M50 collision last month

Lord Nikon

I had an accident middle of last month on the M50, with an arctic truck. It happened where the M1 meets the M50. There already was an accident further up, so traffic was moving very slowly.

Now the M1 verges onto the M50, into one lane, and me and this truck are side by side. I was just ahead of him, stopped, about a car length ahead, and he starts moving and tears along the side of my car. Not much damage, but damage nonetheless. (Pics will be attached)

I got the drivers details, but he had no insurance details, but i got registration, driver name, company name, phone number, passport number. The company are based in Northern Ireland.

I rang the company owner after I got off the M50, and he said forward on the pictures I took, and he will see if he will pay me directly, or let insurance cover it, and in the meantime, I get a crash repair quote.

I got the quote of the damage, and posted into to the guys address. After about a week, I rang him, and he said he got the quote but was going to talk to the driver about what actually happened and to call back at the end of the week. End of the week came(Friday), I rang him, he said he hadnt yet talked to the driver as he was in France, and he would call me tomorrow(Saturday). Tomorrow never came.

Tuesday came, and i rang him and he wasnt there. I told the person who answered that if I don't receive a call or some sort of payment I would be contacting my insurance and his insurance.

A week lapsed and i hear nothing, so I notify my insurance, give them the details i have, and they give me his policy number with Aviva, and they supply me with contact details to ring Aviva.

I rang Aviva and let them know all the details, blah blah blah, this was over a week ago. Today I rang Aviva, and they tell me they have no update on the case, as the driver/owner hasn't admitted liability. I asked how long am I supposed to wait and they couldnt give me a time or date or anything.

Please, someone, anyone, tell me what I should do next, because this is dragging on and on, and I want my car fixed, and I want closure.

Anan1

Assuming you have comp, the easiest way is for you to claim from your insurance, and they'll reclaim the money from the truck's insurers.

Lord Nikon

Unfortunatley, I only have TPFT.

Our man in Havana

Solicitor.

MugMugs

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Solicitor.

I can give you the names of a few pretty ruthless ones if you PM me.

On the other hand, it appears that there is a potential liability dispute. In turn, your insurer has an interest in this matter and in turn if notified could well act on your behalf and negotiate liability / send the Third Party Insurer a few letters of allegations on your behalf. Making use of your premium paid after all !

Solnskaya

Anan1 wrote: »

Assuming you have comp, the easiest way is for you to claim from your insurance, and they'll reclaim the money from the truck's insurers.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...............

My van was Parked, locked up, in the yard of a business I was getting work stuff from-I was inside. Heard a big bang and ambled out-some spanner has reversed his van into mine, good bit of damage. Blah blah blah, he admitted liability.(which was nice, cos I was PARKED and not in it). Rang ins. co and they said breezily "Oh just bring it in, we'll fix it and claim the cost back from his insurers".
Muggins did as told. Bear in mind my vans a €30k yoke. Van got fixed by insurer, I went to collect -presented with V. large bill upon collection(think thousands)- asked what was that all about as they were "claiming it back from his insurer" and I am fully comp. Minor verbals ensued and in the end I only had to pay the VAT element(???????????) which I did just to get my van back(I'm vat reg. anyway). Drove on.

Months later, renewal quote arrives, and it has "swelled" considerably (+1K) - rang em and they said sweetly "Oh but you had a claim".
"No I didn't" I replied not as sweetly.
"Yes you did, you reversed into a van there a while ago".
The fecker who hit me was now saying I had hit him!!
Many were the words and long were the rants, and I got my renewal at the old rate(I ensure a lot of vehicles with them), but the crap over this is still going on 2 years later, and he still says I hit him.


SO____BE VERY WARY>

Hal1

Solnskaya wrote: »

and he still says I hit him.

Jesus, what a cnut. Some people eh .

r3nu4l

General nonspecific advice alert

If you ever have an accident anywhere and you can find anyone who saw what happened just ask for their details too. Usually someone will be decent enough to give their details. Also, always have a disposable camera in your glovebox (you never know when your mobile battery will die so don't rely on that camera) so that you can take photos at the scene.

Lord Nikon

as you can see, my mirror has been pulled forward, hence me being stopped and his truck moving. im not one for reversing down the M50..

johnos1984

Doesn't seem like massive damage

I'm surprised they are giving you hassle sorting it out

-Chris-

YOu got away very lucky tbh!

Big Nasty

Was he one of them ice truckers?

Lord Nikon

Yes it could have been much worse, but €900 to fix it right changes all that.

r3nu4l

Great photos and good to have them
Nice touch too on ensuring you show the mirror pulled forward!

Gophur

neuromancer wrote: »

............

as you can see, my mirror has been pulled forward, hence me being stopped and his truck moving. im not one for reversing down the M50..

Your mirror being pulled forward is not proof, you could have done this yourself, however the damage to the mirror (and there being none on the back housing of the mirror) clearly shows the direction of travel of the truck relative to you.

Lord Nikon

It should be a clear case that he hit me. Te green paint for his cab runs down the inside of my wirror, scratches too. It obvious what happened, looking at the evidence.

Lord Nikon

At last, closure.

The insurance company was nice enough to tell me, that after 90 days after the accident, if the guy who caused the damage didnt submit his defence, then they will pay the damage.

90 days has come and gone now, and i rang his insurance, they will pay for the work to be done.

Booked the car in to Carcraft.ie in Fairview, Dublin, on the recommendation from Paintdoctor in these forums. they have done a fantastic job. The folks there are helpful, courteous and very professional. Thanks to Shane and all the gang there, A+ and very well recommended.

Peace

visual

its a very Grey area when the other driver won't admit liability
insurance companies in the documentation states do not admit liability even if you are in the wrong.. Where does that leave us ? if other guy won't accept liability you can get stuck with a bill and lose your no claims.

Camera and witness is critical in these situations