Insurance company waiting for me to give up

raskazz

Helen_J wrote: »

I was under the impression that if someone went into the back of someone else it is ALWAYS the fault of the person behind, so as to prevent false and complicated claims.

After all, even if this bus went into him, I can just argue that he shouldn't have been parked so close behind me? If he had left a reasonable gap then even if a bus went into him it would not have meant him going into me?

In the vast majority of incidents involving only two vehicles it will be the fault of the person behind.

It is not so simple with 'concertina' collisions. If the vehicle 3 hits the rear of vehicle 2 which then hits the rear of vehicle 1, clearly there is no negligence on the part of the driver of vehicle 2 so there is no basis on which the driver of vehicle 1 can claim from them.

fredfro

Something similar happened to me recently but unfortunately I was in the middle car of a three car shunt.

Though no one made a claim, the police did get involved because all three cars got separated without exchanging details.

It was explained to me by my insurance company and the police as follows, though this may be different to you.

1. It is two separate accidents. Though both occurred in one incidient, two separate accidents occurred. You (driver 3) were hit by driver (2) who is at fault for that accident. Driver 1 is responsible for hitting driver 2.

2. Though driver 2, is strictly not at fault, depending on the distance left between himself and you, and whether or not you felt two shunts or one (one being the bus hit the car which then hit you and two being where he hit you and then the bus hit him, hitting you again), the bus would be responsible for all three.

Basically, long story short. Insurance company for driver 2 will fight with insurance company for driver 1 (the bus) over who is responsible for you. But you are not responsible for the fight. You were hit in the back by driver 2 and claim from driver 2's policy. If driver 2's insurance is successful in recovering from driver 1, their driver keeps his no claims and they recover costs. If not he loses it. They are just stalling you by the looks of things! Maybe try a accident management company?

raskazz

fredfro wrote: »

You were hit in the back by driver 2 and claim from driver 2's policy.

Things are not this simple, as I explained above.

In your example, if driver 2 was not negligent and was only involved in the collision due to vehicle 1 hitting the rear of this vehicle then his insurer will not deal, because there is no liability in law.They will tell you to claim from the insurer of vehicle 1.

Helen_J_3

fredfro wrote: »

Something similar happened to me recently but unfortunately I was in the middle car of a three car shunt.

Though no one made a claim, the police did get involved because all three cars got separated without exchanging details.

It was explained to me by my insurance company and the police as follows, though this may be different to you.

1. It is two separate accidents. Though both occurred in one incidient, two separate accidents occurred. You (driver 3) were hit by driver (2) who is at fault for that accident. Driver 1 is responsible for hitting driver 2.

2. Though driver 2, is strictly not at fault, depending on the distance left between himself and you, and whether or not you felt two shunts or one (one being the bus hit the car which then hit you and two being where he hit you and then the bus hit him, hitting you again), the bus would be responsible for all three.

Basically, long story short. Insurance company for driver 2 will fight with insurance company for driver 1 (the bus) over who is responsible for you. But you are not responsible for the fight. You were hit in the back by driver 2 and claim from driver 2's policy. If driver 2's insurance is successful in recovering from driver 1, their driver keeps his no claims and they recover costs. If not he loses it. They are just stalling you by the looks of things! Maybe try a accident management company?

Yes this is what I thought. I don't think the bus even hit him, according to a witness it didn't and there didn't look to be too much damage to the back of his vehicle. I think he's saying this to try and delay and even get away with it. I am certain he is liable for my car's damage, and even if the bus did hit him it's nothing to do with me.

I'll have a look at an accident management company.

Thank You

Helen_J_3

raskazz wrote: »

Things are not this simple, as I explained above.

In your example, if driver 2 was not negligent and was only involved in the collision due to vehicle 1 hitting the rear of this vehicle then his insurer will not deal, because there is no liability in law.They will tell you to claim from the insurer of vehicle 1.

Couldn't you argue that he was negligent because he was parked too close? I know someone who pulled on to a roundabout and stalled which meant an abrupt halt and the car behind went into him, it was still the car behind's fault even though you could say "well if he hadn't stalled it wouldn't have happened".

raskazz

Helen_J wrote: »

I am certain he is liable for my car's damage, and even if the bus did hit him it's nothing to do with me.

Maybe, but if indeed the bus crashing into his rear caused his car to crash into you, he is not in any way liable for your damage as he has not been negligent and you have no basis in law to claim any damages from him.

raskazz

Helen_J wrote: »

Couldn't you argue that he was negligent because he was parked too close? I know someone who pulled on to a roundabout and stalled which meant an abrupt halt and the car behind went into him, it was still the car behind's fault even though you could say "well if he hadn't stalled it wouldn't have happened".

Even if he was 'too close', how would you go about proving this? How far away would he had have to have been in order to avoid hitting you as a result of the impact with the bus?

Helen_J_3

raskazz wrote: »

Even if he was 'too close', how would you go about proving this? How far away would he had have to have been in order to avoid hitting you as a result of the impact with the bus?

Yeah I know this would be hard to measure but we were stood still in traffic, lights went to green, car in front of me went so I set off and just as I was about to move he bumped my car. It wasn't a very loud or violent bump and the car barley moved, it was the noise more than anything that made me stop and get out. It just seems weird that if the bus went into him no more damage was done?

raskazz

Helen_J wrote: »

Yeah I know this would be hard to measure but we were stood still in traffic, lights went to green, car in front of me went so I set off and just as I was about to move he bumped my car. It wasn't a very loud or violent bump and the car barley moved, it was the noise more than anything that made me stop and get out. It just seems weird that if the bus went into him no more damage was done?

Even if you did prove the the car behind was too close, if the bus hit him then he would still not be wholly liable so his insurer would not deal with the whole of your claim.

adamc260

If 3 people are involved and the middle car was shunted into your vehicle, you'd claim from the person at the back as the middle person (providing they didn't hit into you first) are also an innocent party.

It sounds like your insurers are dragging their feet a bit, perhaps contacting an accident management company would speed things along!