Non Fault Claim - Other driver now not admitting liability

ajb102

Hi Everyone,

My girlfriend was unfortunately involved in a car accident yesterday which I witnessed driving behind her in my own car. She was on a roundabout in which there are 3 lanes. The first lane takes you with left or straight on, the middle lane goes straight on and the third lane goes right.
She was in the first lane going ahead and the car in the middle cut across without indication and has lightly damaged the drivers rear wheel arch and wheel hub of my girlfriends car.

After the incident the other driver initially wouldn't accept responsibility for the crash but once we pointed out the road markings they admitted they were in the wrong and shouldn’t have attempted to switch lanes.

We contacted the insurance company and explained the situation, the cover is fully comprehensive which included legal fee's, etc. The insurer explained that under these circumstances she will not have to pay the excess fee of £390 to get her car repaired as it seems like the other driver is at fault.

All seemed well and we had a call from Auxaillis who would arrange to repair the car and provide a hire car. To our surprise Auxaillis said that we would have to pay the excess as there had been a note from the insurance company saying the other driver is now not admitting fault! The other driver is also with the same insurance company so the insurance company are saying they won’t pay the excess in this case.

I have sent images to the insurance company of the incident but have been told this will have to be looked into and could take some time. I have read a lot of posts online saying if neither driver admits fault this usually goes down as 50/50 especially if there’s no CCTV or witness. Although I was in the car behind I’m not sure they will take me for a witness due to the fact I could take sides and have no proof of what happened other than my word?

My Dad runs a car paint supply business and we can get the repair done for £100-£150 rather than the same repair costing £700-£800 going through insurance and costing us the excess of £390 which at this time of year especially isn’t ideal. If we were to cancel the claim how would this effect the no claims bonus and how would we stand with insurance in the future? Would the premium rise due to them being told about the incident?

Do you have any advice on the next steps, with the other driver not openly admitting fault? Usually there would be the two insurance companies that would have to fight it out but with it being the same insurance company I can’t see them doing much as there’s a conflict of interest?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

SandraX

Where there are three lanes depending on the size of the roundabout and marking, the first lane is usually a left turn, the second lane usually takes the next left and so on.

The outcome will be what they call a knock for knock I think where both were deemed to be at fault.

Even if your gf was right, she needed to give way to the other driver in the second lane.

Btw what lane was you in.

ajb102

Thanks for your reply. We have pictures of this particular roundabout and there are are marking as you approach the roundabout and on it of the left hand lane indicating both left and straight on. But as you say it will probably be knock for knock so will probably just get the car repaired ourselves than rather than waiting for the insurance to eventually say there’s not enough evidence

ajb102

SandraX wrote: »

Where there are three lanes depending on the size of the roundabout and marking, the first lane is usually a left turn, the second lane usually takes the next left and so on.

The outcome will be what they call a knock for knock I think where both were deemed to be at fault.

Even if your gf was right, she needed to give way to the other driver in the second lane.

Btw what lane was you in.

She shouldn’t have to give way as they were both coming from the same direction and set off at the same time, it wasn’t as if the other car was already on the roundabout. I was behind my gf’s car also in the first lane. There was a car behind me who was the only possible witness but they just drove round us and carried on.

casseus

SandraX wrote: »

Where there are three lanes depending on the size of the roundabout and marking, the first lane is usually a left turn, the second lane usually takes the next left and so on.

The outcome will be what they call a knock for knock I think where both were deemed to be at fault.

Even if your gf was right, she needed to give way to the other driver in the second lane.

Btw what lane was you in.

absolute Nonsense.

Norman_Castle

The first lane takes you with left or straight on, the middle lane goes straight on

Is the straight on exit two lanes?


Find it on google maps and post the http.............

ajb102

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Is the straight on exit two lanes?

Yes the straight on exit has two lanes. So the car in the middle lane should had ended up in the second of the two and shouldn’t have really tried making it into the first.

Norman_Castle

SandraX wrote: »

Even if your gf was right, she needed to give way to the other driver in the second lane.

As above, nonsense.

casseus

ajb102 wrote: »

Yes the straight on exit has two lanes. So the car in the middle lane should had ended up in the second of the two and shouldn’t have really tried making it into the first.

When someone is in the right hand lane merging into the left the onus is on them to make sure the way is clear, and give priority to those in the left lane next to them, and NOT the left lane user give priority to those on the right like SandraX has stated above.

Norman_Castle

ajb102 wrote: »

Yes the straight on exit has two lanes. So the car in the middle lane should had ended up in the second of the two and shouldn’t have really tried making it into the first.

Agreed.......

SandraX

Dear OP

Discussed with my husband, I think I got it wrong as the other person should have gone to the second land. However, if the first land and a left arrow in it, then your gf should have turned left.

Unless you had a dash cam, it's going to be difficult.

Good luck.