Vehicle Hit Debris from RTA - Advise Required

[Deleted User]

Hi to everyone on the MSE Forums!

On 09/09/11 at around 22:00, my partner was driving home from work on the M40 when he happend to unavoidably hit some debris which had come off of a vehicle that had collided in to the central reservation up ahead between J3 and J2.

He pulled over to the hard shoulder where he was approached by an off-duty police officer who had happend to have been travelling in the opposite direction and had witnessed the other vehicle suddenly veer in to the central reservation.

It took around 15 mins for on-duty police officers to attend the scene and during this time 3-4 other vehicles also hit the debris and had to pull on to the hard shoulder.

My partner was advised by both the off-duty police officer and breakdown company to not drive the car as the tyre had split and the wheel looked as though it was at angle (not to mention the front bumper hanging off). The car was therefore towed home where it was collected three days later by the allocated repair centre that our insurance company, DirectLine, uses.

My partner has been liaising with the police officers involved and has obtained details of the driver, the vehicle, and the drivers place of work. At the time of the accident, the off-duty police officer had mentioned that the only occupant of the vehicle was under the influences of alcohol, however, the occupant was claiming that they were not driving (indicating there was a second occupant that had done a runner)...they will not discuss this part with us any further and have requested that our insurance company contact the 'AOJ Department' of the police.

Unfortunately, our insurance company is arguing that because my partner hit debris from the other driver's accident and the two vehicles did not physically collide, it is unlikely that he will be able to persue a claim against the other driver nor will he be able to claim for any uninsured losses (insurance excess, loss of work pay, additional car hire expenses etc...).

I just don't see how can they can argue this when there was a police witness to the incident and the driver was under the influence, so can Martin or anyone advise how we should handle this?

Thanks in advance!

Lum

Insurance companies are lazy. Expending time and effort into a complicated case is less profitable than just fixing your car and deducting your NCB so you get screwed over at renewal.

Find an advert for one of the ambulance chasing lawyers, ideally one that doesn't do credit hire, and ask them for their opinion, tell Direct Line to stop handling the claim/repair. Alternatively if you have the drunk person's insurance details you could approach their insurance directly and invite them to deal with it themselves. Threaten to go to HelpHire if they are uncooperative, do not actually go to HelpHire.

AFAIK if someone leaves debris on the road, they are responsible if it causes an accident, the problem is normally you can't trace them.

Out of interest, how long was there between the drunk person crashing and your partner arriving on the scene.

vikingaero

The fact is that there is an obstruction in the road, whether debris, a stationary vehicle, a random box, etc etc and it is the responsibility of the following driver to slow down, avoid or stop. Although the driver may have been intoxicated what if the driver had not been drunk and crashed?

Strider590

Too much hassle chasing a claim with another party, plus the inevitable legal fee's which they can't be 100% they'll ever manage to recoup. It's cheaper, easier and more profitable to take some NCB from you and charge a premium on top just for having had a claim.

Seriously, get the damage assessed.... Unless there's body damage or chassis damage, It's probably cheaper to get it fixed yourself than to go through the insurance. Even if by some slim chance they could claim from someone else, you'd still face raised premiums for the next 5 years or so.

I know it's not good to hear and your thinking "why the f*ck do I pay insurance?", but the insurance companies are out there to make a profit.

Lum

The OPs insurance company already know about the claim now, so too late for that Strider, though I agree with you in principle.

Best option now is to somehow get the drunk person's insurance to pay out so it becomes a non-fault claim. Also be sure to tack on an estimate for the increased premiums for the next five years.

forgotmyname

I think chasing this maybe a long ticket to nowhere.

Hit debris in the road, Unavoidable, Not if the vehicle was travelling slow enough.

Maybe the debris was already there and thats why the other driver crashed? You need proof that its theirs.


One of those things where you think this should not happen, You shouldnt be out of pocket. But i guess it happens
to many people every day.

Strider590

Lum wrote: »

The OPs insurance company already know about the claim now, so too late for that Strider, though I agree with you in principle.

Yep, but it's a bit of a dark area to be fair. I reported a minor accident 2 years ago for which I decided not to claim (someone hit my car and did no real damage), my insurance company have specifically said several times that it won't affect my premiums due to their not being any action on the claim.
I admit they could be lying (they're an insurance company after all), but im not convinced that the OP's options are closed.

I reckon (speculating on the damage) a new tyre, wheel and track rod will barely come to the cost of the policy excess. But via the insurance repairer, the same parts would raise a repair estimate figure of £750 - £1000.... Which of course the OP would then pay back via raised premiums.

Lum

All I'm saying it, it may or may not affect renewals, we don't know.

However since the only benefit to not telling them is to mitigate this risk, and they already know, there is now no-longer any benefit to paying for the repairs yourself if you can get the drunk person's insurance to pay out.

I guess in any case, stopping Direct Line from arranging the repair is the first step, depending on the nature of the damage.

Wh05apk

[QUOTE=forgotmyname;47271873
Hit debris in the road, Unavoidable, Not if the vehicle was travelling slow enough.
[/QUOTE]

10pm at night on a motorway, how fast would you expect them to be going? presumably the debris, was fairly small so travelling at 70 mph you would be unlikely to see it in the dark until it was too late.

A similar thing happened to someone I used to work with a while ago, his car got showered in debris from a head on collision in front of him, he got the full car re-sprayed on their insurance, sounds to me like you have a clear case, although if the damage is "only" a few hundred, it may not be worth the hassle claiming/fighting it?

[Deleted User]

Lum wrote: »

Out of interest, how long was there between the drunk person crashing and your partner arriving on the scene.

It couldn't have been more than a few minutes as the off-duty police officer was had already turned around and was heading back to the scene of the acccident.

Lum

Ok, I was just trying to establish if this was flying debris, or debris that had already landed and settled.

Since it's the latter, it may be a bit harder to claim, but the argument I'd be trying is that the driver, through their own bad/drunk driving deposited debris on the road which your partner was unable to avoid due to size/position/darkness/whatever and therefore they are responsible for the damage caused by this negligent behaviour.