A few months back I was involved in a small scale roundabout collision.
Essentially, I went round the inside lane of a roundabout, indicated and pulled off an exit, keeping as far over to the right as possible. Someone else was on the outside. They pulled onto the same exit a little behind me. They then drove into my passenger door, seemingly making no effort to avoid the collision.
All well and good, we exchanged details and I left it to the insurance companies to sort it out.
Meanwhile I received a demand to pay his uninsured losses (excess) from a 3rd party claims handler. I passed this on to my insurance company.
Last week I received a letter from Norwich small claims court advising me that the other party were seeking to claim to the excess from myself.
Now, I won't pass comment on blame for the accident, but I will say that I'd see a 50-50 settlement as fair. I will be taking legal advice. I just wondered if anyone else had ever been involved in such a case.
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Isn't the driver behind usually culpable?
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Difficult.
Firstly understand that paying the TP excess will cause this accident to be deemed 100% your fault and you will lose your bonus or receive a premium loading depending on your particular policy.
What it will not end up is 50-50, even if the courts decide that way. Failing to recover your own excess will also ensure that the accident will lose your bonus etc.
The difference between the above is that the second will cause the other party to lose their bonus as well.
The third possibility is that you can win your own excess back in court. However with the information you've given I couldn't possibly say.
You do need to consult a Solicitor, although if you want to put more details here I will try to help.
M.
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Tom,
Was the roundabout a standard four way with you joining and basically going straight on as was the other driver. What were the circumstances as you both progressed around the roundabout. If there was an attempt to overtake on the roundabout assuming the other car was also going straight on I would say that the fault was probobly yours. If you both started off together and you accelerated quicker than the other then he should have allowed you in and the fault is all his. Did you manage to get any witnesses? I think the alternating give way rule, so successfully implemented on the A3 at Guildford about four years ago, should be introduced nationwide. If you seriously belive you were not to blame then I would suggest contacting your motoring organisation and seeking their advice as to who would be successful in your forthcoming court action and hopefully they will suggest a counterclaim. Best of luck with it, Andy
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It's quite a small roundabout with no lane markings though wide enough for two cars to go round at the same time.
I pulled off very slightly ahead of him. I pulled ahead about 1/2 car length round the rounabout. I could hear him revving his car, in essence, trying to close the gap I was aiming for.
Hindsight is a great thing. I'm not happy to accept 100% blame for what happened.
My insurance company are taking care of the proceedings for me.
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