Girlfriends insurance after accident.

Rybo89 · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:04

Well my girlfriend was in a 3 car accident in May. Being the back car she got the blame even though it was not her fault at all. Front car slammed anchors on for something, 2nd car went into 1st car, then Sarah went into the 2nd car.

Anyway, it as come to needing to get her a car. I can't be the taxi anymore, as it is messing my work rotor up. After trying cars such as 1-1.2ltr Punto's, Clio, Micra's, Fiesta's her cheapest quote is £1800 from £500 before the accident.

It is proper getting her down, had her in tears tonight not having a car and finding out how much it would sting her now to have one. She lost all her 5yr NCB and now has a big claim against her.

Does anyone know any insurers what are more friendly with people that have had claims made against them? Think the claim is 20k+ as both of the other drivers and 1 passenger have claimed whippy. First car was a 1 series and 2nd car was a Audi A4.

Also one other question i am curious about. She set up her insurance in February and had the accident in May and Directline have told her she will still have to pay up till Feb 2012, is this right, or they just trying to fleece her? Reason why i ask is that Directline rang up today to say the claim has nearly been settled and they asked Sarah if she had cancelled the policy or carried it on till renewal with another car?? Sarah said she did pick up on this and tried asking about it but the lady completely acted oblivious to her questions?

Tried multi car quotes but they are useless.

Begbie · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:14

Try quotes on a bigger car?

Mondeo etc. Sometimes can work out a fair bit cheaper. That is a crazy amount to increase by, I feel for her.

Dr House · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:28

Rybo89 said:
Well my girlfriend was in a 3 car accident in May. Being the back car she got the blame even though it was not her fault at all. Front car slammed anchors on for something, 2nd car went into 1st car, then Sarah went into the 2nd car.
.

sorry I can't help you with your question but the above is 100% her fault there is no 2 ways about it.

Rybo89 · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:48

Begbie said:
Try quotes on a bigger car?

Mondeo etc. Sometimes can work out a fair bit cheaper. That is a crazy amount to increase by, I feel for her.

Will go through a load of cars when we have more time, thought it would hurt more with a bigger engined car. Suppose it is worth a try though.

Dr House said:
sorry I can't help you with your question but the above is 100% her fault there is no 2 ways about it.

No, couldn't disagree more. Yeah yeah give braking space rule but when the first driver admits fault at the scene and the 2nd driver says it was the 1st drivers fault, then you get a call 2-3weeks later saying the stories have now changed and all the blame is going on Sarah and they are all now claiming for whippy etc etc... The insurance rules need a massive looking at, as it is pathetic how some people are having to take 100% blame... Especially when the 2 front cars collided with each other before Sarah went into the back of the 2nd car, even if it were only seconds apart...

It is a load of b***** imo, but nothing we can do about it.

stoofa · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:48

Dr House said:
sorry I can't help you with your question but the above is 100% her fault there is no 2 ways about it.

I was going to agree but thought it was going a little off-topic.
Just because a car in front of you slams on its brakes for no reason doesn't put them at fault.
If you hit a car in front you weren't giving it enough distance.

Back to OP - speak to some brokers, let them do the leg-work and see if they can get any reasonable quotes.

Dr Who · 13 Oct 2011 at 22:57

IMHO your GF is only to blame for one lot of damage unless she pushed car 2 into car 1, then she is 100% to blame.

If she hit car 2 after it hit car 1 she is only partially responsible, if she knocked car 2 into car 1 she is 100% to blame, no matter who mistakenly admitted liability.

Sadly that doesnt help your cause, but have you tried a spcialist broker like Adrian Flux or Sky?

Fr0dders · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:12

Rybo89 said:
Also one other question i am curious about. She set up her insurance in February and had the accident in May and Directline have told her she will still have to pay up till Feb 2012, is this right, or they just trying to fleece her?

They're right

What you have is an insurance contract for a year. Payable in 12 monthly payments on finance, with % interest etc.. on top.

She is still contractually obliged to pay off the loan that was taken out for 12 months insurance, even if she doesnt use it.

[TW]Fox · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:18

I dont see how you can be so convinced it wasn't her fault, its quite worrying.

The 2nd car was at fault for hitting the first car irrespective of why he stopped. Thats what maintaining a safe stopping distance is about. Your girlfriend was then at fault for hitting the second car. It's totally cut and dried and really is as simple as that.

When you drive into the car in front, unless he's literally just pulled out on you or something, its your fault, how can it be anything but?

Rybo89 · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:34

[TW]Fox;20302185 said:
I dont see how you can be so convinced it wasn't her fault, its quite worrying.

The 2nd car was at fault for hitting the first car irrespective of why he stopped. Thats what maintaining a safe stopping distance is about. Your girlfriend was then at fault for hitting the second car. It's totally cut and dried and really is as simple as that.

When you drive into the car in front, unless he's literally just pulled out on you or something, its your fault, how can it be anything but?

I get what you are getting at but i do not think she deserves 100% of the fault. She didn't cause the the 2nd car to go into the 1st car, that had already happened. I would understand if she had to pay out for the 2nd car, but the first? Why? Its silly imo.

This was on a country road at about 8.30pm. Police did attend, but to only make sure no one ploughed into the back on Sarahs car / recovery truck. Nothing on the police records about it, so they didn't record it, so no incident number or statements.

Anyway back on topic. Is there any more specialists that we should try? Anyone been in a similar situation, etc?

[TW]Fox · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:38

It does seem odd she is being found at fault for the damage to the first car but beyond the annoyance of it it will make little difference - a fault claim is a fault claim.

cm1179 · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:42

Rybo89 said:
I get what you are getting at but i do not think she deserves 100% of the fault.

are you sure she is being classed as 100% at fault? if so, are you sure the driver of the car in the middle hasn't pulled off a scam and said to the owner of the car he/she went into the back off was because your gf went into them?
she is at fault for going into the back of the middle car but can't be expected to be at fault for the damage caused to the car at the front? you should get this clarified and dispute it.

Iamzod · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:48

Rybo89 said:
She lost all her 5yr NCB and now has a big claim against her.

What, all of it? She should only be losing 2 years therefore dropping back to 3 years at the end of that policy year rather than advancing to 6 years?? :confused:

Fr0dders · 13 Oct 2011 at 23:59

Iamzod said:
What, all of it? She should only be losing 2 years therefore dropping back to 3 years at the end of that policy year rather than advancing to 6 years??

Thats a good point

Have you checked with her insurer how much she is actually losing, you normally only loose 2 years ncb, not all of it.

Mr Joshua · 14 Oct 2011 at 00:02

[TW]Fox;20302185 said:
The 2nd car was at fault for hitting the first car irrespective of why he stopped. Thats what maintaining a safe stopping distance is about. Your girlfriend was then at fault for hitting the second car. It's totally cut and dried and really is as simple as that.

When you drive into the car in front, unless he's literally just pulled out on you or something, its your fault, how can it be anything but?

This raises something I'm curious about.

If the car(s) in front go piling into the back of a stationary vehicle, even if you are maintaining the two second rule what are your chances, for example, of braking from 60-0 in two or even three seconds? Would you still be held liable in this instance too?

jigger · 14 Oct 2011 at 00:04

Iamzod said:
What, all of it? She should only be losing 2 years therefore dropping back to 3 years at the end of that policy year rather than advancing to 6 years??

That is a very valid point. OP, you need to read your policy about that.

I take it the policy is still running? Who give the £1800 quote?

Rybo89 · 14 Oct 2011 at 00:09

We have been in contact with the guy in the 2nd car as he left his number with us. He was genuinely worried about Sarah as she badly cut both her arms and minor cuts and bruises to her face. He also injured his leg from the first impact.

Not heard from him in a while but he said that he explained to his and the lady in fronts insurance that the 1st driver slammed brakes on for some unknown reason. He told us that he would be claiming from Sarahs insurance. We haven't really heard much at all about the lady in front, besides she is claiming for injurys caused by the accident and thats about it. We got to wait another week or 2 to find out how big the whole claim is.

O and Sarah reminded me that the front 2 cars was at the same insurance company. Guess that figures that one lol. I forgot about that...

To the guys asking about the NCD, yes they have took them all. We thought she would have only lost 2-3. To be honest i don't exactly know the reason why but they did give one to her. Will ask her when i go upstairs.

[TW]Fox · 14 Oct 2011 at 00:16

Mr Joshua said:
This raises something I'm curious about.

If the car(s) in front go piling into the back of a stationary vehicle, even if you are maintaining the two second rule what are your chances, for example, of braking from 60-0 in two or even three seconds? Would you still be held liable in this instance too?

If there is a stationary vehicle in the lane ahead you should be looking out for it not staring at the car in front so I guess yes, your fault.

If the vehicle in front of the vehicle in front brakes hard then it doesn't stop instantly.

reiyushin · 14 Oct 2011 at 00:18

Mr Joshua said:
This raises something I'm curious about.

If the car(s) in front go piling into the back of a stationary vehicle, even if you are maintaining the two second rule what are your chances, for example, of braking from 60-0 in two or even three seconds? Would you still be held liable in this instance too?

Yea you would be, the law states a minimum safe follow distance. (Almost a football pitch at 60mph)

If you crash into the back of someone even if they hit an invisible brick wall and went from 60-0 in 0.01s it's still your fault because either:
1) You where too close.
2) Your car wasn't fit for the roads.
3) You reacted too slowly.

At the end of the day it'll be your fault.

Though in the OPs case I think there should be some blame on car number 2 as they caused an accident before car 3 caused an accident.

Can you treat them as two separate accidents I wonder?

jigger · 14 Oct 2011 at 00:19

You need to read the policy. Its a contractual agreement and it works both ways.

Also, are you not currently using the policy?

hurfdurf · 14 Oct 2011 at 00:20

Your GF's 100% at fault, I'm sorry dude, its just the way driving works.