Tip in the Snow....

BeattyWeb

I would love to get some feedback here as I am at a loss as to where/what to do next

On the 6th of January I had to attend an emergency meeting Dublin. When I was returning to Leixlip on the Palmerstown Dual Carriageway during heavy snow blizzards I tipped the guy in front of me. He was driving a battered 1996 Fiat Cinquecento…. Now when I say tipped… I mean tipped. Garda on scene confirmed impact was at 4 miles per hour and put cause down to road conditions as opposed to bad driving. There is no way in hell that these two guys could have been injured. Even the ambulance refused to take them. My car was assessed by Axa and they confirmed no damage at all. The 2 Guys in the Cinquecento have put in personal injury claims aginst me..

They Guy I tipped did not own the car and the garda also told me that he did not have a valid driving license. (it was out of date)

This is the only incident I have had in a company vehicle in the 12 years that I have been driving. The Car is due to be handed back to the leasing company in the next few weeks and I hve to move to personal insurance

Insurance Companies are hesitant to quote me and the best quotes I can get at the moment are 5 thousand per year… For a 05 Hyandai Santa fe 2 ltr Petrol

WHat are your thoughts on this...

Thanks..

BeattyWeb

Oryx

All you can do is fight this claim and hope its thrown out as vexatious. Get a solicitor onto it, talk to your current insurers too.

As for your quotes, cant advise.

BeattyWeb

It can take upwards of two years for this to be sorted I have been told. As for talking to my own insurers.... their the ones giving me the extortionate quotes...

ch750536

Insurance companies will take as much money off you as possible - TRUE

You had an accident that was your fault, if the conditions were that bad you shouldn't have been driving. - TRUE

You have an outstanding claim - TRUE

Your best bet is to negotiate the best price you can for the insurance and have an agreement in writing for a different price if the claim against you is dropped, which it may be if the facts you state above are correct.

Maybe you agree 4k for now but 500 if the claim is dropped. Don't know if this is possible but it is certainly the route I would go in your position.

I've just finished a 2year battle with an insurance company, at no point do they play ball or attempt to help you unless it is in their own interest to do so. I would probably stay with your current insurer even if it cost a little more right now to see this out with them.

Is a very grey and difficult area, they can quote what they like, you have the choice whether or not to pay of course.

BeattyWeb

Problem is.. I can't afford that much for Insurance... as I said... these things can go on for years.. No Car..................no job

penexpers

Would changing cars have any effect on the premium?

BeattyWeb

nope... tried 3 differnt motors. what they do is front load it with risk

John_Mc

Get a motor back or scooter. Not ideal but that's probably your only bet.

I'd look into suing the other people who are claiming against you.

tommy21

BeattyWeb wrote: »

I would love to get some feedback here as I am at a loss as to where/what to do next

On the 6th of January I had to attend an emergency meeting Dublin. When I was returning to Leixlip on the Palmerstown Dual Carriageway during heavy snow blizzards I tipped the guy in front of me. He was driving a battered 1996 Fiat Cinquecento…. Now when I say tipped… I mean tipped. Garda on scene confirmed impact was at 4 miles per hour and put cause down to road conditions as opposed to bad driving. There is no way in hell that these two guys could have been injured. Even the ambulance refused to take them. My car was assessed by Axa and they confirmed no damage at all. The 2 Guys in the Cinquecento have put in personal injury claims aginst me..

They Guy I tipped did not own the car and the garda also told me that he did not have a valid driving license. (it was out of date)

This is the only incident I have had in a company vehicle in the 12 years that I have been driving. The Car is due to be handed back to the leasing company in the next few weeks and I hve to move to personal insurance

Insurance Companies are hesitant to quote me and the best quotes I can get at the moment are 5 thousand per year… For a 05 Hyandai Santa fe 2 ltr Petrol

WHat are your thoughts on this...

Thanks..

BeattyWeb

Advice above is all you can do really. Awful situation, two chancers out to make money. Thing is you won't lose in my opinion in relation to personal injuries in the long-term. Its just you get screwed over in the short-term. Hope you can sort something with the insurance company. Are the Gardaí taking action do you in relation the lack of a driving licence that was valid?

BeattyWeb

Suing them for what though ?

Frivolus Claim ? Prove it

A scooter............ not practical in my line of work...

BeattyWeb

Garda is Investigating this yes.

I understand that the claimants are saying neck and back.

I might put a Private investigator on them for a week or 2

Cabaal

BeattyWeb wrote: »

nope... tried 3 differnt motors. what they do is front load it with risk

So say on a Toyota Yaris 1.1 they'd still charge you 5k?

BeattyWeb wrote: »

I might put a Private investigator on them for a week or 2

If you got video/photo evidence of them doing stuff they shouldn't be then I'd hope the court would throw out the claim

It might be worth your while

BeattyWeb

Ford Fiesta 1.2 5,750
Hyandai Santa FE 2ltr Petrol - €7335
Renault Meganne SE 1.4 €6100

Cabaal

BeattyWeb wrote: »

Ford Fiesta 1.2 5,750
Hyandai Santa FE 2ltr Petrol - €7335
Renault Meganne SE 1.4 €6100

Those seem very high alright, what age bracket are you in?

tommy21

BeattyWeb wrote: »

Garda is Investigating this yes.

I understand that the claimants are saying neck and back.

I might put a Private investigator on them for a week or 2

This is what I would do also. Price is an issue of course here, but it might be worth it just to get them. Can you find out what type of employment they are in?

Jet Black

Just out of interest what did the gardai do with the driver? Considering he had no licence he was not insured to drive the car. How did the driver get home?

Something similar happened to a friend of mine. She tipped another driver, he got out said it was ok. They just exchanged details no damage done. A year later the driver claimed for damages he was out of work since the incident. He had medical cert's. Its only going to court in 2 months.

Your at a better advantage. Get the details of the gardai that attended. They can at least be used to say that the drivers of the other car were ok at the time. A PI would also be a good idea if you know who done it.

BeattyWeb

Age Bracket - 40

Have spoken to the Garda in question and he has said he will do what he can to assit in a positive manner to ensure that all the facts are presented. He spoke to the driver and passenger @ the time and they were fine... Ambulance said theu were fine..

So So Frustrating.

They will front load all quotes with risk until this has been sorted.

jor el

Is the high quote as a result of the pending claim, or the fact that you have no no-claims bonus? As a company car driver, you were not on your own policy, so you are essentially starting from scratch. Now, €5k does seem excessive, and the most you should loose is the 50% bonus. This would imply that without the claim, your quote would be €2500. There have to be other factors.

I know plenty of people who have had claims on motor insurance, myself included, and some have had personal injury claims against them too (falsely sometimes), and the quotes never went up excessively.

Go to some of the insurance websites, enter in details but mention nothing about claims, also say you have 0 years NCB, and see what the estimates are like.

gimme5minutes

Can these guys not be done for insurance fraud?

ejmaztec

Surely, as the driver had no valid licence, he shouldn't have been on the road to be nudged, therefore there must be something to nail him in that area?

dh0661

tommy21 wrote: »

Can you find out what type of employment they are in?

HA HA - you really don't need to/have to ask that question do you?

OP good luck with this.

slimjimmc

Jet Black wrote: »

Just out of interest what did the gardai do with the driver? Considering he had no licence he was not insured to drive the car.

Incorrect. Insurance companies ask you if you hold or ever held a driving licence. The OP said the other driver had an expired license which means he is in compliance with his policy even if the licence expires during it's term.

eth0_

slimjimmc wrote: »

Incorrect. Insurance companies ask you if you hold or ever held a driving licence. The OP said the other driver had an expired license which means he is in compliance with his policy even if the licence expires during it's term.

As a matter of interest, what would happen if you were banned from driving yet continued to drive your car and had an accident? Surely the insurer would not be obliged to honour any claim except for those arising from a 3rd party being injured/their vehicle damaged by said unlicensed driver?

slimjimmc

I'm not sure. The 'upmost good faith' clause requires you to declare anything that might materially affect your policy so if you didn't tell them about the ban they could have a get out.

dellas1979

Modern Ireland eh?

I hate to say this, but how ironic. That fecker you crashed into didnt have insurance and nothing has happened him (yet anyways) and you are getting nailed to the wall trying to be an honest, upstanding citizen.

slimjimmc

BeattyWeb wrote: »

Ford Fiesta 1.2 5,750
Hyandai Santa FE 2ltr Petrol - €7335
Renault Meganne SE 1.4 €6100

They seem very high so I tried an online quote with http://www.123.ie/ and got waaay different figures. Are you hiding something from us?

Driver:
Male, 40yrs, married, , living Leixlip.
full Irish license over 9yrs
Annual mileage 25000km-40000km
No previous insurance
No additional named drivers
No penalty points

Car:
2005 Renault megane 1.6 1.4 saloon, manual petrol.
insured for €9000 (too much)
no security (left out alarm/immobiliser)

Insurance:
Social, domestic and pleasure use.
1 recent claim for €15,000. (I marked this as settled otherwise I couldn't get a quote)
Stepback NCB protection

Quoted figures
3rd party € 940
3rd party, fire & theft €1025
comprehensive € 1270

slimjimmc

BirdieNumNums wrote: »

Modern Ireland eh?

I hate to say this, but how ironic. That fecker you crashed into didnt have insurance and nothing has happened him (yet anyways) and you are getting nailed to the wall trying to be an honest, upstanding citizen.

Where did the OP say the other driver was uninsured? He was unlicenced because his driving licence had expired. The OP is getting 'nailed' because he has been driving on company insurance and therefore hasn't built up on his own insurance history. In their eyes he is one step above a first time driver.
But yes, uninsured drivers do result in higher premiums for the rest of us.

jor el

eth0_ wrote: »

As a matter of interest, what would happen if you were banned from driving yet continued to drive your car and had an accident? Surely the insurer would not be obliged to honour any claim except for those arising from a 3rd party being injured/their vehicle damaged by said unlicensed driver?

As far as I know, the insurer will pay out on the 3rd party claim, but then go after the insured (banned driver) for the costs of that claim.

There is also a fund (government backed) for claims from uninsured drivers. Not sure how easy it is to make a claim for money from that fund though.

looksee

How can it be legal for an insurance company to assume that a case will be proved, and charge on that basis?

ch750536

looksee wrote: »

How can it be legal for an insurance company to assume that a case will be proved, and charge on that basis?

Because they all do.

jimmycrackcorm

slimjimmc wrote: »

They seem very high so I tried an online quote with http://www.123.ie/ and got waaay different figures. Are you hiding something from us?

Driver:
Male, 40yrs, married, , living Leixlip.
full Irish license over 9yrs
Annual mileage 25000km-40000km
No previous insurance
No additional named drivers
No penalty points

Car:
2005 Renault megane 1.6 1.4 saloon, manual petrol.
insured for €9000 (too much)
no security (left out alarm/immobiliser)

Insurance:
Social, domestic and pleasure use.
1 recent claim for €15,000. (I marked this as settled otherwise I couldn't get a quote)
Stepback NCB protection

Quoted figures
3rd party € 940
3rd party, fire & theft €1025
comprehensive € 1270

Actually most insurers will give a discount for having driven a company car for a number of years. In my case I got a full no-claims bonus as an introductory offer. At this point there are no actual claims paid out either.

nogoodnamesleft

BeattyWeb wrote: »

I would love to get some feedback here as I am at a loss as to where/what to do next

On the 6th of January I had to attend an emergency meeting Dublin. When I was returning to Leixlip on the Palmerstown Dual Carriageway during heavy snow blizzards I tipped the guy in front of me. He was driving a battered 1996 Fiat Cinquecento…. Now when I say tipped… I mean tipped. Garda on scene confirmed impact was at 4 miles per hour and put cause down to road conditions as opposed to bad driving. There is no way in hell that these two guys could have been injured. Even the ambulance refused to take them. My car was assessed by Axa and they confirmed no damage at all. The 2 Guys in the Cinquecento have put in personal injury claims aginst me..

They Guy I tipped did not own the car and the garda also told me that he did not have a valid driving license. (it was out of date)

This is the only incident I have had in a company vehicle in the 12 years that I have been driving. The Car is due to be handed back to the leasing company in the next few weeks and I hve to move to personal insurance

Insurance Companies are hesitant to quote me and the best quotes I can get at the moment are 5 thousand per year… For a 05 Hyandai Santa fe 2 ltr Petrol

WHat are your thoughts on this...

Thanks..

BeattyWeb

First things 1st the claim the 2 individuals that you crashed into is a civil matter as its up to your insurance company investigate if neccessary.

How did the Gardai confirm impact at 4mph? Were the gardai accident investigation team called to the scene and mark out the postions of the vehicles assess damage etc etc? BTW its highly usual for this to happen unless there has been a fatality or there is a risk of death or serious injury for one of the occupants of the vehicles involved.

It would be extremely unprofessional for a gardai to express their opinion regards damage etc at the scene of the accident as they are there to remain impartial and to ensure details etc are exchanged.

The matter regards the expried license and the car being driven other than the owner (with their consent) will be investigated and charges brought by the gardai for failing to conform to the RTA.

slimjimmc

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Actually most insurers will give a discount for having driven a company car for a number of years. In my case I got a full no-claims bonus as an introductory offer. At this point there are no actual claims paid out either.

I took a worst case scenario of zero history, zero NCB with a claim and yet the quote for comprehensive still came in less than €1300; which makes the OP's quotes of €6100 on a 1.4 Megane even more odd. Of course my quotes are only initial estimates and there may be something, eg medical conditions, that the OP rightly hasn't disclosed on a public forum which might make him a significantly higher risk.

foggy_lad

the op has stated that their quotes are all being loaded because there is an unsettled claim on their record and untill it is settled and a cost calculated their insurance quotes are going to be huge! The example quote given above has a recent claim of 15k which was settled so the company are aware of the cost but when a claim remains unsettled they assume it could cost millions or the maximum!!

Maserati23

beattywebb , were you with Quinn? I have a friend that evaluates, accidents for Quinn he deals with bogus claims daily. Approx 60% of neck and back injuries are totally bogus. This is from 12 years experience working for them.

His job is mainly to find out if the other side, is totally compliant with law, I.E. insurance small print, it could help you a lot.

Give me a P.M. and I will call you. See if you can hitch up with my mate.


He helped me no end.


Good Luck.

the groutch

threaten them with a counter claim for mental anguish and suffering, which should their case be thrown out as frivilous will almost certainly be found in your favour

they're alot less likely to proceed with the knowledge that if their case is thrown out they could be seriously out of pocket

lindtee

I had an own fault accident a couple of years ago now, I had my full licence for only 3 months at the time and I was insured under someone else at the time. When it came to insuring myself the following October the cheapest insurance I was quoted was €1064 from Quinn and that was with an open personal injury claim against me:(

What galled me was the minute the other person came out of the car I banged into, this person said my neck is sore:mad: From research into neck injuries I saw that it takes a while for "whiplash" symptoms to appear. Anyway I saw the doctors report, which didn't really back up the list of injuries claimed for. Still, the other person got about €15,000 in compensation:rolleyes:

Last octobers insurance came in at €623, which isn't too bad considering. I'd def ring around more OP, the quotes you have gotten sound extortionate.

olaola

Just wondering - why were there Gardai & Ambulance called to the scene if it was such a minor tip?

the_syco

olaola wrote: »

Just wondering - why were there Gardai & Ambulance called to the scene if it was such a minor tip?

May have been at a bad spot?

ch750536

am I the only one sensing something a little wiffy here?

Sorry for the insinuation if I am wrong.