Brake failure/reversing bump.
Discussion
This morning while taking the car down off our steep drive my wife had the brake pedal go straight to the floor and the car run away from her.
She has tried to steer it, but has sideswiped a neighbours car causing damage to both. Both are still driveable but neighbours is nearly new so will need proper repair; ours is a shed so hardly worth worrying about.
I haven't had a chance to inspect the brakes properly however the pedal has almost no pressure so my wife isn't telling me fibs.
My dilemma; do I tell my insurance about the brake failure or not? Will it affect our liability in this claim and is it likely to affect future insurance?
Gah! Where's Loon when you need him?
She has tried to steer it, but has sideswiped a neighbours car causing damage to both. Both are still driveable but neighbours is nearly new so will need proper repair; ours is a shed so hardly worth worrying about.
I haven't had a chance to inspect the brakes properly however the pedal has almost no pressure so my wife isn't telling me fibs.
My dilemma; do I tell my insurance about the brake failure or not? Will it affect our liability in this claim and is it likely to affect future insurance?
Gah! Where's Loon when you need him?
Rubin215 said:
Magic919 said:
It would only prove useful if the faulty brakes were caused by negligent repairs by a garage. There would then be a case for pursuing the garage.
Last person to look at the brakes was me...Rubin215 said:
Magic919 said:
It would only prove useful if the faulty brakes were caused by negligent repairs by a garage. There would then be a case for pursuing the garage.
Last person to look at the brakes was me...Ahh, so lie then to the ins co. Are you sure that's such a good idea?
xjay1337 said:
Why would you tell them you had a brake failure?? Seems stupid
Just say you had an accident and the reason was a misjudgement of distance or something.
Fix the brakes.. leaky caliper / master cylinder / fluid issue.
Just say you had an accident and the reason was a misjudgement of distance or something.
Fix the brakes.. leaky caliper / master cylinder / fluid issue.
Rubin215 said:
This morning while taking the car down off our steep drive my wife had the brake pedal go straight to the floor and the car run away from her.
She has tried to steer it, but has sideswiped a neighbours car causing damage to both. Both are still driveable but neighbours is nearly new so will need proper repair; ours is a shed so hardly worth worrying about.
I haven't had a chance to inspect the brakes properly however the pedal has almost no pressure so my wife isn't telling me fibs.
My dilemma; do I tell my insurance about the brake failure or not? Will it affect our liability in this claim and is it likely to affect future insurance?
Gah! Where's Loon when you need him?
If you and/or your neighbour claim it is likely to effect your future insurance as you need to declare it at next renewal.She has tried to steer it, but has sideswiped a neighbours car causing damage to both. Both are still driveable but neighbours is nearly new so will need proper repair; ours is a shed so hardly worth worrying about.
I haven't had a chance to inspect the brakes properly however the pedal has almost no pressure so my wife isn't telling me fibs.
My dilemma; do I tell my insurance about the brake failure or not? Will it affect our liability in this claim and is it likely to affect future insurance?
Gah! Where's Loon when you need him?
Tell the insurer what really happened - it doesn't make a difference to liability if the car brakes failed, or she failed to brake.
As long as you comply with policy terms and conditions - only likely relevance is keeping the car in a roadworthy condition. A sudden failure would not make it unroadworthy - only if you drove it with knowledge of dodgy brakes.
The insurer would pay for damage to your neighbour's car and impact damage to your car, but would not repair your brakes - this would need to be done at your own cost in addition to paying any policy excess.
bradjsmith88 said:
Tell the insurer what really happened - it doesn't make a difference to liability if the car brakes failed, or she failed to brake.
That would depend on why they failed. If they failed due to a one off part failure, totally beyond the control of the OP, then he might not be liable for tp damage due to lack of negligence.However, that's very rare and chances are it's down to an error the OP make when servicing his own brakes.
So I called the insco and told them what happened, their first question was whether someone else had worked on the brakes recently; talk about sloping shoulders...!
Turns out the brake failure is a blown wheel cylinder; poor Mrs 215 has had her foot on the brake when she started the car and it always dips slightly when started (diesel) so didn't appreciate there was no proper pressure.
We live on a steep hill and have a steep drive (so gravity is especially strong) and what brake pressure there was just wasn't enough to hold the car as it rolled down. She didn't think to pump the brake or pull the handbrake on, so just glided slowly into our neighbours 15 plate Picasso...
Damage to our car is surface scrapes mainly and a knacked drivers door mirror; mirror is £30 on ebay, the rest just adds character. Neighbours will be through the insurance at our liability and a bunch of flowers and a box of choccys to say sorry.
Wheel cylinder and new shoes are just over £40; this is the first time in my ownership the car will have had its drums off so we'll see what's lurking inside.
Turns out the brake failure is a blown wheel cylinder; poor Mrs 215 has had her foot on the brake when she started the car and it always dips slightly when started (diesel) so didn't appreciate there was no proper pressure.
We live on a steep hill and have a steep drive (so gravity is especially strong) and what brake pressure there was just wasn't enough to hold the car as it rolled down. She didn't think to pump the brake or pull the handbrake on, so just glided slowly into our neighbours 15 plate Picasso...
Damage to our car is surface scrapes mainly and a knacked drivers door mirror; mirror is £30 on ebay, the rest just adds character. Neighbours will be through the insurance at our liability and a bunch of flowers and a box of choccys to say sorry.
Wheel cylinder and new shoes are just over £40; this is the first time in my ownership the car will have had its drums off so we'll see what's lurking inside.
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