Obvious 100% Liable, Insurance says 50/50

stonesy

The car/me in question is the white vehicle.

Without sounding like I'm lying/bull**** - I have genuine hearing difficulties with years of medical history to back it up - I was in a 'loud' environment and genuinely did not hear the other car scraping my bumper.

The £500 figure has come from a quotation done by my local dealership so admittedly will be inflated - however I have done three quotes and they are all in the region of £400-550 - apparently because the paint has come off from the edge of the bumper leading onto the off-side panel, they will need to paint the whole thing to 'blend' it in.

Please do continue to contradict/scrutinise the videos/my comments though as I still appreciate the feedback, as I'm still not 100% whether I will have a 'case' in court - is it true that my 'witness' i.e. the passenger sat in the vehicle is not credible due to them being my friend/colleague?

Cheers all

Aretnap

stonesy wrote: »

And as a policy holder I'm not allowed to admit liability to the third party as far as I know...

Exactly... So by doing it you'd be breaching the terms of your policy and giving your insurer an excuse not to pay the claim at all.

rs65

What did the witness see/hear/feel?

You may not have heard anything but would you not have felt the car being shunted forward?

stonesy

The speed at which the accident happened didn't raise any concerns to me - bare in mind I'm in a loud environment, hearing is crap anyway and I was concentrating on not going over the amount I was putting in.

My witness/friend stated "He heard a slow crunching/scratching sound, and he 'felt' the bump"

He looked out the rear view, the third party once past my vehicle continued to drive off and did not stop my witness couldn't get out of the car at the time as it was side-by-side with his door.

Furthermore there's footage of me driving to the rear of the Petrol Station, less than a minute after the incident and inspecting my vehicle in the exact 'location' I was hit.

CKhalvashi

rs65 wrote: »

What did the witness see/hear/feel?

You may not have heard anything but would you not have felt the car being shunted forward?

This is the point I was going to raise, having just seen the video.

If there was any impact at all, I don't believe from the angle that the car wouldn't have been shunted forwards.

CK

stonesy

Can I be clear that the bumper/offside panel is cosmetically damaged - apologies if I've confused/misled anyone by my wording.

As for the CCTV showing/not showing anything, and the fact I get out of my vehicle to check once I liaise with my passenger - and the obvious damage to my car, would this even stand up in court?

Should I pursue a small claim and see if the third party caves? I'm just frustrated that (despite what the evidence shows) - there was no damaged before I entered, now there is; if the gent just drove to a garage with me to get it repaired I wouldn't be going through this hassle.

rs65

Perhaps not what you want to hear but here goes.

There is no evidence he is obviously 100% liable. There is no evidence an impact took place. Presumably you have no evidence of any damage to his car. The damage to your car could have happened anytime.

Your story was - When he returned to his vehicle and I went to go to pay, he drove between my car and the adjacent pump; scratching my bumper beyond the paint, and shunting my car forward. You were still filling up with your hand on the pump when he passed. The CCTV does not show your car being shunted forward.

Your witness was in the rear drivers side seat. He is your best bet – would he be credible in court? He may not be independent but he is still a witness. Presumably there was a front seat passenger, did he witness anything. Did your passenger not attract your attention when it happened? Why did you drive off before checking the damage.

I’m afraid there is either no claim or the Passat is 100% liable. 50/50 is not an option as you could not be 50% liable.

stonesy

The passenger was in the front (visibility isn't very good on the cameras) - He would be credible in court, no priors, in employment, clean/shaven if that's what you mean - the laugh is he previously worked in insurance and if it hadn't of been for him getting the registration so quickly, I would likely not have got it from the CCTV.

I appreciate I should I re-watched the video before I wrote my 'story' as there is obvious conflicts, but I was recalling from memory before watching it again - As I said I agree there's not visible collision, but would a judge use probability or is it so clear cut?

I'm looking at options i.e. I go to court, they settle beforehand
I go to court, they don't dispute/show up
I go to court and put forward what little evidence I have and lose

I'm just working out my options before I jump the gun

rs65

stonesy wrote: »

my witness couldn't get out of the car at the time as it was side-by-side with his door.

stonesy wrote: »

The passenger was in the front

If you are considering court, you need to sound credible.

stonesy

The car is a three door, and in the video the passat is covering the passenger side door?

^ I'm a moron and forgot which side my wheel was on...