The OH had a bump, where do we stand?
Discussion
A few weeks ago the OH had a very minor bump, approaching a set of traffic lights, they changed and she hit the back of the car in front, totally her fault she accepts but anyway things have escalated. They both stopped, got out of their cars and the woman says straight away "don't worry about it, this happened to me last year, lets have a look at the cars". At this point they realised that there wasn't a single scratch on either car, no dents etc etc. She said she had a mechanic friend who would check it over and if there was any problems she would give us a call to sort out without involving insurers, totally amicable, no sign of injury so it was forgotten about.
I checked with the OH how fast she thought she was going when they hit, she reckoned no more than 15mph. From my racing days when I was younger I know that 15mph would actually have been quite a considerable bump but she couldn't be definite on the speed, only to say that they were hardly even moving. Going off the fact there is zero damage I'd go with less than 10mph, possibly even 5. Now I know that bumpers are designed to absorb the impact and then 'pop' back into place and so the damage can usually be hidden behind the bumper however I've checked the OH's car and there literally is nothing wrong with it, even the number plate shows no signs of cracking around the screws which can also be a tell tale sign as this is the first thing to make contact.
Fast forward to today and we get a letter from our insurance company to say that a claim has been made and we need to contact them. On speaking to the insurers she has claimed for damage to the car and whiplash. They say that because an injury claim has been made they will instantly pay out and there is absolutely nothing we can do, they are going to obtain more info from the other party and they will be in touch with us.
So, where do we stand? I'm sure there is absolutely nothing wrong with this woman or her car and she is simply after a few K of free money. I was under the impression that whiplash was impossible below a certain speed is this right? Is there anything we can do or do we just have to accept it? I'm not disputing that it wasn't her fault but people making these claims really does piss me off, if there is a genuine injury then again fair enough but it just stinks of a false claim to me.
Oh and the missus didnt take any pictures at the time of the incident, I suspect this woman may have just gone and backed her car into a wall to make it appear as though there was some damage but you never know do you!
I checked with the OH how fast she thought she was going when they hit, she reckoned no more than 15mph. From my racing days when I was younger I know that 15mph would actually have been quite a considerable bump but she couldn't be definite on the speed, only to say that they were hardly even moving. Going off the fact there is zero damage I'd go with less than 10mph, possibly even 5. Now I know that bumpers are designed to absorb the impact and then 'pop' back into place and so the damage can usually be hidden behind the bumper however I've checked the OH's car and there literally is nothing wrong with it, even the number plate shows no signs of cracking around the screws which can also be a tell tale sign as this is the first thing to make contact.
Fast forward to today and we get a letter from our insurance company to say that a claim has been made and we need to contact them. On speaking to the insurers she has claimed for damage to the car and whiplash. They say that because an injury claim has been made they will instantly pay out and there is absolutely nothing we can do, they are going to obtain more info from the other party and they will be in touch with us.
So, where do we stand? I'm sure there is absolutely nothing wrong with this woman or her car and she is simply after a few K of free money. I was under the impression that whiplash was impossible below a certain speed is this right? Is there anything we can do or do we just have to accept it? I'm not disputing that it wasn't her fault but people making these claims really does piss me off, if there is a genuine injury then again fair enough but it just stinks of a false claim to me.
Oh and the missus didnt take any pictures at the time of the incident, I suspect this woman may have just gone and backed her car into a wall to make it appear as though there was some damage but you never know do you!
Certainly sounds like you're about to get done over. Your insurance company will settle and it will cost you in the long run. Sorry, but from my experience insurerance companies are a bunch of spineless cowards who will always take the easiest way out. Take it on the chin and always carry a camera in your cars from now on.
Could be worth checking to see if the colision was reported to the Police and if there is any CCTV near the lights to get an image of the car at the time compared to how it looks in your insurance approved repair specialist. The obvious downside to this is your wife could be done for driving without due car and attention with this evidence, but if it secures an insurance fraud conviction the CPS will be understanding.
Best of luck.
Could be worth checking to see if the colision was reported to the Police and if there is any CCTV near the lights to get an image of the car at the time compared to how it looks in your insurance approved repair specialist. The obvious downside to this is your wife could be done for driving without due car and attention with this evidence, but if it secures an insurance fraud conviction the CPS will be understanding.
Best of luck.
"Bunch of spineless cowards". Such a shame that those who are so quick to lay blame at the hands of Insurers arent really aware of just what happens.
Claimant advises there Solicitor they have a whiplash. Said Solicitor refers them to a so-called Court appointed Medical Expert, who several months post accident subjects the Claimant to an in depth examination lasting no more than 5 minutes in which the Claimant occasionally lets out a groan of well timed pain as they bend over to touch there toes or complain that in mid Winter they cant tend to there garden. Expert then provides a report to the Defendant Insurer who A) is presented with confirmation an impact ocured, B) knows by way of the Medical Expert that the Claimant has attended there local A&E & GP & C) has a report from a Court appointed Exert confirming that the Claimant does indeed have whiplash with a 6 - 9 months prognosis.
Would you expect the Insurer to proceed to Trial when presented with this plethora of evidence (& when in all probability due to the low value of the claim they will be denied the opportunity to call there own Expert evidence)& run up between £20-£25,000 worth of own Costs (not to mention double that from the Claimants Solicitors - natch) ?
Yes I agree the whole compenshasun culture has got out of hand, but if blame is being apportioned, how about attaching it to Claimant Solicitors, so called independent Experts & the Civil Procedure Rules which effectivdely mean your Insurer is fighting a Civil claim with one hand tied behind there back.
Even in the all too rare instances where it is established the claim is fraudulent, the penalties imposed by the Judicuary are little more than a slap on the risk & present no deterrant factor what-so-ever to those who fund there lifestyle by ripping off others.
Claimant advises there Solicitor they have a whiplash. Said Solicitor refers them to a so-called Court appointed Medical Expert, who several months post accident subjects the Claimant to an in depth examination lasting no more than 5 minutes in which the Claimant occasionally lets out a groan of well timed pain as they bend over to touch there toes or complain that in mid Winter they cant tend to there garden. Expert then provides a report to the Defendant Insurer who A) is presented with confirmation an impact ocured, B) knows by way of the Medical Expert that the Claimant has attended there local A&E & GP & C) has a report from a Court appointed Exert confirming that the Claimant does indeed have whiplash with a 6 - 9 months prognosis.
Would you expect the Insurer to proceed to Trial when presented with this plethora of evidence (& when in all probability due to the low value of the claim they will be denied the opportunity to call there own Expert evidence)& run up between £20-£25,000 worth of own Costs (not to mention double that from the Claimants Solicitors - natch) ?
Yes I agree the whole compenshasun culture has got out of hand, but if blame is being apportioned, how about attaching it to Claimant Solicitors, so called independent Experts & the Civil Procedure Rules which effectivdely mean your Insurer is fighting a Civil claim with one hand tied behind there back.
Even in the all too rare instances where it is established the claim is fraudulent, the penalties imposed by the Judicuary are little more than a slap on the risk & present no deterrant factor what-so-ever to those who fund there lifestyle by ripping off others.
Robbo101 said:
"Bunch of spineless cowards". Such a shame that those who are so quick to lay blame at the hands of Insurers arent really aware of just what happens.
Claimant advises there Solicitor they have a whiplash. Said Solicitor refers them to a so-called Court appointed Medical Expert, who several months post accident subjects the Claimant to an in depth examination lasting no more than 5 minutes in which the Claimant occasionally lets out a groan of well timed pain as they bend over to touch there toes or complain that in mid Winter they cant tend to there garden. Expert then provides a report to the Defendant Insurer who A) is presented with confirmation an impact ocured, B) knows by way of the Medical Expert that the Claimant has attended there local A&E & GP & C) has a report from a Court appointed Exert confirming that the Claimant does indeed have whiplash with a 6 - 9 months prognosis.
Would you expect the Insurer to proceed to Trial when presented with this plethora of evidence (& when in all probability due to the low value of the claim they will be denied the opportunity to call there own Expert evidence)& run up between £20-£25,000 worth of own Costs (not to mention double that from the Claimants Solicitors - natch) ?
Yes I agree the whole compenshasun culture has got out of hand, but if blame is being apportioned, how about attaching it to Claimant Solicitors, so called independent Experts & the Civil Procedure Rules which effectivdely mean your Insurer is fighting a Civil claim with one hand tied behind there back.
Even in the all too rare instances where it is established the claim is fraudulent, the penalties imposed by the Judicuary are little more than a slap on the risk & present no deterrant factor what-so-ever to those who fund there lifestyle by ripping off others.
All true, and an absolute disgrace. I can't believe it's ended up being this bad. The fact is, the insurance company have no reason to fight it, because they just pass the costs back to the customers.Claimant advises there Solicitor they have a whiplash. Said Solicitor refers them to a so-called Court appointed Medical Expert, who several months post accident subjects the Claimant to an in depth examination lasting no more than 5 minutes in which the Claimant occasionally lets out a groan of well timed pain as they bend over to touch there toes or complain that in mid Winter they cant tend to there garden. Expert then provides a report to the Defendant Insurer who A) is presented with confirmation an impact ocured, B) knows by way of the Medical Expert that the Claimant has attended there local A&E & GP & C) has a report from a Court appointed Exert confirming that the Claimant does indeed have whiplash with a 6 - 9 months prognosis.
Would you expect the Insurer to proceed to Trial when presented with this plethora of evidence (& when in all probability due to the low value of the claim they will be denied the opportunity to call there own Expert evidence)& run up between £20-£25,000 worth of own Costs (not to mention double that from the Claimants Solicitors - natch) ?
Yes I agree the whole compenshasun culture has got out of hand, but if blame is being apportioned, how about attaching it to Claimant Solicitors, so called independent Experts & the Civil Procedure Rules which effectivdely mean your Insurer is fighting a Civil claim with one hand tied behind there back.
Even in the all too rare instances where it is established the claim is fraudulent, the penalties imposed by the Judicuary are little more than a slap on the risk & present no deterrant factor what-so-ever to those who fund there lifestyle by ripping off others.
I do not for one second believe that if the insurance companies started sticking up for us, this kind of thing would stop happening. But why would they?
We are about 10 years overdue a massive investigation/shakeup with car insurance IMO, the whole thing is a complete joke and we're all getting f
ked.You'll find she is fine, but her hubby or workmates have convinced her to claim.
The guy I hit a few years ago was perfectly fine at the scene, but by the time I'd got back to the office he'd had to go to hospital. He then took 3 months off work for stress and blood pressure, and took out £20k personal injury claim against me. I tagged the front of his artic with my Astra. Yes, a bit of a bumper clip between a small family car and 40+ tonnes of Iveco...
The guy I hit a few years ago was perfectly fine at the scene, but by the time I'd got back to the office he'd had to go to hospital. He then took 3 months off work for stress and blood pressure, and took out £20k personal injury claim against me. I tagged the front of his artic with my Astra. Yes, a bit of a bumper clip between a small family car and 40+ tonnes of Iveco...
HellDiver said:
You'll find she is fine, but her hubby or workmates have convinced her to claim.
The guy I hit a few years ago was perfectly fine at the scene, but by the time I'd got back to the office he'd had to go to hospital. He then took 3 months off work for stress and blood pressure, and took out £20k personal injury claim against me. I tagged the front of his artic with my Astra. Yes, a bit of a bumper clip between a small family car and 40+ tonnes of Iveco...
Jesus, now that is taking things beyond a joke, made me even more than angry than I am with the OH's case! How did that finish up, did the guy get a 20k payout?The guy I hit a few years ago was perfectly fine at the scene, but by the time I'd got back to the office he'd had to go to hospital. He then took 3 months off work for stress and blood pressure, and took out £20k personal injury claim against me. I tagged the front of his artic with my Astra. Yes, a bit of a bumper clip between a small family car and 40+ tonnes of Iveco...
Thanks for the replies, I think the general consensus here is to bend over and take the hit so to speak!
A guy charging up the inside lane in a jam had to take some evasive action to avoid me. My fault, although he was doing a few knots... His avoiding action took him up on to the kerb, and knackered some part of the suspension on his knackered Rover.
Apparantly bumping onto the kerb gave him whiplash and the insurance company paid out £8.5k. Did not even know until I left the firm and needed to sort my own policy out.
Apparantly bumping onto the kerb gave him whiplash and the insurance company paid out £8.5k. Did not even know until I left the firm and needed to sort my own policy out.
Maty said:
Jesus, now that is taking things beyond a joke, made me even more than angry than I am with the OH's case! How did that finish up, did the guy get a 20k payout?
He did get a payout. I don't remember how much, I think around £10k. My Astra needed £2.5k worth of work (new quarter panel, bumper and a respray at inflated bodyshop prices), his truck needed £200 of repairs to the front bumper.My insurance renewal was eye-wateringly expensive, so much so I ended up trading my car in for a Corsa with free insurance, it really was cheaper that way.
A very similar incident happened to me a few years ago.I pulled into a petrol station,pulling into a parking area just outside the doors as i just wanted to go in to get a paper.As i pulled up i put the car into reverse to pull back a touch as i was slightly infront of the doors unaware that a car had come in from another direction and parked right behind me.
I must of moved all of a foot at crawling speed and hit the car behind.I accept this was my fault as i didnt check my rear view,it was just a case of perfectly bad timing.
Anyway,i got out,had a look at both cars and there was no damage whatsoever to my rear bumper or her front, not even the slightest of scratch or any kind of movement.It was more of a 'press' together than anything.
We both agreed that no harm had been done but she said she would like her husband to have a look at it so i gave her my phone number and if anything was wrong for him to give me a call.
By the way her car was an old renault scenic or something worth about £2k mine was a 1 yr old mitsubishi evo 8 mr!.
I heard nothing back from them as i suspected as no damage was done,then about a month later i got a claims form from my insurers regarding the incident.She must of taken my reg no and and found out my insurance details that way as no details were exchanged.They obviously did it this way on purpose knowing full well that if they had rang me asking for my insurance details i would of just laughed at them!
I rang my insurers and told them what had happened and apparently she was claiming for frontal damage to the car,loss of earnings while the car was repaired,hire car,neck injury and would you believe a fking flesh wound!!
I could not believe what i was hearing and can only imagine that they had kicked the front of the car in to make it look like an accident had happened.
The insurers just said dont worry,we will get to the bottom of it and that was pretty much the last iheard of it.My premium didnt go up and my no claims was protected so i was ok.
It did make me very angry though,especially the way they went about it ie. behind my back without contacting me and i wish that i had just denied the incident ever took place.
If anything like this happened again though i would take photos and get witnesses, but it just goes to show,it is a sad fact of life that where money is involved people will try and fk you over at the very slightest opportunity!
I must of moved all of a foot at crawling speed and hit the car behind.I accept this was my fault as i didnt check my rear view,it was just a case of perfectly bad timing.
Anyway,i got out,had a look at both cars and there was no damage whatsoever to my rear bumper or her front, not even the slightest of scratch or any kind of movement.It was more of a 'press' together than anything.
We both agreed that no harm had been done but she said she would like her husband to have a look at it so i gave her my phone number and if anything was wrong for him to give me a call.
By the way her car was an old renault scenic or something worth about £2k mine was a 1 yr old mitsubishi evo 8 mr!.
I heard nothing back from them as i suspected as no damage was done,then about a month later i got a claims form from my insurers regarding the incident.She must of taken my reg no and and found out my insurance details that way as no details were exchanged.They obviously did it this way on purpose knowing full well that if they had rang me asking for my insurance details i would of just laughed at them!
I rang my insurers and told them what had happened and apparently she was claiming for frontal damage to the car,loss of earnings while the car was repaired,hire car,neck injury and would you believe a f
king flesh wound!!I could not believe what i was hearing and can only imagine that they had kicked the front of the car in to make it look like an accident had happened.
The insurers just said dont worry,we will get to the bottom of it and that was pretty much the last iheard of it.My premium didnt go up and my no claims was protected so i was ok.
It did make me very angry though,especially the way they went about it ie. behind my back without contacting me and i wish that i had just denied the incident ever took place.
If anything like this happened again though i would take photos and get witnesses, but it just goes to show,it is a sad fact of life that where money is involved people will try and f
k you over at the very slightest opportunity!BOR said:
How viable would it be for your OH to simply deny ever having made contact with the other car ? She could have got your phone number/insurance details fraudulently etc ?
You know nothing about this, and there is no independent evidence?
Should have done this, absolutely well and truly kicking myself now! She would have no witnesses, although I suspect a friend would come out of the woodwork having seen it happen etc but yes we should just have denied all knowledge of it! You know nothing about this, and there is no independent evidence?
Initially when the OH spoke to her insurers they were saying a male was driving her car when the accident took place, she played dumb and said she would speak to me first because I am a named driver on the car to see whether or not it was me. She then went back to them to say that it was her driving, she had checked on a map where the apparent incident took place and it jogged her memory, basically played dumb that the incident was that minor that she had forgotten about it.
We will just have to wait and see what comes through the post.
Lets Torque said:
B'stard Child said:
[Family Planning]perhaps a better choice of contraception[/Family Planning]
Beaten to it. 
Serious though, your situation sucks and I don't know enough about insurance to help. Sorry
Ditto you comments tho - sucks when you've been had over a barrel
Maty said:
A few weeks ago the OH had a very minor bump, approaching a set of traffic lights, they changed and she hit the back of the car in front, totally her fault she accepts but anyway things have escalated. They both stopped, got out of their cars and the woman says straight away "don't worry about it, this happened to me last year, lets have a look at the cars". At this point they realised that there wasn't a single scratch on either car, no dents etc etc. She said she had a mechanic friend who would check it over and if there was any problems she would give us a call to sort out without involving insurers, totally amicable, no sign of injury so it was forgotten about.
I checked with the OH how fast she thought she was going when they hit, she reckoned no more than 15mph. From my racing days when I was younger I know that 15mph would actually have been quite a considerable bump but she couldn't be definite on the speed, only to say that they were hardly even moving. Going off the fact there is zero damage I'd go with less than 10mph, possibly even 5. Now I know that bumpers are designed to absorb the impact and then 'pop' back into place and so the damage can usually be hidden behind the bumper however I've checked the OH's car and there literally is nothing wrong with it, even the number plate shows no signs of cracking around the screws which can also be a tell tale sign as this is the first thing to make contact.
Fast forward to today and we get a letter from our insurance company to say that a claim has been made and we need to contact them. On speaking to the insurers she has claimed for damage to the car and whiplash. They say that because an injury claim has been made they will instantly pay out and there is absolutely nothing we can do, they are going to obtain more info from the other party and they will be in touch with us.
So, where do we stand? I'm sure there is absolutely nothing wrong with this woman or her car and she is simply after a few K of free money. I was under the impression that whiplash was impossible below a certain speed is this right? Is there anything we can do or do we just have to accept it? I'm not disputing that it wasn't her fault but people making these claims really does piss me off, if there is a genuine injury then again fair enough but it just stinks of a false claim to me.
Oh and the missus didnt take any pictures at the time of the incident, I suspect this woman may have just gone and backed her car into a wall to make it appear as though there was some damage but you never know do you!
Is it too late for you OH to throw it back in the nefarious bI checked with the OH how fast she thought she was going when they hit, she reckoned no more than 15mph. From my racing days when I was younger I know that 15mph would actually have been quite a considerable bump but she couldn't be definite on the speed, only to say that they were hardly even moving. Going off the fact there is zero damage I'd go with less than 10mph, possibly even 5. Now I know that bumpers are designed to absorb the impact and then 'pop' back into place and so the damage can usually be hidden behind the bumper however I've checked the OH's car and there literally is nothing wrong with it, even the number plate shows no signs of cracking around the screws which can also be a tell tale sign as this is the first thing to make contact.
Fast forward to today and we get a letter from our insurance company to say that a claim has been made and we need to contact them. On speaking to the insurers she has claimed for damage to the car and whiplash. They say that because an injury claim has been made they will instantly pay out and there is absolutely nothing we can do, they are going to obtain more info from the other party and they will be in touch with us.
So, where do we stand? I'm sure there is absolutely nothing wrong with this woman or her car and she is simply after a few K of free money. I was under the impression that whiplash was impossible below a certain speed is this right? Is there anything we can do or do we just have to accept it? I'm not disputing that it wasn't her fault but people making these claims really does piss me off, if there is a genuine injury then again fair enough but it just stinks of a false claim to me.
Oh and the missus didnt take any pictures at the time of the incident, I suspect this woman may have just gone and backed her car into a wall to make it appear as though there was some damage but you never know do you!
hes face and say she was the one that rolled backwards, off the brake, and into your OH?Someone recently drove into my wife's car. The chap jumped out and admitted he wasn't looking and wanted to do things outside the insurance. So far, the minimal repair work has been done, but on the day she called the insurance company and I spoke to them in case this chap played silly buggers. The insurance company almost encouraged injury's - I said no one had suffered any but they quoted a "few hundred" for bruises and scratches "if they appeared"...
Money is tight for most, I can see how it would be appealing especially when someone said you won't have to do anything because the legal team will do it all!!! Thing is I have been on the receiving end and it's unpleasant at best.
Speak to the people direct and see what is said.
Money is tight for most, I can see how it would be appealing especially when someone said you won't have to do anything because the legal team will do it all!!! Thing is I have been on the receiving end and it's unpleasant at best.
Speak to the people direct and see what is said.
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