Was involved in a car accident earlier today, whos liable?

bery_451

Do both of our insurance companies have to investigate this accident by obtaining CCTV without us having to register a claim and instead we report this to them as 'for your information purposes only'?


Or does a claim has to be registered then the insurance companies will move their backsides for investigation work?


Or do we have to do the investigation work by getting CCTV ourselves?


Is CCTV mandatory for a investigation in a place like this? Do insurance companies have the right to come up with a decision without a CCTV?

Spicy_McHaggis

bery_451 wrote: »

Do both of our insurance companies have to investigate this accident by obtaining CCTV without us having to register a claim and instead we report this to them as 'for your information purposes only'?


Or does a claim has to be registered then the insurance companies will move their backsides for investigation work?


Or do we have to do the investigation work by getting CCTV ourselves?


Is CCTV mandatory for a investigation in a place like this? Do insurance companies have the right to come up with a decision without a CCTV?

I thought you weren't involved in this thread anymore.

If both parties verbally inform their insurance of the facts as you've said it happened, your insurance will pay out. No need for the cctv.

DUTR

bery_451 wrote: »

Do both of our insurance companies have to investigate this accident by obtaining CCTV without us having to register a claim and instead we report this to them as 'for your information purposes only'?


Or does a claim has to be registered then the insurance companies will move their backsides for investigation work?


Or do we have to do the investigation work by getting CCTV ourselves?


Is CCTV mandatory for a investigation in a place like this? Do insurance companies have the right to come up with a decision without a CCTV?

The insurance companies do not have any claim to view the footage of the cctv, only the 3rd party and yourself, however the cctv is a moot point. By now even if you have not reported the incident to your insurers the 3rd party may have.
(you were asked what did the 3rd party have to say about the incident?)

The insurers go on the probability of which party is liable and which is the lower cost outlay.

So the insurers will get 2 reports, one will say

1) I was driving along Queens Drive and a parked car passenger opened the door which collided with my vehicle causing damage.

2) My passenger opened the vehicle door and a passing car collided with my open door.

Then also there are the diagrams and photos of the actual incident (in this day and age of mobile phones, I'd be surprised if not one or both of you had taken any pictures.).

The insurer's are not going to hang around until one party decides who is liable.

OddballJamie

You have no witnesses to the apparent speeding, nor did either of you see the car coming, otherwise your passenger wouldn't have opened the door.

Open and shut case for the insurers.

If your passenger had been clipped exiting the car or the driver didn't stop then things would be different.

bery_451

OddballJamie wrote: »

You have no witnesses to the apparent speeding, nor did either of you see the car coming, otherwise your passenger wouldn't have opened the door.

Open and shut case for the insurers.

If your passenger had been clipped exiting the car or the driver didn't stop then things would be different.

Of course I have witnesses, 2 passengers in my car witness it plus there's CCTV that will prove the speeding.

JustinR1979

bery_451 wrote: »

Of course I have witnesses, 2 passengers in my car witness it plus there's CCTV that will prove the speeding.

They don't count.
CCTV will prove part of your car entered the path of another vehicle causing an accident.

DUTR

bery_451 wrote: »

Of course I have witnesses, 2 passengers in my car witness it plus there's CCTV that will prove the speeding.

What did the 3rd party say at the time?

JustinR1979

DUTR wrote: »

What did the 3rd party say at the time?

My money's on "Is there anyone in the car I can talk to that isn't !!!!!!?".

OnanTheBarbarian

Original Poster, save yourself a lot of messing about and just accept the fact that you are liable for the actions of your clump of a passenger who has opened your car door into a passing vehicle.

You are liable and either you settle up with the other party for their damage directly and get them to promise never to report the matter to their own insurers etc, or you swallow and report the matter to your insurers.

Given that you have described the damage to the other vehicle starting down the side of the car, rather than the front bumper etc, this is all the evidence the other party needs to hose you down for this.

Forget about the speeding allegations. usually when somebody's car is hit unexpectedly the perception that the other vehicle was speeding is immense. I deal with road accident claims day in day out and the degree of exaggeration people put on the speed of the other vehicle is staggering sometimes. i.e. clients saying they were hit from the side at 50mph by the other car. (erm if you were hit in your driver door by another car doing 50mph you wouldn't be talking to me right now)

Stop looking for get out of jail cards and either pay the other dude off, or phone your insurer.

Altarf

OnanTheBarbarian wrote: »

Original Poster, save yourself a lot of messing about and just accept the fact that you are liable for the actions of your clump of a passenger who has opened your car door into a passing vehicle.

I disagree.

It is not the OP that has done anything wrong, but the OP's passenger, so it is the passenger that is liable for the damage both to the other driver's car and the OP's car.