3rd party accepts liability, their insurance doesn't?!
Discussion
Someone veered out of their lane and crashed into me this week. They accepted it was their fault and apologised, gave insurance details etc.
This morning I got a text from their insurance company saying that one of their customers was at fault and that they'd get my car repaired.
When I called to sort out a repair and hire car they said there had been a mistake, that the text shouldn't have been sent, and that I need to make a claim through my own insurance.
My own insurance say it's a 50/50 claim based on the verbal description, unless I have more evidence.
I checked with the driver and they said they did tell the insurance company that they were to blame. I'm inclined to believe them (and they've put it in writing in a text).
Is this a case of an insurance company playing silly buggers to try to smear blame and cost? It's a right pain in the backside flipping back and forth to get this sorted.
This morning I got a text from their insurance company saying that one of their customers was at fault and that they'd get my car repaired.
When I called to sort out a repair and hire car they said there had been a mistake, that the text shouldn't have been sent, and that I need to make a claim through my own insurance.
My own insurance say it's a 50/50 claim based on the verbal description, unless I have more evidence.
I checked with the driver and they said they did tell the insurance company that they were to blame. I'm inclined to believe them (and they've put it in writing in a text).
Is this a case of an insurance company playing silly buggers to try to smear blame and cost? It's a right pain in the backside flipping back and forth to get this sorted.
An "admission of liability" doesn't mean a lot by itself. The other driver can certainly give evidence as to facts ("You were going straight, I changed lane and drove into you"). However his opinion on liability ("That makes it my fault, sorry") is really neither here nor there unless he's an expert on liability law.
That said, if he *has* told his insurance company that he veered out of his lane for no good reason, and that matches your own version of events, I'd be interested in what his insurers argument for why it's not his fault is.
That said, if he *has* told his insurance company that he veered out of his lane for no good reason, and that matches your own version of events, I'd be interested in what his insurers argument for why it's not his fault is.
Somebody changed lanes on a roundabout a few years ago and caught the rear wing of my car. She admitted liability.
Her insurers called me the same day and asked for my summary of what happened. They said it agreed with her account, and they accepted liability.
Having said that : I reported it to my insurers before the third party insurers had called me and they told me it would probably go 50/50 because the other party would probably claim I changed lanes. I had dash cam though so would not have accepted that.
Her insurers called me the same day and asked for my summary of what happened. They said it agreed with her account, and they accepted liability.
Having said that : I reported it to my insurers before the third party insurers had called me and they told me it would probably go 50/50 because the other party would probably claim I changed lanes. I had dash cam though so would not have accepted that.
Surely the fact the insurers have admitted their driver was at fault in writing means they cannot retract the admission and offer to repair your vehicle. Did they contractually agree to repair your vehicle by sending the text?
I am no expert (but it seems to me) the liability has been accepted and a bit late to retract it. I would have a word with your insurers as they will now be out of pocket when they wouldn't have been previously.
The other view, how easy or difficult would it be to force the other insurer to honour the admission and liability assuming it definitely exists. I suspect more hassle than it is worth but let the insurers sort out the mess, you just need your vehicle fixed.
I am no expert (but it seems to me) the liability has been accepted and a bit late to retract it. I would have a word with your insurers as they will now be out of pocket when they wouldn't have been previously.
The other view, how easy or difficult would it be to force the other insurer to honour the admission and liability assuming it definitely exists. I suspect more hassle than it is worth but let the insurers sort out the mess, you just need your vehicle fixed.
FMOB said:
Surely the fact the insurers have admitted their driver was at fault in writing means they cannot retract the admission and offer to repair your vehicle. Did they contractually agree to repair your vehicle by sending the text?
I am no expert (but it seems to me) the liability has been accepted and a bit late to retract it. I would have a word with your insurers as they will now be out of pocket when they wouldn't have been previously.
The other view, how easy or difficult would it be to force the other insurer to honour the admission and liability assuming it definitely exists. I suspect more hassle than it is worth but let the insurers sort out the mess, you just need your vehicle fixed.
Of course they can retract it, it was a mistake. If wasn't a contract, it was a mistaken admission of liability. I am no expert (but it seems to me) the liability has been accepted and a bit late to retract it. I would have a word with your insurers as they will now be out of pocket when they wouldn't have been previously.
The other view, how easy or difficult would it be to force the other insurer to honour the admission and liability assuming it definitely exists. I suspect more hassle than it is worth but let the insurers sort out the mess, you just need your vehicle fixed.
A friend of my wife's was hit in the rear at the lights. She did brake sharply, and the guy that hit her got out of his car and started shouting at her. She apologised and admitted liability
Her made a point of taking her reg and phone number so he could get his insurance co to claim against her. She got none of his details. Naturally she never heard another word, and was left with substantial damage that was 100% his responsibility (which he probably knew when he started to intimidate her). People often think they weren't to blame when they partially were, and sometimes people think they were to blame when they weren't.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
FMOB said:
Surely the fact the insurers have admitted their driver was at fault in writing means they cannot retract the admission and offer to repair your vehicle. Did they contractually agree to repair your vehicle by sending the text?
I am no expert (but it seems to me) the liability has been accepted and a bit late to retract it. I would have a word with your insurers as they will now be out of pocket when they wouldn't have been previously.
The other view, how easy or difficult would it be to force the other insurer to honour the admission and liability assuming it definitely exists. I suspect more hassle than it is worth but let the insurers sort out the mess, you just need your vehicle fixed.
Of course they can retract it, it was a mistake. If wasn't a contract, it was a mistaken admission of liability. I am no expert (but it seems to me) the liability has been accepted and a bit late to retract it. I would have a word with your insurers as they will now be out of pocket when they wouldn't have been previously.
The other view, how easy or difficult would it be to force the other insurer to honour the admission and liability assuming it definitely exists. I suspect more hassle than it is worth but let the insurers sort out the mess, you just need your vehicle fixed.
A friend of my wife's was hit in the rear at the lights. She did brake sharply, and the guy that hit her got out of his car and started shouting at her. She apologised and admitted liability
Her made a point of taking her reg and phone number so he could get his insurance co to claim against her. She got none of his details. Naturally she never heard another word, and was left with substantial damage that was 100% his responsibility (which he probably knew when he started to intimidate her). People often think they weren't to blame when they partially were, and sometimes people think they were to blame when they weren't.
Is no one actually held to account anymore as going 50:50 rewards those at fault, shafts those not at fault and everyone's premium gets a self-serving bump. If that is how it works, it is shameful.
FMOB said:
When I started driving we were told is not to admit fault at the roadside because it tied your insurers hands in disputing the matter,
This has always been an urban myth. The fact that it's been widely repeated for a long time doesn't make it true.FMOB said:
based on your post you can say anything you like at the roadside and it has no bearing on responsibility for who did what, when and how.
It's not a case of nothing you say having any bearing on responsibility whatsoever. For example if you say at the roadside that you changed lane, and then later on you say that you didn't, the fact that you seem to have changed your mind might well damage your credibility, unless you could offer a good reason why you'd got it wrong first time.However a mumbled statement along the lines of "sorry, that was my fault" immediately after an accident by a person who is still in shock, possibly injured, certainly not an expert in road traffic liability law and who hasn't had any legal advice is not a definitive and final determination of liability in any legal sense. Why on earth would anybody ever think that it was?
Aretnap said:
FMOB said:
When I started driving we were told is not to admit fault at the roadside because it tied your insurers hands in disputing the matter,
This has always been an urban myth. The fact that it's been widely repeated for a long time doesn't make it true.FMOB said:
based on your post you can say anything you like at the roadside and it has no bearing on responsibility for who did what, when and how.
It's not a case of nothing you say having any bearing on responsibility whatsoever. For example if you say at the roadside that you changed lane, and then later on you say that you didn't, the fact that you seem to have changed your mind might well damage your credibility, unless you could offer a good reason why you'd got it wrong first time.However a mumbled statement along the lines of "sorry, that was my fault" immediately after an accident by a person who is still in shock, possibly injured, certainly not an expert in road traffic liability law and who hasn't had any legal advice is not a definitive and final determination of liability in any legal sense. Why on earth would anybody ever think that it was?
FMOB said:
When I started driving we were told is not to admit fault at the roadside because it tied your insurers hands in disputing the matter, based on your post you can say anything you like at the roadside and it has no bearing on responsibility for who did what, when and how.
Is no one actually held to account anymore as going 50:50 rewards those at fault, shafts those not at fault and everyone's premium gets a self-serving bump. If that is how it works, it is shameful.
Admitting liability verbally isn't a problem. Every day there are thousands of accidents and in most of those, someone will apologise. Never put anything in writing is key. As my story about my wife's friend proves, many people don't know the rules and may not be at fault when they think they are. Is no one actually held to account anymore as going 50:50 rewards those at fault, shafts those not at fault and everyone's premium gets a self-serving bump. If that is how it works, it is shameful.
As regards no one no one being held to account anymore, most claims are settled 100% in someone's favour, so clearly they are held to account. But in many incidents, when there's a dispute and no independent witness, 50/50 is the only way. Someone may be lying but often neither are, and they both genuinely believe the other to be at fault.
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