Car hit whilst parked; insurance problems.
Discussion
This happened to my Father last week...
Street parked his car in a parking space in a town and went shopping.
Came back to his car and took a call on his mobile whilst standing on the pavement next to it.
Woman comes down the road in her car not looking where she’s going (he sees this) and drives straight into the front wing / wheel and side step of his car.
She hits it so hard that it bends the front wheel and suspension components back on his car rendering it un-driveable and strands her car in the middle of the road.
She gets out and says “I’m really sorry it’s my fault, I’m lost”
My Dad says “I know I saw you fiddling about with what I presume is your Satnav, you shouldn’t crash just because you’re lost, you need to look where you are going”
Him and some passers-by manage to man handle her small car off his as she is obviously shaken up. Meanwhile she makes a phone call (not sure to who). He phones recovery company and the police, who give him reference number but decline to attend.
By the time the recovery truck arrives and she has made other calls she has changed her story to say that her tyre blew out and she lost control. My father knows this to be untrue as he saw it happen and even if the tyre had blown out she was travelling slowly.
Her insurance company have phoned him today to say that as it is a mechanical failure on her car they will not take liability and will not pay out. She has now buggered off on holiday for two weeks.
Any advice / knowledge on what to do in this situation? Obviously he will be taking legal advice but it’s going to come down to his word against hers. He has photos but no witnesses.
Hopefully above makes sense but I wasn’t there so have gleaned this from speaking to him on the phone.
Street parked his car in a parking space in a town and went shopping.
Came back to his car and took a call on his mobile whilst standing on the pavement next to it.
Woman comes down the road in her car not looking where she’s going (he sees this) and drives straight into the front wing / wheel and side step of his car.
She hits it so hard that it bends the front wheel and suspension components back on his car rendering it un-driveable and strands her car in the middle of the road.
She gets out and says “I’m really sorry it’s my fault, I’m lost”
My Dad says “I know I saw you fiddling about with what I presume is your Satnav, you shouldn’t crash just because you’re lost, you need to look where you are going”
Him and some passers-by manage to man handle her small car off his as she is obviously shaken up. Meanwhile she makes a phone call (not sure to who). He phones recovery company and the police, who give him reference number but decline to attend.
By the time the recovery truck arrives and she has made other calls she has changed her story to say that her tyre blew out and she lost control. My father knows this to be untrue as he saw it happen and even if the tyre had blown out she was travelling slowly.
Her insurance company have phoned him today to say that as it is a mechanical failure on her car they will not take liability and will not pay out. She has now buggered off on holiday for two weeks.
Any advice / knowledge on what to do in this situation? Obviously he will be taking legal advice but it’s going to come down to his word against hers. He has photos but no witnesses.
Hopefully above makes sense but I wasn’t there so have gleaned this from speaking to him on the phone.
Does your father have legal protection on his insurance?
Don't understand the "mechanical problem" quote from her insurers but here is how my similar incident played out.
Woman visiting next door drove into my snotter parked outside.
I was putting stuff in my wheelie bin and seen it all and she attempted to drive off. I managed to stop her and she claimed she didn't see my car, even though she had to reverse away from it as it was infront of her on a downward slope. She stalled and rolled into to it twice.
Gets her insurance details and called them as I got a quote of £200 to fix the car.
They more or less tell me to p
s off and contact my own insurers (odd). My insurers took care of everything, they collected my car, repaired it and delivered it back. they even offered a loan car as it was non fault but I declined as I had another car and surely this was just going to cost her insurers more.
Her insurers apparently took ages to pay my insurers back and they had to threaten legal action. It was all sorted in the end.
However, I now have to inform insurers for the next three years that I had an accident when getting quotes. Hasn't been a problem though.
Call your insurers. Hope you get sorted.
Don't understand the "mechanical problem" quote from her insurers but here is how my similar incident played out.
Woman visiting next door drove into my snotter parked outside.
I was putting stuff in my wheelie bin and seen it all and she attempted to drive off. I managed to stop her and she claimed she didn't see my car, even though she had to reverse away from it as it was infront of her on a downward slope. She stalled and rolled into to it twice.
Gets her insurance details and called them as I got a quote of £200 to fix the car.
They more or less tell me to p
s off and contact my own insurers (odd). My insurers took care of everything, they collected my car, repaired it and delivered it back. they even offered a loan car as it was non fault but I declined as I had another car and surely this was just going to cost her insurers more.Her insurers apparently took ages to pay my insurers back and they had to threaten legal action. It was all sorted in the end.
However, I now have to inform insurers for the next three years that I had an accident when getting quotes. Hasn't been a problem though.
Call your insurers. Hope you get sorted.
Edited by V8A*ndy on Monday 7th October 14:26
zippyprorider said:
Even mechanical failure her insurance will still have to pay your dad, doesn't matter if her car fell out the sky your dad still ain't at fault, there may not pay her for the damage to her car though.
Yup. If the insurance company really said that, report them to the ombudsman because they are deliberately trying to mislead someone in order to avoid paying out. The whole point of third-party insurance is that it covers any damage done to other people's property by the car. kambites said:
zippyprorider said:
Even mechanical failure her insurance will still have to pay your dad, doesn't matter if her car fell out the sky your dad still ain't at fault, there may not pay her for the damage to her car though.
Yup. If the insurance company really said that, report them to the ombudsman because they are deliberately trying to mislead someone in order to avoid paying out. The whole point of third-party insurance is that it covers any damage done to other people's property by the car. 1. They don't know that the woman hasn't maintained her car.
2. Even if the tyre did blow out (which it didn't) would it have thrown her across the road at 10 - 20mph
Call your own insurer. To have any chance of sorting this, get them involved.
Insurers are a nightmare to deal with and will take the best part of forever to resolve a dispute. Your insurer will look after you and recover costs from the other side (it'll probably take about a year).
If you try to go it alone against their insurer, my hopes aren't high for a good response.
My missus was rear-ended by a car that WAS insured, but the person who was driving WASNT insured to drive it. However, as the CAR was insured, they had to pay out. I suspect (but only guessing, I'm no expert) that you will be in the same position, i.e. the car is insured and therefore their insurer will pay.
But its better to get their insurer to pay your insurer, than try to get them to pay you directly.
Hope that makes sense, bit of a ramble.
Insurers are a nightmare to deal with and will take the best part of forever to resolve a dispute. Your insurer will look after you and recover costs from the other side (it'll probably take about a year).
If you try to go it alone against their insurer, my hopes aren't high for a good response.
My missus was rear-ended by a car that WAS insured, but the person who was driving WASNT insured to drive it. However, as the CAR was insured, they had to pay out. I suspect (but only guessing, I'm no expert) that you will be in the same position, i.e. the car is insured and therefore their insurer will pay.
But its better to get their insurer to pay your insurer, than try to get them to pay you directly.
Hope that makes sense, bit of a ramble.
Paul O said:
Your insurer will look after you and recover costs from the other side (it'll probably take about a year).
I wouldn't bank on that! Taking a 50:50 position is often cheaper for them than taking legal action. If you want someone to fight your case it's best to use an accident management company.I have had two good and one bad experience of unattended car damage.
1. Soft drinks delivery truck damaged the corner in a train station car park. There was CCTV, but I they would have left a note anyway. They asked me to get quotes and paid for repairs.
2. Milkman back into my car on the driveway at 5:00am when I am asleep. I must tip well at Xmas cos he left a note and the dairy's insurance paid for a hire car. The car was written off and I was paid out very quickly.
3. The wife's car is hit whilst parked outside her friends whilst they were training for the marathon. No note and I only noticed the dent and bent steering when I went round after she called me to say ' there's something wrong with the car'. Called the AA to recover it home and then the AA man and I looked down the side roads until we found the culprits car, parked out of the way. I took photos, whilst he held up a tape measure.
Nobody came out of any houses, so I reported it to the police and they contacted the owner who immediately confessed.
insurance paid out.
So, two honest companies and one dishonest private owner.
There is a theme there. People are dishonest when it is their own money.
1. Soft drinks delivery truck damaged the corner in a train station car park. There was CCTV, but I they would have left a note anyway. They asked me to get quotes and paid for repairs.
2. Milkman back into my car on the driveway at 5:00am when I am asleep. I must tip well at Xmas cos he left a note and the dairy's insurance paid for a hire car. The car was written off and I was paid out very quickly.
3. The wife's car is hit whilst parked outside her friends whilst they were training for the marathon. No note and I only noticed the dent and bent steering when I went round after she called me to say ' there's something wrong with the car'. Called the AA to recover it home and then the AA man and I looked down the side roads until we found the culprits car, parked out of the way. I took photos, whilst he held up a tape measure.
Nobody came out of any houses, so I reported it to the police and they contacted the owner who immediately confessed.
insurance paid out.
So, two honest companies and one dishonest private owner.
There is a theme there. People are dishonest when it is their own money.
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