Car Insurance Help - Fault not disputed, damage maybe is!

Fwuffy

Hi everyone,

New here but hope to tap into some of the knowledge out there as I'm in a bit of a jam!

Two weeks ago I was involved in an RTA. I was stationary waiting to join a roundabout when I got hit from behind by another driver. His insurance company has accepted liability, although I had already engaged another claims company to handle my claim (via my car dealership).

The bodywork damage was repaired without issue and I picked the car up yesterday. However at the time of the claim I had stated to the dealer, the claims company and his insurance company when they contacted me, that there had also been damage to the gearbox (it's one of these fancy VW Group DSG gearboxes). Essentially the car wasn't shifting up normally and would delay the shift by about 1000rpm (notable on a diesel).

The gearbox was still unlooked at by the bodyshop because it hadn't been authorised by the independent engineer assigned by the claims company. The bodyshop advised me to take the car into the dealer to see if they could establish that it was the accident that caused the damage.

On driving down to the dealer today the problem got worse; warning lights came on and on looking at it they have said that the gearbox has gone into emergency mode and the car is not driveable. I might need a new one to the tune of £3000.

They have stated that they are not able to conclusively say one way or the other is down to the accident, but due to the nature of the gearbox they are positive that it is a very real possibility.

Unfortunately my claims company is insisting on acceptable legal proof that the accident was the cause of the damage before they will authorise a repair.

Is there anything that I can do at all at this point?

I am certain the gearbox was fine prior to the accident, and I noticed a problem with it as soon as pulling away having exchanged details with the other driver when it stayed in 2nd gear for a lot longer than it should. Since then I have barely even used the car - on the day of the accident I continued my onward journey, and went home. It was then taken on the back of a truck to the bodyshop from where I drove it home yesterday, and down to the dealership today. I have at all points maintained that there is a gearbox issue.

The independent engineer's report states that in his opinion the vehicle is roadworthy, yet I have a catastrophic gearbox failure less than 50 miles after taking it back from the body shop, with it exhibiting obvious problems all the way through.

It seems frightfully unfair that I have been involved in a no fault accident and yet the burden of proof is on me to establish beyond doubt that the damage is the result of the accident and therefore I might be £3000 out of pocket.

I wonder how much of this is down to the fact that my case *might* be contested, and therefore the claims company has the least of interest in pursuing it, i.e. not wanting to risk a non-watertight claim.

I assume that contacting the other party's insurance company is going to result in a flat "we're not paying for that if you can't prove it"?

Is there anything I can do at this point, or any advice anyone has? A few hundred quid I can maybe absorb, but a £3k repair bill is insane!

vaio

Fwuffy wrote: »

........ the burden of proof is on me to establish beyond doubt that the damage is the result of the accident...

You don't need to prove "beyond doubt", you just need "on the balance of probability".

How old is the car? Mileage?

mikey72

It would be helpful if the dealer can diagnose the damage to the gearbox as being accident related.

Fwuffy

Hi folks,

Thanks for the replies.

The car's 4 years and several months (Apr 06) and has had circa 80k miles on it.

That's possibly part of the problem because the independent engineer is suggesting that it could be wear and tear as well. It has however been serviced as recommended by Audi at main franchise dealerships, included one about 6 weeks prior to the accident.

Audi are happy to say that the damage could well have been caused by the accident, but unfortunately will not go beyond that. They're stripping the box on Monday but are not optimistic that they will be able to conclusively say what caused the damage.

I'm struggling to see how this is different from a medical injury... I would imagine a doctor would say [1] Joe Bloggs is injured [2] the injuries are consistent with the accident that Mr Bloggs has been in.

I imagine the onus then is on someone providing evidence to the contrary such as medical reports suggesting Mr Bloggs had been receiving treatment for that as a pre-existing condition, but otherwise how is it possible for a doctor to really say that an injury was or wasn't a direct result of the accident? As long as it is consistent with the type of injuries that could be sustained in that type of accident.

I struggle to see how a doctor could be more positive than that, yet essentially that's the situation I'm in - [1] the car is damaged and [2] Audi say the damage is consistent with the accident.

I'm also very frustrated that the "independent engineer" states in his report that "in our opinion the vehicle appeared to be roadworthy at the time of our inspection".

Well I have only picked it up from the body shop, driven home, and attempted to deliver it to the garage to have it looked at and it is now most certainly not roadworthy... I had to catch a cab home.