car accident and Insurance claim

Mihiret

Hi Guys,
I was in a car accident two weeks ago on a motorway. There were 6 cars, one slammed into the other infront of me. I managed to break but the lady behind me came in full speed and slammed my car from behind and pushed me hard onto the front car. My car was damaged severely at the back but the damage in the front was not that serious. Guardai was called at the scene and they said we all claim from the person that hit us from the back. The car infront of me did not claim from me since my car did not cause damage to his. The lady that hit my car from behind admitted liability. However, the assessor from her insurance company tells me that her insurance will pay me only for the damage caused to the rear of my car. They believe that the car will be written off, but my own insurance should share the cost of the damage caused to the front of my car. They reckon i hit the car infront of me; it is my word against theirs. My insurance said I should deal with it since i do not have Comprehensive cover. How should I deal with this? I appreciate your advice.

By the way i am still driving the car although the noise due to the damage to the back and exhaust is annoying me. This is a 2008 Nissan Note and was clean before all this happend.


Thanks.

T-Maxx

First that comes to mind is how can a 08 car be written off, yet drive?

mp22

Is the guy in front claiming off your insurance?

Fey!

Get a copy of the assessor reporrt and insurance company notes (will cost you about €6 and take a few weeks), and a copy of the Garda report (which may take time depending on whether or not they're going to prosecute anyone involved in the incident).

Try to make sure that the Garda report states that your car was stopped and undamaged before the impact to the back of yours; depending on marks at the scene they may have been able to determine this.

Also check for local CCTV, and contact other people involved, including the woman who hit you (witnesses).

Then lob the whole lot into a solicitor.

I always feel that your own insurance company should deal with it, but they tend to be too lazy to do anything on behalf of their customers.

Anan1

Am I right in assuming that the lady who hit you from behind was the last car in the chain? If so, if the driver of the car in front of you will testify that they were only hit once and not twice from behind then you should be in the clear.

Mihiret

Thanks all for reply.

Anan1, Yes the lady who hit my car from behind was the last car in the chain. The driver in front of me did not claim anything of me since there was only a small scratch on his back bumper due to the impact. I heard the driver in front of me saying that he had heard just one bang from behind. I have to confirm that from him, I guess (I have his number). If I had hit him before I stopped, surely he would have heard once when i hit him and the other time when the lady came and hit my car?

Fey! and mp22: Gardai did not make any mark. They simply said we claim from the person behind us. In my case, they said not to worry for the car in front of me since not much has happened to his car and the driver also agreed. That was it. I do not think there is CCTV on M7, is there? But I have a shot on my phone camera that shows the position of the cars and damages on each car.

T-Maxx: My cars back bumper, back panel, boot floor, tailgate etc are damaged. The estimate I got from crash repair asked for more than 6000 euro to fix. That may be the reason the insurance want to write it off.

Henry Ford III

Hire a claims assessor. You were not at fault.

Mihiret

Wouldn't hiring a claims assessor be dear?