Very Minor Rtc + Whiplash Claim - Help!!

Antony09

Me and my girlfriend are looking some advice re a claim on her insurance that she's just had.

On Saturday just gone my girlfriend was on her way to work on her own when she was approaching traffic lights the vehicle in front slammed its brakes on, she was going approx 5mph on the approach to the lights, this caused her to collide with the vehicle in front. Details were exchanged at the scene of the accident and there was no damage whatsoever to either vehicle. There were no injuries (reported at the scene). An independant witness also came forward to my girlfriend stating they had witnessed the driver slamming on causing the accident.

My girlfriend recieved a call from her insurance company yesterday to advise that the woman is now claiming for whiplash, her insurance company are stating that she has accepted liability due to agreeing she was in an accident, but despite us disputing the speed in which she was going, the fact my girlfriends vehicle has no damage whatsoever and my girlfriend was not injured either (she is pregnant and if there was any thought of injuries/whiplash would have gone to hospital) the insurance company would not listen to this and have stated that she has accepted liability and that she should have left enough breaking distance?!

They have said their is no way of disputing this, my girlfriend is now going to loose her two years no claim discount and we're not happy with the outcome and the little amount of investigation that has gone into it. The insurance company believed that the other party had taken their vehicle to a garage and stated it has damage under the bumper of the vehicle (theirs was a vauxhall astra and my girlfriends is a small Peugeot 107!!) and have also stated the fact she has a witness does not account to anything.

Quite rightly my girlfriend said to them on the phone how easy this claim was and that anyone could go and slam on in front of someone and have £1,000 in their pocket from a whiplash claim the week after.

Is there anything we can do about this? We are both honest people and are in the police service ourselves, and just feel that this is completely unfair of how easy this is.

I also remember a tv program a while back about a similar claims scam which was uncovered by greater manchester police.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

Wh05apk

Unforunately I think your g/f is at fault, she ran into the back of the car in front, who knows why it stopped, did they think the lights were changing, was someone about to step off the path? irrelevant, unfortunately she ran into them.

Whether this is a scam or innocent who knows, if you feel it a scam, perhaps you should report it?

Just because there is no damage visible at the scene, does not mean there is no damage, a few years back someone ran into me, I couldn't see any damage at the time, but when I stopped and checked properly the bumper had a small crack, and about £1000 of damage was done, modern cars hide damage very well.

As has been said, I think your G/f was just unfortunate, but at least she and the baby are ok.

Lum

Sorry to say this but your GF was either driving too close or was not paying attention. People can slam on for any reason, for example a light change (especially if there are red light cameras about), a child running out, sudden engine failure or a money making opportunity.

Unless the person pulled in front and then slammed on, you're automatically at fault because you should have left sufficient stopping distance, so really there isn't much investigation needed.

Not saying this isn't a scam, but whiplash can happen at such low speeds, especially if the person had their head in an awkward position at the time.

Chalk it up to experience I guess.

JQ.

Yep, your GF is at fault - no excuse for running into the back of someone when travelling at 5mph.

You can do considerable damage to a bumper without it being visible. Someone ran into the back of me at lights several years ago and there was no sign of damage. Took it to a garage to be safe and there was considerable damage behind the bumper where the boot floor had been deformed. Modern bumpers are designed to bend and then pop out again.

Also whiplash can be caused at very slow speeds, so don't automatically assume they're trying to pull a fast one. Obviously, they could be pulling a fast one, but it's unlikely you'll ever know.

Inactive

Antony09 wrote: »

. An independant witness also came forward to my girlfriend stating they had witnessed the driver slamming on causing the accident.

The other driver didn't " cause " the accident, your GF caused the accident by not leaving a safe stopping distance from the car that she drove in to the back of.

vaio

There are certainly fraudulent whip lash claims occurring but the insurance companies will not significantly investigate one offs as it would be too costly.

If they start to see clusters or patterns emerging then it would be a different story so it’s worth reporting your concerns even though it won’t directly benefit you in this case.

Errata

The evidence for the whiplash injury may be the womans's diagnosis at A&E.

Hintza

Same thing happened to me about five years ago. Insurer said the claim £1,950 was just below the level where they bother to check it out which at the time was set at £2k.

I phoned and told her I hope what goes around comes around. Scamming old boot that she was.

king100

Well I had similiar incident at a roundabout, where driver in front pulled out, no cars coming round and then slammed on breaks. Needless to say I hit the car.

We pulled over, I didnt accept I was at fault, got camera on phone so took pics, they got out, walking fine no issues nothing.

They looked at their boot and there was no damage, they opened up boot everything was fine.

My car no issues, so we exchanged details.

Got a call stating that car was a write off, they couldent close the boot at all, there was a severe dent in boot. They were also claiming whiplash as well.

I told insurance total lie, said they could have pics, heard nothing and still kept NCB. People try it on for a quick payday.

Lum

Just for the opposite perspective, I was rear ended at a roundabout a few years back. It was night time in an unfamiliar area (Ainley Top Roundabout in Huddersfield) and the roundabout was a 70 limit with an average speed of 30, no signal controls and trees growing in the middle of this huge roundabout which I'm trying to enter.

Finally the roundabout is sufficiently car free to enter, so I start to move, then suddenly a pair of headlights appear, it's a car straddling both lanes and doing more like 60mph. I stomp on the brakes as this idiot does have right of way and they shoot past me with about a foot to spare. You probably wont be surprised that it was a barried Corsa-sized car with a massive fart cannon exhaust.

I'm looking right again, to see if it's safe to proceed and *wham* old couple in a Renault Scenic pile into the back of me in a low speed impact.

As my neck was turned all the way to the right, the muscles at the rear left and front right of my neck both got pulled as my head rocked forwards and backwards.

They still have problems today. It's not always a fraudulent claim.


That guy tried to claim it was my fault too, because I'd crossed the give way line. I just refused to discuss the matter of blame, and instead deal with getting both cars to safety and exchanging details then go through insurance.

flower7

If you feel it was not an accident tell your insurance company you think this was a scam. Tell them you have not accepted liability you want this investigated you have a witness and you will go to court. Get a gargage to give a report about the damage to your car and take photos. If you have the energy you will have to fight this by badgering your insurance company to do their job.... email letters phonecalls or just accept the claim pay extra and move on.

You could also ask your insurance company to check if there have been a rise in these types of accidents in the last few months in that area.

good luck either way you are not going to have an easy time of it.