Car accident

Deborah1970

My husband was recently involved in a car accident. He is fully comp but the other party said he was third party only. However we have just found out that instead of using his Insurance company he is using a no win no fee company!

Now to the accident. My husband was pulling out from a side road into a bigger two way road (after looking both ways & it being clear). He was turning right, he was almost turned right so in the left hand lane when the collision occurred. His passenger side at the front was damaged (the bumper, wheel on the front passenger side, the lights etc). The other car was damaged on the front driver side. Now to my mind if husband was in this position and the PASSENGER side was damaged then the other person would either a) be on the wrong side of the road or b) pulling out of a side road on the opposite side, which if so then it would be 50/50.

It seems the other man is claiming he was just travelling along the road when he was hit. He did not say this at the time. At the time, he said he didn't know what had happened & was perfectly friendly. My husband even let him sit in his car out of the cold & ring his Dad to get him.

Our car is now at repairers however other person's car airbag went off, so not sure what is happening there. We have to pay a £250 excess.

Unfortunately we have Sainsburys Car Insurance & so far they have been rubbish. We will be changing Insurer come renewal date on 9th March to Nationwide, & have managed to get it cheaper even though they know other party are blaming my husband.

Our current Insurers have initially said that my husband will be at fault as he was turning into the road. He is going to make the points I have made above to them tomorrow & tell them he is not claiming liability.

My questions are what difference does it make the other party using a no win no fee company as opposed to Insurers? Do you think the Insurers will take the above points on board & that we have a realistic case for either 50/50 or the other driver at fault? How long do you think a case like this could go on for? And do you think the other person would contest our points?

I also make the point I took a photo of our damaged car before it went to the repairers which shows the damage on the passenger side. Unfortunately my husband did not think to take photos at the time of the accident & he says there were no witnesses.

Also wanted to say that if you are thinking of going with Sainsbury or Esure Car Insurance I really would not bother!!!

dacouch

Unfortunately your husband will be deemed at fault as the other driver has right of way.

They're using a claims company as if they're third party only cover they have no cover for their own repairs

Chopper_Read

Without independent witnesses your husband maybe found 100% liable.

dacouch

Chopper_Read wrote: »

Without independent witnesses your husband maybe found 100% liable.

Even with independent witnesses the husband would be either 100% liable or a very large percentage liable.

If the third party was speeding the hubby would still be liable but the percentage might be adjusted

Deborah1970

But surely if husband was almost turned so in the left hand lane then the other driver was either on the wrong side of the road, or turning from a side road on the other side?

Quentin

Deborah1970 wrote: »

.......My questions are what difference does it make the other party using a no win no fee company as opposed to Insurers? Do you think the Insurers will take the above points on board & that we have a realistic case for either 50/50 or the other driver at fault? How long do you think a case like this could go on for? And do you think the other person would contest our points?

It makes no difference to you how the third party claims against you.

But no win no fee companies don't take on cases unless they are sure their client has a good chance of winning!

Even if you end up with split liability, the consequences for your future insurance premiums will be the same as if you are held totally to blame.

All claims take months rather than weeks to be finalised. The third party holds you to blame so will obviously contest your version!

Unless your NCD is protected then you may have to get new renewal quotes with less NCD than you originally claimed when getting your quotes.

dacouch

The damage to both cars would indicate he had not performed the turn when hit or if he had the other driver had to take evasive action to try and avoid collision.

Deborah1970

Therefore if had made the turn or nearly & the other driver had to take evasive action either the other party was on wrong side of road or turning into road from the other side.

Sorry its hard to explain! But there are lots of side turnings on both sides of this road so if they had both pulled out at the same time then it would be 50/50 surely & not mostly hubby's fault?

We are also confused cos at the time other person said didn't know what had happened but next day suddenly said knew what had happened. He was not angry at my husband at the time & was quite friendly etc

Chopper_Read

dacouch wrote: »

Even with independent witnesses the husband would be either 100% liable or a very large percentage liable.

If the third party was speeding the hubby would still be liable but the percentage might be adjusted

Depends on what they had to say.

Chopper_Read

Deborah1970 wrote: »

But surely if husband was almost turned so in the left hand lane then the other driver was either on the wrong side of the road, or turning from a side road on the other side?

If your husband was turning right and had almost done so and the third party hit his passenger side.

How was the third party on the wrong side of the road?

dacouch

If the other party was on the main road and your husband pulled out he will almost certainly be at fault.

Try drawing a picture with the juctions and the damage you've described, which if your husband was turning right will show you your husband had not completed the turn. Even if he had completed the turn he would normally be at fault.

Your husbands turning right, his damage is to the nearside (Lefthand side) and the other car has damage to the front corner nearside (Righthand side)