Car insurance claim - magistrate court

Okell

raddy59 said:

... I don't want to go to court over this - but if I dont LV - the  insurance company says it will go down as 50/50 and will affect my future premiums.
Any advice/observations much appreciated

I'm pretty much 100% certain that the T&Cs of your insurance policy will say that you must attend court if required to do so by your insurer - otherwise your insurnace will be invalidated.

If you know what happened (you were there) you can give evidence in court.  All you need to do is explain that the other party was in the wrong because: 

"The incident - I was driving very slowly down a 2 lane road (one lane each direction). My road ahead was clear. I had travelled less than 20 metres, doing 12mph max,  when a car hit my car obliquely from the other side of the road - the other car was travelling in the same direction as me i.e. against the flow of his lane.
He says I could have taken action to prevent the collision, or at least mitigate the damage.
He says he has a witness that I had "undertaken" him! (How can you undertake a car that is not where it is supposed to be!)"

What are you worried about?  Just tell the truth of what happened.

(Are you sure this is the magistrates court?  As others have said, magistrates don't deal with civil (insurance) matters, just criminal offences)

raddy59

Blue Lad - I (and my son) were unsure where he came from tbh. My wife said she saw him turn right into an adjacent road and turn out, like in an arc. This could have enabled him to glide into his destination. On emerging he has checked the right lane but not my lane approaching from the left. I cant verify that as I didn't see that as I don't recall seeing him ahead of me at any time. She was in the rear passenger seat and had a wider view

cw8825

raddy59 said:

Blue Lad - I (and my son) were unsure where he came from tbh. My wife said she saw him turn right into an adjacent road and turn out, like in an arc. This could have enabled him to glide into his destination. On emerging he has checked the right lane but not my lane approaching from the left. I cant verify that as I didn't see that as I don't recall seeing him ahead of me at any time. She was in the rear passenger seat and had a wider view

The issue is
If the other driver can paint a clear picture of what they believe happened it will go against you. 

In your POV your not clear where the other car has come from - the dreaded it came out of nowhere which unfortunately does not happen 

cw8825

raddy59 said:

BlueLad - My wife - in the rear seat having a wider view of the road says she saw him pull into a road on the right side of the road we were on. Thinking he has taken an arc into the side road to better access his driveway on the road I was on. I didn't see that so can't verify

if you cannot verify where he came from or what they were doing.
What is your reasoning for holding them liable?

raddy59

cw8825
"The issue is
If the other driver can paint a clear picture of what they believe happened it will go against you. 

In your POV your not clear where the other car has come from - the dreaded it came out of nowhere which unfortunately does not happen "

Agreed - but if he decides to enter the  oncoming lane for some reason while I am looking at the road ahead?  Or turned out of a road onto the road I'm on from an adjacent road?

Either could be the case - is anyone aware of the position of all the cars on the road at any one time? 

cw8825

raddy59 said:

cw8825
"The issue is
If the other driver can paint a clear picture of what they believe happened it will go against you. 

In your POV your not clear where the other car has come from - the dreaded it came out of nowhere which unfortunately does not happen "

Agreed - but if he decides to enter the  oncoming lane for some reason while I am looking at the road ahead?  Or turned out of a road onto the road I'm on from an adjacent road?

Either could be the case - is anyone aware of the position of all the cars on the road at any one time? 

It is reasonable to expect you to know the position of your car and also the car that has hit you if you are claiming the other car to be at fault.

If this is to proceed to court, you need to be clear in what you believe to have happened.
Maybe go back and look or do a drawing 
Can you be clear on what you were doing?

The incident - I was driving very slowly down a 2 lane road (one lane each direction). My road ahead was clear. 
I had travelled less than 20 metres, doing 12mph max, - Where had you travelled from? was this from a parked position? 20 metres is only 5 car lengths which is under the average stopping distance if this is a 30 mph road
when a car hit my car obliquely from the other side of the road - the other car was travelling in the same direction as me i.e. against the flow of his lane. What parts of each car made contact?

raddy59

cw225 - i just picked my wife up from her mothers where I had been parked. I got to about 12mph still in second gear. His  car was travelling against the flow of traffic - he wanted to make a left turn into his driveway, but why he had crossed so far out I do't know.  His fron t#light, my car scraped from the driver door bck

Car_54

It's probably worth saying that this is very, very unlikely to end in court.

It seems the TP is making a speculative claim. The OP's insurers are calling his bluff by threatening court. 

But in reality the vast majority of such cases are settled out-of-court, unless the sums involved are very large, which doesn't seem to be the case here.

cw8825

Car_54 said:

It's probably worth saying that this is very, very unlikely to end in court.

It seems the TP is making a speculative claim. The OP's insurers are calling his bluff by threatening court. 

But in reality the vast majority of such cases are settled out-of-court, unless the sums involved are very large, which doesn't seem to be the case here.

I tend to agree. 

Although from my interpretation it does seem a case of split liability at best

raddy59 said:

cw225 - i just picked my wife up from her mothers where I had been parked. I got to about 12mph still in second gear. His  car was travelling against the flow of traffic - he wanted to make a left turn into his driveway, but why he had crossed so far out I do't know.  His fron t#light, my car scraped from the driver door bck

IMO it does sound like a case of OP pulling from parked position, there could be an argument that the TP going against the flow of traffic has contributed to this.
however im not paid to make this decisions.

All OP can do is provide their version to insist insurer.
stick to what you saw and remember happening not what your wife and son have seen

Arunmor

OP were you driving past parked cars on your left?

I'm still trying to get a picture in my mind which is exactly what the judge will be trying to do.