Car insurance claim decision 50/50

Toothfairy1982

Hi, I'm new here so bear with me! I wanted some advice on something that happened last year. I was (not anymore!) insured with 1st Central car insurance fully comp on a BMW X5 (my pride and joy) . I have always been a careful driver and never had an accident .....until May 2015. I was driving down my road in Rossendale getting ready to turn right into my drive.. I indicated and started to brake. As nothing was coming the other way I started to turn into my drive. All of a sudden a screech of brakes and crash into the drivers side! Some idiot had been going to fast (it's a 30mph road) and tried to overtake me before I turned/ not seen me slow down and couldn't slow down fast enough. Either way there was nothing I could have done to prevent this happening. I had significant damage on my drivers door, sill and side step. Luckily he was driving a Nissan Micra otherwise the damage to me could have been a lot worse.. My son was in the car at the time but luckily we weren't hurt. I did everything right, got his details (he didn't speak much English so it wasn't easy) and took photos of the skid marks and how the cars were left. I assumed it'd be a straight forward claim, until I got a call saying he wouldn't accept liability. I couldn't believe it!! How did he think I was to blame? I had a witness who was crossing the road at the time (if the other driver hadn't hit me then he would have certainly run my witness over). Unfortunately as he was my neighbour and knew me I was unable to use his evidence!! Crazy!! Anyway, after a few weeks of not getting very far I heard from my insurance that they were going to suggest 50/50 liability and did I agree?! Erm no! I said I would happily stand up in court and fight my case. They patronisingly said 'It's not really worth putting yourself through that sweetheart ' Grrrrr!! After around 6 months of calls and stress! I got a letter saying 1st Central we're going to use their subrogated (wrong spelling?) rights to settle the claim 50/50. I was so angry but at this point it was out of my hands. My no claims was reduced to 3 years (from 7) and obviously my premium went up (not mentioning half my excess down the drain). I am hoping someone can help me as I am reluctant to let this go.. Is it too late to try and contest this decision? Thank you

Quentin

Your insurer was correct when telling you they had the right to settle the claim as they thought fit.


You can complain to them about the way they handled the claim and can escalate this to the FOS if you are unhappy with their reply. You do need to make a formal complaint in the first instance, their complaints procedure will be set out in the policy docs.


On a brighter note you can now go to the third party insurer and pursue them to reimburse you 50% of your uninsured losses over the incident including your excess.

Marktheshark

Until you make an official complaint, they can do as they like.
Complain in writing :
Say why you think they are wrong
Say what you expect them to do to put it right.
Do not use words passive asking like request, use words like demand, you are not begging, you are complaining.
Do not sign anything stating "Full and Final"

Astronaughtwannabe

I think 25/75 personally. I wouldn't go to court expecting 100% of the blame apportioned to the third party. It's Pell v Mosely material (google it).

Effective use of mirrors?


Annoying as this will be, insurers rely on case law and the above case is likely to underpin your insurers decision. Your neighbours statement should still be taken into account though and excess speed by the third party should tip the scales more towards your side but I just don't think you'll ever achieve a 'non fault' conclusion.

Finst

First of all, my sympathies on the accident, and as per Quentin above, your insurer has the right to decide on liability and settle as they see fit.

Based purely on what you have described above, I would be very surprised if complaining did any good.

The Highway Code states that you should check your right mirror / blindspot before turning right, in case someone had already begun an overtaking manoeuvre (in which case you should not turn right as you should allow the overtaking vehicle to complete the overtake). In motorcycling, this check is called the "lifesaver" check.

By admitting that you did not perform this check, you've admitted that you didn't follow the highway code, and you've opened up the possibility that you were at least partially at fault. That will be the reason that your insurers are going for 50:50

Toothfairy1982

I forgot to add I did check my mirrors as I always do but he was going so fast there was nothing else I could have done but to turn quickly into my drive. He was going to hit me whether I turned or not! His insurance sent an independent damage assessor who said there's no way I should be blamed at all due to the positioning of our cars on impact and whereabouts on my car the damage was. I also forgot to add , when he was reversing away from me (as he trapped me in my car) he hit my neighbours van!! Moron.. His car was a battered mess to start with...he also gave me a false phone number. I called the police but it was Friday night and they were too busy to come. Probably never going to get anywhere with this...I guess we might have to take the law into our own hands.. Thanks for advice though

Toothfairy1982

He couldn't have overtaken me without killing my neighbour who was crossing the road and also he would have hit my husbands van which was parked outside my house!

Marktheshark

Cancel the claim and sue the other driver.