My car was hit in a roundabout

vikramrkin

Had a bad day today. Was driving through a round about. Wanted to take second exist and was in the correct lane which would have taken me to my exit. A car came from my right, overtoof me while trying to change to left lane. A collision occured and damage to my wheel arch + driver side bumper. They had some damage to passenger side front door.

It is their fault as far as I understand. They say its my fault as I was moving towards my right - completely wrong. They said they are going to make a claim against my insurance.

Now my question is:

- Should I go through their insurance or involve a accident management company?

- How will they determine who is at fault? There were no CCTV (as far as I know) and no witness as well (lot of ppl saw what happened, but neither I nor the other driver asked any one for evidence). I was really shaken by all this and didnt even take any pictures. Just exchanged details and drove on.

Thanks in advance for looking and all the advice.

Thanks
Vik

paddedjohn

Probably best to just go through your own insurance, chances are it will go 50/50 anyway.

Horseunderwater

My opinion - if another vehicle tries to cut across in front of you to go left into the same exit and they hit you, then it is their fault. Road position in that instant is not relevant, for all they know, you could have been going onto next exit and been in left column - which loads of drivers do. Explain that to your insurer and draw a diagram of the roundabout with any road markings and tell them what happened. Then let the 2 insurers sort it all out. I have seen many drivers have same problems over the years. In fact I had one on an island in my 40 ft bus where a driver of a car did just that tried to come up my right side as I was going to 3rd exit and as buses don't usually bend, the result was rather spectacular to say the least. She ranted and raved at me and told me that it was my fault. Took over a year to clear that one up. Her fault 100%. My inspector back at the yard laughed his head off when he heard that one. Over 13 years ago now.

spiro

I had something similar and even the lanes on the approach to the roundabout were marked (by road name) with which lane you should be in. Other driver was in wrong lane and we collide. After months it went 50/50. The lawyer for my insurance said it was wrong but a test case had agreed that both drivers were at fault for not checking the road was clear.

Buzby

If the exit road has 2 lanes, then it is not automatically their fault. If a single, then you are still at risk unless you have video evidence to prove your statement - or an independent witness.

It may well go 50/50, but you have no choice whether you tell your insurer. An AM company will only get involved if it believes you were fault free - and this won't be a slam dunk.

I always use a cockpit camera when on the road - best £50 I spent.

anotherbaldrick

Keep your attention also on what is happening in the lanes alongside you at roundabouts , don't just concentrate on the road ahead. It's roundabouts that catch out the inadequate drivers.

vikramrkin

paddedjohn wrote: »

Probably best to just go through your own insurance, chances are it will go 50/50 anyway.

What are the advantages of going through my own insurance? I will have to pay an excess as well (£250). If it went 50/50, what does it mean? I pay for my repairs and she does for hers?

All that I want to get repaired is scratches and one dent. I dont need any curtosey car (even when mine is at th egarage).

vikramrkin

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Keep your attention also on what is happening in the lanes alongside you at roundabouts , don't just concentrate on the road ahead. It's roundabouts that catch out the inadequate drivers.

Ya, true. I was focused just on my exit as I was in the lane which took me straight to my exit. Wasent seeing what was happening to my right.

vikramrkin

One other question is will I loose my NCB if it went 50/50? Do I have to pay excess?

Buzby

Yes, it is a claim so depending on what you currently get it might drop 20% at be at renewal. The excess is paid to the repairer, not be insurer. To challenge this in any meaningful way, you need to have witnesses or video alternatively, take a screen grab of the area from Google Earth (not StreetView) and draw the paths of each vehicle on the image with a X where the accident took place.

Then keep your fingers crossed!

Avoriaz

vikramrkin wrote: »

Ya, true. I was focused just on my exit as I was in the lane which took me straight to my exit. Wasent seeing what was happening to my right.

You should always try to be aware of everything going on around you, especially on a roundabout or other busy junction.