Car insurance liability

[Sue Balou]

My sister had a minor collision while driving my car, she was covered third party only. She was stationary at traffic lights when the guy in front decided to change lanes and reversed into my car. They exchanged details but the guy said at the time that he wouldn't report the accident and if she pursued it he would say that she drive into him. (We later found out that he'd driven into someone else on a roundabout 2 weeks before this accident). There were no other witnesses and no damage to his car.

We reported the accident to his insurance company. They wrote to him as he hadn't reported it, and he wrote back saying that my sister drove into him. His insurance asked us to get an estimate (500 quid for a new bumper and indicator, parts and labour) and they sent an assessor out to look at my car.

Now, 6 weeks later, his insurance company are saying liability hasn't been proved and they're not paying out.

What can we do now to try to recover the costs of the repair? This guy has made a false declaration to his insurance company but seems he will get away with it, and my car is left with a split bumper.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

unless you have witnesses there is nothing you can do,its a shame you dont know anyone who would lie and say they saw it,because he needs bringing down a peg or two.

[VillageVicar]

Sadly, this unscrupulous behaviour happens almost every day. Your opponent appears to be quite savvy and possibly not without a history of these events. It�s an unfortunate fact that insurers roles are not always there to �help� you. Their role is in their accountability to shareholders and when they have reason to deny a claim, they take advantage of that opportunity.

You �could� take the person to small claims court. Strangely enough, based upon what you�ve shared, there�s a scintilla of a chance that you could succeed. But it depends on how adept the judge is in asking the right questions, such as: why would the plaintiff provide such an accurate description if this isn�t really what happened.

I suspect, your now alleged victim, is banking that you are stumped, don�t know what to do, and will just chalk it up to a bad experience. Depending on how motivated you are, you do have a �chance,� albeit a small one. It might be interesting to determine whether this individual has been involved in any other �experiences� such as this.

I feel badly for you. I can easily envisage the scenario.

I wish you well

Fr Bill

[Ethel]

That's a lot of damage for a reverse bump from stationary.

Sadly it is going to be impossible to prove she didn't run in to the back of him as the amount of damage puts that as the most likely scenario.

He could equally be saying the same story - she ran in to the back but is claiming he reversed in to her.

The insurance companies won't run with it - especially as they are not having to pay anything.

You could try the courts, as suggested, but I think it will be a waste of time and energy.

[sifellis]

The EXACT same thing happened to me. It was a con about 3 years ago for whiplash claims.

A good friend of mine was the assessor for the claim for both vehicles. When he examined the car that'd reverse into me he noticed that the filament in the cars reversing lamp was broken which indicated that the light had been on at the time of impact, thus proving the guy was reversing....or intening to reverse. It was enough for the juge to rule in my favour.

Goo luck with the claim, perhaps mention the above to your insurer.

[Sue Balou]

Thanks for the replies.

Ethel - I was suprised by how much the repairs would cost but a new bumper is 200 gbp, then it needs spraying, there's a new indicator, realigning the headlight, getting a kink out if the offside wing etc.

Ironically, if I had been driving the repairs would have been done by now and then my inusrance co. would have then tried to recover the costs. Then I would have had to pay the excess and lost my no claims bonus. So it could be worse.