Car Accident - Responsibility Dispute

Guarddog · 2 September 2014 at 2:26PM

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been covered before.

I was recently involved in an accident. I was parked in a supermarket car park and had reversed out of my space. Having completed my reversing manoeuvre I was stationary in 1st gear as I straightened up my car to drive off. At that point I was struck by a car reversing out of the space behind me.

On getting out and assessing the damage (admittedly not so much on mine but there is damage to the rear bumper) we proceeded to swap details (I unfortunately omitted to get the vehicle registration but did get name, address and phone number) I distinctly asked the other party whether they were accepting responsibility. They agreed and indicated a desire to deal with this without involving the insurance companies.

I went to my local main dealer (Nissan) who informed me the damage could not be repaired and the whole bumper would need to be replaced - at an estimated cost of £800. When I informed the other party of this they objected to the amount and then intimated that I was reversing at the same time. I nipped that in the bud by stating I was stationary at the time and therefore I wouldn't accept a '50/50' liability. She then stated she would contact her insurance company.

With that being said I contacted mine and have attempted to get the claim moving. However as I was lacking the registration number I had to contact her back again to get this. She has now refused to give this to me and is denying responsibility. She again maintains that I am as much to blame, presumably because I was occupying the space she wished to dive in to! She admits her attention was on whether a car was approaching from the left, but maintains that I had started reversing at the same time as her. The fact I'd finished reversing into the vacant space and was trying to drive away seems to be irrelevant.

My concern now is that she is willing to lie to push the facts to suit her side. If I proceed with the claim I run the risk that I will lose NCD or my premiums will go up. I do not have an independent witness (my wife was in the car and also witness to her admissions, but I doubt this will stand up).

If I'm honest if I'd caused the damage I probably wouldn't bother getting it fixed. However I do feel aggrieved that the person who did cause it has abdicated responsibility for it and has also had the temerity to state that the value of it is worthless. That is for me to decide and not her.

Any suggestions as to how I proceed would be greatly received. I am wondering if the refusal to give me details of her registration number constitutes an offence in allowing me to pursue my claim? I have tried on a couple of occasions to get the number by driving past her house, but the car has not been there. Has anyone had experience of anything similar? I am just very reluctant to allow her to get away with this.

Thanks.

Bantex_2 · 2 September 2014 at 2:31PM

If you have address, go round and get the number.

If other drive will not admit liability, I would suspect will go 50/50.

Sorry.

Quentin · 2 September 2014 at 2:42PM

Guarddog wrote: »

If I proceed with the claim I run the risk that I will lose NCD or my premiums will go up.....

Even if you don't claim for your own damage you could still end up losing NCD as a result of this - all depending on how the disputed liability is settled.

If she has made a claim through her own policy, from what you say your insurer will be getting a claim in from her insurer, so the reg number problem will sort itself out.

InsideInsurance · 2 September 2014 at 2:46PM

its a classic 50/50 due to the lack of witnesses and conflicting versions of events.

Where did she strike your vehicle? Presumably on the side? Are there scratches or just a clean dent.

Vehicle damage in these sorts of things are rarely conclusive but occasionally people will accept arguments that a clean dent on the rear door (for example) would demonstrate you'd already fully reversed out and was stationary otherwise the location of damage would more likely be different and much more likely to show scratches as the two vehicles brushed against each other.

smifffy1989 · 2 September 2014 at 2:56PM

Supermarket car park? Is there no CCTV?

Guarddog · 2 September 2014 at 4:40PM

In terms of finding the reg number from the address I've been past it on three occasions and have not been able to see the car.

In respect of the damage to the car it is a dent in the bumper towards the passenger side. By the look of the damage she had she must have hit the corner of the bumper.

I will check out CCTV, but I'm not hopeful as I think CCTV only covers the entrance to the building and not the car park.

I believe she's not made any claim for her own damage, choosing to have that rectified without using her insurance. In all of this she was very keen not to involve the insurance companies and I suspect if the damage to mine had come in at a lower figure (£100?) she would have accepted and paid up.

I just wonder if there is any recourse on my part legally that requires her to provide that information to me? It is effectively stopping the claim as neither the insurance broker or underwriter can proceed without it (so they say). Regardless of whether the claim is then settled as 50/50 or not she is refusing to provide me with relevant information.

malchish · 2 September 2014 at 4:49PM

She must provide all the details, this is a legal requirement.

InsideInsurance · 2 September 2014 at 4:51PM

Guarddog wrote: »

I just wonder if there is any recourse on my part legally that requires her to provide that information to me? It is effectively stopping the claim as neither the insurance broker or underwriter can proceed without it (so they say).

They can proceed, just they cannot sell your details to an accident management company and so arent keen right now.

We'd frequently have cases where full details of the TP werent provided and so we just wrote to the TP and ask them to provide their details. If they failed to respond we suggested informing the police on the grounds of refusing to exchange details (police tend to get more responses than insurers) or we'd employ an investigator/ tracing agent in big cases (obv not this case).

Guarddog · 2 September 2014 at 5:09PM

Thanks - I've just emailed the local police team so hopefully I'll get a response from them. Even if it is someone turning up on her doorstep to inform her she must inform me and the scare that may induce would give me some sense of justice.

Quentin · 2 September 2014 at 5:17PM

Guarddog wrote: »

....It is effectively stopping the claim as neither the insurance broker or underwriter can proceed without it (so they say). Regardless of whether the claim is then settled as 50/50 or not she is refusing to provide me with relevant information.

As long as you have comprehensive cover this should not give your insurer an excuse not to get on with the repairs and sort out liability later.

Get on to a manager and make some noise.

InsideInsurance · 2 September 2014 at 5:28PM

Guarddog wrote: »

Even if it is someone turning up on her doorstep to inform her she must inform me and the scare that may induce would give me some sense of justice.

When someone claimed I failed to stop at an accident (even though they had my name and address, it was a friends car so it wasnt a DVLA check to find the owner) the plod just sent me a letter which was a basic producer.

I went to the police station, thankfully I had all her details, including photos of her screaming and trying to get out the car with 6 dogs loose in it (a smart car) etc and so after giving the insurance details etc I never heard anything about it before

Car Accident - Responsibility Dispute

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