I was waiting at traffic lights on London's North Circular ( NCR ) at the end of August in broad dry daylight when a car smacked into my off - side . I came out, remarkably calm, to be confronted by a the driver in a Y reg British reg Audi . She started screaming that it was my fault , then crying hysterically. The 2 blokes in the back seat were actually civilised and embarrassed . One claimed to be her boyfriend , though he looked like her son .
Fortunately, she was insured with a well known UK company and secondly, I was equipped with 2 cameras , a digital and my phone's 5 megapixel . My shots are very clear, showing her car embedded at an angle of about 45 degrees into my side from behind . I called the driver a couple of days later , and was surprised she still maintained it was my fault . One picture refutes everything she says - she simply miscalculated a lane - changing manouvre.
Now , my own company ( I was fully comp ) are being dumb and useless , transferring me across offices just when one clerk was familiar with my case and told me on the blower they had a good laugh when they received my pictures - as tight a case as he's seen .
Finally, my vehicle is a 1.95 metre high ( 6 ' 5" ) US Pick up truck that's 20 ft long, her Audi was about 60% of the height and length . I've already told my insurers that : a) I will not claim on my own policy ( about £1500 of damage , though still driveable ) and b ) I will go to court if necessary . My insurers are pfaffing about, not finding the file, not calling back, not interested .
How can I expedite this - the rust is already settling !
Possible stereotyping type comments removed following a complaint
Moderator - how can I add a picture ?
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 11/12/2007 at 18:42
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....... a) I will not claim on my own policy ( about £1500 of damage though still driveable ) and b ) I will go to court if necessary .
Whatever you decide to do, consider carefully the likely cost to yourself. Forget about things like principles and pride, and instead remember there's no point in throwing good money after bad.
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L\'escargot.
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at the end of August
Get tough. You are an easy walkover at the moment.
I will not claim on my own policy
So why are you claiming from them?
Fortunately, she was insured with a well known UK company
Either Deal direct with the guilty party, and copy your letter of claim to their Insurance Company.
Or if you don't have the confidence or time to deal with it yourself, give your case to a "accident claims" company such as Helphire or similar others you will find in the Yellow pages. In the end, no one will give the job the time and attention it deserves as well as you will yourself.
Or if you want an easy life, then take L'escargot's advice. ;-) Forgive and forget, and take the pain yourself. Be good to our E.E. colleagues and neighbours. They are here to do our economy good and you can't go around claiming for accidents off them, can you. They don't know how to drive on the left, so it is not their fault. It is our fault for not adapting our roads to the way they are used to driving.
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Forgive and forget and take the pain yourself. Be good to our E.E. colleagues and neighbours. They are here to do our economy good and you can't go around claiming for accidents off them can you. They don't know how to drive on the left so it is not their fault. It is our fault for not adapting our roads to the way they are used to driving.
I hope the above comment was written tongue in cheek..........
An accident that was 100% not the OPs fault. Also, as jbif says, get tough with your insurer.
Ring and email them every single day until it gets resolved.
Chris
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I hope the above comment was written tongue in cheek..........
I used ;-)
What form is the correct one for t-i-c?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon
Proto-emoticons
Several Internet websites ?such as BT's Connected Earth[6]? assert that Kevin Mackenzie proposed -) as a joke-marker in April 1979, on a message board called MsgGroup. The idea was to indicate tongue-in-cheek ? the hyphen represented a tongue, not a nose. Although it has two out of the three characters of ":-)", its intended interpretation was different and it does not appear to have inspired the later smileys.
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I've already told my insurers that : a) I will not claim on my own policy ( about £1500 of damage though still driveable ) ......
I think you've only told us half the story. As it stands it's 4 months since the accident and you're still £1500 down.
What would be the financial penalty to yourself if you did claim on your own insurance? It's difficult for anyone to comment without knowing that.
Logically the issue should only be about the final cost to yourself ~ unless of course your principles are such that you're prepared to cut off your nose to spite your face. You do seem to be somewhat obsessed by the fact that the other driver was large, "East European", and had a young boyfriend. Where's the relevance?
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L\'escargot.
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motorprop, if you want to post pictures try joining hj's group on msn:
groups.msn.com/honestjohn
it may take overnight for registration as someone has to approve your application.
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a) I will not claim on my own policy
So what are you expecting your insurance company to do, act as your claims management service?
If you have fully comp insurance, the normal / easiest thing to do is to claim on your insurance and get the car fixed. Your insurance company will then recover from the 3rd party. That's what insurance is for, isn't it?
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That's what insurance is for isn't it?
That's my view of comprehensive insurance too (particularly if you've got a protected NCD) but I've long since learned it's best to avoid saying so because apparently it's not a widely held view.
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L\'escargot.
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I always used to work backwards on matters like this.
Conventionally:
1. Have you got a good case?
2. Are you prepared to sue?
3. Can you afford to sue (linked with 1: strong case = likely to get costs back)?
4. Assuming you win, can you enforce the judgment?
Here: Q4 first.
There may be a clue in your insurers' attitude.
Bobbins to principle: insurance is about money.
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to sue only costs about £70 in a small claims court for a sum this size . To enforce the judgment would be easy , as her insurance co. is a UK household name . Anybody neutral can see from my photos who is to blame . This is a 3rd vehicle that does very low annual miles - I didn't disrupt my life too much . Don't care how long it takes !
As for claiming on my policy, am not prepared to jeopardise my 70% NCD - why should I - wasn't at fault ?
Some of you are pessimistic types .. I did offer her the chance to settle privately but was told to forget it . I think in Latvia there is no concept of ' own fault ' - you grab what you can .
Have registered to be able to post photos - watch this space ..
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Less interested in photos (liability doesn't seem to be the issue) than in your progress.
Keep us posted.
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That's my view of comprehensive insurance too
When someone ran into the back of Mrs DL's car earlier this year, I called my insurance company (Frizzell) and they dealt with the whole thing from that one phone call. They even waived the excess, which I expected to have to pay and then reclaim.
I was a bit surprised though that the 3rd party's insurance company (M&S) called and tried to take over the claim. I wouldn't have minded that, but it became somewhat ridiculous that they wouldn't speak to me (the car is registered and insured in my name, but with Mrs DL as main driver) as I wasn't the driver! So I referred them to Frizzell.
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I sympathise - our car was scratched along the drivers side by the wheel nuts of a well known bread/takeaway lorry whilst moving away slowly from traffic lights. He didn't realise he had done it, but more or less accepted he had. Claimed on our insurance, but he then decided it wasn't his fault - after a year of wrangling it ended up 50/50 and we lost half our excess. Thing is, it was only really us who wanted to pursue it - pretty early on our insurers were happy to go halves. We settled in the end just to get it over with - but it's very annoying to see people getting away with something theyv'e done. Be prepared for a long slog, but good luck.
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As for claiming on my policy, am not prepared to jeopardise my 70% NCD ....
In that case I recommend you get your NCD protected. My protected NCD policy allows 2 claims in 3 years without my NCD being reduced. The cost is minimal.
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L\'escargot.
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My NCD protection allows two claims in five years also - so I didn't 'lose' my full no claims when we agreed to go halves. But I am given to understand that when you renew/change insurer the fact that you have made a claim on your own insurance still affects your next premium.
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You may keep your NCD but your premium will rise
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You may keep your NCD but your premium will rise
Not necessarily.
The last time I made a claim I waited 3 months for the dust to settle and then I got an online quote from my insurer. It was identical to the quote I got 5-6 months earlier, i.e. before the claim.
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