Car crash a tale of woe

Prettygreeneys_2

Last month my partner was driving to work along a main road in his new only owned it for seven days red car when a man pulled out from a side street and tried to drive through my partners car. He crashed into the wing and passenger door of my partners car causing alot of damage to both cars the side of my partners and the front of the other car.
At the time the man said he was very sorry but just didn't see my partner they exchanged details, rang the police who refused to attend and off my partner went to work leaving the other man there as his car wouldn't start.
My partner rang his insurance company told them all the details of the other driver and how the accident occured it all seemed to be quite straightforward his car was repaired and we thought in a couple of months he'd get a cheque refunding his excess of £500 however it wasn't meant to be.
We've now received a letter saying liability is being disputed and that litigation may be required. I would be grateful if anyone could tell me if he will get his excess back and keep his no claims discount surely it could not be my partners fault? Is there anything we should be doing?
Cheers

Mankysteve

Have you spoken to your insurance ppl?

Prettygreeneys_2

They are not being very helpful the insurance company is Llyods TSB not sure if that matters they said sometimes liability is not as clear cut as it may first appear but that we have legal cover so somehow that makes it better.

daveyjp

Had a similar accident in January. Other party played games for a couple of weeks and tried to share liability. Once they received my full statement with photographs, measurements and details of how the other driver failed to follow 4 areas of the Highway Code I received a call asking if I'd take it to Court. I said yes and ten minutes later they accepted liability.

Do a full statement (mine was 5 pages) and start proving it was the other party's fault.

hyltonlad

hi you must stick with it some one pulled out of a junction in front of me i tryed to get over the other side of the road but we still hit each other both cars were wrote off the police turned up its a busy road our statements said the same but then he blamed me said i was driving on the wrong side of the road but i won in the end so stick with it.

Prettygreeneys_2

But how do I prove it? To me it seems quite simple to decide who was at fault but there might be something I'm missing. We've already filled in some sort of statement but we only put pretty much what I put in my first post have I already messed it up?

oscardog

Standard insurance company behaviour. It is probably (guess) not even the other driver offering a dispute but his insurer trying to worm out of paying. They do it hundreds of times every day both ways round so stick to your guns and nail them.

Get your own insurer to chase them (after all, that is what you pay your premium for!!).

Quentin

Are you using legal expenses insurance to get your excess reimbursed? Normally it's down to you to pursue the third party for your excess back (as well as all your other uninsured losses).

This letter you have now received regarding disputed liability may be to do with your insurer being so far unable to get reimbursed their own outlay on your claim, and your NCD being reduced pending the outcome of the liability issue.

daveyjp

Prettygreeneys_2 wrote: »

But how do I prove it? To me it seems quite simple to decide who was at fault but there might be something I'm missing. We've already filled in some sort of statement but we only put pretty much what I put in my first post have I already messed it up?

A car insurance claim is no different to any Court proceedings. Both parties put evidence forward and either a party backs down and admits liability, they decide to share liability, or it goes to a Judge to decide.

If you have strong evidence you will win your case. The forms insurance companies send out are inadequate, that's why I ended up doing my own statement.

If you want a copy of my statement PM me.

tommy45

insurance companies try to avoid paying out? in my experience i have found the opposite they pay for things such as hire cars longer than are necessary at higher rates than are normally charged, because they drag their heels in soreting things out they pay out for personal injuries such as soft tissue damage (aka whiplash) without sufficient proof of injury these are just a few reasons why they load our next years insurance premiums to the hilt, effectivly pricing some of us off the roads,because it's not those greedy insurance companies who in the end pay or loose out it's us !!!

Quinny_2

Photographs of the incident area are a good start, and if you can point out that the accident occured at that point, then it's an open and shut case.

Pulling into the path of another car is as clear cut as driving into the rear, and the damage sustained on your other halfs car will prove which direction the 3rd party came from.

As others have said, make sure you have legal cover, and USE IT if you do.