Should he be allowed to claim

mickmcl09

A mate of mine had a crash recently where he was turning right off a main road.

He was hit on the passenger side by an oncoming car (which he could not see before making the decision to turn right - car was speeding - skid marks of 120ft long).

Guards were on a work to rule at the time of the crash and decided not to press charges for speeding.

Strictly speaking my mate was in the wrong and his insurance company paid out approx 22K for the damage to the owner of the oncoming (speeding)car.

My mates car was a write off, including a flat screen tv he had in the back.

He had a 23 months left on the NCT.

The assessor from the Insurance company told my mate because the CAR was 1995 that it was worthless.

He had 3rd party insurance and full no claims protection.

Could he make a claim on this guys insurance on the basis that even though my mate was in the wrong regarding the accident. Could he make a claim based on contributory negligence (if that's the right term for it) on the 'speeders' insurance for the loss of his own vehicle?

MarkoC

mickmcl09 wrote: »

Could he make a claim on this guys insurance on the basis that even though my mate was in the wrong regarding the accident. Could he make a claim based on contributory negligence (if that's the right term for it) on the 'speeders' insurance for the loss of his own vehicle?

And what would be the whole point of insurance companies then ?

Random

it's unlikely he'd be successful in claiming off the other guy if his insurance company have already paid out against him. he should consult a solicitor (or two) and get opinion on it in my opinion.

colm_mcm

He was in the wrong, wrong side of the road, end of story.

J.Ball

Your mate is in the wrong end of story. Its almost impossible to prove speeding and the insurance company's wont even entertain any kind of argument he has against the other driver. As far as this claim goes its a simple clear cut claim.

I used to work in the insurance industry dealing with the car accidents. Your friend should just count his losses and be glad he's ok

BrianD3

Did the other car come around a blind bend or over a crest and only become visible after your friend had commenced his turn? If so then the other car wasn't able to stop in the distance he could see to be clear and should be partly or fully liable. However proving this is difficult in the absence of a proper investigation.

slimjimmc

He can make a claim, how successful he would be is a different matter as the entire burden would be on him to prove his claim. Does he have that much cash to spend on expert witnesses?

mickmcl09

mickmcl09 wrote: »

Strictly speaking my mate was in the wrong and his insurance company paid out approx 22K for the damage to the owner of the oncoming (speeding)car.

......................
He had 3rd party insurance and full no claims protection.

Could he make a claim on this guys insurance ...........

Insurance have settled, if they thought that your buddy was not in the wrong they would have contested it. What was the speed limit on the road? (I'm curious really, it makes no difference to things now)

CabanasBoy

mickmcl09 wrote: »

Guards were on a work to rule at the time of the crash and decided not to press charges for speeding.

Ah, so prosecuting somebody for speeding or dangerous driving doesn't really fall within the Gardai's remit? it's kind of optional? the Garda would have to go "above and beyond the call of duty" kind of thing?;)

They are playing the ole "blue flu" at the moment (and have been for quite a while) but I'm sure they'd still do their job if there was a prosecution to be had.

robtri

main road what was speed limit, what make model car was other person driving?

who measured the skids marks at 120ft? do you have independent proof of this?

how long ago was the accident?

while he has the possibility to be able to claim, if will be tough to be successful

MarkoC

If the car skidded 120.5 feet on a road with a drag factor of 0.5 and left four skid marks, the car was going about 42.51 mph.

The drag factor represents how quickly a car slows down on a given surface. Asphalt roads usually range from 0.50 to 0.90, gravel from 0.40 to 0.80, ice form 0.10 to 0.25 and snow from 0.10 to 0.55. Usually skid tests will have to be performed after the accident to determine the exact drag factor.

Read more: How to Calculate Skid Speed | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5842879_calculate-skid-speed.html#ixzz1Btlpvkfi