Car accident and liability

aoifedearg

I was involved in RTA recently and seeking assurances/opinion on liability.

The accident occurred on main road, I indicated and slowed to turn right. Checked my mirrors, manoeuvre and turned right into a garage pump. There was no oncoming traffic. As I turned right, I noticed a car approaching at speed (split second) overtaking two cars and she hit my back bumper. I believe my car is fixable however the air bags went in her car so its a write off.

The gardai, ambulance, fire brigade were called. Me and my children were OK as was the other driver.

The driver admitted liability to me and garda at scene but my questions are as follows:

1. Am I right in thinking she is liable given that she rear ended me? And also was overtaking two cars at the time of the crash? She wasn't the driver behind me.

2. It has since transpired that she was covered to drive the car that was in the crash, the policy was in someone else's name and she wasn't named. Do I then have to pay for my car cost repairs?

Henry Ford III

Moved your query to Insurance forum.

coylemj

2. It has since transpired that she was covered to drive the car that was in the crash, the policy was in someone else's name and she wasn't named. Do I then have to pay for my car cost repairs?

Did you mean to say that she was not covered to drive the car?

If that is the case and she was not covered and you have fully comp then you can let your insurance take care of it. If you have third party cover only, you need to talk to a solicitor because you will probably need to sue the car's owner and the MIBI.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058266939/car-accident-and-liability

The accident occurred on main road, I indicated and slowed to turn right. Checked my mirrors, manoeuvre and turned right into a garage pump. There was no oncoming traffic. As I turned right, I noticed a car approaching at speed (split second) overtaking two cars and

What are the markings on the road (e.g. dashed or solid white line or hatched area, etc.) - did they allow for overtaking?

she hit my back bumper. I believe my car is fixable however the air bags went in her car so its a write off.

Have you had your car properly checked out? That her airbags went off indicate a hard enough bang which may have affected the impact absorption of your car. It may look ok but behind the bumper could require repairs, etc.

The driver admitted liability to me and garda at scene but my questions are as follows:

This generally means nothing and would not have much legal weight.

1. Am I right in thinking she is liable given that she rear ended me? And also was overtaking two cars at the time of the crash? She wasn't the driver behind me.

It does sound like they were at fault but as I wasn't there and don't know the scene, it is hard to say. However, you claimed that when you checked your mirrors you saw nothing and seconds later there's a car overtaking two others heading straight towards you. cars don't appear out of nowhere to be fair so was the other driver in the middle of an overtaking manouvre when you turned?

Also, how did they hit your back bumper if you were turning right - surely they'd have hit your side also?

2. It has since transpired that she was covered to drive the car that was in the crash, the policy was in someone else's name and she wasn't named. Do I then have to pay for my car cost repairs?

I'm not sure what you mean here. Had you meant to say that the other driver was not actually insured? If that's the case then firstly the gardai should be pursuing them. You could still claim from the MIBI: https://www.mibi.ie/

coylemj

OP was driving on a main road, there was no oncoming traffic. She wanted to pull into a filling station on the right side of the main road so she slowed down and indicated right. As she was turning right, she suddenly noticed a car coming towards her from behind, it was in the process of overtaking two cars and it collided with her car. That's the gist of it.

Hard to see how the other driver is not 100% liable.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119729842#Comment_119729842

If the other car was already overtaking when the OP started the turn manouvre then the OP would be partly liable. However, proving that might be tricky.

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119729867#Comment_119729867

Fair point. Would require the overtaking car to show that the OP suddenly slowed down and indicated right without giving other drivers adequate notice of her intentions. But the fact that the other driver was overtaking two cars at the time means the circumstantial evidence is loaded against her - the other driver.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119729867#Comment_119729867

i don’t think so if the other driver was attempting to overtake multiple cars in one go when it’s usually rather unsafe to do so.

Seth Brundle

I'm not disputing some or all liability on the other driver.

However, if the OP pulled out in front of a driver who was making an overtaking attempt (regardless of the number of cars being overtaken) then they too are partly liable. Proving that the OP did this is difficult and given that the overtaking driver admitted full liability at the scene, this scenario seems unlikely.

Also OP do not drive your car unless it’s been cleared as okay by a crash repair specialist. If the third parties airbags deployed there was significant frontal impact (and significant rearward impact in your case) that could have drastically impacted the cars structural integrity.

Cars are designed to soak up the impact of a crash so that the passengers are less likely to be severely injured, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe to drive. It might look okay but without being properly assessed it shouldn’t be taken on the road.

If you were to be rear ended again the injuries could be a lot more devastating to the passengers as the cars body has already absorbed significant impact.

Long story short, in a two vehicle collision it’s rare that one car would be a write off and the other would be fine. It’s very possible to repair your car I’m sure but whether it’s economical for the insurance is another story.

Either way I would stop driving it immediately and have it assessed by an expert, if you’ve already done so disregard.

As above, it's hard to follow that the OP checked their mirrors, pulled out seeing no car then being hit by another car. By being hit in the rear it suggests the OP wasn't turning directly into the petrol station, but "overtaking" a car themselves before turning in.

I remember a case whereby a car pulled out into a speeding car, and the judge awarded for the speeding driver, just because they were speeding didn't mean they should not have been seen (this is from memory, not verbatim).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119730082#Comment_119730082

If they weren’t speeding, (assuming they were) they could’ve stopped in time not to rear end the OP too.

What’s the point of a speed limit if they are ignored and blame is handed to the victim of someone’s speeding.

Not arguing with what you said either, just reminds me of a case a few weeks back where a judge struck out a case where a FCPN wasn’t paid by a speeding driver going 59 in a 50km/h zone, because “sure it’s only 9km over”

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119730162#Comment_119730162

Yeah, depends on the Judge on the day.

aoifedearg

Thanks for the replies.

With regards to insurance question, the other driver was driving a car that she wasn't named driver and they didn't have open insurance. She has insurance of her own and I put in a claim on that but they came back to me stating that they aren't covering the claim as she wasn't covered. They confirmed it was a cover issue as opposed to liability.

So essentially I am left with the only option to claim off my fully comp policy and then my insurance claim through MIBI.

With regards to who's at fault, I can only say that I checked my mirror before I crossed and it was clear. It wasn't a direct side collision. She caught my back bumper on driver side and skidded at the back.

The road had broken white lines. The reason I know she overtook a number of cars is that following the crash, the cars behind me who slowed told me that she came up fast behind them and immediately over took them.

I was practically across the road when she hit me as she caught me at rear side.

Anyways it's all very messy and more so that she wasn't insured legally to drive.

Seth Brundle

Follow-up with the gardai that they are pursuing her on a no insurance charge as it will strengthen your claim against the MIBI.

standardg60

Are the guards aware that her insurance company have denied cover OP?

She could be prosecuted for driving with no insurance and be ordered to pay compensation for repairs directly.

aoifedearg

Yes the gards were called. As this happened recently she has ten days to produce documentation but obviously I know from going to the insurers, she isn't insured. So there will be prosecution but I'm left having to take a claim out on my own policy to cover the repair costs which is not nice.

aoifedearg

She did contact me today but she can only pay a small amount towards cost and my mechanic said it will cost excess of 2k as impact bar will need be replaced. Plus she said she would only pay if repairs were done first........ Which obviously I'm not comfortable with.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119731535#Comment_119731535

If you get your car fixed and then intend pursuing a claim against the MIBI, you will face another battle as they won't know the true extent of the damage and may even decline the claim.

Feck her and her excuses. Get the car fixed to your satisfaction once you are sure either she or the MIBI will pay full cost (including hire car).

However, document each call with her just in case you need the details down the line.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119731535#Comment_119731535

As above, feck her, get a properly detailed quote done up by the mechanic and show to the guard/guards involved before sending on to her.

They can be good at 'encouraging' the other party to pay up in full if they're facing a possible prosecution.

Eggs For Dinner

If you have Comprehensive, the procedure is for your insurer to repair the vehicle under the MIBI Protocol. Your bonus and premium cannot be prejudiced if handled on this basis where an identified uninsured driver is liable for your loss

seagull

Would this not be a case where her insurance company should be paying out, but not indemnifying her, and then having to get the money from her themselves?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119739681#Comment_119739681

They've not insured her for this liability, why would they pay? The OP would have as much right to claim off of you.

aoifedearg

No that's not how it works. If she was insured, I could claim through her insurance but she had no cover. I've since learned that this generally occurs if a person defaults on their direct debit. So I am left with no other remit but to claim off my own.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119742380#Comment_119742380

As mentioned above your insurance company will pay for the repairs, but they’ll be claiming through MIBI and your insurance premiums/NCB/etc won’t be affected by it.