CAR ACCIDENT, other driver denying liability.

liz_uk

Hi all,

I posted about this earlier in the year when it hapenned, and the ball has only started rolling.

I was in an NCP and the woman in front of me in a chrysler people carrier stopped as she`d seen a space behind her, went into reverse at full pelt (as you do when you see a space you want) and went straight into me. I hit my horn as soon as i saw the reverse lights come on , but she still didn`t stop. she then got out and was so apologetic, and said it was her husbands fault as she had to pay in a cheque for him and was in a hurry, and hadn`t looked where she was going.

There was considerable damage to my little 106, which I got repaired after paying the excess of £250.

The insurance companies were fannying around and it was only in April that my solicitor started to make calls to find out what was going on. No reply. then last month, she gave them a warning that if there was no contact made then we would take them to court. then VOILA a letter arrived saying the other driver had said she was stationary and that I had gone into the back of her.

I am absolutely LIVID !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IN fact that doesn`t even describe how I feel.

There was 1 witness who drove off and I am considering doing some fly posting in the NCP to see if I can track him down I also told one of the NCP workers on the day of the incident that someone had hit me.

Now to get to the point, we can now either take them to court, infront of a district judge OR accept that the claim is 50/50 liabilty and get £50 of excess back.

Part of me wants to just accept the 50/50, because i can`t be doing with the hassle. But if I do that , I don`t want it to look that I`m doing it because I was lying about her going into me.

Then the other part of me wants to fight for my corner, after all, she is lying and she knows it !!!!!!

Any advice would be appreciated !

jockettuk

normally they can tell by the damage how it happened , but this isnt always the case. mabey your solicitor can say they will get a independant report on the damage that had been repaird see if it could happen how she said.. i would stand your ground if you can afford..

This is also why i carry a disposable camera with me in the car so that i can take pictures of any accidents that might happen to me..

Rikki

When you made the claim you would of written down and drawn a diagram, so your storry is not changing. Surely she would of done the same with her insurance company to claim for her repairs.

liz_uk

Rikki wrote:

When you made the claim you would of written down and drawn a diagram, so your storry is not changing. Surely she would of done the same with her insurance company to claim for her repairs.

As far as i`m aware there was no damage to her vehicle !!!!!!

She didn`t even contact her insurance company straight away. surely that would go against her !!

It is frustrating. luckily the insurance company will pay for court fees if I go down that route!

sarahg1969

Personally, I'd stand my ground. If she's been so lax about dealing with the matter so far, she's unlikely to want to go to Court. And, as a previous poster said, your story has been straight from the beginning - hers has possibly/probably changed.

As far as the hassle goes, it shouldn't be that much of a bother (if it even gets that far). Your solicitors would continue to deal with everything for you, and you'd just have to turn up to a final hearing and tell the truth.

Go on. Don't let her get away with it. Next thing, she'll be putting forward PI claims for all and sundry if you let her.

greenwich

What a b****! I feel for you. If the insurance company's paying your legal costs then you've nothing to lose, have you? It's going to cause you hassle to go to court but if you don't fight her, you might feel bitter about this for a long time. At least with a court case you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you've fought for your rights. Everyone's different, but I'd find that easier to live with, even if I lost.

Several pros and cons come to mind. The fact that you told an NCP guy at the time will count in your favour if he testifies for you. If she's lying now, she might persuade someone to lie in court for her and say he saw you drive into her car. If she's middle class and well-spoken and you're not, then she'll make a better impression on the judge. On the other hand, the judge might well take the view that, because people drive more slowly in car parks (because they're looking for spaces), your story is more plausible than hers. The fact that she did not report it and you did ought to be clearly in your favour.

Good luck and let us know what happens!

Mr_Skint_2

CCTV in the NCP?

After a year I done some fly posting and voila someone came forward
and it all might go my way, must phone tomorrow.

Eagle_1

We had an accident some time ago which was not our fault. A woman just pulled out in our path whilst we were going through a little village. Anyways she denied liability but we knew she was lying so we went all the way. It got to 2 days before court and she finally admittited it was her fault.
So id say fight it all the way because when it comes to the crunch I think most would do like the woman did in our case.

MarkyMarkD

My wife was driven into at some traffic lights by a woman who went though on red. She also lied about the circumstances even though there was absolutely no way that it could have happened the way she claimed (because of the sequence of the lights).

My wife's case went all the way to the steps of the court when the third party (or her insurers) decided that they weren't going to go any further with it, and we got our claim settled in full.

NellyLock

i hate to say this but as mean/cruel/wrong as it sounds i read elsewhere on this forums that by accepting liability for any accident at the time could be breaching your insurance contract and your insurance company can effectively cancel your contract with them if they found out! i suppose it makes a bit of sense afterall the insurance companies do not want to readily hand over money and would prob rather somecases goto court etc because most times there is no external witness so the cases normally fall down...
sorry to here about this- contact the legal people regurarly, if they are anything likes ours were they were a bit slow i think they had "bigger cases" so ours was deemed unimportant but with pestering they are plowing on.

neil

IvanOpinion

NellyLock wrote:

i hate to say this but as mean/cruel/wrong as it sounds i read elsewhere on this forums that by accepting liability for any accident at the time could be breaching your insurance contract and your insurance company can effectively cancel your contract with them if they found out! i suppose it makes a bit of sense afterall the insurance companies do not want to readily hand over money and would prob rather somecases goto court etc because most times there is no external witness so the cases normally fall down...

I think there is a difference between not accepting responsibility and being a liar. The advice is correct, never accept responsibility but, if there is any damage, you should, for your own protection, inform the police (sometimes though the police don't want to know unless someone has been injured). Do not move your vehicle and try to get them to keep their vehicle in the same place.

Ivan