Consequences of agreeing to a 50/50 claim.

Indigosaff

Hello all,

I'm new to the forums but a veteran money saving expert so please be kind.

In 2010 I was involved in a car accident at a junction usually controlled by lights.
On the day of the accident the traffic lights were not working, treating it like a junction I slowed down and proceeded with caution.
As my car nearly reached the other side of the road I was hit from the left which sent my car spinning to effectively face the car which hit me head on.
As my car spun round I hit a stationary car on the front bumper.
A few hours after I returned to the scene of the accident to take pictures of the incident and locate any witnesses (wasn't able to do so after the accident due to shock).
I also took pictures of the damage to my car and prepared a witness statement which was sent to my insurers the following day.
On the day of the accident I called my insurers to inform them and was told that they would not send out an engineer to assess the damage as I was only third party fire and theft.

I had to make my own arrangement to store the car and eventually had it scraped as the cost of repairing it was more than the value of the car, I could no longer store it at work and I wasn't secure enough to leave it on the street.

The case dragged along for two years with my insurers never phoning me to update me on my claim apart from sending me a letter to state they wanted to pursue a 50/50 claim. To be honest they were totally rubbish (trying not to use offensive langague!)
I refused to accept 50/50 liability based on all the evidence I provided.

My insurers called me today (for the first time) stating they have had the case for two years and want to go with 50/50 as they fear the third party (the car that my car hit) will initiate court proceedings which will increase costs.

I was also informed that if I go 50/50 I would get some money for my car however, the damage to the car was never calculated as I didn't know it needed to be (until my insurers told me today).

So here is my problem, if I go 50/50 I may not get any money as I no longer have the car and all the parties involved may later initiate a civil claim against me.
If I regect the 50/50 and go to court I may end up out of pocket!
I absolutely refuse to admit any percentage of liability for something which wasn't my fault!!!!!

I feel I've been totally sharfted my all involved especially my insurers and I'm the innocent party!

Thank you for reading my rather long post.
Any advice or comments would be welcomed.

Ta,
Indigosaff

forgotmyname

Why are they not claiming from the person that pushed your car into theirs?

Where did the car on your left hit your car? Front, Middle or Rear?

As your insurance have no interest then. You may have to do the work yourself. Send that persons insurance a letter holding them 100% liable for all costs and you want it sorting.

The car you hit should also be claiming from them as you were not at fault for the collision.

As you are 3rd party your insurance are not interested, Nothing in it for them.

Try quotes for fullycomp, Sometimes its cheaper. Especially if your not going to claim for your car if its your fault.
Have a £1000 excess. Should be cheaper then 3rd party.

Quentin

Indigosaff wrote: »

.....So here is my problem, if I go 50/50 I may not get any money as I no longer have the car and all the parties involved may later initiate a civil claim against me.
If I regect the 50/50 and go to court I may end up out of pocket!

Ultimately your insurer will decide how to settle the claim against you.

When you took out third party cover you knew your car wasn't covered, yet haven't pursued your own claim??

As you chose not to, then your losses may be all "spilt milk", though of thos is concluded as 50/50 you will have all the storage/removal costs to claim 50% for, and may be able to negotiate a 50% payment for your write off too.

As long as you comply with your insurer, they will deal with any future civil actions brought against you, and pay any awards made against you were these actions to result in court cases.

InsideInsurance

Who is the 50/50 split with? The car that initially hit you causing you to spin or the second car that hit you after you'd hit the stationary vehicle?

The problem with junctions with failed traffic lights of cause is that no one has priority. Are you even sure that all lights had failed? It certainly can be that lights for only one direction are broken and the others are functioning.

Your not pursuing your own claim is evidently your own fault. Having had this case go on for 2 years then the impact to premiums and NCD has already been felt and in some cases will be coming off next year anyway and so other than the principle of the matter it makes little difference if its 50/50 or 100% the other party to you. To your insurers it does make a difference but they are the ones that get to make the decisions