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realspeed
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06-06-2019, 11:29 PM
1

fighting accident claims

a car crash I had and totally innocent. The person who hit me on ice slide across the road and pushed my lexus 4x4 backwards into a ditch on my side of the road

The other parties solicitor expected to claim it was totally my fault. Of course they were trying to extract money out of me via insurance claim

I didn't give in and eventually they first admitted it was 75/25 blame then 50/50. Still didn't give in so a court date was set by them.
I was quite happy to go to court, however a week beforehand they gave in and deposited with the court my claimed amount if i would not persue it further.

This took 18 months and a lot more than if they admitted it was their clients fault in the first place They would only have to pay out for car damage of around £9.000

Because of he above they found out they then had to pay for a private medical examination for injury to myself and my manageress, as well as solicitors fees etc

Working out the total cost to them for their wrecked clients car, my recovery car costs etc etc I estimate more like £50,000.

Just shows if you stand up to solicitors and know your in the right they eventually back down.
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Judd
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07-06-2019, 12:16 AM
2

Re: fighting accident claims

Beats me how they can claim that you were to blame seeing as how their client slid into you.
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07-06-2019, 02:09 AM
3

Re: fighting accident claims

Originally Posted by realspeed ->
a car crash I had and totally innocent. The person who hit me on ice slide across the road and pushed my lexus 4x4 backwards into a ditch on my side of the road

The other parties solicitor expected to claim it was totally my fault. Of course they were trying to extract money out of me via insurance claim

I didn't give in and eventually they first admitted it was 75/25 blame then 50/50. Still didn't give in so a court date was set by them.
I was quite happy to go to court, however a week beforehand they gave in and deposited with the court my claimed amount if i would not persue it further.

This took 18 months and a lot more than if they admitted it was their clients fault in the first place They would only have to pay out for car damage of around £9.000

Because of he above they found out they then had to pay for a private medical examination for injury to myself and my manageress, as well as solicitors fees etc

Working out the total cost to them for their wrecked clients car, my recovery car costs etc etc I estimate more like £50,000.

Just shows if you stand up to solicitors and know your in the right they eventually back down.
I don't understand why you just didn't give it to your insurance company who will pay for your repairs and then they will claim from the other party? Much easier and surely what you pay premiums for.
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07-06-2019, 11:19 AM
4

Re: fighting accident claims

Originally Posted by Bruce ->
I don't understand why you just didn't give it to your insurance company who will pay for your repairs and then they will claim from the other party? Much easier and surely what you pay premiums for.
my insurance company wanted a knock for knock meaning I was half to blame. There are times when you don't agree even with your own insurance company when they are wrong as well.
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07-06-2019, 11:40 AM
5

Re: fighting accident claims

Originally Posted by Judd ->
Beats me how they can claim that you were to blame seeing as how their client slid into you.

it is the way insurance companies work, first blame the other person and hope they will pay up without a fight. Defend yourself and eventually they give in . I actually employed a no win no fee solicitor who did a lot of work for me as well. We won with a grovelling other party insurance company admitting total liability. They knew going to court after making increasing blame offers, their case was lost at the outset.

I would actually love having gone to court to see their solicitor apologise on behalf of their client but advised to accept their into court payment. They bought the court case not me as a final frightener trying to scare me into admitting I was in the wrong. They lost out big time Bast**rds

As i have said in other previous posts I am very stubborn when in the right
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Somewhere rural 'out in the sticks', UK
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07-06-2019, 11:56 AM
6

Re: fighting accident claims

I have been involved in a claim of a similar nature when another driver hit the back of my car, which was stationary, and their insurer wanted the claim to be 50/50. The other driver admitted liability there and then but when the claim was made the other insurer withdrew their Insured's admission of liability.

Not only was there the injustice of knowing it was not my fault as my car was definitely stationery and the original admission withdrawn but there was the cost of my Excess in those circumstances. It works out that it's not no blame, it's no claim and in a 50/50 claim I would have had to find that Excess payment as it would be a claim.

I fought that claim myself and eventually, after well over a year, the other insurer gave in. I later found they were advised at the time by their own solicitors not to pursue the claim as 50/50 but to pay in full for the damage to my vehicle as the fault was fully with their Insured.

The final comment from my insurer that "it's swings and roundabouts, the next claim might be different" just about says it all. I believe you have to stand up for what you know to be right, insurers are out to make profits in whatever way they can legally get away with if allowed to do so.

Edited to add:
Incidentally it was the threat of taking it to the Small Claims section of the County Court that finally extracted payment from them. This was the cost of repairing the damage plus all my expenses. Letters to them charged for at the same cost a solicitor would have charged etc. had almost doubled what the original cost would have been.

Also be aware that in the event of a defended claim by the other driver, insurance you may have that would provide a car while your's is being repaired may not be possible to claim against. Those insurers will only provide a car if there is a definite way of them recouping that cost from the other driver's insurance company. £30 premium for that eventuality and a clause where you cannot claim. Yet another example of what thieving so-and-so's they are.
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07-06-2019, 12:13 PM
7

Re: fighting accident claims

All I can say - what a daft system your car insurance is.
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07-06-2019, 12:19 PM
8

Re: fighting accident claims

Originally Posted by Bruce ->
All I can say - what a daft system your car insurance is.
I quite agree. I have to say I have never had the problem and have always just claimed on my insurance whether it was my fault or not. I have always had NC protection too so I have never seen my insurance shoot up in price.

You are right though Bruce, most ways of doing things in Britain are daft.
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Baz46
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07-06-2019, 12:28 PM
9

Re: fighting accident claims

Originally Posted by Bruce ->
All I can say - what a daft system your car insurance is.
I can only agree with you on that and there's nothing we can do about it either!

Originally Posted by Longdogs ->
I quite agree. I have to say I have never had the problem and have always just claimed on my insurance whether it was my fault or not. I have always had NC protection too so I have never seen my insurance shoot up in price.
What about your Excess payment though, don't you have to pay out for that despite your NC being protected? My recent claim for damage after hitting a careless pheasant cost me a £55 increase in my premium this year.

Originally Posted by Longdogs ->
You are right though Bruce, most ways of doing things in Britain are daft.
Britain is the worst rip-off country in the world I reckon, we are conned at every turn in almost everything!
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07-06-2019, 12:33 PM
10

Re: fighting accident claims

Originally Posted by Baz46 ->



What about your Excess payment though, don't you have to pay out for that despite your NC being protected? My recent claim for damage after hitting a careless pheasant cost me a £55 increase in my premium this year.
I have paid the excess but if the accident was not my fault, have claimed it back. Mind you, that was through a broker who was always on the side of the customer rather than the insurance company.
 
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