Insurance after hitting someone

zig

So a few hours ago I hit someone with my car. He appeared out of nowhere on the left and clipped the car. Thankfully he is ok and was out of hospital a few hours later.

Technically speaking I did nothing wrong , no drink , wasn't speeding etc, wasn't a pedestrian crossing or red light etc . Also the guard told me that the owner of the offie he came out of said he was drunk.

Despite all this he recommended I contact a solicitor as he was very confident the guy was gonna put in a claim.

The guards told me there were cameras everywhere too. While I'm grateful for this I'm also wondering might it show that I wasn't paying attention properly or something I don't know.

My question is, how does this work? if for any reason he claims , cam he be successful for any reason if cameras show he was on the road and I was just doing everything normally. But supposing he is. Do I lose my entire no claims bonus ? (Full no claims) Or does it depend on the claim etc ?

Jesus.

Did the Cops bag you?

the_syco

Ask the offie how could you get a copy of their security footage of said individual, and go from there. Probably need your solicitor to get it via the Gardai.

To Elland Back

To be clear, did he emerge from a road to your left on to a road you had possession of and hit you, or was he out and you rear ended him? If it was the former and you weren't speeding etc., I don't see that you have anything to worry about.

You can't stop someone lodging a claim against you, but your insurers will handle that. If you don't mind me saying so, you don't seem overly confident about how you were driving at the time

zig

Thanks for the responses. The cops breathalysed me , asked me a few questions, took all my insurance and license details etc and then let me on my way. They said they'll ring on Sunday for a statement.

Re: the confidence about driving thing. Well the reason to be honest I seem to be taking such a negative view of it is that firstly I didn't see him literally walk from a path out in front of me. So I'm just bewildered as it felt he came out of nowhere. It was a busy and slow road thankfully.

But secondly, and this is the reason I'm asking the question in the first place to be quite honest, is that it was in a relatively rough area, the person I hit and their mates didn't seem like the most "well to do" types. Once the guards arrived they seemed ridiculously sceptical of the the guy that got hit. They'd probably know that group personally as their station is just up the road.

At one point i saw the guy half getting up from the road and then lying back down. Although that could be for any reason in fairness.

And finally the guard told me on the phone I should probably find a solicitor and that he can "bet his life on it" that that guy will claim.

So that's where my lack of confidence is coming from.

Just to be clear , it was on the front left as I was driving forward and I hit a pedestrian not a car.

ATMatm

If your company pays anything out for him it will go against you in future. If you have full NCB protection you should keep the full whack. Step back you'll lose a few years of it. None and you're back to zero.

Anything that happens between now and then (claims, court battles etc) will determine what, if anything, will be paid out to the pedestrian you hit.

eeguy

I'd go to a solicitor and explain the situation. Get all your ducks in a row. Make a statement to the guards, get a copy of the cctv.

Ensure that if a claim is made, you have everything goes to hand ready to refute it. Get the guards to interview the offy owner and get his statement.

If the fella is known to the guards, this could be a regular scam.

slimjimmc

And inform your insurer immediately, it's usually written in your policy and if the pedestrian does claim you could be putting your insurer and yourself at a disadvantage if you haven't already told them of the incident.

zig wrote: »

Do I lose my entire no claims bonus ? (Full no claims) Or does it depend on the claim etc ?

That depends on your policy and any No Claims Discount protection you may have. Without NCD protection you'll generally lose any bonus you had, but with NCD protection you may either retain your full bonus or may step back to a lower bonus in accordance with the terms of the NCD protection. The value of the claim is unlikely to affect your NCD but it could increase your premium significantly for the next few years.

To Elland Back

Apologies OP, I took it that you hit another car, not a pedestrian. They are much harder to defend. As others have said, advise your insurer and gather as much information as you can for them. Good luck

freddieot

Sounds like you will definitely get a claim from this guy.

Write out a full very detailed report of what happened. Do it now, for your own record as time will warp your memory of the event.

No need to share anything with the cops just yet.
Take it to a solicitor without delay. Get a solicitor before you give the cops a statement, not after.

Also, the more you think about it, the more you will doubt yourself, that's human nature. Your first instinct that you were not actually in the wrong is probably correct.

To Elland Back

You won't need a solicitor to defend any claim made against you, your insurers reserve the right to handle it. If you wish to pursue the pedestrian for damages to your car, your solicitor can handle this aspect only

dealhunter1985

Maybe a good idea to call into the off license and ask them to ensure the footage from the day in question doesn't get recorded over ...

Bio Mech

Most important thing is to contact your insurance. Most likely a claim will proceed and having hit a pedestrian there is very little you can do about it unfortunately. Whether you were in the right or wrong insurance will most likely not fight a claim from a pedestrian. Let the insurance deal with the claim and try not to worry about that. It's their job and that's what you pay them for

After that I would contact a solicitor just in case but from talking to the Garda it doesn't seem like you would have issues from a prosecution point of view. But just to be safe.

Mostly, from experience, my advice would be try not to worry. The claim will proceed or it won't but either way don't get stressed by it. These things happen.

Bio Mech

This wasn't in north Dublin near the matter hospital by any chance was it?

Saw a silver Jetta there yesterday pulled in with hazards on and a pedestrian lying on the path beside it.

zig

Nope, wasnt in Dublin.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Ive taken advice on contacting the insurance company. I cant believe I hadnt even thought of that.

The only bit I wont be taking is going to the offy to try get CCTV. I was advised from someone in the know today to not go meddling with any investigation or anything. It will come across badly. And the guards know well there were cameras there, in fact it was them that told me.

Also everyone has told me, including here that there will probably be a claim alright, right or wrong, so Im just resigning to that. Ive decided not to let that bother me because a: I checked my policy and it would be a step back of 2 years if the worst came to the worst (it amounts from me going to 67% off to 53% off), and b: this could drag on for months or years so there's no point in worrying.

I can see no reason why there would be a prosecution and I cant get in touch with a solicitor before giving the statement tomorrow anyway. I dont see the harm in giving the statement. I was advised just to have my story ready and clear and not to leave anything to vagueness. I was advised also to add in EVERYTHING relevant (e.g. at one point after I got out of the car one of the people in the crowd told me I did nothing wrong and he just walked out).

That said the Guard did recommend contacting a solicitor but he was making reference to the notion of a claim when he was talking about that.

In the long run if my insurance is affected it will be incredibly frustrating given that you cant control a possibly drunk guy appearing in front of you. But that said if thats the worst that comes out of it then maybe I should be grateful it was nothing serious.

Renegade Mechanic

Get a solicitor. And quickly. If he has a solicitor and you dont, you are much more likely to lose.

He might get points for driving drunk, he might get other fines/charges, but it won't matter if he can also bury you with a claim you can't defend against for something as silly as being in his way, or not spotting him in time, given that he was impaired and you were not. It may not be fair, but court rarely is.

cml387

Bad luck op.
It doesn't look too good for your ncb on the face of it.
Not everyone coming out of an offie is drunk, and the pedestrian won't be breathalysed anyway.
Be thankful for the fact that you weren't speeding and didn't kill him.