third party denying liability-what now??

porsche289

Will keep it brief, i was involved in a car accident last december when a guy ran into the back of me. He admitted liability at the scene, we exchanged details and as i was experiencing some discomfort in my back i attended hospital. I put in my claim as normal and my car was taken away for repair and i had a courtesy car whilst it was for which i had to pay the excess of £700.
Now some 3 months later i have had contact from my own insurance co. to say that the third party is denying any collision took place at all. As there were no witnesses they are saying that it is a difficult situation. All they have is the hospital reports to say i attended, they are waiting on photos and reports from the repairers and the hand written details the guy gave me at the scene. I have already asked the insurance co. to ask why he would give details at the scene if no accident occurred. I am in a bit of a pickle now especially as i had to fork out £700 to get my car back and am worried they wont resolve this and i will end up with a big legal bill. I am tempted to go round and see the guy but dont want to be accused of harrasment. Anyone know what the usual outcome is to situations like this or what i should possibly do next???

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daveonline

Sounds like it could get tricky but firstly did you take out legal cover along with your car insurance ? If so then this should be used to claim back your losses such as excess, care hire and injuries. If not your relying on your car insurance company chasing up their losses with the third party insurance company. Next i would recommend not to go round and see him, at this stage it could make things worse. I would try a bit of detective work, i'm assuming he had damage to his car - has he had it repaired ? If so then i doubt he's had it done on his insurance but possibly paid a local garage in cash. It might be worth asking a few if they've done the work.
Hope you get it sorted.

V_tricky

Hi

Excess of £700? Ouch!

But back to your post.......

Here are a few ideas anyway of what to do next, or at least the type of thing you should be asking of your insurer.

Undoubtedly it IS a difficult situation. Was there any CCTV available?

Is the third party prepared to allow an independent engineer to inspect his vehicle? (ie if it's clear that he's had recent repairs, or possibly still even has the accident damage, then this is obviously in your favour).

Are you able to get photographs of this vehicle on the QT to show any accident damage if it is still there?

Did you have legal cover under the terms of your insurance? Either way, your own insurer will want their £££££££££ back, so will be pursuing this either on their own, or with their own solicitor, at no cost to you.

I wouldn't recommend actually going round to the guys house to actually face him out - it can only lead to trouble.

Did he write his own details down, or did you do it? (can your insurer compare handwriting against his accident report form or other correspondence?)

You have an injury claim, and his insurers would probably rather settle that ASAP than have you drag it to court (and them therefore risk increased costs), so have your insurers asked how you could have possibly obtained his details if you didn't have an accident?

Has he been able to provide evidence that he wasn't in the area at the time?

Have you been able to give a full description of this man?

Ultimately, your insurers/solicitors should be asking all this information, and getting proper answers back for you to consider.

The long & the short though is that the likelihood is that your insurers/solicitors will need to send at the very least a letter before action to the guy, threatening him with court action.

He may be prepared to lie to his insurer if he thinks he'll get away with it, he may be less inclined to perjure himself in Court though.

If it gets as far as Court, it's normally a simple process, and the judgment would be based on the balance of probabilities.

If he's refused to have his car inspected, and perhaps you have photographs of his vehicle showing consistent accident damage, his handwriting matches any other documents his insurer have, he was in the area at the time, and you have been able to give a clear and full description of him before seeing him again at the Court, then although it's not guaranteed, but on the balance of probabilities, a Judge is likely to rule in your favour.

The other outcome would be the 'one persons word against another, 50/50' way of dealing with it, although personally, if you feel that you would make a reliable witness in court, I'd go down that route.

Your insurers should be prepared to stump up for it, and if you have a solicitor for your injury, they would obviously be able to deal with it either under a nowinnofee agreement, or a legal expenses policy, either way at no cost to you.

If your insurers are not prepared to push it that far, and you don't have legal representation, it's pretty simple to do yourself, and at relatively low cost.

madmoneysaver

I can't believe that some people are actually prepared to do this!
As everyone above says I think this guy would be really stupid to lie in court if it goes that far.

I've had a similar problem with my car accident last year whereby the third party admitted liability then turned around and wrote to my sollicitor putting all the blame on me and I was really worried that he'd get away with it all, and make me look like the person at fault driving at speed etc etc. In the end he didn't get away with it and his insurance accepted liability but although he was an outright liar he at least didn't deny being there and the accident taking place.

I can only hope that just like with my case, the truth will prevail and that you will see this sorted out in your favour.
Best of luck and keep us updated on the situation.

porsche289

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I will press the point regarding him handing over his personal details as he did indeed write them down himself and it is very distinctive handwriting and also having his vehicle inspected.
Fortunately i did take out the legal cover with my insurance so that is all being dealt with by the relevant people. I just find it hard to believe that he would lie about it. If it was a very small scuff i could possibly understand him trying to get away with it but he hit me at possibly 15/20mph and broke the rear bumper panel all around the number plate (porsche boxster). I took it to the approved repairers next day for inspection and they assessed it and took pictures so no doubt about the damage and the guy didnt look the sort to try it on, nice car, suit etc so i had no fears he would deny anything.
Hopefully as you say the threat of court action may make him change his mind.

dazas

i was hit at the front of my van with a ride on lawn mower he then jumpeed off his machine and started to blow away any evidence all this was seen by 3 witnesses who took his reg no .he then drove away ,later we caught up with him ,he admits to cutting grass but not too the collision he is now denying liability what happens next any ideas

Bettie

porsche289 wrote: »

Will keep it brief, i was involved in a car accident last december when a guy ran into the back of me. He admitted liability at the scene, we exchanged details and as i was experiencing some discomfort in my back i attended hospital. I put in my claim as normal and my car was taken away for repair and i had a courtesy car whilst it was for which i had to pay the excess of £700.QUOTE]

similar happened to me many years ago. I then found out that the car that hit me was using false number plates and when traced they belonged to a lady that knew nothing about the accident and was out of the country at the time. I went to the police who were not interested but did suggest I snooped about where the lady lived as she had a son who may have been using her plates, the officer wouldn't give me the address but left the desk with paperwork on so I could see. I went there and couldn't see anything to prove one way or another so gave up my quest and lost part of my no claims and my excess. :mad:
I did learn that if ever I am hit again I am to match the number plate with the tax disc, if they don't match, call the police straight away.

alistair.long

porsche289 wrote: »

Will keep it brief, i was involved in a car accident last december when a guy ran into the back of me. He admitted liability at the scene, we exchanged details and as i was experiencing some discomfort in my back i attended hospital. I put in my claim as normal and my car was taken away for repair and i had a courtesy car whilst it was for which i had to pay the excess of £700.
Now some 3 months later i have had contact from my own insurance co. to say that the third party is denying any collision took place at all. As there were no witnesses they are saying that it is a difficult situation. All they have is the hospital reports to say i attended, they are waiting on photos and reports from the repairers and the hand written details the guy gave me at the scene. I have already asked the insurance co. to ask why he would give details at the scene if no accident occurred. I am in a bit of a pickle now especially as i had to fork out £700 to get my car back and am worried they wont resolve this and i will end up with a big legal bill. I am tempted to go round and see the guy but dont want to be accused of harrasment. Anyone know what the usual outcome is to situations like this or what i should possibly do next???

Sadly this is a tricky situation and I can only blame your insurance for allowing you to take the hire car.

If you have pictures to assist then I would continue to pursue the claim, however it will be hard work as the insurance have paid out for the car.

I can assist if you need my help, but solicitors will not take on the claim as the value is to low for them to make any money on it, and the insurance have repaired your car for you.

alistair.long

dazas wrote: »

i was hit at the front of my van with a ride on lawn mower he then jumpeed off his machine and started to blow away any evidence all this was seen by 3 witnesses who took his reg no .he then drove away ,later we caught up with him ,he admits to cutting grass but not too the collision he is now denying liability what happens next any ideas

3 witnesses thats a good claim, donot give up, I will assist you. I had a similar senario were my window was broken and they tried to hide from it.

I dont think sollicitors will help, but if you private message me I will assist you in recovering your losses.

alistair.long

Bettie wrote: »

similar happened to me many years ago. I then found out that the car that hit me was using false number plates and when traced they belonged to a lady that knew nothing about the accident and was out of the country at the time. I went to the police who were not interested but did suggest I snooped about where the lady lived as she had a son who may have been using her plates, the officer wouldn't give me the address but left the desk with paperwork on so I could see. I went there and couldn't see anything to prove one way or another so gave up my quest and lost part of my no claims and my excess. :mad:
I did learn that if ever I am hit again I am to match the number plate with the tax disc, if they don't match, call the police straight away.

Who said the car had false plates.
I would sue the lady and then she will have to prove that somebody else wasnt driving her car, or that her had false plates.
If her car was not reported stolen or deemed someone entered her car, she has then borrowed the car to someone and you are at a loss. I would sue her.

If you need help sueing her I will assist you for free, I am not a solicitor however will give you advise along with others on this site to get you the compensation you deserve.

shelly

alistair.long wrote: »

Sadly this is a tricky situation and I can only blame your insurance for allowing you to take the hire car.

If you have pictures to assist then I would continue to pursue the claim, however it will be hard work as the insurance have paid out for the car.

I can assist if you need my help, but solicitors will not take on the claim as the value is to low for them to make any money on it, and the insurance have repaired your car for you.

OP has probably sorted this out by now as the thread is over 3 years old.