Had a bump on a roundabout - advice needed
Discussion
BL Fanboy said:
Seems clear cut to me from those pictures, I would have "thought" they would rule in your favour 100%.
Seems plain that he came across and squeezed you against the roundabout on the inside.
Don't see why you would need witnesses provided the other guy is honest about what happened.
I would be very upset if they used "oh its a roundabout so 50/50" how unfair is that!
I agree completely, but the other guy is probably saying to his insurer, "this guy just came across and hit me"...Seems plain that he came across and squeezed you against the roundabout on the inside.
Don't see why you would need witnesses provided the other guy is honest about what happened.
I would be very upset if they used "oh its a roundabout so 50/50" how unfair is that!
The problem is that we've been repeatedly told not to admit responsibility by our insurers, and the more stupid amongst us have extended this to include changing their story and lying even when it's their fault, as they think it helps keep their insurance costs down even if it then goes 50/50.
From those photo's it clearly puts blame on the Mazda driver. If that goes against you or 50/50 there is something flawed big time with the insurance companies.
My eyes are seeing that he is 100% in the wrong lane and is to blame,and everybody should see it that way.. But I bet they don't
Good luck.
My eyes are seeing that he is 100% in the wrong lane and is to blame,and everybody should see it that way.. But I bet they don't
Good luck.
cobra kid said:
"The guy was Chinese". So?
His English wasn't perfect so it was difficult to communicate clearly with him.From this I'm also assuming he may have struggled to read the road markings or chose the wrong lane for where he was hoping to go.
He had traveled from London up to Telford in a rental vehicle, so perhaps a tourist or someone relatively new to the UK and our roads that doesn't fully understand the lane disciplines.
I had a non fault claim (someone on their phone ran into back of wifey).
I went through my insurer, paid excess got car fixed. They then Sorted it all out with other party's insurer and once they (by they I mean the insurer I think) admitted liability, I got my excess back.
It took a year, on a non fault claim with witnesses to get the other insurance to cough up, and I believe this is not uncommon.
So whilst it was least hassle it will take a while to get your money. Just something to bear in mind.
Personally I would still go down the route and let the big boys fight it out.
I went through my insurer, paid excess got car fixed. They then Sorted it all out with other party's insurer and once they (by they I mean the insurer I think) admitted liability, I got my excess back.
It took a year, on a non fault claim with witnesses to get the other insurance to cough up, and I believe this is not uncommon.
So whilst it was least hassle it will take a while to get your money. Just something to bear in mind.
Personally I would still go down the route and let the big boys fight it out.
Good afternoon!
Thought I'd update you guys on this situation.
Since my last post, I got dicked about by Churchill a bit, at one point when I was at the Isle of Man in June, the repair centre contacted me and said my excess had been waived and I could go ahead with the repair. Chased up Churchill and this turned out to be nonsense. A 'clerical error' that almost had me sending my car to be repaired remotely which I'd have had to pay for.
They compensated me £50 for that error, also due to the fact that I racked up over an hour of calls to their ridiculous call centres trying to get straight answers.
So for the past few months the claim has sat dormant, I've chased them up monthly and been told it's still ongoing, they can't get in touch with the other driver, the letters were lost in the post etc etc.
Last week I renewed the insurance for the Mini - Elephant being the cheapest at £800, a £200 increase due to loss of NCB and a 50/50 claim against me (this verified on the renewal notice that Churchill sent to me, with a lovely price of £1300).
So I coughed up the £800 to Elephant with the plan to just phone Churchill when I got back from holiday to settle the claim as it was clearly going nowhere.
Low and behold, last week as I was catching some rays in Poland, Churchill's claim handler phoned me, and basically said the third party is accepting 100% liability, my excess will be waived for the repairs and I'll have my NCB reinstated!
I've been on the phone to them all this morning. My car's booked in for next Tuesday to be repaired, no cost to me, courtesy car sorted, and Churchill will give me back my NCB, that I can forward to Elephant and hopefully get a couple £hundred refunded.
Slightly unrelated but in addition to this: I got an unexpected pay rise last week and my holiday was wonderful.
Karma, I thank you.
TL;DR Third party is coughing up full blame. Car being repaired, no costs to me, NCB reinstated, refund from insurance premium expected.
Thought I'd update you guys on this situation.
Since my last post, I got dicked about by Churchill a bit, at one point when I was at the Isle of Man in June, the repair centre contacted me and said my excess had been waived and I could go ahead with the repair. Chased up Churchill and this turned out to be nonsense. A 'clerical error' that almost had me sending my car to be repaired remotely which I'd have had to pay for.
They compensated me £50 for that error, also due to the fact that I racked up over an hour of calls to their ridiculous call centres trying to get straight answers.
So for the past few months the claim has sat dormant, I've chased them up monthly and been told it's still ongoing, they can't get in touch with the other driver, the letters were lost in the post etc etc.
Last week I renewed the insurance for the Mini - Elephant being the cheapest at £800, a £200 increase due to loss of NCB and a 50/50 claim against me (this verified on the renewal notice that Churchill sent to me, with a lovely price of £1300).
So I coughed up the £800 to Elephant with the plan to just phone Churchill when I got back from holiday to settle the claim as it was clearly going nowhere.
Low and behold, last week as I was catching some rays in Poland, Churchill's claim handler phoned me, and basically said the third party is accepting 100% liability, my excess will be waived for the repairs and I'll have my NCB reinstated!
I've been on the phone to them all this morning. My car's booked in for next Tuesday to be repaired, no cost to me, courtesy car sorted, and Churchill will give me back my NCB, that I can forward to Elephant and hopefully get a couple £hundred refunded.
Slightly unrelated but in addition to this: I got an unexpected pay rise last week and my holiday was wonderful.
Karma, I thank you.
TL;DR Third party is coughing up full blame. Car being repaired, no costs to me, NCB reinstated, refund from insurance premium expected.
Well done.
A question if I may: Have you driven a battered mini around for 5 months or have I misread somewhere? I'm curious as to why you did not get the mini repaired quicker and pay the excess, with the excess either paid back to you in full (if you won), or at 50% (50/50), by the insurance company on settlement.
A question if I may: Have you driven a battered mini around for 5 months or have I misread somewhere? I'm curious as to why you did not get the mini repaired quicker and pay the excess, with the excess either paid back to you in full (if you won), or at 50% (50/50), by the insurance company on settlement.
popeyewhite said:
Well done.
A question if I may: Have you driven a battered mini around for 5 months or have I misread somewhere? I'm curious as to why you did not get the mini repaired quicker and pay the excess, with the excess either paid back to you in full (if you won), or at 50% (50/50), by the insurance company on settlement.
I managed to polish a lot of the damage away myself, leaving only the dents to the panels which, in fairness, don't really jump out at you.A question if I may: Have you driven a battered mini around for 5 months or have I misread somewhere? I'm curious as to why you did not get the mini repaired quicker and pay the excess, with the excess either paid back to you in full (if you won), or at 50% (50/50), by the insurance company on settlement.
I made the decision to hold fire on repairs as the car was perfectly driveable, with the exception of having to replace a tyre when the sidewall was damaged.
Also as the excess was half a grand, financially I thought it best to wait for a final decision before paying up. For what it's worth, I have a quote from a friend that owns a bodyshop to repair it for £280 - half my excess.
I was about to suck it up and book it in with him to be honest, and just settle for a 50/50 liability as I was getting nowhere trying to fight my side.
This has just been a massive stroke of luck!
He was in the wrong lane for the manoeuvre.
If he knew this and continued doing what he did then he was to blame for driving without due care and attention.
If he didn't know this, he was still driving without due care and attention.
His nationality/race etc has no bearing on the matter.
He was driving under a valid licence (I presume), so he should have followed the rules of the road, and that includes lane indication on the road.
Going to court will be a pain, but as long as you have the lane arrows evidence and he admits he was in the left lane, then you should not have any problem convincing the magistrates that he made an error of judgement.
Personally I'd say go to court, because almost certainly his insurance company will pull the plug on that when they realise it's indefensible.
Good luck.
If he knew this and continued doing what he did then he was to blame for driving without due care and attention.
If he didn't know this, he was still driving without due care and attention.
His nationality/race etc has no bearing on the matter.
He was driving under a valid licence (I presume), so he should have followed the rules of the road, and that includes lane indication on the road.
Going to court will be a pain, but as long as you have the lane arrows evidence and he admits he was in the left lane, then you should not have any problem convincing the magistrates that he made an error of judgement.
Personally I'd say go to court, because almost certainly his insurance company will pull the plug on that when they realise it's indefensible.
Good luck.
I do wonder what prompted the third party (hire car) insurer to change and accept full liability though..
It might be that the driver has buggered of and they can't chase him up.. According to Churchill, his responses and accounts (via post) were rather short and unhelpful.
Perhaps the hire company realised that neither of us were going to get anywhere and just wanted to settle the claim and get it off their system?
It might be that the driver has buggered of and they can't chase him up.. According to Churchill, his responses and accounts (via post) were rather short and unhelpful.
Perhaps the hire company realised that neither of us were going to get anywhere and just wanted to settle the claim and get it off their system?
charltjr said:
^^^ You should probably read the thread before replying to it. Just saying.
I started replying earlier, got distracted when the phone rang, and in the meantime a load of new posts showed up, including the update from the OP.All down to timing unfortunately, hopefully it didn't ruin your day too much.
sheepsplitter said:
I started replying earlier, got distracted when the phone rang, and in the meantime a load of new posts showed up, including the update from the OP.
All down to timing unfortunately, hopefully it didn't ruin your day too much.
Christ, that's a hell of a phone call since May!!!!!!!!All down to timing unfortunately, hopefully it didn't ruin your day too much.
According to my browser the OP update wasn't until 14:46 today.
Denis O said:
sheepsplitter said:
I started replying earlier, got distracted when the phone rang, and in the meantime a load of new posts showed up, including the update from the OP.
All down to timing unfortunately, hopefully it didn't ruin your day too much.
Christ, that's a hell of a phone call since May!!!!!!!!All down to timing unfortunately, hopefully it didn't ruin your day too much.
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