Insurance claim made against my wife, how to respond?

fatdeeman

My wife was recently involved in a minor accident, the other lady admitted liability at the the time saying "i didn't know where i was going" but later that day on the phone had changed her tune after talking to her husband and now insists it's my wifes fault and she is making a claim.

I'm not really sure how any of this works but basically my wife was prepared not to make a claim because the damage was so slight and she really cannot afford to lose her ncb.

So does she claim against her own insurance or the other ladies or do nothing?

My wife was clearly in the right but as I said she can't afford to lose the no claims and I have no idea what to do

Any help gratefully received

chilli_dog

what type of bump as it? was you wife hit in the rear? some accidents are tough to work out liability without witnesses.

McKneff

if, as you say, you wife was in the right, contact your insurance company and let them deal with it. After all, thats what you pay them for. If she is successful she will not lose the ncd

Quentin

Whether or not your wife is liable, you must tell your insurer about the incident, but stress it is for information only, and you don't wish to make a claim.If you get any correspondence about this from the third party just pass it on unanswered to your insurer.If ultimately there is a claim made against you by the third party, and your insurer ends up paying out, then to retain your ncb you can reimburse your insurer - though make sure it's an economic proposition!

saintjanet

Do as the last 2 posters say.This has happened to three people i know over the last few years,there are a lot of dishonest people out there i am sorry to say.

hewhoisnotintheknow

tell the truth, cant do much more than that

fatdeeman

It happened on a roundabout, my wife was heading for the motorway exit and is not sure where she came from, she could have been next to her at the lights which means she just pulled into her but my wife is pretty sure she would have seen her sooner. Out of the two junctions before the slip road the first junction would have been a red light so if she came from there she jumped a red and the other junction was a give way one.

My wife was on her way to a placement for her nursing degree and has people who can vouch for that and confirm that she would have been heading onto the motorway as she had been every day for several weeks.

The other woman is now claiming that they both went past the slip road and had carried on round the roundabout when it happened, claiming my wife changed from the right hand lane to the left and drove into her when what really happened is that my wife was heading to the slip road and the other woman appeared to want to keep going around the roundabout but because she was on the inside she hit my wife.

Personally we think she came from the give way junction and wasn't concentrating enough to see my wife coming and pulled out . They both saw each and my wife hit the brakes and the lady slowed down and tried to turn left but not in time to avoid the cars coming into contact. The fact that my wife's car has a small scratch on the passenger side wing and that the other car has an elongated scratch along the drivers door hopefully supports the theory that she was going across my wife.

It's a bit hard to explain without a picture but my wife is worried about who could be seeing this thread.

My wife contacted her insurance but said she didn't know if she wanted to make a claim yet. her insurance company have sent an accident report form which she is going to fill out but she wasn't sure if this constituted making a claim.

we have heard nothing from a third party thus far and are not even sure if the other woman went ahead with her claim or not....is there any way to find that out?

because if the other woman has decided to not claim it would be easiest for my wife to not bother and just pay for the repair to her own car herself which amounts to a small paint scratch.

mattymoo

The vagueness of your wife's description does not help your cause I'm afraid. You can bet the other side has their story worked out.

The phrase "not sure where she came from" will be taken to mean your wife had no situational awareness and it will be an uphill struggle to prove otherwise.

Be clear and concise when descibing the circumstances.

To help with road layouut etc, download Google Earth and zoom to the junction concerned and save the image as a jpeg. Stick this in a paint program (MS Paint will do) and mark out the vehicle routes with arrows to show direction. Use "----" to show intended route of travel for your wife. This will help the insurers to check she took the correct route through the junction.

lindsaygalaxy

I would put a claim in and if you dont it may seem like it was her fault, also this oher driver sounds a bit iffy and before you know it she will be claiming personal injuries claim. It may be an idea to re drive the route. it is clear your wife didnt see this women, so it is important to make sure she was in the right line, indicating etc.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Without a witness it'll probably go 50:50.

Personally I'd find out where she lives, leave it a few months, and have a little fun at her expense. But that really isn't good advice

Quentin

fatdeeman wrote: »

My wife contacted her insurance but said she didn't know if she wanted to make a claim yet. her insurance company have sent an accident report form which she is going to fill out but she wasn't sure if this constituted making a claim.

we have heard nothing from a third party thus far and are not even sure if the other woman went ahead with her claim or not....is there any way to find that out?

because if the other woman has decided to not claim it would be easiest for my wife to not bother and just pay for the repair to her own car herself which amounts to a small paint scratch.

Complete the report form and return it clearly marked "for information only".

This will not be seen as her making a claim.

If the third party does make a claim (against either her own insurer or direct against your wife), then your insurer will put you in the picture, as they will be contacted over the matter.

Your insurer won't pay out to the third party unless they agree that your wife is liable. As posted earlier, if they do, and you want to retain your ncb, you can reimburse your insurer (assuming it's worth it to keep the ncb).