I'm in this strange position that the other driver is not accepting responsibility. Obviously both of us fault each other and there was no injury to both of us and there was no police involved as well.
The damage caused is worth around £800 and my excess is £300. His car has slightly more damange than mines I believe. What will happen to my no claims discount of 5 years, how will the insurers decide who is at fault ? anyones got any idea in situations like these. Thanks in advance .
|
Well the insurers probably have the advantage of seeing (at least) two versions of what happened.
That probably helps them come to a decision.
|
|
|
I'm in this strange position that the other driver is not accepting responsibility.
If your insurance policy is like mine [and most likely everyone else's], you will find that the Insurance Company T7C advise drivers NOT to admit responsibility. So it is not strange at all, and should be the situation in the majority of claims.
Depending on the evidence you have, you can then prove your case as you wish. If are convinced you were not at fault, write to the third party telling them that you hold them 100% responsible for the damage, and make a claim off them direct [up to the 3rd party then to pass on claim to their Insurance Company]. Tell your own insurance Company that you are not claiming off your own insurance at this stage, but are merely keeping them informed.
If you leave it to your Insurance Company, their prime interest will be to minimise their own losses. That could well mean that in their view, the cheapest option for them is to agree to split the costs between the two Insurance Companies.
|
|
tell us whta happened, and we'll judge. Seriously. It may help.
|
|
|
>>That could well mean that in their view, the cheapest option for them is to agree to split the costs between the two Insurance Companies.
The situation most likely is going to be that both of us claim third party. My car is a cheap car, current market value is probably under £2K and may be I could get it repaired cheaply if I do it myself privately for £300-400 - if I do not go for claim. His car is an expensive one, probably would cost aorund £9-10K. Will such things make any difference at all ?
I still think the other driver was at fault because he failed to do a blind spot while merging and he was doing around 40mph on a 30 road, hence his car suffered more damage after both the cars kissed on their sides and tyres.
His take on the situation is, I was indicating on the opposite direction (which could be true since I just turned in from a side road earlier and might have left the indicators on)
I still have no idea what would happen to my hard earned no claims, which is not protected.
|
If he claims from 3rd party -i.e. from you - and you cannot prove you are not to blame, you and your Ins Co are jointly liable and
1. you lose your no claims if you ask you Ins Co to pay him.
2. you pay him direct and inform your Ins Co [as you are obliged to so], who will mark your record as having had an incident.
If you claim from 3rd party - i.e. from him - and you cannot prove he is to blame, you are left either:
3. to return to your own Ins Co and lodge a Comprehensive claim, in which case you lose no-claims bonus.
4. pay for your own repairs, and same applies as 2 above.
If however your claim against 3rd party succeeds, they pay you damages in full and you tell your Ins Co that your claim has been paid, and they will mark your record as having had a non-blame incident. No claim so no loss of bonus.
|
To give a little comfort to the OP...
If he has to claim off own insurance, am I right in saying the ins co might deduct only a percentage of the no claims, rather than the whole lot?
|
|
|
|
His take on the situation is I was indicating on the opposite direction (which could be true since I just turned in from a side road earlier and might have left the indicators on)
He's almost certainly out of luck - your indicator status is probably irrelevant, especially of you haven't admitted it and there aren't any independant witnesses.
Have a look here, although unfortunately no final conclusion:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=49861
Edited by Bill Payer on 03/07/2008 at 22:54
|
Usually in this case it will be split liability [none accepts blame, no witness etc.]
If you don't accept that, you may go to court. But your insurer will advise you if you have a chance of winning in court or not. However, insurers won't bother about your NCB protection, they will go for least cost option, even if that makes you liable irrespective of anyone's fault.
Partial liability also erases NCB.
|
Thanks for the link, the case looks pretty similar !
I'm almost certain that I had cancelled the signal after turning into the main road.
This morning, I had a good scan around the area where the incident occured there are few real time traffic monitoring cameras installed and I'm sure if they were active they would have captured some images - since there was no police involved I wonder whether the insurance companies ever bother taking evidences from that
I dont mind paying up if I was at fault - but I prefer they arrive to a conculsion based on evidences than guessings made on just verbal theories !
Thanks everyone
|
|
One useful tip - carry a disposable camera around in the car - a picture is worth 318 words (adjusted for inflation)
|
|
|
For a 'minor' shunt insurance companies will not go down the road of trying to retrieve camera footage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This would largely depend on the circumstances of the accident.
When assessing liability we normally use a precedent case that has already been to court and had a judement made on it.
Often there is a percentage of blame attributed to each party involved, and there are clear not fault accidents that 100% of liability is aportioned to one party - although it is rare for any insurance company to accepted liability. They normally settle a claim without prejudice - without formally accepting liability.
Not fault accidents are scenarios like being hit in the rear whilst stationary, or being hit in the side by a third-party pulling out of a side road etc. Although these can be affected by misleading signals (indicator flashing).
Lane changes on either a motorway, dual carriage way and even on single carriage ways are normally split-fault accident that can range from 50-50 split to 10-90 split, depending on the circumstances and any witnesses etc.
You don not have to settle through your insurance company if you decide amongst yourselves to settle privately - although you still have to notify your insurance company of the incident. Both parties have to agree on this though.
If you would like a conclusive answer on liability - I will need to know the circumstances of the incident to make a conclusive assessment.
|
If you have no independent witnesses or any other evidence to prove he was 100% in the wrong- yours and his insurance company will each assume 50% liability and your no claims bonus is gone.
|
|
|
|
Check your insurance policy to see if you have "Legal Cover" included. Many policies now have this for no charge. Others charge about £10-£15 but it's worth it.
If you do have cover, call your insurance company and tell them you want to take advantage of it. They will put you in touch with a retained solicitor who will fight your corner for you.
Kevin...
|
Check your insurance policy
"synoniv" has not been active since 4th July!
|
>"synoniv" has not been active since 4th July!
That's one helluva long Independence Day hangover.
Kevin...
|
|
|
|
