Insurance claim

Peckham

Was involved in a prang at the weekend that was not my fault. Traffic was slowing down, one of the cars behind me didn't react in time, swerved and hit the wall and my car. I called the guards, who came along, guard said it was clearcut who was at fault, she admitted liability in front of the guard.

Fast forward to Monday. I ring to get her insurance details which she didn't have at the time. She claims not to remember hitting my car, just the wall. I explained this was certainly not the case, and she gave me her insurance details.

Have been in touch with her insurance company as well as my own. Her insurance company have given me the same story as she did (i.e. she hit wall, but not my car), so they won't be honouring my claim until Garda report is available (which I'm certain will be in my favour), which they say could take a few weeks.

Now, my car suffered 4k worth of damage, and have been advised by garage not to drive it. So, we're now without a car. Have tried a few times to get in touch with Garda to speed things along, but no response (it's a rural station!).

As far as I see it the only option open to me in order to get back on the road is to claim on my own insurance, and then hope that it gets settled down the line before my insurance is up for renewal (12 months time - just renewed it last week). However, I'm reluctant to do so, just in case it's not resolved for whatever reason.

Alternatively I'm thinking I could get my solicitor involved to have words with other driver or her insurance company, whilst I get myself a hire car which I'll also include in the claim.

Any thoughts?

Henry Ford III

Her insurance details should have been on the windscreen.

Looks like a straight forward case tbh.

January

Keep on the Garda for a report. Claim of your own insurance policy, when it is found that she is at fault the insurance company will get the money back off her insurance company and you're premium won't be affected.

Barlow07

Peckham wrote: »

Was involved in a prang at the weekend that was not my fault. Traffic was slowing down, one of the cars behind me didn't react in time, swerved and hit the wall and my car. I called the guards, who came along, guard said it was clearcut who was at fault, she admitted liability in front of the guard.

Fast forward to Monday. I ring to get her insurance details which she didn't have at the time. She claims not to remember hitting my car, just the wall. I explained this was certainly not the case, and she gave me her insurance details.

Have been in touch with her insurance company as well as my own. Her insurance company have given me the same story as she did (i.e. she hit wall, but not my car), so they won't be honouring my claim until Garda report is available (which I'm certain will be in my favour), which they say could take a few weeks.

Now, my car suffered 4k worth of damage, and have been advised by garage not to drive it. So, we're now without a car. Have tried a few times to get in touch with Garda to speed things along, but no response (it's a rural station!).

As far as I see it the only option open to me in order to get back on the road is to claim on my own insurance, and then hope that it gets settled down the line before my insurance is up for renewal (12 months time - just renewed it last week). However, I'm reluctant to do so, just in case it's not resolved for whatever reason.

Alternatively I'm thinking I could get my solicitor involved to have words with other driver or her insurance company, whilst I get myself a hire car which I'll also include in the claim.

Any thoughts?

As long you get i touch with the Garda and get his report then her insurance company will have to pay out weather she remembers hitting you or not.

What i suggest you do is to contact your insurance company again in the morning and ask if they can get you a car while your car is off the road and waiting for the garda report, this will cost your insurance company, but they may be able to claim this if i am right against the person who does not remember hitting you

I've doubt this girl was talking to husband/boyfriend or someone who suggested this crazy idea ( unless she banged her head ):rolleyes:

donutheadhomer

If you have fully Comp then claim on your own insurance and then a 3rd party claim against her

Peckham

Have posted this in motors, but thought I would get the input of those who frequent this forum....

Was involved in a prang at the weekend that was not my fault. I called the guards, who came along, guard said it was clearcut who was at fault, she admitted liability in front of the guard.

Fast forward to Monday. I ring to get her insurance details which she didn't have at the time. She claims not to remember hitting my car, just the wall. I explained this was certainly not the case, and she gave me her insurance details.

Have been in touch with her insurance company as well as my own. Her insurance company have given me the same story as she did (i.e. she hit wall, but not my car), so they won't be honouring my claim until Garda report is available (which I'm certain will be in my favour), which they say could take a few weeks.

Now, my car suffered 4k worth of damage, and have been advised by garage not to drive it. So, we're now without a car. Have tried a few times to get in touch with Garda to speed things along, but no response (it's a rural station!).

As far as I see it the only option open to me in order to get back on the road is to claim on my own insurance, and then hope that it gets settled down the line before my insurance is up for renewal (12 months time - just renewed it last week). However, I'm reluctant to do so, just in case it's not resolved for whatever reason.

Alternatively I'm thinking I could get my solicitor involved to have words with other driver or her insurance company, whilst I get myself a hire car which I'll also include in the claim.

Any thoughts?

Peckham

Claiming off my own insurance would seem to be the easiest approach. However, I've heard anecdotally that these things are sometimes not resolved between insurance companies (say for example the garda report never materialises), thus meaning I'd lose my no claims bonus for something I wasn't responsible for.

Is there any risk of this?

Jumpy

Go into the station.

DO NOT CLAIM UNDER YOUR OWN INSURANCE.

The insurance companies will ride your backside forever.

milltown

Depends on when your renewal is and how long this particular mess takes to clear up but, yes, you could lose your no claims but it will be re-instated once the claim has been recouped from her company. You "should" also be refunded the NCB value of your premium if you had to pay it in the meantime.

axer

From what I understand, a garda will not appropriate blame in a garda report unless they were witness to the accident. Neither will they investigate what happened unless someone is injured or killed. They will only report what they saw and what was said to them. Thus the garda report may not be of much help. Usually the gardai will tell you at the accident scene that it is upto the both of ye to work it out amongst yourselves (including whether you want insurance involved or not) i.e. it has nothing to do with the gardai.

Peckham

axer wrote: »

From what I understand, a garda will not appropriate blame in a garda report unless they were witness to the accident. Neither will they investigate what happened unless someone is injured or killed. They will only report what they saw and what was said to them. Thus the garda report may not be of much help. Usually the gardai will tell you at the accident scene that it is upto the both of ye to work it out amongst yourselves (including whether you want insurance involved or not) i.e. it has nothing to do with the gardai.

Just spoke with the insurance company of the person I'm claiming against. They spoke with the Garda yesterday and are now waiting to speak with the witness, so looks like what exactly what is described above is what has happened.

The garda at the scene clearly said to her it was “clearcut” that she was at fault, so does that not imply him apportioning blame? And she accepted this blame at the time.

Given that the insurance company wants to speak to the witness, does this mean it all rides on his word?

axer

Peckham wrote: »

Just spoke with the insurance company of the person I'm claiming against. They spoke with the Garda yesterday and are now waiting to speak with the witness, so looks like what exactly what is described above is what has happened.

The garda at the scene clearly said to her it was “clearcut” that she was at fault, so does that not imply him apportioning blame? And she accepted this blame at the time.

Given that the insurance company wants to speak to the witness, does this mean it all rides on his word?

I wonder did the garda put in the report that the other driver admitted responsibility. They cannot make judgement without an investigation and they will only do an investigation if someone is injured or killed so the garda cannot give his opinion but can possibly include that the other party admitted responsibility (but im not sure the other party addmitted responsibility by just accepting the blame).

Alot may hinge on this other witness. I hope you took photos etc.

Peckham

axer wrote: »

Alot may hinge on this other witness. I hope you took photos etc.

I don't have photos at the scene (but cars were still in place when garda arrived), but do have photos of the (still) damaged car, which clearly shows her paint marks on my car.

I also have some concerns over the impartiality of the witness.

seamus

You are entitled to claim against the other driver's insurance company for all losses incurred due to the accident. That is, assuming that they are at fault. So go and rent a vehicle if you require a vehicle. You can claim the cost back as a loss incurred due to the accident. Another option is to get an estimate from a garage and ask them to do the repairs - many garages will provide you with a car while yours is being repaired.

We can't give legal advice here, so no-one can answer questions in terms of who's to blame and whether or not someone can or cannot do something.

If you have a solicitor, I would advise you to talk to them. If you don't, talk to your insurance company. You'll be assigned someone who deals specifically with claims and has probably seen this all before and will be able to tell you what the likely outcomes are.

Nobody here can tell you how it's all going to turn out.

seamus

I've merged the thread from Legal Discussion into this one.

Jumpy

Gardai cannot assign blame, they can give their opinion which carries a lot of weight, but they cant declare faults.

Jumpy

milltown wrote: »

Depends on when your renewal is and how long this particular mess takes to clear up but, yes, you could lose your no claims but it will be re-instated once the claim has been recouped from her company. You "should" also be refunded the NCB value of your premium if you had to pay it in the meantime.

However it will be forever marked on your record, any future policies you attempt to go for will ask you "have you ever made a claim regardless of who is at fault".
Insurance companies are the devil.

Peckham

axer wrote: »

but im not sure the other party addmitted responsibility by just accepting the blame

Is admitting responsibility not the same thing as accepting the blame?

When I left the scene, I felt very reassured by the actions of the Garda and what he said that I was going to be looked after in all this. He even pointed out to the woman that any insurance claim would be off her insurance (but did highlight that settling for damages would be nothing to do with him directly).

I'm now in touch with my solicitor to get this issue resolved. Thanks for all the input above.

axer

Peckham wrote: »

Is admitting responsibility not the same thing as accepting the blame?

I'm just thinking that someone can accept the blame without really saying anything about them being actually fully responsible for what happened - as in it can be hard to prove the other person actually accepted the full responsibility of the accident if they nod or just say something like "I suppose" or whatever - if you know what I mean. She needs to actually say - I take full responsibility for the accident and get that recorded in writting or by the gardai as witnesses to her saying it.

In future always carry a disposable camera in your car (or if you have a decent camera on your phone) and take photos of the cars in place (where possible of course) and the area and scene around them. Also try and get the other party to sign accepting responsibility (not sure how effective this is in court) not just their words - might be hard to get someone to sign something like that though as it is not recommended to accept blame at the scene of an accident for insurance reasons.

Good luck.

seamus

Peckham wrote: »

Is admitting responsibility not the same thing as accepting the blame?

What I think he meant is that just because the other driver admits fault at the scene, doesn't mean that they are legally assigned blame.

You're advised not to admit liability because it weakens your case, but in the event that it goes to court, the other party could easily admit that they were in shock or were intimidated by the other party* and admitted liability without fully thinking about what they were doing.

If the court accepts such an explanation, they will try to figure out who was at fault to determine who has liability.

*This happens quite often. A mate's mum was in a petrol station with her door open when a van drove by with a trailer, caught her door on the trailer and tore it clean off. The guy hopped out of the van, gave her a mouthful of abuse about leaving her door open, and told her that he'd forget about it because there was no damage to the trailer. She accepted this and he drove off. It was only when she rang home that it was obvious the other driver was completely at fault.

craichoe

Then why does the quinn direct disk holder have

"NEVER ADMIT REPONSIBILITY"

"CONTACT QUINN"

Plastered on the back ?

seamus

You're advised not to admit liability because it weakens your case

...

craichoe

seamus wrote: »

...

I was replying to the post just before yours