Had a shunt in my car today - can I claim?

[wunt be druv]

Are there any CCTV cameras there? If there are I am pretty sure you Insurers may be able to get a copy of the video to prove your point.

 

[Fat Langers]

I must admit I had a friend who was in a similar case, however though it was him that had pulled in front of someone and hit the brakes and had someone go into the back of him. It was deemed as his fault and the third party claimed off of him. So, you might be lucky enough and win.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

You MUST inform your insurer .If she doesn't she will suffer at renewal. You are at fault, however unless you have protected your NCB you will lose it. How ever don't admit liability and you could conceivably recover your uninsured losses i.e your excess.

 

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

I work within Insurance Fraud Investigation and the above is the correct answer.
However it's far from certain that the other party pulled out deliberately, they could just have made a bad move.
Do you know how many (if any) passengers they had and do you have the other drivers/car details?
As you hit them from behind, everything is in their favour, they CAN claim whiplash and there's a fair chance they will. It's far too easy.
Did you take photos at the scene?

Alert your insurance company and let them know the situation.
Can I ask which insurance company you're with?

I did seem like a genuine mistake on her part.

We didn't exchange insurance details just phone numbers and car details.

Neither of us had any passengers.

I did take a photo of the back of her car. Mine certainly came off worst.

My insurance company is Admiral.

 

[StonehamPark]

I did seem like a genuine mistake on her part.

We didn't exchange insurance details just phone numbers and car details.

Neither of us had any passengers.

I did take a photo of the back of her car. Mine certainly came off worst.

My insurance company is Admiral.

The best thing you've done is take photo's. This will 110% work in your favour if she makes a claim.
I'd strongly suggest you let Admiral know the scenario, make sure you tell them you've got pics and there were no passengers in her car, it's V important.
Unfortunately, I doubt you could claim but that's entirely up to you.
Do not be surprised if you get a call or letter from a Solicitors firm or her/you insurance company alerting you that a claim is being made.
Best to just let them know?

 

[terryberry1]

im just waiting for ERNEST to start a thread about being hit up the arse

 

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

The best thing you've done is take photo's. This will 110% work in your favour if she makes a claim.
I'd strongly suggest you let Admiral know the scenario, make sure you tell them you've got pics and there were no passengers in her car, it's V important.
Unfortunately, I doubt you could claim but that's entirely up to you.
Do not be surprised if you get a call or letter from a Solicitors firm or her/you insurance company alerting you that a claim is being made.
Best to just let them know?

Will do. Thanks for the advice.

 

[beorhthelm]

it should be pointed out the "hit them from behind, your fault" is not a rule, but a default position. there might be mitigating reasons and i'm surprised this bit is over looked...

... a car had pulled out of the lane to my left and stopped at the green light....saw them too late....hit the anchors....but didnt stop in time and hit the back of them.

seems exactly the sort of thing that would mitigate your position: how can you reasonably be expected keep a safe distance from a car in a different lane? if that were the case motorways wouldn't work. shirley this is dangerous driving in its own right? seems in this case not worth pursuing, but if it had been serious i would hope you wouldnt be found wholy to blame (if at all).

im thinking of the distance from those light to the traffic coming in from the left. its a big round about and thats a long way from lights to ajoining traffic to feel you have to take the drastic action of swerving into inside/fast lane, rather than simply brake or bail left.

 

[Dusty_Fryer]

I crashed my sweet green Mondeo into some mug on my way to the Port Vale promotion party a few years back. Okay, I was arguing with my stupid girlfriend while trying to read a map at the time. Me and my victim pulled over to the hard shoulder and who should step out of the smashed car in front? None other than Sky Sports Soccer liar Brian Seymour-Smith, on his way to commentate on some non-Albion tripe. Anyway, insurance details were exchanged and the Port Vale promotion party was missed in lieu of a stinking trip back to Sussex on the back of a tow truck. Fully comp insurance with the Co-op meant that all the letters from Seymour-Smith's solicitors claiming I was some sort of German cannibal murderer Nazi went straight to the insurance company to sort out. Let them sort it, innit?

 

[Garage_Doors]

im just waiting for ERNEST to start a thread about being hit up the arse

Because he is so funny at that,

- - - Updated - - -

im just waiting for ERNEST to start a thread about being hit up the arse

Because he is so funny at that,

 

[Garage_Doors]

I crashed my sweet green Mondeo into some mug on my way to the Port Vale promotion party a few years back. Okay, I was arguing with my stupid girlfriend while trying to read a map at the time. Me and my victim pulled over to the hard shoulder and who should step out of the smashed car in front? None other than Sky Sports Soccer liar Brian Seymour-Smith, on his way to commentate on some non-Albion tripe. Anyway, insurance details were exchanged and the Port Vale promotion party was missed in lieu of a stinking trip back to Sussex on the back of a tow truck. Fully comp insurance with the Co-op meant that all the letters from Seymour-Smith's solicitors claiming I was some sort of German cannibal murderer Nazi went straight to the insurance company to sort out. Let them sort it, innit?

Some question that arise from the above.
1)why was the driver of the other car a mug, surely it was you that was the mug?
2) Why did he think you were a German cannibal murderer Nazi? Your behaviour towards them after you caused the accident by dangerous driving must have been very bizarre!

 

[StillHateBellotti]

It's because they say you should always be driving at a speed (and, ergo, stopping distance) that allows you to stop safely within the distance you can see to be clear. A car stopping suddenly is just another variable- other examples could be a load falling off a truck, a child running out from behind a parked car, a massive hole in the road etc etc.

Their view is that you always adjust your speed and stopping distance according to the circumstances you're in, that you should be anticipating what could potentially happen in any given position you find yourself in. An urban road might be a 30mph limit, but if it has parked cars down the side, you should be considering what hazards could emerge from between those cars and slow down to a more suitable level.

Flipping heck Edna that brings back memories?

 

[Dusty_Fryer]

Some question that arise from the above.
1)why was the driver of the other car a mug, surely it was you that was the mug?
2) Why did he think you were a German cannibal murderer Nazi? Your behaviour towards them after you caused the accident by dangerous driving must have been very bizarre!

You are right. The gentleman was nothing other than courteous and helpful at the time. His feelings towards me were somewhat different as letters I received subsequently put in no uncertain terms! Thank goodness that I took the legal services option when I bought my insurance. They were excellent.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Anyone else seeing Andrew Castle and first4lawyers while reading this thread

 

[supaseagull]

I've worked in Motor Claims and used to deal with this sort of thing on a daily basis...You MAY have the cause to claim some of the liability in this.

Had you have just hit someone who was in the same lane as you from behind, then yes, you would have been at fault and as others have said in this thread, you will be classed as being 100% liable.

However, by the sounds of it, the other person pulled out in front of you, therefore causing the accident.

The part someone else has mentioned about "safe breaking distance" applies when one car is behind another driving for a number of yards/metres and based upon normal dual carriageway speeds of 60-70mph.

The fact that the other party has changed lanes and then stopped in front of you, therefore giving you no chance to avoid the accident is NOT your fault and the damage to both of the vehicles should tie in this this.

If the damage to your vehicle and hers was to the centre of the rear of the other persons vehicle and central to the front of yours, then the insurers will probably surmise that you were at fault.

However, if the majority of the damage to your care was on the left or right hand side of your vehicle only; this would suggest that the other driver had cut in front of you.

Forget about the scam side of things as it's very difficult to prove.

 

[drew]

If I am reading this right, you are saying that she was in the left hand lane and then moved over to your lane and stopped. If that is the case, despite the fact that you hit her in the rear then you are not liable. She should not have changed lanes without a)signalling and b) checking that the lane she was moving into was clear. The problem is that you appear to have no witnesses as presumably she has said she wouldn't claim so no need for you to get names. However, she has your registration then she can easily track down your insurers and make a claim.

My advice would be to tell your insurers immediately, whether or not you are claiming for damage to your car. The fact that she doesn't want to claim is probably down to the fact that she knows she is in the wrong. Does the damage to your car warrant you claiming from your insurers anyway. If so, they may well pursue a claim against her anyway. Bear in mind that as it is a roundabout, the highways agency may have cameras monitoring the road there so that might help. You might need to contact the Police though just to cover yourself if it is a scam.

 

[Garage_Doors]

I got one of those dash cams in my van, Only £18 great bit of kit, if it ever happen to me i hope it would proved conclusively what happened.
For the the insurance bods on here, do all insurance companies accept video evidence?

 

[User removed 4]

Sounds suspicious to me if she doesn't want to bother with an insurance claim after you rammed her from behind. With no witnesses it will be your word against hers. Both of you are at fault with lack of observational skills and driving without due care and attention.[/QUOTE [MENTION=31]El Presidente[/MENTION] will be all over this !!

 

[Cars]

My driving instructor told me to assume every other driver is crap, and that they're going to do something stupid.

That stuck with me, and has prevented me from having a few prangs.

I think the, "if you hit someone from behind, it's your fault" is complete bollocks. Especially when it comes to people pulling out on you on the motorway!

 

[vegster]

Years ago, my Mrs came home and said she had had a minor bump reversing her car in a car park as she reversed out. She said it was only minor and it had resulted in a small scratch on our bumper and a cracked rear light cluster lens. She also said that the girl driving had said not to worry as her other half worked as a car body repairer and that the small dent in her wing would be no problem. But,they exchanged details just in case.

Imagine my surprise when we were contacted by their insurers claiming my wife had written off their car ! She swore blind there was no real damage at all as the "Accident" occurred at about 3 MPH ! So we drove up to their road and sneaked a look at their car, it now had a smashed headlight and the wing had been stoved in several inches !

If it was not so blatant it would have been funny, the part of our car that was damaged and had "Struck " their car was about 10 " LOWER than the height of the damage on their now written off car. I wrote a full explanation of what had happened to both insurers indicating that this was an attempted fraud and that they needed to get experts involved, I also went to the Police but they seemed disinterested. In the end I heard no more but I hope that couple have had miserable lives from that point on.

So. just a bit of advice, assume the worst, they may well either have set this up or will maximise their chances of cashing in.