Third Party Injury Claim - Worth fighting or don't bother....
Cutting a long story short...Car insurance is one big mess/scam.7th September - I was recently involved in a bump in a petrol station forecourt with a Berlingo van (estimated 5 mph) ....Woman driver was on the phone at the time of the incident, admitted she was distracted and agreed it was her fault. 3 minutes later husband turns up, tells her to sit in the car he's driving, and say nothing to me. He then proceeds to rant at me about looking where I was going etc, tell me it's my fault - despite being nowhere near the incident at the time. We exchange details, I was on route to Edinburgh and car was fine to drive, mainly cosmetic damage.
Fast forward to later in the day on the way home from Edinburgh - Husband calls me claiming 3 witness saw me hit her van, he has CCTV from the garage and it's all my fault.
Anyway - I get home call my insurance and leave it with them to deal with.
2 days later - my insurance company call me, they've had zero contact from other party, or their insurance, so unless I can prove anything it will go 50/50 to start with. I tried to get CCTV from BP but it was going to take months of forms/data protection issues etc to get it and my insurance said to me not to bother.
Fast forward another week, suddenly my insurance call me again and say from the description I've given and the drawings I sent to them of the incident, it's my fault 100%.....I query how they get to this and they say that since the front of my car is damage and the side of hers is, I must have hit her....despite the fact she cut across me .
Also since I moved from a stationary position (the pump i was using) and she has come from my right side and was moving already on the forecourt, I'm to blame for it. I try and argue the point but my insurance not interested and tell me it's my fault.
So now I'm 100% liable for an incident according to them - Anyway - car goes to the body-shop that is the insurance companies preferred one, they have the car for 4 weeks!!!! and the final bill is £3000 for a new bumper, wing, new headlight unit and some small other scraps...... (I'm just paying my excess but the pricing is ridiculous for the job)
Total joke....Body shop are claiming it was 35 hours of labour and £1800 in parts!!!! Utterly ridiculous - but since it's an "insurance" job we can charge what we like......
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Fast forward to this weekend
Received a letter from my insurance company - Third party is now making injury claim.data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Laughable - totally laughable. My 12 year old son who was in the car with me at the time of the incident summed it up well this morning...
" how can someone lie like that - she was totally fine and the bump was like 5mph as we pulled away from the petrol pump in a forecourt" - that's his take on it.
Pathetic that this incident will end up being around £5-6k claim now with what went on above plus injury claim.
Should I bother trying to fight the 3rd party claim - or just leave it, let the insurance payout and move on??
Esure is my insurers (would never use them again NOR their preferred repair company) - I'll be calling them tomorrow to find out the details of the injury claim - but there is NO WAY on this planet she was injured as it was a walking speed bump.
I presume I should just roll over and let them claim?? Ridiculous state of affairs Without any proof, let her claim and let your insurance company sort it out. Thats whats they're there for! There are some right horrible scrotes out there and though it sticks in your craw let them claim as it sounds like your insurers have already made there minds up that its your fault. Do you really need the hassle of fighting something you won't win? Agree with @marksovereign, I’d just let it go.
I went into the back of a taxi one winter at about 5 miles an hour due to an icy road, there was no damage to either car but all three passengers of the taxi plus the driver claimed for whiplash. While it annoyed the hell out of me for a moment, I decided to let karma (and the insurance company) deal with it rather than letting it get to me. £3k for that damage?!? Hell no. I would ask to see the old parts as I bet you for starters it's the same headlight unit.... I suppose you have to find a way to balance your peace of mind against what sounds like a blatant scammer who's going to drive up your insurance premiums while playing a system & a disinterested insurer not being suitably diligent in their business practice . I'd be tempted to at least try getting the CCTV, according to this: Request CCTV footage of yourself, it should only take 1 month or less by law. Short version; just let it go. Both on how much the garage charged and whatever the ladies husband data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 is claiming.
It is not right, but it is not yours to deal with. The loss adjustors in insurance companies need to do their job for them.
I do have some sympathy for the insurance company, when you hit someone from the side or in the back it is very very difficult to evidence they are at fault, let alone they started moving after you. I seem to recall one story on here someone got out of that due to onboard cameras that picked up the whole incident and before the incident. Yeah - My nature is just to let it go and not bother about it. But it just winds me up that people are so pathetic these days at the mere sniff of a payout.
I will call insurance this morning however just to find out.
Just ridiculous really that after 25 years of driving, my son wanted some snacks for the journey to Edinburgh and I stopped at the petrol station. 3 seconds either way and I wouldn't have the bump!!
Anyway - at least my Tesla I'm now driving has 4 cameras rolling the whole time so any more of this nonsense and I'll have it on film!
Will update later for information purposes. Spoke to Esure this morning - Personal injury claim lodge by solicitors (usual no win no fee crowd in Glasgow) - I've asked to be kept up to date with any information provided. They will email me any updates but it can take a few months to get medical reports etc.
I did say that I wanted it on record that I believe this to be a totally and utterly fictitious claim.
What worries me was my insurance said - "we'll try and settle this as quickly as possible".... What kind of attitude is that?? Surely it's not a case of settling quickly, it's a case of fighting the claim/rebuffing it - not just agreeing to pay out as quick as possible.
I know this is the real world of insurance but it's ridiculous it's got to this stage that it's all about closing as quickly as possible. It's already nearly 2 months from getting the cctv, just get it and make the claim wait,
I take it you've reported it to the police? Its all about the costs of fighting it, which sometimes means it's cheaper to pay than fight!