Accident - should I have done more to ensure I'm covered?

This is what happened

On the M/N7 the M50 was about 1/2 a kilometre in the distance. I was on the inside lane, going about 30 to 40 Kph. A car rear ended me, the first I knew it was when I was hit. It was a fair bang even though that driver was shunted into me when a van crashed into him (that driver said his engine went and couldn't slow). The driver of the van was very apologetic and admitted liability to me and the middle car driver. Plain enough at that stage.

I took pictures of their vehicles, got their telephone numbers and photos of their insurance/tax disks. There's several thousand of euro to my car to get it back to pre crash. The front of the middle car didn't seem to have any damage, apart from the bonnet slightly raised (pedestrian protection mechanism?) RSA's assessor said that wasn't surprising. To get their phone numbers into my phone I called them and their phones rang.

Where it gets a little fuzzy

I left and went to work. The middle driver never got out of the car, and I only have their first names. He was waiting for someone, not sure if that was a tow truck (I would have thought his car was drivable) or the gardai. He could easily have been hurt. He had two crashes.

The Van driver belongs to a construction supply company and the middle driver was in a hire car. RSA said it would be slower to complete because the Van company was insured by fleet insurance.

Response from RSA

I got this response from RSA earlier this evening, dated the 6th. Am I just being paranoid or do I need to do more. I contacted my insurance company within 30 minutes of the accident. And then the insurance company of the 1st driver (not the car that drove into me) and got a claim reference.


Without Prejudice

Dear Mr xxxx,

Thank you for reporting the above claim to us today.
Please note that we are not in a position to confirm our interest as Insurers in this case or comment on the issue of liability. We await receipt of information/claims documentation from our policyholder before cover is confirmed. All actions taken by us are on a without admission of responsibility basis.




We have appointed Assess Ireland (066 7107200) to inspect your vehicle. Although an independent advisor, Assess Ireland will act on our behalf. However, you may, at your own expense, appoint a motor assessor to act in your interests. We will be in contact with you again when the inspection has been completed.

If you have not heard from us within 5 business days of the inspection, please contact us.

There were other sentences, but this a long enough post already.

They did say I could deal with them direct and send on the medical report to them or PIAB. I'm wondering now should I engage a solicitor as I'm dealing with insurance pros here and I'm clearly an amateur.

If the accident was reported to the gardai could I or a solicitor get the accident report. I want to see if anyone said I was involved.

If I claim off my insurance (this seems the best for now) will they be able to inspect the front of the middle car to confirm it was in an accident.

Any advice appreciated. I'm hoping I'm worrying for nothing, but advice appreciated.

colm_mcm

Why were you doing 30kph on a motorway? Sorry that’s not really going to answer your question, but it seems very slow to be going.

Atlantic Dawn

Deleted User wrote: »

They did say I could deal with them direct and send on the medical report to them or PIAB. I'm wondering now should I engage a solicitor as I'm dealing with insurance pros here and I'm clearly an amateur. [/FONT]

What medical report, you don't mention anywhere in your post a single mention of any injury to yourself or visit to a doctor?

JustJoe7240

colm_mcm wrote: »

Why were you doing 30kph on a motorway? Sorry that’s not really going to answer your question, but it seems very slow to be going.

Probably slow moving traffic.

colm_mcm

colm_mcm wrote: »

Why were you doing 30kph on a motorway? Sorry that’s not really going to answer your question, but it seems very slow to be going.

Hah! Not by choice. Usually doing well to do that speed in the morning at that section. I was in line of traffic.

colm_mcm

JustJoe7240 wrote: »

Probably slow moving traffic.

Sorry, my ninja edit was before I read your post, I figured it out when I saw the m50 bit

Atlantic Dawn

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

What medical report, you don't mention anywhere in your post a single mention of any injury to yourself or visit to a doctor?

It's incidental to my getting proof of the accident.

Snotty

colm_mcm wrote: »

Why were you doing 30kph on a motorway? Sorry that’s not really going to answer your question, but it seems very slow to be going.

Do you get some payment per post you make, only explanation I can see.

Ever hear of traffic?


OP, I think the wording is fairly standard, it's the "we aren't saying we are liable till 100% sure"
But I did think you would be claiming off the middle car, as that is the one that hit you and that middle car will claim your expense from the van.

colm_mcm

Snotty wrote: »

Do you get some payment per post you make, only explanation I can see.

Ever hear of traffic?

Yeah, sound. I did point out later in the thread that I had misread the original post (M7 bit threw me)
Great username.

Spook_ie

Let the insurers sort it out, the only thing I see you did wrong was IF the person in the hire car ( middle one ) was injured then you should have remained at the scene and reported it to the Gardai.

Spook_ie

Spook_ie wrote: »

Let the insurers sort it out, the only thing I see you did wrong was IF the person in the hire car ( middle one ) was injured then you should have remained at the scene and reported it to the Gardai.

I was talking to him. He said he was fine. And I said I'm heading to work, and we had swapped numbers. There was no mention of calling the guards.

mgbgt1978

Spook_ie wrote: »

Let the insurers sort it out, the only thing I see you did wrong was IF the person in the hire car ( middle one ) was injured then you should have remained at the scene and reported it to the Gardai.

The only way the OP's Insurer will sort this out is if he has a Fully Comp policy and claims off that. He will then find it very difficult/expensive to renew his policy until his current Insurer gets recompensed for their payout.
Personally OP, I would be talking to a solicitor. No Insurance company will take you seriously without one, and will fob you off for as long as possible. The only payment you should have to make to a solicitor in this instance is for the 1st consultation (and them sending the 1st letter to the relevant insurance company).
Anything after that will be part of your Claim and the Insurer will be liable for it. Also a Solicitor will advise you of the complete compensation you are entitled to....depreciation on your car, Car Hire, etc.

Salary Negotiator

OP lawyer up. I was in a similar collision to you except there were 3 vehicles behind me not 2 and the insurance companies are a nightmare to deal with. Each fobbing me off and saying it’s not their problem, it’s the other insurance company’s problem.

13 months later it’s still not sorted and I had to pay out for the repairs myself while the claim is sorted.

pablo128

Ring your insurance company, give them all of the details, and let them sort it out. That's what you pay them for.

mgbgt1978

If the Op has 3rd Party cover only then this advice is useless.
If he has fully comp then see post #12.....

punisher5112

Op contact van insurer and claim from them....

Get a solicitor if you don't have one and I can recommend one of you like on pm.

mgbgt1978

It seems he did contact the Van drivers Insurer....and the fobbing off has commenced.


Totally agree with you regarding a solicitor. It's the only way any Insurance Company will take a claim seriously.

Have full NCB protection and fully comprehensive insurance. Approx 9 months to renewal.

Car is a 2 and a half year old Audi TT €60k new. New back bumper and respray, rear hatch back door slightly offline. Right rear light cluster shaking, so will need to be re attached. Insurance Co assessor agrees.

Mgbt1978 - is there also an entitlement to depreciation? I will have to tell a prospective buyer about the repairs.

pablo128

Deleted User wrote: »

Mgbt1978 - is there also an entitlement to depreciation? I will have to tell a prospective buyer about the repairs.

One of my brothers cars was hit before, and repaired by the other insurance company . They asked him to have the car appraised at a main dealer to see how much it had been devalued. It was a year or two old car at the time. He never followed it up being too busy. He was just happy the car was repaired.

mgbgt1978

The depreciation figure is normally a percentage of the Repair cost. If the Car is relatively old (your's isn't) then it doesn't apply.

In fairness, get on to a solicitor sooner rather than later and the Car Repair end will be sorted out much faster.....any personal injuries are a separate issue BTW.

mgbgt1978

pablo128 wrote: »

One of my brothers cars was hit before, and repaired by the other insurance company . They asked him to have the car appraised at a main dealer to see how much it had been devalued. It was a year or two old car at the time. He never followed it up being too busy. He was just happy the car was repaired.

The other Driver's Insurer told him he was entitled to compensation for depreciation....and he didn't bother ???? Despite the fact that his car was devalued by their client he was happy to just take the hit.

Hoboo

Depends how you value your time. For some a few grand is pocket change.

Thanks for the great advice. Nobody had mentioned depreciation to me before. If I do get a depreciation payment I'll make a €50 charity donation.

The last time someone crashed into me it wrote off both cars. This was about 15 years ago. I didn't claim personal injury that time because I didn't have any major pain. This time, a relatively minor crash, and I've come out worse.

pablo128

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

The other Driver's Insurer told him he was entitled to compensation for depreciation....and he didn't bother ???? Despite the fact that his car was devalued by their client he was happy to just take the hit.

Some people just don't care. I would have followed it up myself if it was my car. I'm as bemused as you are.