Car accident - false witnesses coming forward

YoungBaker

Looking for some help

My In Laws were in a car accident a few weeks ago, where a group of young boys jumped a red light and smashed into the side of them. There was an independant witness behind them at the lights who confirmed that the light was actually red and so the fault was clearly theirs.

The police attended and said it was an insurance matter only. Unfortunately both drivers are with the same insurance provider.

Insurance repairs have now taken place on the vehicle (around £3.5k of work) and the insurance have contacted in laws to say that the other party now has 2 independant witnesses who have came forward on the night. There was no other individuals there as the accident happened after midnight and so this is clearly false.

Despite explaining this the insurance company insists therr is more witnesses who csn confirm the story and so are demanding my in laws pay their £250 excess rather than this coming from those who caused it.

Appreciate any advice, as my inlaws are worried sick with this. It was an accident caused by a young wreckless driver, and it defeats the point of having insurance to protect you if they will.simply accept fabricated witnessws upon a claim.

Carrot007

YoungBaker wrote: »

Appreciate any advice, as my inlaws are worried sick with this. It was an accident caused by a young wreckless driver, and it defeats the point of having insurance to protect you if they will.simply accept fabricated witnessws upon a claim.

Worried sick they might have to pay £250 as some people lied?


Seems overkill.


They should tell the company that this is lies and there were no witnesses and accept whatever outcome occurs. If they have to pay £250 then there is not much that can be done reasonably. leave it to karma.

Quentin

Both parties being insured by same company has no bearing on this


Just because it was "after midnight" hardly proves there were no witnesses!


They always knew that their excess was payable in the event of any claim - the excess is an uninsured item, and if it is deemed they were to blame then it is unrecoverable


They do need to ensure the insurer is aware of their side of the story, but in the end it is down to the insurers to make the decision on liability

dacouch

You always have the option of taking action against the other driver via the court.

False witnesses tend to either drop out when they realise the court is involved or their statements make no sense.

Judges in county courts tend to be very switched on and are more likely to believe the credible witness especially if the rest of the evidence agrees with the witness.

A look on Facebook often reveals the false witnesses are actually friends of the other driver

FutureGirl

Your in laws have to pay their excess no matter who is at fault, as per the T&C of the policy. You pay your excess whenever you make a claim.

If they are found not at fault, they are then entitled to claim this amount back from the third party / third party insurer.

EdGasketTheSecond

Quentin wrote: »

Both parties being insured by same company has no bearing on this

In theory it shouldn't; in practice it's a different kettle of fish. When it happened to me it was 10X more difficult pursuing a non-fault claim as all the insurers were interested in was settling 50/50 so both parties lost our NCB and both paid excesses. More money for the insurer that way. Have you ever been in this situation Quentin?

Quentin

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

When it happened to me it was 10X more difficult pursuing a non-fault claim as all the insurers were interested in was settling 50/50 so both parties lost our NCB and both paid excesses. More money for the insurer that way.

The OP's in laws are not faced with them pushing for 50/50!