A bit of insurance advice please.

[rhinochopig]

I had an accident Yesterday - someone turned into me as I overtook them; they weren't indicating. The insurance company have said prepare yourself for a possible 50/50 claim, which I'm annoyed at TBH.

The scenario: I overtook a slow moving 4x4 pulling a large empty double axle low trailer. This was moving from a 30 to a 40 zone on country road and the starting speed of the manoeuvre was 20-25 mph. Now given I was a couple of car lengths back when I started the overtake and he turned into me as I was ahead of him slightly, that's a long time to not see me. I can't see what I could have done differently TBH other than not overtake.

There's doesn't actually appear to be much damage - new wing and dent in door - but it's the principle of the thing really as it implies that overtaking is now

So any guess as to whether I'll be onto a loser here?

[rhinochopig]

doogz said:

Did you overtake him, passing a junction. As in, you went out to go past him, and he tried to turn right from a major road to a minor road, without indicating and hit you?

Both on a b road - he was attempting to turn into a drive-way.

[frosted]

Not much you can do about it , it's your word against his . Someone pulled on me from a secondary road to main road without looking and I had to accept a 50/50 . You can get one of those dash cams like they have in America for future though

[saaby93]

rhinochopig said:

I had an accident Yesterday - someone turned into me as I overtook them; they weren't indicating. The insurance company have said prepare yourself for a possible 50/50 claim, which I'm annoyed at TBH.

Were the police called ( they'd check whether his indicators and lights were working and not obscured)
What does he say about it? Do you have his insurance?

[rhinochopig]

doogz said:

rhinochopig said:

doogz said:

Did you overtake him, passing a junction. As in, you went out to go past him, and he tried to turn right from a major road to a minor road, without indicating and hit you?

Both on a b road - he was attempting to turn into a drive-way.

By major, i didn't mean motorway.

So you were following him along a b-road, and he turned into a driveway without indicating. You didn't see him braking?

Tricky one, if it was a junction he turned at, i'd say you were both wrong, 50/50.

He wasn't braking either when I started overtaking as I wouldn't have committed to the overtake had he been so - especially as I had my 2.5 year old son in the car on the pax side.

He'd previously pulled out without indicating at the other edge of the village causing me to have to slow down, so the only reason I overtook in the first place was that I assumed he was one of the myriad numptys who bimble around the moors in a world of their own at 20-40mpg regardless of the speed limit. IME it is better to have these people behind you than in front of you.

Ah well, sounds like I've been unlucky. I'll start calling up the breakers yards.

[SWoll]

frosted said:

Not much you can do about it , it's your word against his . Someone pulled on me from a secondary road to main road without looking and I had to accept a 50/50 . You can get one of those dash cams like they have in America for future though

This, assuming you get offered 50/50 that is...

Overtaking on single carriageways is so frowned upon nowadays that I would suggest preparing yourself to be accused of being solely at fault.

I hope I'm wrong but if he says he was indicating and you overtook him as he was turning in to the driveway...

[rhinochopig]

SWoll said:

frosted said:

Not much you can do about it , it's your word against his . Someone pulled on me from a secondary road to main road without looking and I had to accept a 50/50 . You can get one of those dash cams like they have in America for future though

This, assuming you get offered 50/50 that is...

Overtaking on single carriageways is so frowned upon nowadays that I would suggest preparing yourself to be accused of being solely at fault.

I hope I'm wrong but if he says he was indicating and you overtook him as he was turning in to the driveway...

Oh bugger. I could accept it if I'd t-boned him, but I was actually in front of him slightly when he hit me - the impact damage corroborates this.

Fingers crossed.

[Deerfoot]

rhinochopig said:

I could accept it if I'd t-boned him, but I was actually in front of him slightly when he hit me - the impact damage corroborates this.

How could he possibly say he didn't see you if you were slightly ahead of him at the point of impact?

[Jonboy_t]

Did he do any damage to his car? I.e. did any lights smash? If they did, they insurance/police will be able to tell very simply if he was braking or indicating as shards of glass will have melted to the filaments.

It's a long shot, but if it pushes it your way, it's worth a go.

[standardman]

Sounds like the poster was in his blind spot. Not the posters fault, but if he got hit in the manner he did it sounds like thats where he was when the driver checked his mirrors.

[eybic]

A woman drove into my rear ¼ a few years ago, the damage was above my o/s/r wheel and she still claimed I drove into her, insurers wanted to go 50/50 too but I made it perfectly clear I did not want this and eventually her insurers admitted liability despite the magical appearance of a "witness" despite nobody else stopping or having anything to do with us.

[7 Sevens]

Did you hit the long trailer or his 4*4?

I would hope if you hit the 4*4 your insurer would suggest you had already passed 20 foot of his vehicle when he failed to check it was safe to pass and pulled into you.

[rhinochopig]

Update. Just had an e-mail stating that it went to 50/50; already settled no chance of appeal etc.

So effectively it makes it 'illegal', as far as the insurance companies are concerned, to overtake another vehicle anywhere that a car can potentially turn into, including farm tracks etc. I was lucky to get 50-/50 by all accounts. It's not the cost that bugs me, but the principle of the thing; had I hit him I'd hold my hands up.

I provided pictures of the impact damage to my car showing very very clearly that he hit me but they obviously count for little. See first pic in the series. The full impact was just behind the wheel. Ah well, you live and learn I suppose.

[durbster]

A friend of mine was in the opposite situation, they went to turn and somebody overtook them so they collided. That also went 50/50 as nobody could prove the other was at fault.

I sometimes flick my headlights on if I'm uncertain as to whether the other driver has seen me before I overtake them. I wonder if it would have helped here...?

[McSam]

This is actually somewhat piss-boiling.

So the OP follows the law and the highway code to the letter, overtaking a slow-moving vehicle, which he had reason to believe would remain slow-moving, with correct indication and in a reasonable manner. This vehicle then, after a good few seconds of the OP being alongside him, turned into him with no indication or forewarning of any kind.

How the fk that can be anything other than the complete and indisputable fault of the dhead who didn't look before turning is absolutely beyond me.

Sorry to hear it, OP.

[T5R+]

OP - totally agree with you IF s/he was not indicating. Say this because we know that trailer indicators have a habit of not working due to poor maintenance and hence always look for vehicle indicator if viable.

Cannot help but think - what if you had been on a bike and he clipped your back wheel.

[tattymarbots]

i was hit last week, woman admits its her fault, husband phones and asks me to find out cost to "keep it outside" insurance.
anyway i went to 3 bodyshops, 2 one man bands and a large establishment.
the 2 one man bands said straight away, cars a write off
large shop have sent me their estimate
£2400

guy was expecting 2-300 tops
should i bother claiming or let them get away with it, as car is worth maybe £1000-1500 tops and i dont want my other car and bike policies to go up
there is no way it was my fault as i was turning right, and she pulled out from the junction straight into me

picture of damage here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tattymarbots/68478124...
what you cant see is the banana sill, door doesnt seal properly anymore

[Deva Link]

rhinochopig said:

So effectively it makes it 'illegal', as far as the insurance companies are concerned, to overtake another vehicle anywhere that a car can potentially turn into, including farm tracks etc.

I think you're making a huge leap there. Did the insurance company provide an explanation?

[psychoR1]

Insurance companies are no more interested is correct allocation of blame than they are in whether whiplash/PI claims are genuine......
Are there no witnesses to say he turned without warning?
Unless your claim is exceptionally clear (no fault) they will protect each other and split liability. We all loose because of this.

[rhinochopig]

Deva Link said:

rhinochopig said:

So effectively it makes it 'illegal', as far as the insurance companies are concerned, to overtake another vehicle anywhere that a car can potentially turn into, including farm tracks etc.

I think you're making a huge leap there. Did the insurance company provide an explanation?

I am but I was angry and couldn't think of a word that sat between frowned upon and illegal - hence the quotes.

Their explanation was that overtaking is considered by insurance companies to be a dangerous manoeuvre. As I said they felt I was lucky to get 50/50 because my 'dangerous' driving automatically puts the blame my way.