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Car claim STILL going on....

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Ok, for those of you that remember, I was involved in a car accident at the tail end of 2006 (8th December 2006) where I was hit from behind at a roundabout. I thought it would be a pretty open and shut case but just as a precaution I took two videos of the guy's lorry and he gave me his business card with the number plate written on the back of it. It turned out that he was driving his work's lorry and it wasn't his own personal vehicle. Anyway, I contacted my insurance company to get the ball rolling on settling the claim and on the 27th February 2007 I got a letter from my solicitors saying that the 3rd party was disputing the claim saying that they weren't anywhere near the scene at the time of the accident. I went abroad for a year and just got back but it turns out now that it's going to court.

To add insult to injury, I phoned up my insurers to get the car reinsured and I was quoted 1100 for fully comp and over 700 for third party, fire, and theft., all because essentially I have 0 no claims discount... Fully comp with two years no claims cost me 600.

My solicitors are FUCKING USELESS and have been since day one, and they can't even give me a rough date as to when this might be settled. They're sending a writ to the third party which is supposed to be answered within 21 days but they can still ignore it and defend the action.

What this boils down to is that I have to pay through the nose for someone else's bloody mistake. I would like to think that there's light at the end of the tunnel but it doesn't seem likely.

I know people might be thinking that I must be at fault somewhere along the line if this is dragging on so long, but I was STOPPED at a roundabout waiting for a gap in the traffic when I was shunted.

Can anyone help me out here cause I'm at the end of my tether... :crying:

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lie twist and turn all you can

    everyone else is going to do it including the other person and the insurance companys

    put in for a few whippers and get 'half your mates who were in the back' to do it too ;)

    insurance is a joke, they're all up to their antics
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    z- wrote: »
    lie twist and turn all you can

    everyone else is going to do it including the other person and the insurance companys

    put in for a few whippers and get 'half your mates who were in the back' to do it too ;)

    insurance is a joke, they're all up to their antics

    I don't know if I could get away with that, I think I've said from the start I was in the car by myself... Fuck, if I had got one of my mates to corroborate my story...

    It's just a joke that I'm going to have to pay up for this guy being a dishonest cunt of a man...
  • BunnieBunnie Posts: 6,099 Master Poster
    You really shouldnt start getting false claims in now, believe me if they have half decent defence lawyers on the other side they will run a fraud check and it will stick out like a sore thumb and therefore rip your claim to shreds!

    I have to defend your solicitors (although I do agree that they are shit - from both this post and the last) and they cant give you a rough estimate as to how long it will take as it is like the whole piece of string scenario.

    You need to get onto them on a daily basis, believe me it works, when my clients hassle me I will do anything to make sure they stop calling! :p

    If it is going to Court, I would ask to see the defence the third party has filed - or is it just that he wasnt there. Unfortunately, the onus is upon you to prove that the collision occurred and that he was at fault.

    The video footage should be sufficient to prove he was there, I assume you have given this to your solicitors? I wouldnt take a matter to Court if the claimant had video footage of my client who was denying being at the scene.

    Also, your solicitors should request information from the third party's employers for records of his deliveries/duties for that day in question - this should be done sooner than later.

    Let me know how you get on!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you are paying your insurance for this year with no no cliams and it later turns out that it was his fault, you should get your no claims status reinstated and get a refund. That is kinda what happened with me recently.

    Good luck with it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Bunnie wrote: »
    You really shouldnt start getting false claims in now, believe me if they have half decent defence lawyers on the other side they will run a fraud check and it will stick out like a sore thumb and therefore rip your claim to shreds!

    I have to defend your solicitors (although I do agree that they are shit - from both this post and the last) and they cant give you a rough estimate as to how long it will take as it is like the whole piece of string scenario.

    You need to get onto them on a daily basis, believe me it works, when my clients hassle me I will do anything to make sure they stop calling! :p

    If it is going to Court, I would ask to see the defence the third party has filed - or is it just that he wasnt there. Unfortunately, the onus is upon you to prove that the collision occurred and that he was at fault.

    The video footage should be sufficient to prove he was there, I assume you have given this to your solicitors? I wouldnt take a matter to Court if the claimant had video footage of my client who was denying being at the scene.

    Also, your solicitors should request information from the third party's employers for records of his deliveries/duties for that day in question - this should be done sooner than later.

    Let me know how you get on!!

    Thanks Bunnie and Katrella :)

    I wasn't planning on doing the false claim thing, it would just screw up my claim anyway cause I hadn't said that from the start. I sent the video to my solicitors and they've taken still images from it of his number plate. My car is also in the video but not the number plate so I'm hoping that doesn't become an issue.

    So far the third party has claimed he wasn't at the scene. Whether that means this has been filed I'm not sure.

    I don't really want to hassle them any more than I already am, especially since I've been told that it's 21 days for the writ to be served at the very least.

    But some good news, I've been put on my mum's insurance for the time being and it's only 30 quid a month! Bonus.
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