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.
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
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