Head on smash caused by other driver..now he's refusing to admit blame..HELP!!

carlcumbria

Hello all,

A friend of mine had a head on smash recently whilst in his works van, caused by the other driver who was also in a van. My friend told me there's a tracker installed in his vehicle which showed him doing 35mph at the time on the 60mph road, whereas the other driver was going at least 65mph. The main problem is that although the other driver jumped out and admitted full responsibility at the time and said it was his fault, by the time the police got there and my buddy was being loaded into the ambulance he'd changed his story and started trying to say it was my friends fault. Although it was head both vehicles glanced off each other and forced them into their own lanes, so it's not as simple as the other guy being on my friends side of the road afterwards to prove guilt. The police officer who was there did say he's probably agree that it was the other guys fault and not my friends.

Now the insurance firm for the other guy is saying they're going to treat it as a 50/50 claim.

Now this is the bit where we need advice please...What my buddy's concerend at is if it will affect HIS car insurance once he's made a claim if it's treated as a 50/50 (as he'll be claiming off the eployers WORKS van insurance) and if it would affect the payout amount he'd receive?

Assuming he wanted to take it further to make the other guy forced into claiming 100% responsibility does anoynoe know what it would involve etc also?

Thanks for any and all replies. Carl

scooby75

Evidence is the simple answer, of which there appears to be little beyond heresay. The tracker is the only proof, but that would probably be thrown out of court - at least a decent lawyer or expert witness could argue that it should. That leaves you with one person's word against another persons word. Unless there is some other evidence such as skid marks showing one driver was clearly speeding or otherwise in the wrong, the insurer is unlikely to consider it worth fighting for.

jonesMUFCforever

A claim on your insurance is a claim - not a not my fault claim.
Let your insurance company deal with it.

vaio

carlcumbria wrote: »

......Now this is the bit where we need advice please...What my buddy's concerend at is if it will affect HIS car insurance once he's made a claim if it's treated as a 50/50 (as he'll be claiming off the eployers WORKS van insurance) and if it would affect the payout amount he'd receive?

Assuming he wanted to take it further to make the other guy forced into claiming 100% responsibility does anoynoe know what it would involve etc also?

Thanks for any and all replies. Carl

Yep, just being involved in the accident is likely to increase the premium on his own car (and any other policy he's covered by), and that will get worse if he's held (even in part) responsible for the accident.

long the same lines, if the blame is set at 50/50 then he'll get 50% of what his injuries would otherwise merit and similarly he'll get 50% of any consequential costs he incurs.

carlcumbria

vaio wrote: »

if the blame is set at 50/50 then he'll get 50% of what his injuries would otherwise merit and similarly he'll get 50% of any consequential costs he incurs.

That being the case, and all things considered would you recommend fighting to win the 100% blame side of things?
Assuming he does deny responsibility would the other guys insurance firm then take it to court, and if so assuming he used solictors etc, and it was then later decided he WAS 50% responsible would he be liable for HIS legal costs only still, or at all? If he won the 100% would the other party have to pay his costs?

Thanks for far everyone, much appreciated

vax2002

The tyres dig in in a collision and usually leave gauge marks on the road that shows position of vehicles at impact as the energy is dissipated from the collision, it contacts the road, usually lifting the vehicles in a counter reaction.
But at the point of collision, force transfer marks usually occur from the tyres to road.

corbyboy

Are you certain that the other driver was at fault? What were the circumstances of the collision?

Why was he on the wrong side of the road? If there was an obstruction on his side of the road then surely that proves he was not in his lane. If there was no obstruction then why was he on the wrong side of the road?
Why was your friend doing just 35 on a 60mph road? I know the speed limit is an upper limit, but 35 is quite slow.

Just because the other driver was speeding doesn't prove he was at fault. Although incidentally, there is no way you could estimate the speed of a van coming in the opposite direction. You certainly couldn't estimate him to be 5mph over the speed limit.

I am not saying your friend is lying, but he has a lot to gain by passing the blame onto the other driver. And we are working with third hand information here.

vaio

carlcumbria wrote: »

That being the case, and all things considered would you recommend fighting to win the 100% blame side of things?
Assuming he does deny responsibility would the other guys insurance firm then take it to court, and if so assuming he used solictors etc, and it was then later decided he WAS 50% responsible would he be liable for HIS legal costs only still, or at all? If he won the 100% would the other party have to pay his costs?

Thanks for far everyone, much appreciated

Really all depends on what the police report says

chanz4

I think it will go 50/50 as no clear proof, also I would imagine both with end up on driver awareness courses. With van impact Im suprised there are injurys....your friend seems a little too intrested in injury claim to me.

vaio

chanz4 wrote: »

........With van impact Im suprised there are injurys....your friend seems a little too intrested in injury claim to me.

Don’t be a tit, this was a head on collision between two vans moving at speed, the sort of accident where it is really easy to end up dead

ariba10

I know it is too late for you now, but I fitted this.

http://www.roadhawk.co.uk/?gclid=CJPMp7yc8qwCFcsmtAodI1YhQA

Well worth it in my opinion, for peace of mind