Rear-end shunt claim in dipute!

Vegas33139

On the way home from work recently, I noticed a guy in a Range Rover literally inches from my bumper, driving aggressively and mouthing obscenities for me to get a move on and basically get out of his way.

I tolerated/ignored him when entering onto a roundabout. I exited the roundabout and waited until there was a long safe straight bit of road.

Not wanting any sort of confrontation, I signalled my intention and then quickly pulled in and hand gestured for him to pass me. As I checked my near-side mirror before quickly pulling into the kerbside, I heard a screech of brakes and this guy ran into the back of me causing a lot of damage to my offside rear of the car and whiplash injuries to myself. I have now been off work for 10 days and the loss of earnings is starting to bite, which I can ill afford.

To my dismay, now I don't know if this is usually the case when initially investigating claims ( I have never claimed for this sort of thing before), this guys insurance company is disputing his negligence!!

How can this be? It's turning into a bit of a fiasco!

I have reported him to the police and filled out a collision report and reported him for dangerous driving.



Any advice would be very welcome.

Cool_Mint

I signalled my intention and then quickly pulled in and hand gestured for him to pass me

This sounds odd. When you say you signalled does that mean you used your indicators or does it mean you turned around in your seat and gesticulated at him? You also pulled in quickly so does that mean you stopped suddenly? I'm not saying you were in the wrong at all but the way you describe the incident doesn't sound quite right.

spiro

If you indicated and then pulled in he should be in the wrong assuming you didn't just slam the brakes on which may be what he is claiming. If that is the case they could be thinking this is a 'staged accident' allowing you to make a large claim for injuries.

Were there any witnesses whose details you got?

The other thing to bear in mind is that insurance claims can take months and I do mean months to sort out. If your insurance send a claim to the 3rd party they have 90 days (according to an insurance company) just to acknowledge receipt of the claim let alone process it.

Vegas33139

Cool_Mint wrote: »

This sounds odd. When you say you signalled does that mean you used your indicators or does it mean you turned around in your seat and gesticulated at him? You also pulled in quickly so does that mean you stopped suddenly? I'm not saying you were in the wrong at all but the way you describe the incident doesn't sound quite right.

It all happened very quickly, i.e indicate, pull over and make a 'go on' hand gesture without turning around.

I stopped swiftly, but not as such that if he was at a safe distance he couldn't of stopped safely and gone around me.

My main concern was my safety given his agitated demeanour and aggressive style of driving.

Quentin

Vegas33139 wrote: »

this guy ran into the back of me causing a lot of damage to my offside rear of the car and whiplash injuries to myself. I have now been off work for 10 days and the loss of earnings is starting to bite, which I can ill afford.

To my dismay, now I don't know if this is usually the case when initially investigating claims ( I have never claimed for this sort of thing before), this guys insurance company is disputing his negligence!!

If you have personal injury you want to claim for, then you need to get some legal advice/representation.

But even if liability wasn't being disputed, it will be some months before you receive your compensation, so if the loss of earnings is biting, you need to be looking to claiming all benefits you are entitled to now.

mcjordi

doesnt matter that/if you stopped quickly he shouldnt of been so far up your rear end.. his fault plain and simple..

Strider590

It'll be his fault... However i'd like to know what you did to annoy him? And no im sorry, I do not believe your story!

People don't just get irrate for no reason and all too often these days people like to annoy other on our roads (passive aggressive driving).
They drive too slowly, wait for someone to get annoyed, then they start slamming on the brakes (assuming wrongly that it won't affect their own insurance) or weaving about the road, in my 10+ years of driving I have only ever seen TWO people pull over to allow another car through!! and one of those was me!

Just this morning a chap pulled out in front of me on a 50mph road and instead of accelerating he repeatedly slammed on his brakes and gave me hand gestures!!
He's very lucky I used my brakes, because I do infact have an in car video camera! I would love to have seen the look on his face when he found out after a collision!

It's becoming very common these days, so maybe the other driver had a video camera?

So in short, im calling bu11sh1t on your story until proven otherwise! I do NOT believe your entirely innocent in this at all......
As for the injuries, I suspect that's rubbish too...... We all know it. Parasites the lot of em.....

crispy_chris

@Strider: You've never just been driving along and had someone in a BMW or an Audi right up on your bumper, despite the fact that you're doing the speed limit?

Now THAT is something I'm calling BS on.

Strider590

crispy_chris wrote: »

@Strider: You've never just been driving along and had someone in a BMW or an Audi right up on your bumper, despite the fact that you're doing the speed limit?

Now THAT is something I'm calling BS on.

Not shouting, screaming and gesturing at me........ Not without reason, doesn't matter what car they drive! and under no circumstance do I start jabbing the brakes for no reason.
The OP should have noticed this guy a long time before he started mouthing off. Nobody just starts behaving like that the second the come up behind another car and the OP either wasn't checking their mirrors OR knew the car was behind a lot earlier.

In all honesty I very rarely get anyone tailgating me except when im stuck behind someone travelling far too slowly for the conditions.

I drive at the speed limits, I drive to the road conditions and I can count on one had the number of times ive had trouble with impatient drivers in over 10 years driving.

The problem as I mentioned above, is that some people just like to wind people up even more and THIS causes great danger on our roads!




Now as for the OP, that reads like an insurance accident report form!!!

Sounds like "I was driving down the street doing 30mph when a tree suddenly jumped out in front of my vehicle, causing me whiplash injuries and blah blah blah"

"The guy was all over the place. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him"

"The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its path when it struck my front end"

"The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intention"

I think we get the point.

Insurance companies ALWAYS dispute the initial claim.
The third party will eventually take blame and the OP will get their £2000 injuries pay out..... Unless there are 3rd party witnesses OR in car video footage!

fivetide

I'm not sure who has hit him. Chap in the Range Rover or someone else.

What it reads like to me is OP is driving along in the outside lane of a dual carriageway (which might be what annoyed the other driver in the first place if the inside lane was clear at the time).

Having gone off the r/bout the OP pulls over and is either hit in the process or hit by another vehicle who didn't realise the OP had actually stopped.

If it is a dual carriageway then you need to work out if it is a clearway or not and if the stop was illegal. That might contribute.

However, stationary car, properly parked up and still hit then certainly not the OPs fault. Doesn't sound like that though. Also, it would surely be fairly low speed if the RR had hit him at close range so the 10 days off seems excessive. Have some paracetamol and man up a bit!

5t

skiddlydiddly

Does smell a bit fishy this one, like not quite the whole story.If the Range Rover hit him though then he was too close, no way around that even if he was being brake tested/whatever.