Shameless ranting - driven to it by insurance...

[tref]

Gentlefolk...

Driving a friends car down a narrow lane - not wide enough for two cars to pass. See a car coming the otherway, and a layby on my side of the. the car coming the other way doesn't slow down or stop at said layby as I would have expected, so I stop where I am. He ploughs through, smashes off the drivers door mirror. My window was open, so the mirror bounced off my head and smashed the windscreen. I turned round and went after him. I don't know if he wasn't planning to stop, but he passed two possible layby's, gateways, and stopped on a plain (abeit wider) section of road.
At the time he was apologetic, said sorry, said he didn't see the lay-by etc... I thought it should be straighforward...

Except of course, despite both me and the owner of the car I was driving being fully comp, driving another vehicle, we are both classed as thrid party only, the damage is not covered. My insurance company say "not my fault", closed the case, will not persue the third party - I have to do that. I rang them, and they say the third party didn't tell them I was stationary, as far as they are concerned it is 50/50, and anyway, they will not consider accepting repair costs until fault is determined, and it is going to be seven days before they put the case to one of their claims assessors.

So... the mirror is quoted at £250, plus the windscreen, and I stand to loose my NCB... and the cost of repairs. Contacted the police on two grounds - he has omitted to tell the whole story, and not sure about his eye-sight. As far as they are concerned, since there were no significant injuries, and details were exchanged, there is no case.

Any-one any experience of this type of thing, and what I should/can do?

 

[satancom]

So... the mirror is quoted at £250, plus the windscreen, and I stand to loose my NCB... and the cost of repairs. Contacted the police on two grounds - he has omitted to tell the whole story, and not sure about his eye-sight. As far as they are concerned, since there were no significant injuries, and details were exchanged, there is no case.

The other guys insurance company don't want to pay out so will try for 50/50. Your insurance comapny don't want to follow it up as it costs them money and they won't get much out of it. I would phone your insurance company and ask them what you pay your insurance for. They should chase it.. keep phoning both companies till you get the answer you want.

Out of interest I had similar dealings with someone who ran into me in a petrol station.. it took a year before I got any money out of them.. they wrote my car off a month after the accident (£300 banger) but it eventually went my way I too was stationary).

Insurance companies will try and worm their way out of paying at any cost!

 

[MJB]

Don't know if this will help, but had one of our cars damaged by a runaway vehicle in a supermarket car park recently. Driver very apologetic at the time, but later her partner -the policyholder- refused to pay or provide any insurance details. Placed the matter in the hands of an accident management company -these specialise in dealing with 'no fault' incidents- and the car is being repaired at the moment by my choice of bodyshop and a replacement vehicle provided, but without our approaching our insurers: We too got caught in the 50/50 situation some years ago.
It may yet all go wrong this time, but so far ... .

 

[dlknight]

Hi Tref,

I thoroughly recommend Helphire/Angel Assistance for this, used them twice in the past no problems and even got a boxster courtesy car out of them for 3 weeks All you have to do is tell them the details and the third parties details and they deal with everything for you including getting the car repaired. First time someone went into back of me at a roundabout and second time someone reversed into me while car was parked.

www.helphire.co.uk

Any questions let me know.

Dave K.

 

[Copperman05]

Do you have legal cover? If not then there isnt much you can do I would say, apart from trying to get the other party to accept liability. I had a similar thing with an accident I had on my motorcycle some years ago, the other party was at fault (rear shunt) but failed to report the matter to their insurance company. So I had no means of making a claim. It wasn't until I used my legal cover and they sent some solicitors letter threatening court action that the other party reported the original collision.

The police will not usually get involved without good reason (injury usually) and its therefore often left upto the insurance company's to sort out who is liable. Granted it doesnt really help your situation though.

I solicitor friend willing to help might be useful...

Edd

 

[tref]

Thanks guys.

Not surprisingly I had a bruise on the head... now I feel I should have insisted it was an injury directly resultant from the third parties action... as it is, fogetting any damage pay-out, from the insurance companies point of view it is better to do nothing... a pending accident means full premium next year, and increased premiums for an accident on my record (Which they did before - when it was resolved was what they paid back the same as what I should have saved on my premium? No!)

I'll try some of the tacts suggested... no, actually, I'll try them all!

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Just be a bit careful with accident claim companies. If you don't win then any costs can be down to you. Don't just accept things like an expensive courteousy car if you don't need them. I had no joy with any course of action when my van was hit by a driver who collapsed at the wheel. All the uninsured losses were not recovered. [&o]

 

[tref]

I understand there is an obligation to minimise costs anyway - hence, a £4.50 temporary mirror glass gaffer taped over the remains of the mirror refitted I think is a justifiable expense rather than booking a hire car!

Damn... must find a receipt for the gaffer tape...

 

[Hilux]

We are fortunate to live in a nice part of the world with narrow lanes to get anywhere and it is a rule of thumb unchanged over the years that it will be knock for knock.

Get your NCB protected is the only way and get legal cover too.

 

[nickgardner]

speaking as a lawyer the last post is not technically right - if description of the incident is as posted its clearly other drivers fault and a legal action should succeed. Sue the other guy with a small claims action in the county court. write before hand telling him thats what you are going to do . Its not nearly as hard as you think and there is pretty good guidance on line. Your local court staff will probably help you on the procedure (which form to fill in etc) but won't advise you on the merits. if you do so chances are he wont fight and will cough up, or pass it to his insurers who will do so.

alternatively as per previous post claims handling companies may be a possibility but you are then swimming in shark infested waters

good luck

 

[dlknight]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

Just be a bit careful with accident claim companies. If you don't win then any costs can be down to you. Don't just accept things like an expensive courteousy car if you don't need them. I had no joy with any course of action when my van was hit by a driver who collapsed at the wheel. All the uninsured losses were not recovered. [&o]

Helphire sell your an insurance policy to cover you for costs, last time I claimed it was £10. I wouldn't recommend them if I hadn't been happy with the service, saves any hassle. You don't have the agravation of chasing insurance companies, one phone call and it was all dealt with very professionally.

The last incident when my car was reversed into whilst parked broke the bridge spoiler and side trim, it took Porsche 3 months to ship a new bridge spoiler over from Germany and I had an Alfa Romeo hire car for the duration.

Dont knock it unless you've tried it.

Regards

Dave K.

 

[craig2105]

Quick question, but are you a member of Tipec too? If so, check out the members benefits on the forum for the legal assistance offer. It's free to ask a question and they'll advise of it's worth pursuing or not.

Good luck

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Helphire sell your an insurance policy to cover you for costs, last time I claimed it was £10. I wouldn't recommend them if I hadn't been happy with the service, saves any hassle. You don't have the agravation of chasing insurance companies, one phone call and it was all dealt with very professionally.

The last incident when my car was reversed into whilst parked broke the bridge spoiler and side trim, it took Porsche 3 months to ship a new bridge spoiler over from Germany and I had an Alfa Romeo hire car for the duration.

Dont knock it unless you've tried it.

I have - that's why I mentioned it! [8|]

I had uninsured loss recovery as part of my insurance. They did make an attempt to get back my excess etc, but it wasn't going to be clear cut enough for them to proceed. I was told, by them, that it was lucky I didn't use their recovery, courteousy car etc. as I'd have to pay for them. I was never offered insurance against costs.

Just my experience and possible worth double checking if you choose to go for a claims assistance service.

 

[Copperman05]

ORIGINAL: sc0tty

Do you have protected no claims bonus? if so, you can claim and it should not affect any renewal premiums.

It may not affect your no claims bonus but you would still need to declare the claim, which can also affect prices at renewal.

Edd

 

[tref]

Thanks again guys,

more to think of...

Ed's right unfortunately... just play around on confused.com for a while, and sticking in an accident, no fault, still makes a difference to the premium (or it did last time I tried it)... So I know it is going to cost me ultimately what-ever the immediate outcome.

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

ORIGINAL: nickgardner

speaking as a lawyer the last post is not technically right - if description of the incident is as posted its clearly other drivers fault and a legal action should succeed. Sue the other guy with a small claims action in the county court. write before hand telling him thats what you are going to do . Its not nearly as hard as you think and there is pretty good guidance on line. Your local court staff will probably help you on the procedure (which form to fill in etc) but won't advise you on the merits. if you do so chances are he wont fight and will cough up, or pass it to his insurers who will do so.

alternatively as per previous post claims handling companies may be a possibility but you are then swimming in shark infested waters

good luck

I would do as Nick says - a small claims procedure is really easy! You can get the case underway online!

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

All you need to make sure is that you are being 'reasonable' with costings etc and do yourself a thorough witness statement done while things are fresh in your mind. ps....if you have contemporaneous notes immediately following the accident (!!) of what happened and you were stationary etc then it may help your case. []

 

[Peter_Bull]

I had occasion to use the small claims court once. Never used it before either, but it was so straightforward and I would definitely do it again.

OK it wasn't for car damage - but it was damage to a silk rug we had dry cleaned. TH rug cost us about £500 when new a good few years previously. They ruined it and did their best to deny all knowledge etc as they usually do. I will leave it you to guess all the clauses they tried to pull.

I was livid!! What made it worse was their attitude, smug and smiling as if they were untouchable. Just as you probably are, and I would not leave it there.

As we had no direct insurance cover (other than house contents) we used the legal protection that comes with our (wife's) bank account.

There really came up trumps and when we went to the small claims court the London barrister that our insurance provided wiped the floor with them. The judge was excellent too and judged against the smug bar stewards were not that smug on that day!

Two week later we had a nice cheque in our hands for approx £800. Cost of the rug and expenses!

Now I walk past the dry cleaners in Poulton Le Fylde with a nice smug smile on my face!!! He He.

Success.

Maybe this is another option for you.

 

[mr brightside]

If you were stationary it's his fault, i believe that is a hard and fast rule but perhaps nickgardener can confirm that.

Keep battling until you get what is owed, both insurance companies will just want you to either get bored or die so keep going. Keep records of all costs incurred obviously and good luck!

 

[zcacogp]

I'd third the Small Claims Court route. I've done it three times, and it is easy and cheap. (Successful in each case for me as well.) Well worth considering.

ORIGINAL: mr brightside

If you were stationary it's his fault, i believe that is a hard and fast rule but perhaps nickgardener can confirm that.

I'm not sure that it is a hard and fast rule, but a good indicator. As in, if you were stationary then the other party must have driven into you, so they need to find some good excuse as to why it wasn't their fault. If you see what I mean.

All the best. Keep us posted with progress and outcome ...


Oli.

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

I'd third the Small Claims Court route. I've done it three times, and it is easy and cheap. (Successful in each case for me as well.) Well worth considering.

ORIGINAL: mr brightside

If you were stationary it's his fault, i believe that is a hard and fast rule but perhaps nickgardener can confirm that.

I'm not sure that it is a hard and fast rule, but a good indicator. As in, if you were stationary then the other party must have driven into you, so they need to find some good excuse as to why it wasn't their fault. If you see what I mean.

All the best. Keep us posted with progress and outcome ...


Oli.

Exactly. The burden of proof is "on the balance of probabilities" as opposed to 'beyond reasonable doubt' so simply showing that on the balance of probability the other driver was to blame (which he clearly was imo if you were static).

Its cheap and you have little to lose. Getting a solicitor would cost you more than the cost of footing the repair bill!