the settlement, before any balance is paid to you. You should contact the finance company as soon as you are advised that your vehicle is a total loss and ask them to provide you with a settlement figure. Please pass the settlement figure to us urgently, as we will not be able to pay your claim until we have this.
If the outstanding balance exceeds the sum due to you under the policy, you will remain liable to the finance company for the balance of the finance agreement. If you have purchased GAP insurance, this may cover the balance and you should make enquiries with the GAP insurer. GAP insurance is offered by motor dealers when the vehicle is sold. If you are uncertain whether you have cover, you should ask the dealer who sold the vehicle to you.
Why do I have to complete DVLA licence verification for you to settle my claim?
In order to settle your claim, we are required to validate and verify the policy information that we hold from inception of your policy. This ensures that our policy records are up to date and the correct premium has been charged. Serious non-disclosure of driving licence history, could lead to cancellation or voidance of your policy.
How do I complete a DVLA licence verification check?
The licence verification can be started on our website https://sabre.co.uk/claims/driving-licence-verification/ . In order to proceed with licence verification, you will be required to obtain a check code. You will need to visit the yellow link on our website (which is above the bars of information) in order to do this. (https://www.viewdrivingrecord.service.gov.uk/driving-record/licence-number).
Using the link above, enter your driving licence number, national insurance number and post code, then press ‘view now’. You should now be able to see a button on the top right of the page for ‘get your check code’, click that, then click ‘get a code’. Once you can see the code, copy and paste this back onto the Sabre website In the ‘your check code’ section, as well as completing all other information such as Name, Postcode, email address, Claim or Policy Number & driving licence number.
… Once all the information has been input (including the check code), you can press submit.
Your driving licence summary should be sent to us in about within an hour, however please allow time for the file handler to review the incoming correspondence. Please bear in mind the format of these websites may be different if using your mobile phone or tablet. If the submission does not validate, your claims handler will ask you to complete the process again and you will need to obtain a new check code as they can only be used once. If you use the same check code as before, it will not validate and you will be asked to repeat the process again.
Useful Resources
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