Low velocity impact rear collision

[EllieG]

I bumped into the rear of a vehicle at 2 - 3mph. It was agreed by both drivers there was no evident damage to either car. Next day the front driver claimed whiplash, back pain month off work, physiotherapy, �500 worth damage to her vehicle yada yada yada!! Expert inspector from insurers found no damage at all on my car. This is all to do with the Claim Society we live in. I am taking this all the way to court. What are the chances that I will defeat this cheating so and so? Has anybody been through similar?

[Whickerman]

you have very little chance of winning. If you rear end someone there's no defence, unfotunately.

[abranei]

I agree with Whickerman you will be better of financially and less stress by excepting it.

As I understand the only way a rear end bump could possibly be equal blame or the front driver is if you were on a hill and the car in front rolled back, You would have to prove this situation

[joko]

you should always carry a little camera in your car and takes pics of this sort of thing - unfortunately, as above, you were in the wrong, all you can do istry to convince them it wasn't as bad as she said.
she may even have done damage to her car herself.

i remember a car hitting the taxi i was in, and at the time i felt fine, but the next day my neck was sore and i developed a chest infection a few days later, apparently caused by the seatbelt.

perhaps get a statement from a garage stating that your car has not been involved in a big impact...?

[Ethel]

Let your insurance company handle it - that's what you pay the premiums for.

[loonytunes]

You say you are going all the way to court. In what way? Has he sued you? Who has he claimed against? You give the details to your insurers, its them who stand to lose rather than you.

[EllieG]

I am not denying that I bumped her but I am not accepting causation. It is in the hands of my insurers and their solicitors. They encouraged me to fight this as too much of this ripping off insurance companies goes on and we all end up paying more for our premiums. The solicitors employed are hot on this topic and the solicitor she is using is the "Have you had an accident - no win no fee" brigade. I was hit in the rear 2 years ago with my elderley mother (78) in the car and my daughter. None of us had any injury. I have a close friend who lost a son in a car crash and have no time for malingerers she should just be grateful that she and her 2 kids were ok. There has been no evidence of repair on her car either. Watch this space

[Ethel]

I don't understand why your insurance company is encouraging you to fight this.

That is their job.

[joko]

''...she should just be grateful she and her kids were ok...''!!!

i'm sure she was, but she should also be able to expect to drive around safely without getting rear-ended because you weren't paying attention!!
if you really were going so slow, how the hell didn't you see her and stop?
i suspect you were probably going faster than that.

what have your sob stories got to do with this?
are you suggesting that she should not take action because she wasn't maimed, and some people are worse off?

if you had hit me and then said i ''should just be grateful'', i would sue the arse of you!

[EllieG]

I was creeping slowly toward the junction from a standstill. She moved out onto the main road and then stopped abruptly. What I am contesting is the fact that she claims she was off work for one month couldn't stand up straight for 6 weeks and is now bad tempered since the bump 18 month ago! TOSH!! From her statements etc she has had earlier injury from something else and personally I suspect she is on the claim bandwagon. Is no one else out there bothered about this society we now live in where some one else is always to blame for everything? As I said earlier I have had the same done to me and my daughter has been hit in the rear twice in the last 12 months and not once were any of us hurt event though we had claim companies encouraging us to put in a claim and sue people. We are a hard working family and I believe in earning an honest living not relying on lying and cheating to make a few bob. Anyway my insurers and their solicitors think we are doing the right thing, obviously they smell a rat. They have seen one too many of these excessive claims and want to put a stop to this extortion. Have none of you heard of this latest scam where drivers purposely slam brakes on so the car behind hits and so another claim is made see below: http://www.safefromscams.co.uk/StagedAccidentS cam.html

[Whickerman]

Yes, that scam is famous, and you may well be getting caught up in one. However, as the driver behind it is your responsibility to be in control of your vehicle in such a way that you can stop if anything appears on the road in front of you (car, child, animal, whatever). Now, don't lose it - I agree with you that you're getting ripped off - but the accident shouldn't have occurred at all, and I'm sorry, but if someone did get hurt (again, not saying anyone actually did) it would be solely your responsibility in law.

[joko]

agreed whickerman.

I have a degenrative spine condition, and was hit by one of these scam artists, deliberately, quite a mild bump, but my driver slammed on instinctively - like i said before, at the time I felt ok - adrenalin, endorphins, etc - i felt no pain.
they chose me because they thought 'young healthy woman' - she'll be fine.

however, because of that person, the problem i have with my spine/neck flared up the next day and still causes me trouble 4 years later - i am furious about this as i think it will never heal, and feel the compensation i received was not enough - i have a permanent injury!!
i also ended up with a chest infection from the pressure of the seat belt, irritating my lungs - i have asthma so again this much worse than your average person.

if this woman does have an prior injury and you have made it worse because you were not payin attention - remember the 2 second rule? - you were too close, regardless of speed, and you should have had enough space to stop - thats the point - you should be travelling at a pace that allows you room to stop safely, should the car in front make an emergency stop.
there is a lot of stopping and starting when negotiating junctions.
there is also the impact of her slamming on for fear on sailing out into traffic - as well as the bump.

she may well be exaggerating, but you don't know her, she could have been in a seriopus accident before, lost someone, etc and her nerves are shot because of this - but whether you feel it was just a little bump or not, the accident is solely your fault - she is entitled to stop her car suddenly if she feel its necessary.

your solicitors will check all her medical history and previous claims etc.

[Law Student]

Ellie, it seems to me that you have two choices here: (a) you give this to your insurance company to deal with, or (b) you don't.

If you defend the claim yourself the overwhelming probability is that you will lose. You will pay damages running into at least thousands of pounds (and possibly much more), you will have to pay your own legal costs, and you will have to pay the claimants legal costs (which could exceed amount of the damages). Do you have �50k+ to spare?

Fraud is a criminal matter, if you're that bothered about it make a report to the police!

[EllieG]

As I have already said - my insurers are handling this they have employed the solicitor not me.

[JimT]

Unfortunately Ellie I agree with the others on the basis that legally there's not much you can do but what I agree with you about is how infuriating it is that, assuming she is indeed pulling a fast one, we have situations where the lesser of two evils is to simply put up with it and cough up. And I also agree that the blame cutlure is getting silly. But that's another discussion and, as has been said, there are possible explanations of how she might in fact not be trying it on.