Car accident, not my fault, my insurance wants me to take the blame - what to do?

riccume

I have 15yr no claim. I was involved in a small accident which wasn't my fault, but my insurance wants me to take the blame. What should I do?

The details: last Sunday I was driving on a large road with two lanes (one for each direction) in central London, looking for a parking spot. I spotted one on the right-hand side (across the opposite lane) so I activated the right-hand side indicator and slowed down to a stop to then cross the opposite lane and park (my 2 year old daughter was in the car with me, so I was driving extra-carefully). The car behind me stopped, the car coming in opposite direction stopped, no other car was visible in the rearview mirrors so I started very slowly to turn right to reach the parking spot.

After about a metre a car came from the back and drove on my right-hand side at full speed, ending up clipping the corner of my front bumper on its passenger side (the two doors). As mentioned the lane I was driving on was very large so there might have been enough space for a car to sneak through on my right-hand-side when I stopped, but that was no longer the case by the time I had started to turn right. Final important point, a few metres after the accident spot, road markings appear on the lane before a traffic light, and they divide the large single lane into three lanes (one for turning left, two for going straight).

The other driver says that I drove into him when he was already in the section with three lanes and it is my fault because I invaded his lane, but in fact the accident happened in the section where there aren't yet any road markings (apart for the middle of carriageway one) so there is in fact only one lane and I think it should be his fault.

I called my insurance and they tell me that because there are no witnesses (it was a minor accident so nobody stopped), because of the location of the damage on the cars, and because of the road markings for three lanes shortly after accident spot, I am likely to be held responsible. Consequently they want me to take the fault. While I understand the issue with no witnesses I am uncomfortable with taking the blame for something that isn't my fault. Am I wrong? and if not, what can I do to convince my car insurance not to accept the blame? Thanks!

Quentin

You can continue to protest your innocence.

Your insurer will then have to make their own decision on liability.

With no witnesses/inconclusive physical evidence etc it's going to be hard for them to be able to "prove" your innocence.

If this ends up with any liability against you (split ir otherwise), then if your NCD is unprotected it will go down to 3 years. so maybe worth protecting it as soon as you can (usually you will need to get it back to 4/5 years before you can protect)

riccume

Thanks Quentin. So they can unilaterally decide to take the liability even if I do not accept it?
Also, does it make any difference to my NCD whether I end up with full liability or with split liability?

Quentin

The policy conditions will allow them to deal with claims against you as they think. (You can still raise a complaint about them if you consider they have acted incorrectly, which you can escalate to the FOS if you remain unhappy with their response).

If you are deemed in any way liable the impact on your NCD is the same as if it was deemed 100% your fault.

notanewuser

Can you give a google map link to where this happened?

I'm not sure why you thought it was right to pull across traffic going both ways to park - it sounds like you should have driven on and turned around when you could so that the parking space would be on your left and you wouldn't have put yourself, your 2 year old or other road users in danger.

riccume

Thanks again Quentin. So it'd seem there is little point in my fighting their decision: with no witnesses it is extremely unlikely I'd come out at no fault, and although if I take full liability my damage won't be covered by my comprehensive insurance due to the excess, it is fortunately rather small (in the big scheme of things, that is: c. GBP 300). Would you agree?

riccume

notanewuser: it was 9am on a Sunday morning, the street was extremely quiet, and I waited for all cars in sight to stop before making (very slowly) my move. Obviously with the benefit of hindsight I wish I hadn't tried to park there but I don't think this is what caused the accident; in my opinion the driver of the other car was rushing (possibly speeding) and trying to beat the traffic lights, and he thought he could squeeze between my car and the middle of carriageway.

ticiag

Hi Riccume,
Had a similar situation 2 years ago. Not my fault but as the other party's account did not agree my account firstly I was held to blame. I fought my corner and it was then decided we were jointly to blame. Ins company turned out to be poor and I could not get a straight answer from them and that was where it ended. Lost some NCD and it costs more for a short time. When it was eventually settled I switched ins co. and saved £200!!

They can decide unilaterally what liability is. If you disagree you can make complaint then, when they reply with their final settled view, you take it to financial ombudsman who will consider and decide.

I hear you say you were not to blame and I agree you should keep writing back with your innocence. From the description of your incident it does sound as though you will have a difficult time proving it one way or another. (Like I did!) It looks like it could prove to be an injustice you can do nothing about sadly. But please do not accept it was your fault. (Keep all letter copies so write only.)

I am so glad you and the baby were not injured and hope you are over the initial shock now.
Hope this helps:)

Quentin

riccume wrote: »

......... if I take full liability my damage won't be covered by my comprehensive insurance due to the excess, it is fortunately rather small (in the big scheme of things, that is: c. GBP 300). Would you agree?

If this ends up as split liability then you would be able to claim your proportion of your uninsured losses.

Eg. If it ended 50/50 then you would get 50% of your excess and any other uninsured losses back off the third party.

riccume

ticiag: it does help, thanks. And yes you're right, I feel so lucky nobody was injured.
Quentin: all clear now, thanks!

notanewuser

Where did it happen? Did you check your blind spot?