car accident, now gone to soliciters

naz101

Hi,

Im looking for a bit of advice. Back in November a van drvier pulled out of a t-junction and scraped the back of my car due to the tight angle at which he came out off.
My car was stationary and I was in it so i know it was him.

long story short initially he just kept driving. I got him to pull over threatening to call the police.

First he denied it was him. then After I poinyed out the damage to his van and more my car he stated that he would tell the insurance company I was illegally parked so he had to hit me.

I told the insurance company all of this and they let me go away and get my car repaired with a hire car given to me due to work.

The problem is this driver is still denying he had anything to do with it. e a delivery card and wrote his name on the back of it too as I stated to him I wanted to tell the insurance people. he looked at my car and state dthat it could be sprayed for £100 and i didnt need to inform anyone

My insurance company have now passed it on to their soliciters.

I was just wondering what happens now? I really dont know what to expect.:(

I am really scared of losing my no claims bonus and having to pay the excess

angela110660

Stick with it and keep to your version of events. I had the same thing with a lorry that went into side of me and pushed me on the verge and said he was sorry at time and then denied all knowledge of saying it once he went back to base. Direct Line passed it to solicitors but I gave a full statement of the events, took photos of the road where it happened to prove that road markings were rubbish and he had crossed over them when he hit me. Went on for months and when they said about going to court - I said yes I would. Day before the court hearing, the driver's company backed down and it was all settled. I had lost nothing and my no claims discount which was at the maximum remained intact.

naz101

thanks angela110660.

The solicitor was surprised that the insurance company had not asked me to pay anything and when I asked her why would they not ask me at the moment she did say that my story hasnt changed since the first time I told them about it (10mins after the incident) and also I have provided everything they have asked for on time.

So what will happen in the run up to the case?

I have never been involved in anything like this before. Last time I caused an accident and immediately admitted it. the policeman who came out pulled me to one side and told me never to admit fault!

alistair.long

Hi,
I dont want to sound mean but this is a tricky situation and will have to goto court.
The reason is that you stated to me, and therefore must have also stated to your insurance and also to the solicitors you had your version of events.
If you were parked to close to the corner this can be classed as "dangerous parking on the highway", it has 3 points which go along with it if the police got involved.

I would have accepted the £100 because the headache is going to be a lot worse and getting it to goto court with whiplash is something I dont thing will be given if you have £100 scrape damage. The reason I say whiplash is because solicitors wont go to court for £100 damage.

Anyway the senario you state says that you were in the car so further more you could have avoided the accident by moving to a safe place before hand, or hitting the horn when the van came around the corner.

I know Im going to get a lot of stick from people (have done before) so I would appreciate it if you let us know how it goes via a private message.

There are a lot of cases of obstruction which I believe your case may be as your car was parked illegally, therefore dangerously. Not obaying the law may leed to the claim being against you.

However what did the note state exactly as that may help you?

Also you can have a think about it and if the claim handlers are dealing with the claim, you can contact the other party and take the cash and let your insurance know to cancel the claim. Get loads of advise and the solicitors / claim handlers before making a decision.


"it is a breach of the standard of reasonable care to park a vehicle on a road in a manner which causes an obstruction or a danger (e.g. if parked on a bend) and if the obstruction or danger is the proximate cause of the claimant's loss then he has an action for damages"

cases to refrence:
barns vs hudes merchandising Corporation, watson vs heslop, young v chester, Fritsz v hobson, ingram v united automobile services ltd, chesterfield corporation vs a robinson, etc...

Barna vs. Hudes Merchandising Corp.
Vehicle A pulled out of a side road intending to turn right. The driver's view was obstructed by parked cards. Vehicle B, approaching from the right, hit Vehicle A on the side. Vehicle B was estimated to be breaching the speed limit.
Who's at fault?
Vehicle A is 100% liable.
The judge considered that exceeding the speed limit, while illegal, is not in itself negligence. Vehicle A should have ensured the major road was safe.

Young v Chester- car parked at night with no lights on, and no street lighting.

Fritz v . Hobson. (1880)- if parked on private property, and causing a obstruction,

The above was copied from a book by Sweet and Maxwell called "The Law on Motor Insurance", same people who make Kemp and Kemp.(I think)

gordikin

alistair.long wrote: »

Hi,
I dont want to sound mean but this is a tricky situation and will have to goto court.
The reason is that you stated to me, and therefore must have also stated to your insurance and also to the solicitors you had your version of events.
If you were parked to close to the corner this can be classed as "dangerous parking on the highway", it has 3 points which go along with it if the police got involved.

I would have accepted the £100 because the headache is going to be a lot worse and getting it to goto court with whiplash is something I dont thing will be given if you have £100 scrape damage. The reason I say whiplash is because solicitors wont go to court for £100 damage.

Anyway the senario you state says that you were in the car so further more you could have avoided the accident by moving to a safe place before hand, or hitting the horn when the van came around the corner.

I know Im going to get a lot of stick from people (have done before) so I would appreciate it if you let us know how it goes via a private message.

There are a lot of cases of obstruction which I believe your case may be as your car was parked illegally, therefore dangerously. Not obaying the law may leed to the claim being against you.

However what did the note state exactly as that may help you?

Also you can have a think about it and if the claim handlers are dealing with the claim, you can contact the other party and take the cash and let your insurance know to cancel the claim. Get loads of advise and the solicitors / claim handlers before making a decision.

...I've read some nonsense on MSE but the above takes the digestive.

birkee

Where did the OP say they were 'parked', as opposed to stationary?

The van driver has no excuse for running into anything stationary.

The van driver should have exchanged details when you stopped him... it's a legal requirement.

Had a Woman back a Merc out of a drive once, and backed right into my parked and unoccupied car midships.
My alarm drew me out of the house. She exchanged details of her name and employer (company car) and promised details of the insurance when she got them. She never called back.
I phoned her company and asked to speak to her. She refused to speak to me though. I just told the person taking the call, than unless she did so, I was going to report her to the Police for failing to exchange details. Change of heart pretty quickly after that.
Gave my insurer her details, got my car repaired, and heard no more about it.

vaio

alistair.long wrote: »

Hi,
I dont want to sound mean but this is a tricky situation and will have to goto court...........

I think you do sound mean together with negative, scaremongering and just plain wrong

alistair.long wrote: »

.......There are a lot of cases of obstruction which I believe your case may be as your car was parked illegally, therefore dangerously. Not obaying the law may leed to the claim being against you..........

Don't suppose you have any links to any case ever where a stationary parked car was ever in any way shape or form held responsible for damage caused when it was hit by a moving car?

alistair.long

vaio wrote: »

Don't suppose you have any links to any case ever where a stationary parked car was ever in any way shape or form held responsible for damage caused when it was hit by a moving car?

Cases added, I also have a case of my own, but I dont know if I got paid because of my skeleton argument or the other party solicitor didnt want to goto court for £80 solicitor fees.

birkee

vaio wrote: »

I think you do sound mean together with negative, scaremongering and just plain wrong



Don't suppose you have any links to any case ever where a stationary parked car was ever in any way shape or form held responsible for damage caused when it was hit by a moving car?[/QUOTE]

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::T

alistair.long

birkee wrote: »

Where did the OP say they were 'parked', as opposed to stationary?

"My car was stationary and I was in it so i know it was him."

As the OP states she was in the car, if I was driving I would say I was driving and stationary at a junction or at a light, or turning out of junction, etc...
I have assumed OP was parked in a stationary position while still being in the vehicle.

If the senario is on the road with moving traffic, it may be diffrent and the version of events must be compared to determine who was negligent.

vaio

alistair.long wrote: »

Cases added, I also have a case of my own, but I dont know if I got paid because of my skeleton argument or the other party solicitor didnt want to goto court for £80 solicitor fees.

as expected, none of the cases stated (that I or google can find) have facts even remotely similar to the OP