Claiming against a Third Party

cwhaley1

Hello

I was involved in a car crash 3 weeks ago and I am now claiming directly against the third party insurer on my own.

I was travelling in lane 1, third party in lane 2 on a stretch of road with a 30mph limit. The two lanes merge into one after a set of traffic lights and the third party used this as an opportunity to overtake. After going through the lights, he misjudged the amount of roadway left in his lane and as he merged into my lane, struck the front offside of my partner's car (I was driving). I have CCTV stills that show he was behind me as we passed the lights and had to overtake as the lanes started to merge. The damage is also consistent with my claim. He claims I was "always behind" him and that I tried to "undertake" him.

He also states that you must always "give way to right in England".... lol. Never heard of this rule for merging lanes.

Long story short, I was using my partner's car to pick up my own car from the garage. I was insured to drive this under the "driving other cars" section on my policy. My insurers are not interested nor are my partner's - this won't change.

Has anybody ever claimed against a third party on their own? I have submitted everything to them but I'm nervous as I'm going it alone. I've had two accidents in the past and these were non-fault and sorted quickly through insurance.

caprikid1

I have claimed from a Third party ... BUT the Third Party admitted liability.


Get together a very detailed pack of all the evidence costs etc. Then put forward a request for a full and final settlement to settle the claim.

AdrianC

Your car was hit on the offside front. Where on his car was the impact?

EdGasket

You claim off the TP themselves, not their insurer. The TP will either deal with it themselves or more usually pass it on to their insurer to deal with.

The procedure is:
1) Get two estimates for repair
2) Add any other costs like temp hire car
3) Send lower quote + costs to TP inviting them to settle within 14 days before you will commence court action
4) If no response, instigate a small claim online.

I don't think you'll get anywhere approaching the TP's insurer without the TP's cooperation.

cwhaley1

Thank you for the information on this - honestly it is very helpful in a situation where I have no experience. I especially like the timeline of procedures from EdGasket. I will give them to the end of the week to respond to the evidence I have sent them. As the third party has informed his insurer, that is why I am going through them.

In answer to Adrian C, the damage to his van was nearside rear. Damage sustained to me as he cut across when his lane ended.

So far I have a CCTV still which I purchased from the local authorities. I have an aerial shot of the road it took place on and the damage sustained by both parties is consistent with the classic crossing into another lane regardless of what's there. I have time-stamped pictures of the accident scene.

Damage includes a dented wing, partly detached front bumper and alloy scuffing. My partner is a District Nurse and needs her car to visit patients. We can't and shouldn't have to shell out for repairs.

I will get some estimates this weekend. Thank you all.

AdrianC

So - in a 30 limit, your front corner hit the rear corner of his van.

Good luck. This is not going to go any better for you than 50/50. Even that might be optimistic... No wonder your insurer don't want to know about going after him for full liability...

YOU could VERY easily have avoided this impact. You chose not to.

cwhaley1

Not quite - my insurer didn't want involvement purely because I don't have motor legal protection on my policy - nothing to do with the details of the incident even if he accepted liability. They also confirmed that they would only be interested if I was being claimed against while driving third party. This is not the case as he isn't claiming for damages.

I see your angle, but it's a little presuming. I was struck as he cut in without warning and caught the front end of our car. My own car is fitted with two dashcams and I'm a very forgiving and patient driver so don't put me in the same group as the road rage people. The third party essentially floored it and cut in - what could I have done? There was certainly no "EASY" element in this.

Thanks.

Retrogamer

As Adrian said above, it is likely at best this will go down as split liability accident and both of you will be held at fault.

Both of your lanes merged into one lane as you said yourself
He was ahead of you
You could see his lane was about to end and it would be reasonable to slow down and let him merge safely to avoid a collision but as BOTH lanes merged into 1, you hit each other.

EdGasket

cwhaley1 wrote: »

As the third party has informed his insurer, that is why I am going through them.

OK but that is just being 'nice' on your part; legally your claim is from the TP themselves and you might get a quicker and more favourable outcome following that route.

AdrianC

cwhaley1 wrote: »

My own car is fitted with two dashcams

Yet you paid the LA for the CCTV? Let's see the dashcam footage, then...

The third party essentially floored it and cut in - what could I have done?

Slowed down to give him space to complete his manouvre. No matter how ill-judged you thought it was - it was in your power to avoid the impact.

cwhaley1

A split liability would be reasonable as I know these things are hard to prove in full - I just needed advice on working with the third party.

Lane 2 (his lane) merges into lane 1 (my lane). He was behind me until presumably deciding to floor it and then cut in without warning. I know his lane ends as I take this route every day, but I can't mind read and I did not know he was going to cut in as he did. He had been behind me for the last mile or so, in various single and dual carriageways.

As I said I am a patient driver and I frequently drop back to let the MGIF (must get in front) drivers overtake. I can't do that when they decide last minute to floor it past me.