Vampire

Just wanted to get a few opinions really.

I had an accident in the car a couple of weeks ago, basically I was turning right (into a driveway to turn around) and a car following me hit me, though as I was halfway through making the turn it hit me almost side-on rather than squarely from behind.

There was a fair amount of damage to both cars (but no injuries - low speed accident), so it's going through the insurance companies. Details were exchanged at the scene, and no other people stopped or offered to be witnesses.

When I reported the incident to my insurance company, they told me I would not be considered at fault since the car that hit me was following me - which sounds reasonable.

However, the driver of the car following is now alleging that I was not indicating right (untrue), that I pulled sharply to the left before the accident (untrue), and that I was trying to make a u-turn (untrue).

I've just had a letter from their solicitors saying the accident was "clearly caused by my negligence" and that they have written to my insurors to get them to admit my liability.

1. Is it usual for people to lie to try and weasel out of it when they realise they're in the wrong?

2. Do insurance companies always make a speculative effort to try to get the blame shifted to the "other" driver, or do they only try if they think there are reasonable grounds?

3. What happens when there are no independant witnesses? I had 3 passengers in my car who back me up, the other drive had 2 passengers who back him (or her) up. There were no 3rd party witnesses who stopped, I assume the other party has not suddenly "found" some. So it's pretty much my word against his.

4. Are disputes like this always handled purely by the insurance companies and their appointed solicitors? Or do they go to court etc? Do I have to do anything myself?

5. The other party's solicitor hasn't asked me to do anything other than to "contact my own insurance company". Do I have to reply to them if they ask me to contact them directly?

6. I went to the Police in the evening, several hours after the accident to ask for a bit of advice. I took all my documentation and explained what happened, but they did not want me to officially report the accident. Since there were no injuries and full details were exchanged at the scene. The officer told me the Police would not be interested in this, but is it posisble this could change if the other party is alleging I did something illegal (are u-turns even illegal??)?

Sorry for all the questions, I've never been involved in an accident before so I have no idea what needs to be done. Also, my insurance company are proving virtually impossible to contact about this, though have apparently authorised the repair of my car.

Cheers.

WRX_Dazza

vampire, difficult one this....

i would put down the drawings on the claim form of car positions and let the insurers fight it out (thats what you pay them for)

did you not see him in your mirror, when making the manouvre??

mannyo

My brother was involved in a simillar accident. In the end it went 50/50 and both he and the other driver lost NCB as a result.

David_Dickson

1 Yes, it is usual for people to lie and cheat to shift blame. I found that out to my cost.

2 The insurers will do everything they can to wriggle out of paying, so will look to shift blame to you.

3 Your word against his, since its no longer clear-cut, is likely to mean a 50:50 settlement between insurers. In my case, the gilty driver "found" another witness which swung things against me.


4&5 There is not much more for you to do. Co-operate with your own insurer and let them fight it out, but DONT fill out anything the other partys insurers send you and make no effort to contact them directly, if they contact you directly, send anything you receive on to your own insurers or if its by phone, refuse to comment.

6 The police are very unlikely to give a toss no matter what happens, there is no real gain in prosecuting anyone, only a shed-load of paperwork for no real result.

Its in their hands now. I know its hard, but just sit back and let them get on with it and dont worry. I was falsely accused and had fake witness statements made against me when I was the victim of an accident. I got really worked up about it at the time, but looking back now there is nothing else I could have done. My own insurers were absolutely ****ing useless (I cancelled my policy and took my business elsewhere after this and let them know why, for whatever good that might have done). The way I see it - I pay my premium for this sort of thing, and if they were even vaguely interested in finding out the truth and investigating properly, they would have done so, but if they cant be bothered, then screw them, let them pay out. They just went for a quick settlement and to hell with the truth. Useless *******s.

scoobynutta555

It's stories like this that make me want to put cameras in my car filming whilst driving. Why people seem to lie their way through life is a bit sad IMHO. Looking like it'll be a 50/50 after a long and protracted wait I'm afraid.

Vampire

Cheers guys, thanks for the feedback.

Yes I did see hom before the accident, he was following me about 10 or 15 car lengths behind, I know because I check my mirrors every few seconds (paranoia from riding bikes) anyway, and checked before I indicated to turn right.

I can only assume he just wasn't looking, though it was a bright, clear dry day with virtually no traffic. Ideal driving conditions really.

I'll just deal direct with the insurance company then, but it's going to really suck if I have to pay my (large) excess due to some numpty not paying attention. I've had my licence for 16 years (full car and bike) and this is my first accident, and it wasn't my fault.

Still, I had full protected NCB so I guess I should be thankful of that!

David_Dickson

Since my accident and since a similar thing happening to my sister, I REALLY want a discreet recording system in the car. Ive asked here and on a few other forums a couple of times and never really found a simple solution for reasonable money.
People always tend to wonder why the hell Id want a camera recording all the time, reckoning Im paranoid, but it would have been decisive in my case, and would have saved me a lot of money (excess, car hire and general faffing about)

dunx

iTrader: (3)

The latest generation of solid-state "VCR's" are coming down in price rapidly, two cameras and you'll be sorted.
I often drive a minibus full of kids about Leeds and surrounding area, and it's downright sensible to have video evidence.

DunxC

PaulC72

many years ago I had an accident where I was doing a turn in the road using forward and reverse gear to coin the correct phrase, when I was facing the kerb just about to do my reverse move a car reversed up the road from a parked location into the side of my car.

Anyway that went 50/50 even though I was not moving at the time and he hit me, it is the insurers easy option.
pay for your damage, get your excess to offset the cost and you lose NCB {unless protected} which increases your premium next year.

Sad but its the way it is, all you can do is tell your insurer you will not be williing to accept a 50/50 and are prepared to goto court.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

You have to be clever and think about things carefully. That does not mean you should lie, but you need to be clear, concise and leave no doubt when you give your evidence to your insurance company.

Whatever you say will be looked through be the other party to see if they can find some fault with what you have done. Stand your ground with your insurance company, and make sure you get any of the people whom you speak to on side. You need them to help you.

Is there any chance you can return to the scene and find a witness? Was there someone in one the houses who saw what happened. Maybe they just saw the positions of the cars afterwards, anything may help.

PeteBrant

I should think you will prbably be alright.

Sudden movments, no indication etc do not absolve you of blame in an accident - You are supposed to be sufficent enough distance behind to allow for such things.

At the end of the day, he hit you - And that counts for an awful lot - Stick to your guns and I reckon you'll be ok.

Your own insurance comapny are on your side - They absolutely will not accept blame when the accident was clearly not your fault and they will fight your corner. Do *everything* through them - Do not enter into correspondance with the other party or any of thier representatives.

specialx

Vampire give us a call tomorow we may be able to help you.


01246 590807




Ads

Vampire

Cheers for the offer of assistance, the car's already being repaired as we speak though. It's not a scooby either, after 3 of them I defected to something more sensible - oh the irony!

FLAT ERIC

iTrader: (1)

Depends what you call reasonable given what you stand to loose in a unwitnessed accident.

Best I could find was from the USA & on offer @ the moment. $399.95 or £205.34 in real money. Plus carriage etc. Looks a useful bit of kit.

Car Camera Recorder Pro - Car Security and Car Surveillance



Mark

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

Sorry but with what you have said, it will probably go 50/50 at best
If he has hit the side of your vehicle whilst you were turning then

a-) either he was on the wrong side of the road - Your favour
b-) you did swing left like the other party is now saying. - His favour

especially if he was 10 - 15 lengths behind you

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

from reading this thus far it seems there werent any pictures taken immediatley after this accident happened?

i was involved in an accident last year where a driver pulled out on a t-juntion to go right and i was going striaght on. so basically he didnt see me and smacked into my drivers door and front wing.

he admitted full liability striaght away and we swapped details, but not before id rung the police who sent someone out to collect damage. now what i did was ask for them to make a brief note of where the damage and debris was (also took a couple pics on mobile) incase he decided to make a different story up. he didnt want to fight it but his insurers did, and as soon as i played the above joker and this brief note came too, they dropped it and admitted total fault, oh and offered me £1000 to keep schtum

all i could genuinely suggest is you find £20 on the floor and watch it "fall" into a "new" witnesses pocket

Shark Man

Those solicitors letters usually are standard issue in blame shifting, they pull out as many negligence accusations as they can in hope something will stick.

Had to deal with this myself (interesting other party went to solicitors BEFORE their insurer - very suspect), don't sign it (not even the bit that asks your insurer's details) - just send it to your insurer to deal with - thats what you pay them for to deal with.

And of course, a well written concise formal statement of witness of what happened.

Account deleted by request

I hit someone a few years ago who was attempting a u-turn into a bus lane over 2 lanes of traffic. It ended up 50/50 much to my upset. Although I hit him technically from behind his attempt at a u-turn was crazy.

I did manage to get his home address so I think in the end it finished up more 70/30 in my favour

chop

fatherpierre

Not read the replies, so if I repeat stuff - sorry.

Standard response from the paying insurance co.

Stick to your guns and you'll be paid out. They're trying it on to reduce the payout. The only way they will get a result is by getting independant witnesses to write a statement agreeing to the other person's account.

Even if you weren't indicating, the other party's at fault by definition of the highway code and RTA 1988.

Vampire

Cheers guys.

I took photos of the scene after the accident, but both cars were still driveable (just) so we moved them to unblock the road as soon as the dust settled.

No photos were taken with the cars in their final resting positions, just the scene from various angles/distances, and the damage to the vehicles.

My insurance company don't seem remotely interested in seeing the photos though, at least at the moment!

I spoke to them just now, the nice lady in Bangalore gave me an address to forward any letters I receive from the other party or their agents, so from now on any further contact from them will just be passed on.

BurgerKing

iTrader: (1)

Just to back up what people have said, stick to your guns and do everything through the insurance.

I had somebody pull out in front of me in 2005 and write off my first Scoob (damn those Berlingo vans are tough). He admitted fault at the scene in front of Police but after the event alleged that I didn't have my lights on and even found a bogus witness to back him up, my Wife's opinion didn't count for anything because she's not impartial. The first sign things weren't going all my way was a threatening letter from some ambulance chasing solictor alleging it was all my fault.

Anyway I stuck to my guns and it was eventually sorted out in 100% my favour after 10 months of repeatedly telling the insurance company what had happened, I lost track of how many letters I passed on to them. Good luck with the claim.

BK.

AlexJReid

As above. Someone hit the side of my car on a roundabout. No witnesses. Nobody admitted fault at the scene but he later accused me of admitting fault because I had asked if he was OK!

I sent my insurers lots of diagrams and Google Map aerial photos. Lots of letters went back and forth via insurers. My insurers went to the scene and observed the roundabout to prove I'd done nothing wrong according to the road markings.

Took about 9-10 months to finally settle.

Stick to your guns and call your insurance company every couple of weeks.

WRX_Dazza

some right dodgy people about these days....

hope it doesn't happen to me

good luck in getting at all sorted vampire, at least you are OK, cars can be fixed...