How do I go about sorting out this mess?

Man of Honour
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The Friday before last I pulled into a petrol station in Belfast (BP Malone Road) and pulled into one of the marked parking bays, well within the lines. There was a silver Octavie in the space to my left. Once I had parked, I turned off the engine, replied to a text and as I grabbed the door handle to get out.... BANG. The old guy in the Octavia to my left had reversed out of his space with full left steering lock on,

The front drivers side of his car scraped along the passenger door of mine. To add to it, once he realised what he did he straightened up his steering and then drove forward, making the damage worse.

Wheh he got out he made all the apologies under the sun, said he didn't know what had happened and even offered to pay for the repairs out of his pocket rather than do it through insurance. I insisted on doing it through insurance and took his details. He didn't know who his insurance company was and refused to give me any information about this.

Since I didn't know his insurer I reported it to my insurance company who recommended the claim be handled by Albany Assistance if I didn't want to pay out my excess. I went ahead with this but over a week later Albany are continually telling me that the other guys insurer is telling them that the accident hasn't been reported to them therefore they won't admit liability. Albany don't seem to give a crap and their staff sound liek they want to rope themselves. I'm also reading a lot of horror stories about them on the net.

I now have details of the other guy's insurer, Fortis in Gloucester. Should I tell Albany Assistance to go stuff themselves and contact the old guy's insurance company? What should I say? Will I need CCTV footage of the incident if he refuses to admit liability?

This is the LAST thing I need right now! Thanks.
 
Presumably the garage forecourt had CCTV? Can you get access to it?
Is there any mileage in reporting the other driver for failing to report an accident? Never sure if this relates to notifying police or insurers, but guessing insurers.
 
Hi Blain did anyone witness this happening?

Plenty of people at the pumps behind us but they all cleared off by the time I had gotten the guy's details. I asked the chap in the petrol station if CCTV footage was available and he said it "might" be. I'm going down today to speak to the manager.
 
Do not go though your insurance, cancel anything you have mentioned to them.

Approach a no win no fee solicitor, give them the car reg and details of the accident and tell them you want car repairing at a dealership. Job done
 
Oh yeah, I did some reasearch. The old guy who hit me is apparently a well respected crown solicitor so I expected him to be honest and forthright about it. Apparently not.
 
BP will have CCTV of it as long as there was a camera pointing in the right direction, ask them nicely and you should be able to get a disc burnt off of the incident, if you can give them a reasonable time of the incident it'll just make it easier for them.
 
Just a thought but if you have his details why not contact him to sort it out without going through the insurance?
 
[TW]Fox;16701765 said:
It's Europa consultants or Help Hire time!

Helphire and albany assitance are the same company, they share the same staff, etc. My brother works for them :eek:
 
BP will have CCTV of it as long as there was a camera pointing in the right direction, ask them nicely and you should be able to get a disc burnt off of the incident, if you can give them a reasonable time of the incident it'll just make it easier for them.

Except for the obvious data protection issues. Full CCTV footage can only be released to bodies which are exempt from the DPA - eg the police. For it to be given to you, they would have to edit out everyone elses faces, registration numbers etc - some will charge, some will just say no
 
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[TW]Fox;16701765 said:
It's Europa consultants or Help Hire time!

Was going to say I found Help Hire very helpful during my claim, same for my mates as well :) - Although going by what Jez just mentioned....maybe not...

And if the guy offered to payout without going through insurance why not take it to the garage of your choice, get a quote, and then add some, then tell the guy how much he's got to pay?

If he's a well respected solicitor, he'll be pretty well off I'm betting :)
 
Except for the obvious data protection issues. Full CCTV footage can only be released to bodies which are exempt from the DPA - eg the police. For it to be given to you, they would have to edit out everyone elses faces, registration numbers etc - some will charge, some will just say no

Ah, good point, forgot about that aspect, ask the police to get the footage?
 
Yup, or I think insurance companies can ask for it if they have reasonable cause or it's part of a criminal investigation. I forget the exact terms, I could dig the ICO CCTV code of conduct out my desk drawer if it becomes relevant :)
 
Report to police, and stop faffing around.

There were no injuries and no property damage other than the vehicles. I'd have thought the police couldn't give a crap.

I've been told that the third party has been sent a letter informing him of the claim, which he has 14 days to respond to. After that it can take another 14 days for the insurance companies to reach an agreement. After that who knows.

I've now been told to expect it to take up to 14 weeks. Great.
 
As the person at fault caused damage to property other than his own, this is a reportable accident and must be reported to a police officer as soon as possible and, in any case, within 24 hours of the accident occuring.

Its not just if anyone is injured that the police get involved.
 
And if the guy offered to payout without going through insurance why not take it to the garage of your choice, get a quote, and then add some, then tell the guy how much he's got to pay?

Nice, you are suggesting defrauding the guy to get some self taken compensation?

Lovely, lovely. Whilst that says a lot about your character I don't think Scuzi is the sort to need to fabricate stories and inflated repair costs to make a profit. He just wants his car fixed with the minimum of fuss.
 
Was going to say I found Help Hire very helpful during my claim, same for my mates as well :) - Although going by what Jez just mentioned....maybe not...

And if the guy offered to payout without going through insurance why not take it to the garage of your choice, get a quote, and then add some, then tell the guy how much he's got to pay?

If he's a well respected solicitor, he'll be pretty well off I'm betting :)

Good to see the mind set your working with.
 
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