Insurance company liability issue 15 January 2020 at 6:20PM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Motoring 10 replies 469 views

jamesbcannell

In February 2019 my car was parked on the side of the road as I was attending a job interview. A lorry hit the back of it and unfortunately the lorry driver didn't speak English. I managed to get a photo of his insurance details, registration and drivers licence.

12 months on and i'm still waiting for the insurance company to sort things out. I'm paying an extra £50-ish per month on my insurance until the issue is resolved. Apparently the other insurance company are trying to get the lorry driver to admit liability but he is not responding to their requests. Luckily I got the job and many people I work with witnessed the event or heard of it. Would statements from witnesses help in this situation?

Anyone have any advice on what to do here? I've paid an extra £600 over the last year for something that wasn't my fault.

Shaun_of_the_Dead

A witness statement wouldn't hurt but then how proactive have you insurance company been?

dacouch

Is it a foreign lorry/

jamesbcannell

dacouch wrote: »

Is it a foreign lorry/

Yeah, Polish

jamesbcannell

Shaun_of_the_Dead wrote: »

A witness statement wouldn't hurt but then how proactive have you insurance company been?

Well it's taken them nearly a year to send a letter saying what is happening after we have called them 4-5 times.

Shaun_of_the_Dead

jamesbcannell wrote: »

Well it's taken them nearly a year to send a letter saying what is happening after we have called them 4-5 times.

I think you can probably chalk that one down to an at fault claim.

jamesbcannell

They’ve been absolutely awful so nothing would surprise me

Mistral001

jamesbcannell wrote: »

Would statements from witnesses help in this situation?
.

Witness statements would be very helpful.

Several years ago when the side of my car was crushed by a lorry in a traffic jam,I got the telephone number and name of a witness in a car behind me as it was such an unbelievable situation. It was a bit like one of those youtube videos of a lorry pushing a car in front of it with the driver oblivious to the fact that there was a car there at all.

I got the necessary name and address and insurance details from the lorry driver, but I sensed that he was telling me porkies. The police came on the scene and talked to the driver of the lorry. They were dubious about the lorry driver as well, but were primarily interested in getting the traffic moving again.

From the time the incident happened to the time I drove off from the scene in my battered car was no more than 10 minutes, maybe even as little as 5 minutes.

I cannot remember all the details of the insurance claim, but for a long time I was resigned to having to pay for the damage myself. The police did contact the witness after the accident, so despite their apparent disinterest in my case at the scene they certainly did follow it up. I was successful in my insurance claim.

Car_54

Mistral001 wrote: »

Witness statements would be very helpful.

Several years ago when the side of my car was crushed by a lorry in a traffic jam,I got the telephone number and name of a witness in a car behind me as it was such an unbelievable situation. It was a bit like one of those youtube videos of a lorry pushing a car in front of it with the driver oblivious to the fact that there was a car there at all.

I got the necessary name and address and insurance details from the lorry driver, but I sensed that he was telling me porkies. The police came on the scene and talked to the driver of the lorry. They were dubious about the lorry driver as well, but were primarily interested in getting the traffic moving again.

From the time the incident happened to the time I drove off from the scene in my battered car was no more than 10 minutes, maybe even as little as 5 minutes.

I cannot remember all the details of the insurance claim, but for a long time I was resigned to having to pay for the damage myself. The police did contact the witness after the accident, so despite their apparent disinterest in my case at the scene they certainly did follow it up. I was successful in my insurance claim.

The police should always be disinterested, that’s their job. I think you mean uninterested, or lack of interest.

AdrianC

Mistral001 wrote: »

Witness statements would be very helpful.

Sounds like the issue isn't persuading the insurers of liability, but getting the other insurer to pay.

While the OP's insurer is out of pocket, it's an at-fault claim.

sheslookinhot

You only find out how good your insurance company is when you have a claim. We had an accident recently and while liability has not yet been, agreed my car was repaired within 4 weeks, starting 2 weeks from accident. Sounds like you need to take your custom elsewhere.