99jdee

grrr
i really just dont know what to do, just before christmas a lady was i front of me driving along a road, she stopped to let a massive lorry coming out of a side road come out, because the large lorry cut the corner, the women stuck her car in reverse and slammed into the front of mine, she has done a fair amount of damage to my x reg focus the radiator is hanging down and the bumper is cracked the headlight bracket is broken, the car has been written off by the assesors, the accident advice helpline called me up today saying the lady will not admit liability!!!?! so they cannot deal with it, they have instructed me to contact my insurance company? thing is, i cannot believe this women, i called accident advice helpine up the same night and reported it. see i dont know where the women lives, but i know she teaches music lessons to a house round the corner where i live, because she was on her way there when she reversed into me, so i am going to go the house just before the same time she was there last thursday hoping she will come there, and follow her to her home and try and confront her (non agressively), but am unsure if this is the right move, because i want her to admit liability for the damage to my car?

I was even thinking of a voice recorder or record it on video for evidence? would this be a good idea, as i really dont know where to go from here?

many thanks, jamie!

Trippie

iTrader: (1)

i dont know wheather its a good idea or not but the law sais you CAN
video or record anything or anyone in a PUBLIC PLACE.
did she have damage to her car and if so how did she explain it
without reporting it to the police.

the hamster

iTrader: (7)

you didnt get her address? what details did you exchange?

Only way you've got a leg to stand on is with her name and address. If she wont admit liability then you'd have to go to a solicitors.

Any witnesses?

99jdee

no witnesses i didnt get her address because it was dark and i didnt see the damage it was only when i got home i noticed underneth etc! i can probably manage to get her address and i will confront her, if she does not want to play ball i will tell her i will have to take her to court about it! its the only way i can see..

99jdee

also i think, the dmage doesnt look to bad on her car as it was the rear that hit into the front of mine, if there is any damage on hers it will be behind the bumper, although there were deep scratches on her back bumper, which i shall see on thursday when i stalk her car! lol

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

Read your insurance, it states quite clearly never to admit liability. Women maybe read the fine print more thoroughly than blokes and our cavalier attitudes!

99jdee

well im going to try to do what i said and just ask her if not go to court about it..,actually i might aswell just find her, ask her to admit if she says no, wait for her to go in, drive into the back of her car and just drive off, after all if theres no witnesses, i dont have to admit liability! *rolls eyes* pathetic! lol

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

Surely any payout from any insurer will be on a without prejudice basis - meaning that liability is not at issue?!?!?!?

burbs

I would have thought if you follow her home etc she could call the police for harrasment. I can't see how it's going to help your case. If there are no witnesses and you didn't exchange address etc then shes obviously going to say you went into the back of her, why would she be reversing whilst driving down the road?
Only thing I can think of, did the lorry she let out have a company name you remember? Perhaps the guy driving it may have seen what happened and could back up your story?

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

I'm sure if you had a witness come forward it would end all your worries

scoobeenut

Well I know it’s tough but you should probably just swallow this one. You did not exchange details at the time of the accident, no witnesses, did you even record her registration number road conditions date, time, weather etc.?

On top of this you are now proposing on a public forum to stalk her and her vehicle and maybe even cause damage to it. I feel your frustration mate but if you didn’t do anything at the time of the accident you won’t have a leg to stand on in court.

99jdee

okay, let me state a few things

i called accident advice helpline alerting them off the accident the time the date the road conditions, i took her vehicle registration which i gave them the night of the accident, she reported nothing so if i drove into the back of her, why did i report it and she report nothing? my dad was in the car with me but they said he is not a witness as hes my father basically and it would be predigest or something along those lines?

and just to make things clear, i was only kidding about the driving into her car i was making a point on the whole no witness thing and admitting liability..

many thanks.

Lee247

Whether she admits liability or not, she is responsible. Accident helpline are talking cack.
Surely you have her number plate and has already been mentioned, what about the lorry she let out. They usually have a name and number on the cab.. Did you report this to the Police??
Sorry, so many questions, but you really need the answers to take this further. She IS responsible and should be liable for her actions.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

If she claims you ran in the back of her I think you're screwed mate. exactly the same thing happened to a mate of mine a few years ago... he lost his claim as the insurance companies just played the percentages game!

As for the whole following her thing..... are you serious? You'll end up in court or worse if you are not careful. I would strongly advise you forget that idea!

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Go to the police, report her for dangerous driving. She was reversing down a road you had no where to go. Call the insurance company and provide them with the crime ref number.

Do not stalk her and if all else fails, find her car and burn it (disclaimer, users on Scoobynet should be assumed as keyboard warriors at all times)

Jamescsti

Accident helpline are not interested as she is not admitting liability so they can't just make a few referrals and claim their commission.

I would go through your insurance company, they should have more of n interest in dealing with it.
Also your dad is still a witness even if he is not independent

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

This.

The Zohan

+2!

Had a similar thing happen to me some time ago, pensioner didn't see me as he reversed to go into a parking space he had gone past, i reversed with my hand on the horn but stopped short of reversing into a main road - he ran into me.

He admitted liability at the time but changed his tune - i guess once he had spoken to friends/family. Nothing i could do about it.

If i had had a witness come forward then it would have been a different story...

dpb

Key all her panels after she's gone te bed, shabby mares trying to pull a fast one

Nate

iTrader: (2)

If you want to find her address for your insurers to deal with her, you can apply to the DVLA for her address for a nominal fee (I believe £2 ? ), and you will need to state what you need her address for, in this case, due to a road traffic accident.

A lot more legal than your method of stalking

Also, as has been said above .... Are you sure there were no witnesses ?

RoShamBo

iTrader: (1)

Yeah it was good thinking putting those "Accident here on x date - any witnesses" posters up where it happened, and what a stroke of luck that someone has come forward saying they saw the whole thing.........

ReallyReallyGoodMeat

Why isn't this sort of thing considered fraud?

Jamescsti

If the ops account is correct. And I'm not doubting it. Then it is fraud, assuming she knows she is responsible of course. She has to have knowledge of her actions.
Of course proving that will be harder than proving she has caused the damage.

dpb

flecks of paint

David_Dickson

She is in the wrong, but you have no proof whatsoever. In fact, if you push things she could well say she was stopped and you ran into her. Again, no way to disprove this, and if that happens the claim will be settled 50-50 at best, and possibly 100% in her favour.

Your only hope (only LEGAL hope) is that if you can track down the lorry driver and his account tallies with yours.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Not admitting liability for an accident is not fraud it is common sense. Any insurance contract will state that you should not admit liability and if you do it MAY invalidate your insurance.

Generally claims are paid 'Without Prejudice' essentially settling a claim is not the same as accepting liability.

I have no idea who the 'Accident Helpline' are - you need to go through your car insurers.

What you do need to do is this...

Go to your Police Station and report the accident

Give the Police her reg details - they may give you her details (they did when this happened to me) and they may also pay her a visit (this bit worked for me)

Report the accident to your insurer


The issue you have is nothing to do with accepting liability - the issue is that she has not reported the accident to her insurer.

If she does not report it then it is very difficult to claim against her policy.

You outcomes are: -

She decides to report the incident to her insurer - you can somehow persuade her

Police contacting her encourage her to report the incident to her insurer

Civil action in court - very difficult due to the lack of witnesses

Leslie

As Trout says, you must report the accident to the Police and to your insurer. You are poorly placed without an independent witness, but since she has not reported the accident she will be on the back foot anyway. It is an RTA requirement that the accident is reported to the police if no other details have been exchanged.

Try to find out the lorry owner and the driver, he might be able to help you with evidence. The police can find out who her insurer is and report the accident to them if she has not done so.

It is important that you put yourself in the correct legal position with respect to informing the police.

Les

CrisPDuk

Why on earth didn't you stop and exchange details with the woman at the time

Or, if she didn't stop, why didn't you immediately report what is essentially a hit and run to the police

I've been hit twice by old ******* who didn't even know they'd hit me and carried on regardless. Both times I reported it immediately and the Police were very helpful

Trout

iTrader: (1)

BTW - your insurance also states that you are required to report any accident to them whether it has material value or not.

So you technically could have invalidated your insurance too.

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

dont suppose the lorry driver saw anything ?