sdh2903
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posted on 22/1/16 at 01:22 PM |
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Some people have no morals!
Rant warning!!
Last October my stepson (19) had a minor bump in slow moving traffic on a motorway. Despite the young lady giving him dogs abuse at the side of the
road he remained calm and acted properly and politely. He even called her when he got home to make sure she was ok and apologised again and offered to
pay for the damage to be fixed asap if it was possible to avoid the hassle of insurance companies.
The damage to the other car was practically zero. There was a small dent to a plastic bumper that hadn't even broken the paint. He estimates at
impact he was doing no more than 5-10mph. I believe him as there was very little damage to his car either.
Now this pond scum of a woman has claimed for personal injury!! Despite us writing to the insurance company advising this was impossible due to the
impact speed they have proceeded to just pay out £3k without as far as we can tell without even requesting a hospital or specialist opinion. And as
far as we can tell we don't have any right of appeal.
Firstly what a lowlife that would fraudulently claim this and secondly how messed up is our insurance industry that just payout to these tossers? Now
his insurance is due for renewal his quotes are astronomecal and he's struggling to afford it as a 2nd year apprentice and he's properly
down about it all as yes he knows he's made a mistake but acted as well as he possibly could and has been royally shafted. All I can hope is
karma comes around and bites the bitch royally on her arse.
Rant over!!
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prawnabie
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posted on 22/1/16 at 01:30 PM |
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Way of the world i'm afraid - best to move on a forget I have found. I had someone drive into the back of me whilst I was stationery waiting at
a set of lights, was a taxi and the guy got out apologized about it, swap details etc. 3 days later I had a letter of his insurance saying I was at
fault as I jumped the lights and reversed back into him!!
Luckily I had a front+rear dash cam fitted and submitted the letter and video to the police. They weren't bothered but his insurance company
soon backed down and paid for my damage. I even had his "accident management company" on the phone threatening me aswell.
I would advise you get a cheap dash cam and just treat everyone on the road as a numpty! At least you can prove facts if anyone tries it on again.
Shaun
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02GF74
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posted on 22/1/16 at 01:56 PM |
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quote: Originally posted by prawnabie
3 days later I had a letter of his insurance saying I was at fault as I jumped the lights and reversed back into him!!
Luckily I had a front+rear dash cam fitted and submitted the letter and video to the police. They weren't bothered but his insurance company
soon backed down and paid for my damage. I even had his "accident management company" on the phone threatening me aswell.
you're too nice - you should have claimed for injury to teach the sod a lesson!!
..... talking of webcams, what you recommend? seems it is an item that is becoming necessary to have.
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r1_pete
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posted on 22/1/16 at 02:13 PM |
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Yes the way things are now, litigation society.
Your lad was too nice, you should never admit liability / fault at an accident, leave it to the insurance companies, that way she would have had to
prove injury and what it had cost her, and that it was your lads fault.
Chalk it up to bitter experience, he will be a much more careful & better driver for it, you may even look back in the future and see it as a
cheap lesson, considering some of the accidents which happen.
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Brook_lands
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posted on 22/1/16 at 03:18 PM |
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Way of the world, and not always the doing of those involved. Had a delivery driver reverse into the front of my stationary car. An apology from him,
friendly chat (these things happen) exchange of details he went on his way.
Firstly MY insurance decided I was at fault as it was the front of my car that had come into contact with the back of his van.
Then his insurance decided the same.
It would have been so easy for the other driver to go along with this especially as he was a contract driver so could have been "let go"
for having a fault accident but give him his due he stuck to his story that he was at fault and had reversed into my car.
So the car all sorted and then the calls start from the personal injury lot, everything from had I made a claim to the suggestion that there was
already a £3,500 cheque with my name on it just waiting to be sent out. None of them asked any questions like "was I injured?". The whole
set up suggested that I was entitled to £3k or whatever just for being the non fault driver. Its no wonder people just say yes, who doesn't want
£3k + to spend.
Finally - genuine question, I know they always ask but does the size of the claim make much difference to the renewal, I know you loose the same
amount of NCB but do they load the top line quote? I know a colleague got caught out by this with protected NCB. She paid out to protect her NCB, made
a claim following the car being stolen and recovered, next year her premium more than doubles. When she phone the insurance company, yes she still had
50% NCB but the top line was more than doubled. A quick shop around bought it back down to about what it would have been without the protected NCB.
I just guess its heads they win, tails you loose.
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sdh2903
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posted on 22/1/16 at 04:30 PM |
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Yes unfortunately the amount of the claim has a direct bearing on his premium. We had been estimating a £1k max repair cost. Since its been settled at
£4.5k Inc costs the quotes have jumped another 250 quid.
Considering his premium last year was 700 quid, he's now looking at double. I can see the insurance companies viewpoint as he's a bigger
risk it's a bigger premium. Just grates as I suspect my body shop guy I use it would have been a couple of hundred quid for a top job to fix.
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ian locostzx9rc2
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posted on 22/1/16 at 04:58 PM |
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This happened to my son a few years ago 5mph bump at a junction cracked my sons front no plate light damage crack to the rear bumper on there nearly
new c max lady driver late fiftys and daughter in here late twenties seemed ok at the time then a claim goes in for both of them for whiplash and back
injuries claim came to 12k and the car repair was £600 insurance company where not interested to pursue for fraudent claim and paid them my sons
insurance went up by 40 percent happens all the time still even though the government have put in measures to stop this happening .too many tosses out
there
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gaz_gaz
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posted on 22/1/16 at 05:05 PM |
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A couple of years ago I was a passenger in a mates car crawling through London traffic.
He nudged a car at no more than 5 mph causing the smallest of marks on a bumper. Fella (only occupant) got out and asked for insurance details incase
there was any hidden damage.
Sometime later my pal was advised that both passengers in the car had sustained whiplash.
The insurance company said it was cheaper to pay out than try to prove there where no passengers present.
What a sad state of affairs.
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morcus
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posted on 22/1/16 at 05:31 PM |
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My dad had someone do that to him, he hit a car with one person in it but the claim listed four passengers. Fortunately his insurance company took an
interest when he reported this and followed it up (There were independent witnesses) and he told me at that point the fault was also changed by the
insurance company away from my dad as they suspected it was a scam.
I thought they were meant to be cracking down on this but there still seems to be a lot of it about and also you shouldn't get any compensation
unless an injury causes you to miss work, lose money or have to drastically change your life style and the money should be valued to this event as
such to warrant £3000 you should be off work for two months or have some sort of treatment not available on the NHS with receiptable costs.
As aside note you need to be careful about admitting liability and offering to pay for repairs yourself as you may find that invalidates your
insurance and if the people are real bastards they may take you money then report the accident and you'll end up in all kinds of hot water.
In a White Room, With Black Curtains, By the Station.
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Irony
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posted on 22/1/16 at 05:39 PM |
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On the radio the other day (Jemery Vine, BBC2) there was a whole section on it. The worst case was a very early morning bus that averages 3-5
passengers. One morning it had 27 passengers on it. The bus had a minor coming together with a car. No injuries at the time. Something like 24 of
the passengers and the bus driver claimed whiplash. Fraud investigators found out that all of the 'claiming' passengers and the bus
driver AND the car driver were relatives!
About a year ago bloke ran into the back of me at a junction. Totally his fault, he totally admitted it. No damage to my car, his bumper was off.
He said he'd rather not involve the insurance. I said okay, we shook hands and parted company. Never heard anything. Thats how it should be
done.
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David Jenkins
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posted on 22/1/16 at 06:16 PM |
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Last year some daft biddy bumped the rear door of my car while trying to reverse out of a parking space. All sorted out with the insurers, and got
the damage paid for without penalty.
Over the past 12 months I must have had 10 calls from ambulance chasers telling me that I should claim compensation for personal injury - I was
sitting in the *parked* car at the time. The only "injury" was annoyance caused by the daft bat and her claim of "there's no
damage".
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twybrow
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posted on 22/1/16 at 06:22 PM |
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My wife had exactly the same last year. She tolled into someone in stop start motorway traffic. No damage, and the chap at the time said not to worry.
Just before departing je asked for het contact details just in case. A week later we get a call from the insurance company saying they we processing
an injury claim. We explained this was tripe, and my wife had our baby in the cat and the speed was so low, we were not even contemplating replacing
het car seat. The insurers said they thought it was bogus, but had no proof so had to pay out. We were so angry! Scumbags!
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bi22le
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posted on 22/1/16 at 06:42 PM |
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I am currently dealing at the other end.
A guy run into my wife causing minor damage. Him being quite young and seemingly honest my wife agreed to settle out of insurance.
We opened up conversation and had since gone cold. Not answering phone calls or text.
I am currently considering using a V888 DVLA form to find his address.
Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!
Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1
Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I
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morcus
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posted on 22/1/16 at 08:50 PM |
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Like I said be careful with that, if you leave it too long before reporting it to your insurer you could end up not being able to sort it without
going through small claims court (Which if its a young guy is probably a waste of time as he probably hasn't got any money). If you have his
name and registration contact your insurance company and thy will be able to sort it out, and tell them he refused to give his insurance info (Unless
he did) and that he tried to talk you out of claiming, and they'll sort it out.
Unless the damage is really minor then chalk it to experience.
In a White Room, With Black Curtains, By the Station.
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hizzi
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posted on 23/1/16 at 06:10 AM |
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i keep getting a company calling me about an accident where a cars handbrake failed and run down a hill into my parked van, no occupants in either
vehicle, they call and say i am entitled to an injury claim. the whole insurance system is a scam just renewed my daughters insurance this week
quoted on monday at £314 phoned on thursday to pay and its changed to £481 told them to shove it and got dogs abuse
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Barlidge
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posted on 23/1/16 at 11:22 AM |
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As per some of the other accounts above I would put a lot of the blame on the insurance companies and 'no win no fee' type solicitors.
I had a woman clip my door mirror which knocked it off, I was happy to settle for cash but she wanted to go through the insurance, they offered me to
collect my car, give me a courtesy car and drop it off/collect etc etc. In the end I persuaded them to just send me a cheque for a new mirror and we
agreed on £50 for me to fit it (£180 in all)
I also had many calls from various companies for months on end saying records indicated me being in an accident and did I want to claim for personal
injury. They were worse than bloody double glazing people to get off the phone.
Build Diary: http://www.roadster-builders.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=111
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CosKev3
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posted on 23/1/16 at 11:59 AM |
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How annoying all these claims must be to you lot
Really needs sorting out this sort of fraudulent claims.
Surely it's not hard for the insurance companies to get pics/evidence of the damage/impact speeds and tell the claimants to bleep off?
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sdh2903
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posted on 23/1/16 at 12:31 PM |
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It seems to me as the insurance industry is just lazy. It's easier to post a cheque rather than investigate. The claims handler basically
admitted this. Until the insurers change their attitude and toughen up nothing will change. The bloody Americans and their litigation culture has a
lot to answer for!!
I have however just ordered 2 dash cams. One for me and one for the lad. I want evidence next time!!
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Benzine
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posted on 23/1/16 at 12:48 PM |
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I recently got rear ended in Grimsby (ha!) at a roundabout. We stopped and the lady seemed very quick to say that every looks fine, and wanted to head
off. I took her details just in case. There was a layer of grime on the bumper from doing lots of motorway miles that day. I took it to the local
garage and I needed £240 worth of paint touch up. I phoned up the lady and she was apologetic and agreed to pay the garage for the work.
I did get it all on dashcam though. I didn't mention this and I didn't need to use the footage, but having it as a backup takes a lot of
stress away.
tl;dr: dash cams ftw
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SteveWallace
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posted on 23/1/16 at 02:18 PM |
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Just noticed a dent in my daughters car, in the near side door and shut line with the front wing. Its her first car and I've spent the last
couple of months trying not to think too much about her being out on the open roads on her own for the first time.
However, the dent was caused whilst she was parked up somewhere and not with the car - its a classic someone misjudging the gap whilst pulling in or
out of the adjacent space injury. As is the common theme on this thread, no one has taken responsibility for it and presumably they just drove off.
Its not worth paying to get it repaired as its only a basic spec 2010 Ford KA, but its annoying as its her pride and joy and I spent time finding one
with A1 bodywork when I bought it. I'll get around to trying to improve it myself when the weather gets better, but it will be a PITA as the
door will have to come to bits to get to the back of the dent. I'm also a rubbish panel beater.
She's just done a tweet to see if she can try to shame someone at school into admitting it, as the school car park is the most likely place as
its full of new drivers.
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escary
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posted on 23/1/16 at 03:03 PM |
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It's more than annoying
Couple of years back, leaving my street on a motorbike turning left, noticed a dynorod van parked as the paint is so bright I did a double take and
missed by seconds witnessing an accident 25 yards to my left where an elderly driver in a hire drive car crossed a junction and hit a car who had the
right of way. Blameworthy car was half over the junction when I stopped around 30 feet from its rear bumper , then on come the reverse lights. I held
the horn on constant and put full beam on to no avail, didn't have time to get out of the way or off the bike ( it's big and heavy ) hire
car hits me gently , didn't even knock me off, spoke to the driver then after calming down told him I was ok, the bike was ok shook his hand
said I'd take it no further. Couldn't act as a witness as I genuinely didn't see the accident and gave a statement to attending
police to same end. Since then I've been issued solicitors papers demanding I give a witness statement against the old chap, I replied stating
the above. Ends with an upset ambulance chasing solicitor, then another letter, and another and another, dropped into the solicitors office and told
them off. Pencil pusher at a desk then attempts provocation saying he can't believe I didn't put a claim in, no point in talking to him,
just said I'm not after stupid claims for no real reason, desk operative then says ' if you won't claim though us I'll pass
your details onto the claims database then you'll see! I couldn't believe he said it, told them to stop pestering me. I've had at
least 2 calls every week from the ' we've been told you've been in an accident claims companies' ever since. Unrelenting
nuisance calls, even when the affected people repeatedly state they have no interest in dishonesty the flaming lawyers stir up the claim/blame
society. And we all get to pay for it through insurance premiums. I will never again agree to leave matters out of my insurance company, I still
wouldn't claim but hopefully they'd keep the claim vultures away from me. Sorry to hear about your lads situation, to many greedy people
out there now, think that dash cams are the way forward for decent people with nothing to hide.
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Wadders
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posted on 23/1/16 at 05:51 PM |
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I got whacked by a taxi whilst virtually stationary, he hit my front end and claimed i had run into him by changing lanes,
insurance decided it was my fault and the claim was going through until the cheeky sod put in a personal injury claim and £36,000 worth of car hire
Last i heard insurance were taking him to court to contest the car hire charges. I still lost my full no claims and my insurance doubled the next
year. It makes dash cams an appealing idea.
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mark chandler
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posted on 23/1/16 at 06:19 PM |
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I was stationary, awaiting to pull out of a station carpark and a knob reversed into me bending the door and rear panel, I should have claimed
personal injury then!
It went through happily as he fessed up, and I got payed out on the car only
It was SWMBO,s car, we got hammered on insurance the next year for making a claim, because it was her car she was slammed, because I was driving I was
slammed and the extra cost over a couple of years would have paid to have just had it fixed ourselves
Nowadays even if you claim on your house insurance it loads your car, the world has gone mad
There is some balance, I had a scrap Astra estate jam its brakes on halfway across a junction which was a contrived accident, I grizzled to Aviva and
they contested, refused to pay and took them to court.... End result is still everyone's insurance going up of course.
Anyway, if you think they are having you over complain and complain, to do nothing just encourages this as people will screw yiu as its cheaper to pay
out than fight.
[Edited on 23/1/16 by mark chandler]
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