Insurance claim - who is to blame?

Honest John Back Room » Legal matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sun 2 Dec 2018 18:33
Insurance claim - who is to blame? - KJA6912

Hi,

Unfortunately, I've just been involved in a small bump. I'm trying to work out whether to claim on my insurance, based on the likelihood of who they will believe is in the wrong.

I've included a diagram below of the crash.

https://imgur.com/a/AugnT4Q

Any help / opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Edited by KJA6912 on 02/12/2018 at 18:34

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 2 Dec 2018 19:32
Insurance claim - who is to blame? - 72 dudes

My opinion: Both Car A and B are equally to blame, as neither were apparently driving with due care and attention.

Car B should have been aware of what's going on around him while 'tidying' up the parking.

Car A should have been aware of Car B's manoevering before pulling into the car park.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 2 Dec 2018 19:38
Insurance claim - who is to blame? - gordonbennet

Depending on the other party and whether they have a sensible head or think there's a multi thousand pound injury claim in the offing, it looks to me like six one and half a dozen of the other.

Only you have met the other party so only you can judge what their response would be, but my gut feeling is that this molehill could easily become an expensive mountain once credit hire bandits and fleece-em lawyers get involved, both of which will make money at the insurer's expense who will want to recoup some from their customers.

I suspect you yourself are unsure who is to blame or you wouldn't be asking the question, so if the other party is amenable i'd be inclined for each of you to get their repairs done at own cost.

If it came to an insurers wrangle, i suspect the reversing driver would be more to blame, but this isn't a clear cut case imho with the witness involved.

No dash cam footage from either?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 2 Dec 2018 19:49
Insurance claim - who is to blame? - KJA6912

Thanks for both of your input.

Unfortunately, no dash cam footage.

Driver A is happy to claim or get the work done themselves, but expects Driver B (reversing driver) to cover the cost in full to both cars despite witness involvement.

Do you think the loss of no claims / increase in premiums for Driver B (reversing) outweigh settling with Driver A?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 2 Dec 2018 20:00
Insurance claim - who is to blame? - gordonbennet

Sounds like a job for insurance after all, it isn't clear cut but as one of the parties has already made it clear that he/she is entirely innocent i don't think there is much point in pursuing a reasonable 'pay yer own' resolution, they may well end up worse off than being reasonable about a minor prang where blame isn't obvious.

This is why you pay insurance, and don't lose that witnesses details.

Edited by gordonbennet on 02/12/2018 at 20:03

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance