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

JustinR1979

Car_54 wrote: »

I think it's unlikely your instructor said just that - it's obviously impracticable. He probably went on to say that if you have to drive closer, you should slow down to give more time to react.

The insurers will probably see it as 50/50, but there's a possible offence - C & U Regs 1986 Section 105: "No person shall open, or cause or permit to be opened, any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger any person."

Notice that both the passenger and driver could be guilty.

Do ADI's still teach 3-2-1 (30-3ft, 20-2ft, 10-1ft)?
I tried applying this from my adi days to my lgv training and was told off for going too slow!

Robisere

bery_451: You are tying yourself in knots with this.

* You are at fault, by extension from not ensuring that your passenger took sufficient precautions to avoid the incident.
* If you ask your insurance company to cover the passenger's liability, I would like to be in that Claims Office when they fall about laughing.
* The age of the passenger is irrelevant - you are responsible for them and their behaviour.

If I was in your situation, I would ask the other party to go with you to your choice of repair shop and arrange to pay cash for the repairs. That is the action I took a long time ago, in connection with an incident which was my fault. Pay up and learn a valuable lesson.

OddballJamie

OP as you seem unable to accept responsibility, then ask your passenger to cough up for repairs.

It seems the driver of the other vehicle is the only person who is blameless.

BTW is this the new car you got last week?

bazzyb

Money_maker wrote: »

Yes, you will unless you are going to make a legal declaration in your renewal that you have had no accidents.

Incorrect. The accident will need to be declared, but it will not affect the no claims bonus unless a claim is made. That's why it's called a no claims bonus, and not a no accidents bonus.

adouglasmhor

They might put the premium up though.

bery_451

adouglasmhor wrote: »

They might put the premium up though.

You mean my renewal premium or premium from my quotes from price comparison sites?

bery_451

Robisere wrote: »

bery_451: You are tying yourself in knots with this.

* You are at fault, by extension from not ensuring that your passenger took sufficient precautions to avoid the incident.
* If you ask your insurance company to cover the passenger's liability, I would like to be in that Claims Office when they fall about laughing.
* The age of the passenger is irrelevant - you are responsible for them and their behaviour.

If I was in your situation, I would ask the other party to go with you to your choice of repair shop and arrange to pay cash for the repairs. That is the action I took a long time ago, in connection with an incident which was my fault. Pay up and learn a valuable lesson.

I let the insurance companies decide whos fault is it. If the driver was doing more than 5mph or didn't leave a door width apart space when passing by then I cannot accept full liability.

OddballJamie

bery_451 wrote: »

You mean my renewal premium or premium from my quotes from price comparison sites?

Try a test quote, do one with just the accident you had last month, then another quote with an at fault accident this month too.

Then for kicks do one for an at fault claim and loss of no claims discount - sit down for that one.

JustinR1979

bery_451 wrote: »

I let the insurance companies decide whos fault is it. If the driver was doing more than 5mph or didn't leave a door width apart space when passing by then I cannot accept full liability.

Was your passenger Disabled Rights For Me?
Just get them to wave their blue badge.
I'm sure the amount of disabilities combined you 2 have, no court in the land will find you accountable for any accident.

OddballJamie

bery_451 wrote: »

I let the insurance companies decide whos fault is it. If the driver was doing more than 5mph or didn't leave a door width apart space when passing by then I cannot accept full liability.

You will then lose any chance of getting off paying cash cheaply. The third party isn't going to hang around whilst you make up your mind who's footing the bill, these things can drag out for months.

Your passenger opened your car door into a moving vehicle. Unless the moving vehicle was driving that close they would collide with the door whilst being closed you don't stand a chance.