Accident - What to do next

run_Forrest_run

Sorry if this is not the right place for this thread, move if necessary:

The Story:
Last night I was involved in an accident, I was on the roundabout and a car pulled out in front of me at the next entrance to the roundabout & we hit. No injuries & no passengers, some damage done but nothing major (my bumper cracked and some broken off, indicator light smashed, main light shifted out of alignment).

Anyway, the old man is not accepting liability. I firmly believe I am in the right because I was on the roundabout and it was up to him to yield right of way which he clearly didn't!

Anyway, I called the cops. Garda came out, took a report, details etc. The garda did make a comment saying that it seemed that I was well on the roundabout at the time of the accident. I agreed and reiterated the fact that yer man should have yielded. The guy denied this (without any good argument) and then he said that he had to slow down because of traffic coming on from his left! The garda told him that he should not have been slowing down for anything on his left! The guy was not looking to his right I believe and came straight out!

Anyway, since I feel I am in the right I rang my insurance company to give them a heads up and I said I wanted to claim from his insurance. They said I had to do this myself.

So here I am now, not sure what to do, is it normal for my insurance company to just tell me to handle this myself and contact the third party's insurance company directly myself to initiate a claim? I feel they are just washing their hands with it and making me do it all myself.

Is this normal carry on for an insurance company or should I get back on to them to help me out?? I've never been involved in an accident before so I really don't have a clue.

Any advice would be helpful, thanks!

kikel

You ring his insurance company and lodge a complaint. He didn't admit liability as that what our insurance companies tell us to do. It sounds it is his fault so don't worry.

MrPudding

You have two options. One is get the car repaired and get your insurance company to pay for it, they will then (possibly or eventually) chase his company for the money. The advantages of this are your car get repaired faster and you have very little to do. The disadvantage is your no claims will be effected until you insurance company recovers their money, which they might not even bother to do.

You other option is as suggested. You contact his company yourself and lodge a claim. There are companies that will handle the whole process for you, you insurance sometimes comes with it built in, though that does not seem to be the case for you.

MrP

run_Forrest_run

kikel wrote: »

You ring his insurance company and lodge a complaint. He didn't admit liability as that what our insurance companies tell us to do. It sounds it is his fault so don't worry.

Thanks for the prompt reply kikel, OK, off I go back on the phone. Insurance companies are the spawn of the devil

run_Forrest_run

MrPudding wrote: »

You other option is as suggested. You contact his company yourself and lodge a claim. There are companies that will handle the whole process for you, you insurance sometimes comes with it built in, though that does not seem to be the case for you.
MrP

yeah, they seem to be not very forthcoming with assistance even though they say my cover comes with 'legal protection' which when I asked what it as they were not really able to tell me!!

I do not have fully comp cover but even if I did I would not claim off my own insurance, I don't want my no claims discount affected and anyway, I feel I am fully in the right so I want to make a claim on his insurance.

Lots of hassle and grief eh!

MrPudding

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

Lots of hassle and grief eh!

Sorting stuff like this out is never really fun, but yours seems to be fairly straight forward. Good luck, and let us know how your initial contact goes.

MrP

run_Forrest_run

Just got all the details of the 3rd party from the garda and going to ring his insurance company now, yep, I'll let ye know how it all pans out.

Marcus.Aurelius

Hope it all works out.

Seth Brundle

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

The guy ... said that he had to slow down because of traffic coming on from his left! The garda told him that he should not have been slowing down for anything on his left! The guy was not looking to his right I believe and came straight out!

WTF - was he thinking he was on the continent?

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

Anyway, since I feel I am in the right I rang my insurance company to give them a heads up and I said I wanted to claim from his insurance. They said I had to do this myself.

So here I am now, not sure what to do, is it normal for my insurance company to just tell me to handle this myself and contact the third party's insurance company directly myself to initiate a claim? I feel they are just washing their hands with it and making me do it all myself.

Is this normal carry on for an insurance company or should I get back on to them to help me out?? I've never been involved in an accident before so I really don't have a clue.

Having gone through a claim last year (no dispute), the process involves you lodging a complaint against his insurance company.
They set up the initial contact IIRC and then you continue it. However, if it is disputed then there may be a need for them to step in. I think it boils down to the fact that your insurance company aren't your legal advisors (although they do help in this way) - they cover you in the event of a claim made against your policy.

Best of luck with it but to me you are in the right!

cjt156

BTW for a bumper to deform enough to crack there's a fair chance that your subframe has sustained some damage. This equates to fairly big bucks.

Best of luck, sounds like its open & shut as you tell it.

run_Forrest_run

cjt156 wrote: »

BTW for a bumper to deform enough to crack there's a fair chance that your subframe has sustained some damage. This equates to fairly big bucks.

Best of luck, sounds like its open & shut as you tell it.

d'oh, not what I'd wanted to hear!! Oh well, thanks for all your advice folks.

Páid

I was involved in an accident with a truck which was not my fault in November 2004. €2000 damage to my car and none to the truck. IMO it was clearly the other drivers fault. I didn't want to claim off my own insurance so I rang his insurance company who wouldn't tell me how to claim from them. After about 6 weeks getting the runaround I employed a solicitor who was given the runaround for about a year. In the end he filed an action against them and they settled for the full amount including legal fees (approx €300) a week before the case was due in the district court which was about 18 months after the accident. In that time the cost of the repairs went up to €2200.

My advice to you if you are going this route is to get the highest quote possible. Be prepared to wait. When they settle get the repairs done wherever you like (cheaper if possible).

My insurance company at the time was useless and didn't want to know as I wasn't claiming from them. I would go the same route again as it saved me money (in premiums) in the long run.

chris85

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

d'oh, not what I'd wanted to hear!! Oh well, thanks for all your advice folks.

not likely that damage has occured. Bumpers are there for the purpose of protecting other components inside. They break so as other things will not. Its possible but not always that simple. Just wait till you get a quote.

Any luck with insurance yet?

meathstevie

You were on the roundabout and he came out of a road feeding on to the roundabout, right ? He caused the accident by ignoring a yield sign, end of story. Ring his insurance company and if the cops recorded the details you can always refer to them if the insurance company ask for back-up to your story. In the meantime go to your garage and see if they can help you with an estimate but in any case the insurance company will send out an assesor anyway and in most cases those guys know what they're looking at. If your car is still driveable ( lights working etc ) I wouldn't bother going through my own insurance because of no-claims implications.

Ludo

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

Sorry if this is not the right place for this thread, move if necessary:

The Story:
Last night I was involved in an accident, I was on the roundabout and a car pulled out in front of me at the next entrance to the roundabout & we hit. No injuries & no passengers, some damage done but nothing major (my bumper cracked and some broken off, indicator light smashed, main light shifted out of alignment).

Your headlights were damaged implying the front of your car hit his car.

Where exactly on his car?

Did you end up almost "read-ending" him on the roundabout? Should you have been watching where you were going and taking due care for the unexpected idiots who think they don't have to yield and been able to stop in time?

Not sure on the finer points here, but does anyone know who would be in the wrong if in fact you rear-ended someone who pulled out in front of you on a roundabout? Are you at fault in this case as with usual rear-endings or is the person who didn't yield correctly always at fault in a roundabout situation?

Fey!

Bad luck, OP. However, it does sound as if you're in the right.

Best of luck getting it sorted out.

Ludo; I remember reading somewhere several years agothat if someone pulls out in front of you and you rear end them within a particular distance of where they pulled out, then the car that gets rear ended is the one at fault. Someone else may be able to clarify this.

Also, the onus is on the person entering the roundabout to ensure that their way is clear for them to proceed, the same as on any junction. The OP may possibly have had nowhere to go but into the other car.

run_Forrest_run

Ludo wrote: »

Your headlights were damaged implying the front of your car hit his car.

Where exactly on his car?

Did you end up almost "read-ending" him on the roundabout? Should you have been watching where you were going and taking due care for the unexpected idiots who think they don't have to yield and been able to stop in time?

Not sure on the finer points here, but does anyone know who would be in the wrong if in fact you rear-ended someone who pulled out in front of you on a roundabout? Are you at fault in this case as with usual rear-endings or is the person who didn't yield correctly always at fault in a roundabout situation?

yes Ludo, I considered this also. To be honest when I think about it I nearly feel he hit me but it was the rear side of his side panel, just beyond the back door. I didn't rear end him. There is damage to his panel on the side of his car, albeit towards the rear side. No damage done to the rear of his car, no contact made there.

About taking due care, I understand your question but I honestly feel I was in the turn on the roundabout, almost past the point where he enters so my line of sight was going around and observing as I take the turn. He came cutting across and I braked but he skimmed/bumped off the left corner of my front.

The fact that he hit the left side of the front section of my car nearly indicates that I was almost past the point of his entrance before he came out fast and kept going.

duuno, suppose the powers that be have to make a call but I can only hope it's in my favour!

run_Forrest_run

meathstevie wrote: »

You were on the roundabout and he came out of a road feeding on to the roundabout, right ? He caused the accident by ignoring a yield sign, end of story. Ring his insurance company and if the cops recorded the details you can always refer to them if the insurance company ask for back-up to your story. In the meantime go to your garage and see if they can help you with an estimate but in any case the insurance company will send out an assesor anyway and in most cases those guys know what they're looking at. If your car is still driveable ( lights working etc ) I wouldn't bother going through my own insurance because of no-claims implications.

that's it in a nutshell alright meathstevie, I was on the roundabout and he came on at the junction and we hit, now I dunno who hit who but I hit the brakes and he came across me and we hit. I rang his insurance company and they were all nicey nicey (for now!) but they need to talk to the 3rd party to get his side of the story and I gave them the garda's name also.

Car is still drivable but I don't want to do anything with it in terms of patching it up until maybe someone comes out to assess it.
Yeah, I have no intention of claiming from my own insurance for the damages to my car, anyway I have 3rd party F&T only so I wouldn't be able even if I wanted to.

Trampas

To the OP who are you insured with.

Some companies will help you while others wont.

run_Forrest_run

Trampas wrote: »

To the OP who are you insured with.

Some companies will help you while others wont.

Insured with Hibernian Direct, they seem to be wiping their hands clean of this unless the 3rd party makes a claim against me and then they will stand up and pay attention.

Has anyone else had this experience with Hibernian?

Trampas

I would expect that from quinn but not hiberian.

would make you think about moving companies come renewal date

run_Forrest_run

Trampas wrote: »

I would expect that from quinn but not hiberian.

would make you think about moving companies come renewal date

I certainly would. This has been a real eye opener for me.
I mean they just didn't want to hear about it at all. And what's worse, they say my policy comes with legal protection. I asked them about this and they couldn't really tell me much about it and just gave me a number to ring.

So I rang the number and spoke to some woman who was not bothered at all and said she will get a solicitor to ring me but it won't be until Friday or Monday before that will happen! Totally useless and I will remember this and will complain about it but for now I want to sort out the claim with the 3rd party insurance company.

I will certainly look to move come renewal time (which is in 2 months time anyway).

run_Forrest_run

Just to update U all:

On Wednesday last (23-01-08) I contacted the 3rd party's insurance company to make a claim. Anyway, I was told I would be contacted by them again within a day, no sign of contact so on Friday I rang them, it turns out the fool who I was talking to on the phone never actually submitted the claim! He pretty much did nothing so I had to go through all the details again with the girl on the phone on Friday.

Anyway, upshot is that they are going to contact the 3rd party and get his side of the story and they are sending out an assessor to me to assess the damage to my car (without prejudice so they tell me!). They said this is a formality and not an admittance of liability. <sounds funny to me, why would they even send out an assessor if they have not accepted liability yet?> I have a funny feeling that the 3rd party has already informed them of the accident but they did not tell me that.

So I am waiting now to see what happens next, with gaffer tape holding my bumper and indicator buld in place!

How does all this sound to those with experience in this area?

Páid

They said this is a formality and not an admittance of liability. <sounds funny to me, why would they even send out an assessor if they have not accepted liability yet?>

Its standard practice to send out an assessor.

run_Forrest_run

Páid wrote: »

Its standard practice to send out an assessor.

Even before they accept liability? OK, thanks for the reply.

MrPudding

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

Even before they accept liability? OK, thanks for the reply.

Yes. I presume it lets allows them to confirm that there is actually a damaged vehicle, gives them an idea of how much they are likely to be out of pocket should their insured turn out to be liable and it also speeds things up in the sense that, the period between you informing them of the incident and them talking to their insured nothing much can happen. Getting the car assesed during thsi "dead" time means one less thing to do once they know who is liable.

MrP

run_Forrest_run

OK, thanks for that Mr.Pudding. Pity i lost 2 days due to the complete idiot not actually doing anything with the information i provided him with. I am annoyed with idiots like that!
OK, hopefully things will move this week but based on previous stories i somehow doubt it.

run_Forrest_run

I received a phone call from the assessor crowd on behalf of the third party's insurance company, they are coming to assess the damage to my car tomorrow.

Now, as I've said before I am new to all of this so what should I expect from this assessor lad:

1. Should I be on guard as he might be trying to play down the costs involved to save them money on pay out (assuming liability falls on them..another issue).

2. Should I go and get a quote myself independent of this lads assessment?

3. If I did '2' above what bearing would it have, will the insurance company only allow to pay out to the amount that the assessor decides upon?

Páid

1. You don't even need to talk to them
2. You should get a few quotes from reputable companies
3. You are entitled to have the car fixed wherever you like. Whether they pay at all is an entirely different question. Take a lot of photos of the damage before the assessor looks at it.

run_Forrest_run

Páid wrote: »

1. You don't even need to talk to them
2. You should get a few quotes from reputable companies
3. You are entitled to have the car fixed wherever you like. Whether they pay at all is an entirely different question. Take a lot of photos of the damage before the assessor looks at it.

d'oh, I never even thought of taking some photos! I have taped up the bumper a bit just to make it drivable and stop anything flapping..crap, should have taken pics first, i might remove the tape later and take the pics before the assessor sees it tomorrow.

Thanks Páid.

--amadeus--

While you don't need to talk to him I would advise being as explicit as possible with the assessor, point out all of the damage and deffo get a second opinion. While they will be pretty neutral don't forget who is paying them, because they won't!

Be aware that they will only repair to the same standard as the car originally was but don't let them start talking about "betterment". Betterment is where the repairs will leave the car improved on it's original condition and they'll expect you to pay the difference. So when a lorry almost took the door of my Merc a few years ago the insurer wanted me to pay 1/3 of the repair bill because the door had some rust on the lower edge and evidence of previous repairs. They claimed that putting a new door on would improve the car (a non-rusty versus a rusty, previously repaired door) and so wanted me to pay a chunk of money.