car Insurance company threatening to cancel my policy

ihateyes

goody23 wrote: »

Basically i was in some guys garage at the back of his house and he was fixing my car, he was changing my back brakes and doing an oil and changing the leads for the spark plugs because they were misfiring!! Anyway he finished the work gave me the keys, i started the car from outside because i wanted to hear if the engine was still misfiring.
Soon as i started the car it shot forward and hit a wall opposite the garage..the idiot had left the car in gear and put the handbrake down to fix it but forgot to put it back before he gave me the keys.
Anyway the owner of the wall put in a claim for it on my insurance, of which i denied liability..

i can now see why the insurance is paying out....
its YOUR responsibilty to make sure it safe to start your car.... just be thankful it wasnt a young child or another person infront of your car... couldve been more than your no claims you were losing.

goody23

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

you were liable. You turned the ignition and drove it into a wall.
If i gave you a loaded gun with the safety off, and you pulled the trigger, killing somebody. Am i to blame because you didn't check it was safe?

Stop trying to blame somebody else; you were responsible for starting the car and driving it into a wall because you didn't check it was safe to start.

No i didn't actually drive it into a wall, i was given the keys standing outside my car the guy fixing it was standing next to me i started the car because he said all done!! the reason why i started it outside is because we were standing next to each other and i wanted to hear if it was still misfiring. so the guy fixing my car and disabling it and not putting it all back again is not liable . if you have someone standing next to you giving you the keys to your car and saying it all done with out making it safe its my fault is it?

goody23

ihateyes wrote: »

i can now see why the insurance is paying out....
its YOUR responsibilty to make sure it safe to start your car.... just be thankful it wasnt a young child or another person infront of your car... couldve been more than your no claims you were losing.

Thats true nobody was hurt thank god for that!!! but the guy was standing next to me giving me the keys and saying all done!

Quentin

You are truly flogging a dead horse here!

Who turned the key to start the car?

Face the facts and comply with your insurer otherwise the consequences (of having a cancelled policy on your record) will be far worse than currently having a fault claim on your record!

scheming_gypsy

goody23 wrote: »

. if you have someone standing next to you giving you the keys to your car and saying it all done with out making it safe its my fault is it?

who turned the key without making sure it wasn't in gear?

goody23

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

who turned the key without making sure it wasn't in gear?

Didn't even know the guy had put it in gear ..he told me to start it why did he? ( and no it was not a loaded gun lol)...my point is he disabled my car and was not competent enough to put everything back!!

thegirlintheattic

Criminal charges and insurance liability are two different things.

Your insurance is paying out because YOU started the engine without checking it was out of gear. That should be an automatic reflex really. Your mechanic is not responsible for making sure it is out of gear as he was not the one STARTING the engine. It's an accident but YOU are at fault.

If you refuse to cooperate and the company cancels your insurance you will have to declare that every time you buy insurance over the next five years, sometimes even if it isn't car insurance. That will mean that many companies will simply refuse to insure you as well and those who will insure you will charge you a sky high premium. You will also have to declare the claim.

OP swallow your pride, take responsibility and send the documents. Will cost you a lot less in the long run.

If you are so sure you are right, try to sue the mechanic in small claims court. You will lose.

thegirlintheattic

goody23 wrote: »

Didn't even know the guy had put it in gear ..he told me to start it why did he? ( and no it was not a loaded gun lol)...my point is he disabled my car and was not competent enough to put everything back!!

Oh and if you think he's incompetent why the hell were you letting him near your brakes!! :eek:

In any case, he did put everything back together. Nothing you have said would have led him to take the car out of gear, and it's up to the person starting the engine to make sure it is out of gear when you start or you have the clutch down.

goody23

Thanks for the advice guys even though some of you were quite harsh on me i will take it on the chin...out of principle i dont like being bullied into paying out for something that i believe was not my fault.. let them cancel my insurance its just not right especially when i believe it is a fraudulent claim with the the owner of the wall and the guy being neighbours and both having illegal garages

Quentin

If you don't comply with them, then although they will deal with the the third party, they could not just cancel your policy (bad enough for you, as no other mainstream insurer will want you so you will be stuck paying a high premium to an insurer happy to have "difficult" clients on their books), but could void the policy, and come after you to reimburse them all their costs paid out over this incident.