Strange claim query

judelaila

Hey guys, Im new to Boards, I wanted to come on as I need to ask a question, I find myself in a messy situation.

1 month ago my car broke down in Dublin 2. I have 3rd party insurance with roadside assistance so proceeded to call them, they sent someone out who immediately diagnosed the problem as being battery related. I needed a new one but he would jump it, no issues. My electronic hand brake was also disabled, I let him know this (it wouldn't turn back on due to battery being dead).

Now the strange bit, he proceeded to jump the battery with a portable power generator, as it charged he stood with one foot resting on bumper of car and stood right in the middle of the bumper of the car. He asked me to hop in and start the car, I did, I half sat in, started the car, the car jerked forward for some reason and he claimed the car banged off his knee (of the leg he had been resting on the bumper). I asked was he ok, fine, we went our spate ways. 2 hours later, he called me to let me know he was "not feeling great and was going home and needed to let me know this). I said fine, went about my day.

2 hours after that, I got a call from my insurer saying he now wants to claim against my insurance for this?? Can he do this? I have been trying to ignore their calls from my insurer but need to act on it now. any advice wold be very much appreciated!!

punisher5112

judelaila wrote: »

Hey guys, Im new to Boards, I wanted to come on as I need to ask a question, I find myself in a messy situation.

1 month ago my car broke down in Dublin 2. I have 3rd party insurance with roadside assistance so proceeded to call them, they sent someone out who immediately diagnosed the problem as being battery related. I needed a new one but he would jump it, no issues. My electronic hand brake was also disabled, I let him know this (it wouldn't turn back on due to battery being dead).

Now the strange bit, he proceeded to jump the battery with a portable power generator, as it charged he stood with one foot resting on bumper of car and stood right in the middle of the bumper of the car. He asked me to hop in and start the car, I did, I half sat in, started the car, the car jerked forward for some reason and he claimed the car banged off his knee (of the leg he had been resting on the bumper). I asked was he ok, fine, we went our spate ways. 2 hours later, he called me to let me know he was "not feeling great and was going home and needed to let me know this). I said fine, went about my day.

2 hours after that, I got a call from my insurer saying he now wants to claim against my insurance for this?? Can he do this? I have been trying to ignore their calls from my insurer but need to act on it now. any advice wold be very much appreciated!!

You sound like you need a solicitor.

Need one I can recommend one I have had to use.

judelaila

Hi Punisher5112 yes that would be super, let me know the details. Very much appreciated!!!

Special Circumstances

Are you implying he did something to cause it to jerk forward?

Did it jerk forward because you had it in gear or because of crappy electronic handbrake?

I have a certain amount of sympathy if it was due to the electronic handbrake.

ikeano29

Im guessing it was in gear. Still, can't have hurt his knee that much.
It sickens me the way Ireland has become, everyone's insurance getting higher because people are claiming for the smallest things. It's gone out of control, it needs to stop.

Liam McPoyle

judelaila wrote: »

Hey guys, Im new to Boards, I wanted to come on as I need to ask a question, I find myself in a messy situation.

1 month ago my car broke down in Dublin 2. I have 3rd party insurance with roadside assistance so proceeded to call them, they sent someone out who immediately diagnosed the problem as being battery related. I needed a new one but he would jump it, no issues. My electronic hand brake was also disabled, I let him know this (it wouldn't turn back on due to battery being dead).

Now the strange bit, he proceeded to jump the battery with a portable power generator, as it charged he stood with one foot resting on bumper of car and stood right in the middle of the bumper of the car. He asked me to hop in and start the car, I did, I half sat in, started the car, the car jerked forward for some reason and he claimed the car banged off his knee (of the leg he had been resting on the bumper). I asked was he ok, fine, we went our spate ways. 2 hours later, he called me to let me know he was "not feeling great and was going home and needed to let me know this). I said fine, went about my day.

2 hours after that, I got a call from my insurer saying he now wants to claim against my insurance for this?? Can he do this? I have been trying to ignore their calls from my insurer but need to act on it now. any advice wold be very much appreciated!!

Sounds like you are the victim of a crook, wrong time wrong place and if it wasn't you then it would likely be someone else.

You are pretty much snookered though as the car was in gear with no handbrake on, whether he is trying it on or not is a bit moot as the duty of care ie making sure the car was not in gear, lies with you.

judelaila

Folks thanks for all of the replies and advice. I think I'm going to engage a solicitor here, don't know what good it will do but I just find it hard to believe the person coming out to fix my car from my insurer who wasn't careful in the slightest can actually make a claim against my insurance ... It just seems mad...

YbFocus

You weren't careful when you left the car in gear in fairness.
He is out for the money but you did knock into him with the car due to your carelessness, not his.

Cerco

YbFocus wrote: »

You weren't careful when you left the car in gear in fairness.
He is out for the money but you did knock into him with the car due to your carelessness, not his.

I disagree. If this person puts himself forward as a motor repair man then he should have the common sense not to stand in front of a car he requested to be started. Tell him to take a health and safety course.

YbFocus

Cerco wrote: »

I disagree. If this person puts himself forward as a motor repair man then he should have the common sense not to stand in front of a car he requested to be started. Tell him to take a health and safety course.

True no doubt but the root cause here was the car in gear.
No doubt he should have stood clear though.

visual

He should have been trained not to stand in front of a car being started and should have also warned you to ensure car out of gear.
Failing to do these things as trained recovery driver is unprofessional. You should be seeking to claim for unprofessional conduct.

If he wants to claim the it should be through his employers insurance as work related and inform HSA

curiosity

What possessed him to put his foot on your bumper? Surely any decent mechanic would know enough to step a bit away from a car being jump-started?

Not the type of insurance-provided breakdown service that I'd like to depend on!

judelaila

Again thanks everyone for their opinions. I can see t from all points of view but I would tend to agree that he is the professional and out himself in harms way, he just told me to turn on car and nothing else... I'll be talking to a. Solicitor tomorrow I think

sunnysoutheast

Presumably, as he is trying to make a claim against your insurance, your insurers are probably contacting you to get your version of events? I wouldn't delay doing so personally.

As far as I understand it you can agree that your insurers handle the third party claim as they see fit, or deal with the claim completely yourself (in which case you would definitely need a solicitor). They will simply do what they believe will be cheapest for them in the long run.

I agree with those posters saying that the guy should have been more careful, but the fact is that you did hit him with your car......

Edit - have you been ignoring your insurer's calls for a month, knowing that there is a potential third party claim??

Pov06

If the mechanic/assistant had to hold the car with his foot you should have ideally jumped in and pressed on the brake pedal so he wouldn't have to hold the car. You may have also noticed that the car is in gear.

I'm not surprised he is claiming injuries. Cars can be lethal if you leave them in gear whilst starting.

judelaila

Pov06 wrote: »

If the mechanic/assistant had to hold the car with his foot you should have ideally jumped in and pressed on the brake pedal so he wouldn't have to hold the car. You may have also noticed that the car is in gear.

I'm not surprised he is claiming injuries. Cars can be lethal if you leave them in gear whilst starting.

Hey no the car wasn't moving it was stationary , I'm not too sure to be honest if it was in gear although the I assume IT must of been to jerk forward. Again I just don't see how someone who is meant to be out tonfix my car can claim injury like this. He was fine when we parted ways. Didn't ask me to fill in any accident form. Called me 2 hours later with what sounded like a scripted conversation. Just seems a bit dodge.

Pov06

judelaila wrote: »

Hey no the car wasn't moving it was stationary , I'm not too sure to be honest if it was in gear although the I assume IT must of been to jerk forward. Again I just don't see how someone who is meant to be out tonfix my car can claim injury like this. He was fine when we parted ways. Didn't ask me to fill in any accident form. Called me 2 hours later with what sounded like a scripted conversation. Just seems a bit dodge.

Well to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if he did fake personal injury just to get a nice payout.

That's why I would have been very cautious with something like this. Just shows that electronic parking brakes do more harm than good to be honest.

I doubt there is much you can do even with a solicitor.

judelaila

Pov06 wrote: »

Well to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if he did fake personal injury just to get a nice payout.

That's why I would have been very cautious with something like this. Just shows that electronic parking brakes do more harm than good to be honest.

I doubt there is much you can do even with a solicitor.

Yeah would tend to agree with you mate ... Hopefully though a solicitor may have some sort of different angle