Oh bother - RTA

[pandamonium]

Someone pulled out of a line of stationary traffic today and the result is below.

My little boy was in the car and a bit shaken up, but ok.

Insurance company think it will be a write off.

 

What do you reckon my chances are of this being definately their fault? Will they argue I should have been able to stop in time?

 

[rantingYoof]

Pulled out of line? As in, they suddenly moved into your path, which was up until that point, free of blockages, until they placed themselves there?

 

Not sure how you could be blamed for not being able to stop in time if that was the case.

[pandamonium]

Precisely.

 

Their argument was my speed, but I believe I was doing about 30, in a 40 zone, the only thing that doesn't look great is the skid marks, as i locked up (No ABS).

[purplebargeken]

Did they take pictures of said skid marks? If not then stand your ground.

 

That looks like a fixer to me. Tell the ins company that you will be fixing it yourself perhaps.

[eddyramrod]

I can't see how that's your fault.  Your car probably will get written off though.  How easy are these to get parts for?  How does it drive (does there seem to be any suspension damage for example)?

 

 

When's the Roffle?

 

 

Edited to add: good luck!

[pandamonium]

I was trying to sell the car, so if the offer is sufficient I'll just let them write it off.

 

It will be tough to get parts for.

 

I don't believe skid marks were photographed, as we stopped a little way up the road.

 

Worst I was doing was 35-40, and I've just checked that the speed limit there is definately 40.

[Christine]

You won't have been driving like a c , as you had a child in the car ..

[forddeliveryboy]

Would be a shame to scrap it if the damage is limited to a bust orange lens, scuff on bumper and small indent on bonnet. Or is the wing folded and the lhs front all pushed back a bit?

[pandamonium]

I've not assessed properly, but the impact pushed my car against the right hand kerb, so potential for hidden damage.

Yes, wing is folded.

[Christine]

I'd get all the mods off it if you haven't declared them .. Ask the other driver if it was you that had been pulling out ,and he coming down the road, who would have been at fault then? Someone didn't look over their shoulder !!

[pandamonium]

There isn't any mods. I took them off last week!

[garethj]

The main thing, glad you're ok.

 

In terms of fault, you're not supposed to pull into someone else's right of way if they have to change speed or direction.  Sounds like that's what happened so it's his fault.

 

Sadly the convention on the road these days is you pull into someone's path causing them to slam on, then flick them the finger.  If he didn't flick you the finger you're doing better than average.

[stephen01]

surely this is just some orange tape and fixed?

[Split_Pin]

At least everyone is ok. What do skid marks have to do with it being your fault? It shows you were paying attention and tried to stop. And it's not illegal to have no ABS if it's not fitted at the factory!

[forddeliveryboy]

Can't see how it's your fault, just stand your ground with insurers. "He pulled out into my path without looking."

[billyboy406v6]

As long as you were doing nothing stupid just prior to the prang, do not see how its your fault ? May be worth buying car back as scrap when you get an offer from insurers, presume other driver was insured ? Will they pay cash and not involve insurance ?

[pandamonium]

No cash offer mentioned

Their car was a brand new motability car, so I presume they'd want it dealt with properly.

 

As I said, I want car gone, so will wait and see what is offered.

[andrew e]

Their car was a brand new motability car, so I presume they'd want it the moon on a bloody stick.

[dave21478]

While its definately their fault -according to what you have posted- unless they admit full liability to their insurer its likely to go 50:50. I know that sucks, but its just the way shit is.....easier and cheaper for a claim to be settled like that than for a protracted he said she said battle that could go on for several months. Insurers dont really care about who was right or wrong, they just want to minimise their costs.

 

If I were you and it looked like things were going that way I would drop the claim, apply some orange tape and a couple more stickers to cover the scrape and carry on with life. Claiming will cost you for years to come.

 

 

I say this in every thread like this - get a fucking dashcam. Email the video to their insurer and the case is resolved in your favour right there and then. You cant argue with a 1080p video of what happened.

[pandamonium]

I want to sell the car and it is worth about £2.50 now as opposed to £600. So what would be the use in dropping the claim?

[pandamonium]

I have a dash cam but I accidently reset it to chinese and can't fix it!

[garbaldy]

He ment drop the claim if they wanted to go 50/50 not drop it for a laugh.

Every time you get Insurance it counts as a claim and does no matter what is claimed make a difference In price,

 

I had an old guy reverse out a disabled space into my lancer and as soon as the daughter got out of the car she blamed me saying I shouldn't be parking in a disabled space, doh I woudnt have been parked half in a space if I hadn't have been hit by her 85 year old fither, its going to be interesting trying to sort it out that's for sure.

[eddyramrod]

 old guy reverse out a disabled space into my lancer

Totally his fault, should NEVER be reversing out, of anywhere.

[Kiltox]

Dropping the claim if it goes 50/50 won't help, you'll still be on the hook for increased premiums and needing to declare a claim so just let it ride

[Tamworthbay]

Skid marks are brilliant, they can be measured to show speed as long as you can show exactly where the impact occurred.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

I think you're right in that the other driver is likely to get repairs done by the book, rather than cash settlement. It's a motability car, so I can't see they'll want to do things with cash and off the record.

Personally, I'd get a quote for the repairs to yours and present it to the other insurers. When they threaten to write it off, ask if they'd allow you to buy it back and give you a payout for the value of the car. Keep it on your property as well. Mrs TW and myself have both had at fault crashes over the last few years and it doesn't seem to have impacted on insurance (I know some say it will, but we genuinely haven't noticed much difference tbh).

In the meantime, as long as it's structurally ok, drive on.

As an aside, why do mobility drivers get brand spanking new cars which cost a small fortune? The queen drives this mobility number, and she doesn't complain about it.

[inconsistant]

Skid marks are brilliant.

My wife finds them a bit of a turn off.

[sierraman]

I'm sorry to say but an accident of any kind will affect your premium. Someone ran into the back of me a few years back and my premium went up £100 as despite it not being my fault they said it made me a worse risk.

[dave21478]

I want to sell the car and it is worth about £2.50 now as opposed to £600. So what would be the use in dropping the claim?

Just as an experiment, put all your details into compare the meerkats as things stand currently. Now do another quote same details but with a partial blame accident. See what the premium difference is? now multiply that difference by 5 as you will need to declare the claim for the next 5 years and tell me what that figure is. If its less than the real world loss of value to the car, then make the claim. If its more....is it a good idea to claim?

 

I have a dash cam but I accidently reset it to chinese and can't fix it!

Brilliant. 

 

 

Skid marks are brilliant, they can be measured to show speed as long as you can show exactly where the impact occurred.

Its a fender-bender, chief. I doubt if the accident investigation unit will be in too much of a hurry to measure up the crime scene.

[pandamonium]

What are you even trying to say? A partial claim or a full claim will screw me up insurance wise anyway.

 

I don't actually have any no claims to lose anyway.