Insurance advice please...liability related..

Type_R

Type_R

Type_R

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I just needed some advice about what to do if my insurance company has found me liable for an accident where I do not think I was in any way responsible.

Without going into too many details, as I suspect this might end up in Court, in May 2013 I was driving on a roundabout and was hit by a van in the rear driver's side as it exited the roundabout. My car's repair was dealt with by an accident management company who took on the case expecting the other party to be found liable for the accident.

It later transpired that my accident company had found me liable and so the hire charges (which cost more than the repair of my car) had to be paid. The accident management company took the other party's insurance company to Court and won the case and they paid the hire charges for my car.

So in a nutshell, I am liable for an accident but the other party's insurance paid for my hire charges!

Clearly I am not happy with the fact that I have a fault claim against me for an accident I did not cause and surely there must be some admission of guilt for the other party's insurance company to pay for my hire car charges.

So what can I do about overturning my insurance company's decision to hold me liable for the accident?

P.S. Fortunately this relates to my previous car, not my M3 (touch wood).
 
Trying to picture how the accident happened;

2 lane roundabout, you were on the outside, he was on the inside and he tried to exit "through" your car?
 
How much of an effect does it have on your insurance? If it's not an astronomical amount then is it really going to be worth the time effort and money to fight it?
 
Haggisman said:
Trying to picture how the accident happened;

2 lane roundabout, you were on the outside, he was on the inside and he tried to exit "through" your car?
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Exactly this! Spun me round in the process!

tom_e said:
How much of an effect does it have on your insurance? If it's not an astronomical amount then is it really going to be worth the time effort and money to fight it?
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Well I have 9 yrs NCB (protected) but obviously it does bump my premiums up somewhat.
 
The van hit the back of you. It's surely not your fault??

+1 for shaming the company. One to avoid if they're pinning it on you.
 
Yeah woudl be nice to know which insurance company we should consider avoiding.
Hope you get it sorted tho OP, have you tried a renewal with and without the fault claim?
 
Type_R said:
Exactly this! Spun me round in the process!
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Okay, question that has to be asked (and I'm not trying to have a go at you here) did you undertake him on the roundabout or was he behind you the whole time?

Also any chance you could tell us where the roundabout is? so we can find it on Google, in order for this accident to have occurred one of you must have been in the wrong lane and that will be relevant to fault.
 
As it so happens the insurance company has been taken over by a bigger company so hopefully no-one here is in danger of it happening to them.

Ubersonic - he was stationary in the middle lane queuing behind traffic and I was in the outside lane and he decided to pull out (I presume as he was behind me when he made contact). Lane markings show that I could go straight over and he could turn off the roundabout from our respective lanes.

What I would like please is some input as to how I go about overturning the insurance company in question as opposed to trying to figure out the specifics of who was wrong.
 
Type_R said:
As it so happens the insurance company has been taken over by a bigger company so hopefully no-one here is in danger of it happening to them.

Ubersonic - he was stationary in the middle lane queuing behind traffic and I was in the outside lane and he decided to pull out (I presume as he was behind me when he made contact). Lane markings show that I could go straight over and he could turn off the roundabout from our respective lanes.

What I would like please is some input as to how I go about overturning the insurance company in question as opposed to trying to figure out the specifics of who was wrong.
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So you were on the outer lane and he was in the same lane or the inner lane? Assuming the latter, I guess both lanes could go straight on or left? I guess he clipped you?
 
Hyburnate said:
So you were on the outer lane and he was in the same lane or the inner lane? Assuming the latter, I guess both lanes could go straight on or left? I guess he clipped you?
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Yeah I was in the outer lane, he was in the inner lane. Yeah both were marked straight or left. He clipped my rear driver's side C pillar.
 
Only way I can picture you liable is if you were in the ^ and < lane but decided to stay in lane and try to go >, in which the van on your right going ^ would meet your right hand rear.

Though hopefully that wasn't the case here.
 
It doesn't really matter how they came to their opinion (they clearly are a bunch of muppets).

I would like some help in what I can do to get a judge to understand the real sequence of events so that the insurance company can reassign liability.

So do I contact a solicitor (and try and take an insurance company to court) or are there any other options?
 
MooMoo444 said:
Only way I can picture you liable is if you were in the ^ and < lane but decided to stay in lane and try to go >, in which the van on your right going ^ would meet your right hand rear.

Though hopefully that wasn't the case here.
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I have photos to show where he ended up and it was where he intended to go, at the exit!
 
Type_R said:
It doesn't really matter how they came to their opinion (they clearly are a bunch of muppets).

I would like some help in what I can do to get a judge to understand the real sequence of events so that the insurance company can reassign liability.

So do I contact a solicitor (and try and take an insurance company to court) or are there any other options?
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Your first step before any legal action is to write to your insurance company stating that you do not accept liability for this accident. Explain why, and ask them to explain why they have deemed you to be liable.
 
Sounds like it has in fact been settled on a split liability basis because the third party paid your hire charges. Not uncommon on a roundabout accident.

Do you know if there is split? Even if it's 95% - 5% in your favour, it's still considered a fault claim for you.

You say your accident management company found you liable as well. Sounds like everyone thinks you're liable but yourself!

If you want to dispute liability, you need to take the third party to court and have the court determine liability. If you win, the third party insurer will reimburse your insurer all their expenses and the claim is registered an non-fault. If you lose, and the insurers have agreed say a 50-50 split and the court determines you were 100% liable, you're going to be a sticky spot with your insurer. It is for this reason you will probably find your insurance terms state that you agree to allow your insurer to settle all claims as they see fit - and thus they can agree liability as they see fit.

Once both insurers have agreed liability, I don't think there's anything you can do. If you sue your insurer, they'll almost certainly have a get out with the clause above.

If you think your insurers have mishandled your claim, you could look at going to the Ombudsman. Ombudsman will only usually look at complaints into procedural matters though - I very much doubt they'll look into making a determination of liability themselves.
 
As blueboy said, its not completely straight forward just because the hire costs have been settled.

What evidence was available for the file? witnesses? cctv?
If the events given by both parties are plausible with no evidence to show which version of events is most accurate then liability will normally be settled split, solely because if the file litigated/went to court, what would they show a judge to show you are 100% not at fault?

Would suggest speaking to your insurance company as they should be able to advise you why they couldn't settle in full. failing that (for peace of mind) speak to a solicitor who gives you the first hour free, see if they take the same stance as the insurance company.
 
Jesus 95/5 is just redicolous. Cripple both of you for no claims bonus fkr a measly 5%.

After I read about the hire car charade I refused it when I was in an incident to avoid any of this regardless of outcome.
 
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