Anyone Work(ed) For An Insurance Company

[Spoff]

Do insurance companies have default positions whereby if their customer causes an accident they turn round and say it was the other persons fault to try and get split liability?

Last week a car pulled out of a stationery line of traffic and hit my back wheel/wing as I was passing on a free moving lane of traffic.

Today I get a call saying the other party say I am 100% liable for the accident.

 

[dangermouse]

quite a few individuals and indeed their insurers try this trick.

It might not be the insurance company themselves who are acting up - the other bloke might have come up with some stupid statement about what happened, which does make it sound like your fault.

You have any witness statements backing you up?

 

[Spoff]

Sadly no witnesses, well, none that stopped anyway.

I've to do a diagram of the accident and give my version of events again, I've photos of the damage to my car and it is clear from the impact damage it can't be my fault.

Also from Google Earth got evidence of me being in the right lane for what I was doing so can't see how it will not be sorted in my favour.

(at least my clubs weren't in the boot)

 

[Smiffy]

so can't see how it will not be sorted in my favour.

Good luck.
6 years spent on motorbiking forums gives me no confidence with insurance companies, and no trust left in people where insurance claims are concerned.
You will be surprised with the stories that some of the lying,cheating bastids come up with to save a few quid and avoid blame.
My brother was tucked up after an accident in France and lost the bloody lot. Nearly lost his life too.
Good luck, I hope yours goes smoothly.

 

[rgs]

As a claims handler i will try and set out the process from the insurance companys position:
Remember the insurance company did not witness the accident and can only go on the info provided.
If the policyholder states his version of events in a statement and thaat version is believeable,the insurer will accept that version and deny liability.
However any decent insurer will continue their investigations--talk to the police, visit scene, examine both vehicles and if these investigations lead to their policyholder being liable then the claim should be settled.
Good Luck.

 

[RGDave]

Don't panic yet. I know from experience (other people's I add) that it's fairly common for "other drivers" to submit statements (in good faith, I guess) and the first position their insurer takes seems to be at face value.
Actually, someone did hit my car (when I was 18) and blamed it on me. As it was parked at the time, the "process" soon got to the bottom of the story.
I'm confident that it'll get sorted. I've helped a few friends in the past and although slow and frustrating once the cogs start turning and the possibilities are looked into, there's always some resolution, even if neither side "wins" as it were.
Good Luck.

 

[ADB]

I had a similar experience, although I was overtaking a stationary van with hazards on and the plum then decided to turn right catching my rear nearside wing and turned my car over.

Ended in court with a 50/50 blame settlement even though the guy who was driving the van embellished his story and changed tack on more than one occassion. Unless you are willing to really fight it, I imagine you may be looking at the same outcome as no-one wants to admit liability, no matter how in the wrong they were.

Best of luck though.

 

[viscount17]

have to say my experience has been that the preferred option if you cannot prove 100% no fault seems to be to go 50/50.

don't assume that your insurance company will give you any legal assistance if it goes to court - whether you're paying the additional premium or not.

 

[Spoff]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I still don't know what the other persons story is and his insurers are still claiming I am at fault.

Sent off my version of events and sketches of the area (including a print out of the area from google maps showing road markings).

Am going to give it a couple more days for it to get into the systems before I start calling them on a daily basis for updates.