Car accident help please

rhibaby

Hello all. I would be so grateful for any advise with my problem.

Two weeks ago today, myself, my partner and newborn daughter were involved in an accident - my partner was driving. We were on a dual carriage road where the outside lane was for a right turn - following the turn the right hand lane had 50metres of chamfers ( diagonal white lines) then the left hand lane merged back into 2 lanes.

We were travelling in the left hand lane, and following the traffic when we merged from the left lane into the right lane when we were hit by a large van which had been travelling along the chamfered area. We were lucky that no one was injured, but our car was badly damaged.

The driver of the van was driving a well known security company van ( Boxing day) We exchanged details and he gave us his full name, date of birth, compnay details and works number. We took photos of the van and the registration number along with the damage to the both vehicles. We also contacted the police who instructed us to exchange details and contact our insurers - which we did.

However, 2 weeks later and our insurers have been trying daily to get hold of the other driver - his manager refuses to talk to the insurers - he hasnot reported the accident to his own insurers and we are no further forward. We only had third party, fire and theft cover, and have been advised that the car is a write off due to the costs involved in its repair.

I'm at wits end as my insurer says that there's nothing more they can do as they cannot get to speak to the person involved.

The police said that it is up to the insurers to chase it up.

Two weeks might not seem long, but there seems no end to our dilemma.

The manager at the security firm will not tell us when the driver will be in work and keeps telling us that the driver only works nights - yet the accident happened at 2pm.

We couldn't afford fully comp!!

maninthestreet

The police are right - it's you insurers responsibility to chase this up with your other driver's insurance company.

neilmcl

Their insurance company would have been contacted by yours and in turn write to their driver for an explanation of the accident. You need to wait for the third party's insurance to make their enquiries. The security manager is quite right not to speak to your insurance company, he only needs to speak to his own.

Just be a little patience as this can drag on for a while. If you still don't get anywhere it may be worth contacting the Motor Insurance Bureau - http://www.mib.org.uk/Home/en/default.htm to see if they can offer any help.

One thing I would add though is even if the Van driver was wrong to continue along the carriage way (I'm assuming you can't enter the carriageway from that junction) you have a responsibilty to check for traffic before changing lanes regardless of whether you expect a vehicle to be there or not, what if there had been a motorcyclist overtaking you at the point..

Inactive

neilmcl wrote: »

One thing I would add though is even if the Van driver was wrong to continue along the carriage way (I'm assuming you can't enter the carriageway from that junction) you have a responsibilty to check for traffic before changing lanes regardless of whether you expect a vehicle to be there or not, what if there had been a motorcyclist overtaking you at the point..

Spot on correct, and that may well have a direct bearing on the outcome of the claim.

Quentin

rhibaby wrote: »

I'm at wits end as my insurer says that there's nothing more they can do as they cannot get to speak to the person involved.

Some of the advice you have been given over this is incorrect.

Your insurers won't chase up the third party for you. (As you only have third party insurance, your insurer will only be interested in this incident if the third party makes a claim against you).

It is down to you to pursue the third party over this. (Or use a claim handler). But be aware if you cannot get the third party's insurer to accept any liability, then all the costs for repairs to your car will be down to you to pay.

naijapower

Quentin wrote: »

Some of the advice you have been given over this is incorrect.

Your insurers won't chase up the third party for you. (As you only have third party insurance, your insurer will only be interested in this if the third party makes a claim against you).

It is down to you to pursue the third party over this. (Or use a claim handler).

Very true as far as i understand insurance. I agree with this 100%

neilmcl

Quentin wrote: »

Some of the advice you have been given over this is incorrect.

You're absolutely correct, sorry I totally ignored the fact that the OP only had 3rd party insurance. Doh. Maybe because the OP said that his insurers have indeed been chasing this up.

I think my other point is valid though.

EdGasket

Yes, you need to contact the driver; get their insurance details and deal with their insurance; not yours. If they won't give you their insurance details you can report them to the police as they are required by law to give it. You can also threaten them with a claim for all your costs in the county court if they don't co-operate. If there is some doubt as to who is to blame though you may want to think carefully about proceeding. If it was your fault, then I'm afraid you bear all the costs of damage to your own car and the van driver would claim off your insurance.

Quentin

EdGasket wrote: »

If they won't give you their insurance details you can report them to the police as they are required by law to give it.

This is not so. They are not obliged by law to pass on their insurance details (unless personal injury is involved).

angel00079

I feel for you. It can be a complete nightmare if you are 3rd party. My brother was hit by a police car a few years back. A complete nightmare because he was only 3rd party and loads of red tape. He couldn't afford full comp as young, new driver. Even 3rd party cost more than the car. Ironically he had pay recovery and storage costs which he got back eventually. He had legal cover but still had to fight to get it resolved. He had solicitors acting on his behalf as part of the cover, not much cop in my opinion but who knows may have taken even longer without.

Do you have any legal cover either via car insurance or another policy?

Bit tired so there is a strong possibility that I may have misread your post(apologies if I have) but sounds like you other half may be held partly responsible for failing to check. I am surprised that your insurers are chasing up as you are 3rd party and wonder if this is because it could be a grey area. May be I have only heard of poor service from insurers but where the other party is liable they wash their hands pretty quickly and are only really bothered if you are liable.

DaveMacD

If I'm following your description of the area/incident correctly, lane 2 was chevroned off after the junction. When the chevrons ended, lane 2 became available for traffic, which you then pulled into. There are 2 factors that will have a bearing regarding 'blame' for the incident.
1, Was the chevron area bounded by a solid line or a broken line?
2, Did you change lanes immediately at the end of the chevrons?
If the answer to 1 is broken, then they ARE allowed into the chevron area in general driving (If necessary, and if safe to do so). If it was solid, then they are only allowed to use it in an emergency (Covered by various traffic laws...).
Depending on the answer to 1 being solid, then if your answer to 2 is yes, then you may be able to claim that the person really shouldn't have been there (unless it was an emergency) HOWEVER, it's rather a moot point since it certainly sounds like you changed lane without checking it was safe to do so, and it is most likely that the person who hit you will say that to be the case. Your description of 'merging' from lane 1 to lane 2 sounds more like a lane change, unless lane 2 ended with the chevrons tapering away, and lane 1 moving across to no longer be a dual carriageway.

The accident was reported to the Police (which is a legal requirement) but the other party has no legal requirement to tell their insurance company. It likely will take a while to get sorted, and by all means call your insurance company and ask for advice, but I think you may end up disappointed at the outcome. Without legal cover and being stuck with TPFT, you may well end up out of pocket.

It's unfortunate, but TPFT should only really be taken if you can afford to replace the vehicle yourself, or do without it as that is a real risk if the incident is found to be your fault.