Hi all,
my daughter was hit by a small truck last Thursday. She was in the right-hand lane turning right at a roundabout (A130/A12 - Howe Green). The truck was in the middle lane and without indicating drifted into the right hand land and hit my daughter. She managed to get the other driver to stop - he didn't speak English but she got a copy of his D/L and reg and ended up speaking to his cousin on the phone at the scene. He spoke English and wanted to sort it out without insurance being involved.
I then got involved and told him we would be going through our insurance. This was on the guidance of a local bodywork place we'd used before and they suggested also we speak to Innocent Driver, who are a claims company. They have spoken to the other drivers insurance and quelle surprise, they have contested the claim and saying that it was my daughter who changed lane and hit him. We have no witnesses or dashcam so ultimately this sounds like it will come down to our word against theirs. Innocent Driver have said that it's unlikely they will take this forward on our behalf and we would need to raise via our insurer - but warned us that most accidents on a roundabout default to a 50/50 claim basis. By the way, we did write to Admiral (my daughters insurer) last Saturday to say that she had been hit by another car but the message was for "info only" at this stage due to the involvement of Innocent Driver.
I can't imagine the cost of repairs will be more than £600-700 and as my daughter's excess is c. £500, I suspect paying for the repairs ourselves is going to be more the more cost effective option, even if the thought of this makes my blood boil. My daughter has got protected NCD but on the basis this will end up as an "at fault" claim, I want to avoid this.
Any other thoughts on this? Am assuming if we pay for the repairs ourselves that we should write to Admiral again - not sure what level of detail I should go into. Do I say the other insurer has contested who was at fault? Or do I just say that my daughter's vehicle has been repaired and not go into any detail as to why paid for it.
All in all, I feel out of my depth here and would welcome any thoughts or comments. Sorry for such a long email.
my daughter was hit by a small truck last Thursday. She was in the right-hand lane turning right at a roundabout (A130/A12 - Howe Green). The truck was in the middle lane and without indicating drifted into the right hand land and hit my daughter. She managed to get the other driver to stop - he didn't speak English but she got a copy of his D/L and reg and ended up speaking to his cousin on the phone at the scene. He spoke English and wanted to sort it out without insurance being involved.
I then got involved and told him we would be going through our insurance. This was on the guidance of a local bodywork place we'd used before and they suggested also we speak to Innocent Driver, who are a claims company. They have spoken to the other drivers insurance and quelle surprise, they have contested the claim and saying that it was my daughter who changed lane and hit him. We have no witnesses or dashcam so ultimately this sounds like it will come down to our word against theirs. Innocent Driver have said that it's unlikely they will take this forward on our behalf and we would need to raise via our insurer - but warned us that most accidents on a roundabout default to a 50/50 claim basis. By the way, we did write to Admiral (my daughters insurer) last Saturday to say that she had been hit by another car but the message was for "info only" at this stage due to the involvement of Innocent Driver.
I can't imagine the cost of repairs will be more than £600-700 and as my daughter's excess is c. £500, I suspect paying for the repairs ourselves is going to be more the more cost effective option, even if the thought of this makes my blood boil. My daughter has got protected NCD but on the basis this will end up as an "at fault" claim, I want to avoid this.
Any other thoughts on this? Am assuming if we pay for the repairs ourselves that we should write to Admiral again - not sure what level of detail I should go into. Do I say the other insurer has contested who was at fault? Or do I just say that my daughter's vehicle has been repaired and not go into any detail as to why paid for it.
All in all, I feel out of my depth here and would welcome any thoughts or comments. Sorry for such a long email.
