Involved in an accident - need help

[Fr0dders]

My insurance company has been charging me a fortune for years for no good reason, surely a valid claim for whiplash is not totally unjustified even if it was not rear ended

high premiums are no reason to fake an injury. you just make the premiums higher for the rest of us

Bumping into my car whilst departing from a parked position then claiming he was not at fault

assumming this was indeed in a car park as others have suggested, and not on a dual carriageway or something then

i'll tell you this for free. you havent got a cat in hells chance of claiming from that. I was rear ended at 30 + mph. Being bumped in the car park does not give whiplash. whiplash occurs as the neck snaps back violently in an impact at speed. Throughout every stage of my claim, everything was checked out, and the insurers wanted to know everything about the accident. They will laugh at you when you tell them what speeds were involved. and whats more, you cant lie about the damage. and the damage will reveal the full extent of the force and angle of the impact.

When i was rear ended, the damage rippled all the way down to the rear drivers side door which once opened wouldnt close again. That sort of damage reveals the true force you were hit with.

If you don't mind me asking, have you got a rough figure? Also, how many months of phsio did you require Thx.

i was paid £1600 compo plus expenses for time off work. I didnt require physio. This ammount was just for the pain incurred

 

[Lopéz]

Hang on, he bumped into you whilst pulling out of a parking space? Unless he did it in an F1 car with the loud pedal on the boards he can't have hit you at any more than a couple of MPH. And you are trying to claim whiplash? I think they'll laugh it straight out of the claims office.

 

[Havana_UK]

By all means claim for whiplash if you have got whiplash.

If you haven't then don't waste your time or your insurance company's time.

If your NCB is protected you've got nothing to worry about. Sure, you'll have to report the claim when you apply for insurance, but it won't make any difference as the accident isn't your fault. You can also choose to get the accident damage repaired by the third party's insurers. This has the benefit of not costing you your excess. If you get it fixed by your own insurance company you'll have to pay your excess up front and then they will refund it to you once they've settled the claim with the third party's insurer.

Doesn't matter what he says at the time - if you read the small print in your policy document it quite clearly says that you must not admit liability for any accident. Just let the insurers sort it out between themselves (as recommended above - that's why you pay them).

Regarding getting a payment for a whiplash claim don't expect it to be quick or easy. You'll have to visit and be checked by a medical expert appointed by your insurance company (normally a doctor at a private hospital) who will write a report to justify any basis for a claim you might have.

My girlfriend was involved in an accident where she was rear ended at a roundabout. This was 18 months ago. She's still suffering, despite receiving treatment on at least a bi-weekly basis since the accident (at a cost of approx. £600 and climbing, which forms part of the claim but until she gets paid comes out of her pocket). The claim won't be resolved and paid until either she's fully recovered or another medical expert deems that she won't ever fully recover.

Don't fraudulently claim. For a whiplash injury you will be caught out (due to the fact that you have to be assessed by a profressional), and this is bad for you - fraud is a criminal offence and you don't want that on your record.

Hav

 

[Scuzi]

If your NCB is protected you've got nothing to worry about. Sure, you'll have to report the claim when you apply for insurance, but it won't make any difference as the accident isn't your fault.
Hav

Not entirely true. The majority of insurers will increase your premium for a non fault accident because you are statistically more likely to have another accident. It's not fair but it's the way they work, I have found out the hard way

 

[Havana_UK]

Not entirely true. The majority of insurers will increase your premium for a non fault accident because you are statistically more likely to have another accident. It's not fair but it's the way they work, I have found out the hard way

Interesting.

I didn't know that this was the case, but what you say makes sense.

All I know is I've had a nice clean record for 9 years and then I've had three accidents, (none my fault) in the last 18 months. Didn't affect my premium as far as I could tell.

Ho hum

Hav

 

[The_Dark_Side]

Interesting.

I didn't know that this was the case, but what you say makes sense.

All I know is I've had a nice clean record for 9 years and then I've had three accidents, (none my fault) in the last 18 months. Didn't affect my premium as far as I could tell.

Ho hum

Hav

what happens is you still have the same amount of NCD come renewal time, but your discount is applied to the premium of a driver that has just had a claim...so your premium will go up compared to the previous year.
most people seem to think by having protected NCD their premium will remain the same even if they make a claim.

 

[Fr0dders]

If your NCB is protected you've got nothing to worry about. Sure, you'll have to report the claim when you apply for insurance, but it won't make any difference as the accident isn't your fault.

oh but he does

the other party is contesting liabillity. and whats more neither has an independant witness to proove their case. As already commented, allthough he knows hes not at fault, prooving it is going to be another thing. He may well end up having to claim off his own insurance if the other party's insurance refuses to accept liabillity. This means paying your excess and not getting it back.

If he can get the other party to accept liabillity, hes laughing. but as the guy is already contesting it, hes in for a rough ride. As mentioned in another thread, i was hit on my side of the road, by a woman that had crossed onto my side. She claimed she had to to go round parked cars, she didnt mention that the cars in question were parked over the kerb, so there was no need to cross the white lines. I contested they were over the kerb and she was driving wrecklessly. As neither of us had an independant witness, we both had to claim on our own insurance.

Not entirely true. The majority of insurers will increase your premium for a non fault accident because you are statistically more likely to have another accident. It's not fair but it's the way they work, I have found out the hard way

ive got 2 non fault accidents and both times there was no change to my premium

i think the key thing to note is in both cases all un-insured losses were recovered. This is key because it means the other party accepted liabillity and thus it was prooved to be 100 % not my fault

its not like my premium was changed at renewal either, it was exactly what i expected it to be - £500 cheaper due to my increase in NCB.

 

[Scuzi]

ive got 2 non fault accidents and both times there was no change to my premium

i think the key thing to note is in both cases all un-insured losses were recovered. This is key because it means the other party accepted liabillity and thus it was prooved to be 100 % not my fault

its not like my premium was changed at renewal either, it was exactly what i expected it to be - £500 cheaper due to my increase in NCB.

That's strange. I have a non-fault accident on my record where the other party accepted 100% liability from the offset. As it's renewal time for me I've did quotes declaring the accident along with ones without declaring it. In the majority of cases, declaring it has added around £40-60 to the policy, in some cases, over £100.

 

[merlin]

Lots of good advice here, seems this scumbag will damage my insurance record no matter what

Who's the greater scumbag - him for making a mistake, or you for thinking about defrauding his insurance company?

My insurance company has been charging me a fortune for years for no good reason, surely a valid claim for whiplash is not totally unjustified even if it was not rear ended

Charging you a fortune for no good reason eh? Right.

You'd be claiming against his insurers not yours anyway so that's that theory down the pan.

 

[Oxbow]

Regardless of whos the fault is, it wont affect the protected no claims bonus. IIRC you can have 3 fault claims in any one year period under PNCB.

Your witness is useless as they were in your car.

Just give as much info the insurance company and let them deal with it.

Also, be careful about claiming for whiplash. Whiplash from an accident does not present its symptoms immediately and insurance companies know this.

 

[lordrobs]

Yeah I know exactly how you feel. Take the insurers to the cleaners. Damn insurance companies charging you a fortune, and for what?

Oh hang on, thats right. All the fraudulent whiplash claims

Unfortunately its typical of todays "whats can I get out of it" society

 

[stoofa]

The way I look at it is that every driver who attempts to sue for Whip-lash when they do't have it add a little bit to my premium.
I'm sure it isn't a massive amount, however I'm pretty sure that if people didn't put in fraud claims then premiums wouldn't be quite so high as they are.

The original posters argument about the guy not owning up - every insurance company will tell you to never admit liability.
In higher speed accidents that can be difficult - a mate of mine rear-ended somebody at quite a high speed, it was obviously his fault and as they got out of the cars to look at the damage instinct just took over and he knows full well he said "Oh my god, I'm so sorry".
But anyway he wasn't being a "scumbag" by not admitting fault - he was doing as instructed.

And finally, as for how do insurance companies find out people are lying on claims and start looking everywhere for proof and clues?
Well it's amazing what an anonymous e-mail to an insurance company pointing them in the direction of thread from a person who gets so peeved off with people making false claims on insurance so they can make a quick buck or defraud can do.

 

[Third Opinion]

I find it disgraceful.

I have been shunted in car parks and have got out, found little to no damage, shock hands and driven away. The thought of people like this around who will try to fraudulently claim injuries frightens the hell out of me. It is not just the money side, I know for one that I would feel awful if a lapse in my concentration caused a minor knock which injured and incapacitated another driver.

Get a grip on the situation, get your car fixed and except that even good drivers can make mistakes occasionally. Also stop being so bitter about the price of insurance we all have to pay it.