Hi all. I am at my wits end with a car accident that I was in in September - I'm going to explain my story so please bare with me and I would really love some advice. I'm only a young female (23) been driving 3 years (no claims) and I feel completely lost, confused and stressed out with the whole situation.
Ok. I was involved in an accident - I was waiting at a junction in a busy town street to pull and turn right onto the main road. I could see a gap coming up just after a car coming from my left passes so I plan to pull out as this passes. So I begin to move off slowly (still at biting point - not even driving as such) and my nose was just out of the junction. When all of a sudden the car that I could see coming from my left that I planned to pull out behind obviously makes a last second decision to pull into my road (no signals) and not only pulls in with no signals but completely overshoots the line onto my side of the road causing the back right hand passenger door side of their car to collide with the front right headlight part of my car. It was a sloppy and haphhazard monouvere and what's more the road I was pulling out from was quite wide which further perplexed me as to why they had pulled in at such an angle.
The woman (around 60 and driving her husbands giant Alfa Romea car (my car is tiny) admitted that her signals "weren't working" but claims that she used a hand signal. 1. I definitely did not see her use a hand signal and I think she is just lying about this - what's more even if she did I would not think anything of someone sticking their hand out a window in a town centre on a busy day - it would just appear that they were waving to somoene 2. She should have her car in working order. Her husband turned up within 2 minutes with lots of documents which I found rather odd. The woman was babbling and I found the husband extremely intimidating. I was on my own. When I said I thought it was ridiculous they were driving around in an (expensive) car with no signals working he got quite angry.
Basically in my opinion - 1. how in 2011 can it be legal to drive around with no signals working in a busy town centre!? This is just asking for an accident. 2. Her manner of driving and overshooting into my side of the road caused the accident - these are the 2 reasons for the accident. If I had pulled out in front of her she would have hit my left side so the damage speaks for itself as far as I'm concerned.
Their car only has scratches/a bit of a dent. My car bumper has a huge crack right through, lots of scratching and a part fell off completely.
They are disputing liability. My insurers (Admiral) are saying that the best that they can try for is 50/50 because their insurers (Aviva) say that there
is no question that I was at fault because I pulled out - completely ignoring the circumstances of the accident (they didn't hit my left side - they turned into my path and hit front right) and the highway code also says that hand signals can be used to "reinforce" a signal not as a signal.
What's more the third party had a solicitors letter sent to my house claminig to be injured which is malicious lies trying to cash in on money making (a bump at a junction travelling at 10mph max) and it's making me now think that they caused this accident for the whole "cash for crash" thing because I literally cannot understand why else she would swerves. into my path and then the husbans turns up within 2 minutes with lots of documents
I believe it is 100% their fault and I am even mad at my insurers for going for 50/50 and I am now worried sick that I am going to be held 100% at fault for this. This accident would never have happened if she had signals in working order (IS THIS HONESTLY ALLOWED??) and had turned into the junction on her own side of the road!! But because I had begun to move they seem to be automatically saying it is my fault (remember she didn't hit my left side - we hit when i was still in a position of facing out from the junction and she diagonally pulled across my path to collide with front right headlight side) What's more this supposed personal injury thing is just really the final straw.
This couple clearly have a lot of money and are very well off and know exactly what they are doing. I feel so powerless and stressed out all the time. I am one of the most careful drivers that I know. My excess is £300 and I am going to lose my no claims bonus and I find this totally unfair. What's more I have told my insurers that there is NO WAY this woman could be injured and they sort of agreed and are like "but there is nothing we can really do" - I find this claim culture absolutely disgusting - to the point I said so I should have just lied and claimed for "injury" too then!? Can people really get away with this??
What's more I have booked my car in for repairs at a local garage because my insurers own garage is miles away and has a bad reputation. The local garage has a good reputation and is a bodywork specialist. But my insurers want me to pay £25 to insure myself on the local garages courtesy car for a week which is further insult I assumed that I would get this as standard but apparently not because I didn't use their own which is 30 miles away and has a terrible reputation!? Is this right?? What did I pay £400 insurance for, seriously?
Please help - I feel like I am being completely shafted and that there is nothing I can do about it.
Further note - can you claim personal injury for stress?
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Ok. I was involved in an accident - I was waiting at a junction in a busy town street to pull and turn right onto the main road. I could see a gap coming up just after a car coming from my left passes so I plan to pull out as this passes. So I begin to move off slowly (still at biting point - not even driving as such) and my nose was just out of the junction. When all of a sudden the car that I could see coming from my left that I planned to pull out behind obviously makes a last second decision to pull into my road (no signals) and not only pulls in with no signals but completely overshoots the line onto my side of the road causing the back right hand passenger door side of their car to collide with the front right headlight part of my car. It was a sloppy and haphhazard monouvere and what's more the road I was pulling out from was quite wide which further perplexed me as to why they had pulled in at such an angle.
The woman (around 60 and driving her husbands giant Alfa Romea car (my car is tiny) admitted that her signals "weren't working" but claims that she used a hand signal. 1. I definitely did not see her use a hand signal and I think she is just lying about this - what's more even if she did I would not think anything of someone sticking their hand out a window in a town centre on a busy day - it would just appear that they were waving to somoene 2. She should have her car in working order. Her husband turned up within 2 minutes with lots of documents which I found rather odd. The woman was babbling and I found the husband extremely intimidating. I was on my own. When I said I thought it was ridiculous they were driving around in an (expensive) car with no signals working he got quite angry.
Basically in my opinion - 1. how in 2011 can it be legal to drive around with no signals working in a busy town centre!? This is just asking for an accident. 2. Her manner of driving and overshooting into my side of the road caused the accident - these are the 2 reasons for the accident. If I had pulled out in front of her she would have hit my left side so the damage speaks for itself as far as I'm concerned.
Their car only has scratches/a bit of a dent. My car bumper has a huge crack right through, lots of scratching and a part fell off completely.
They are disputing liability. My insurers (Admiral) are saying that the best that they can try for is 50/50 because their insurers (Aviva) say that there
is no question that I was at fault because I pulled out - completely ignoring the circumstances of the accident (they didn't hit my left side - they turned into my path and hit front right) and the highway code also says that hand signals can be used to "reinforce" a signal not as a signal.
What's more the third party had a solicitors letter sent to my house claminig to be injured which is malicious lies trying to cash in on money making (a bump at a junction travelling at 10mph max) and it's making me now think that they caused this accident for the whole "cash for crash" thing because I literally cannot understand why else she would swerves. into my path and then the husbans turns up within 2 minutes with lots of documents
I believe it is 100% their fault and I am even mad at my insurers for going for 50/50 and I am now worried sick that I am going to be held 100% at fault for this. This accident would never have happened if she had signals in working order (IS THIS HONESTLY ALLOWED??) and had turned into the junction on her own side of the road!! But because I had begun to move they seem to be automatically saying it is my fault (remember she didn't hit my left side - we hit when i was still in a position of facing out from the junction and she diagonally pulled across my path to collide with front right headlight side) What's more this supposed personal injury thing is just really the final straw.
This couple clearly have a lot of money and are very well off and know exactly what they are doing. I feel so powerless and stressed out all the time. I am one of the most careful drivers that I know. My excess is £300 and I am going to lose my no claims bonus and I find this totally unfair. What's more I have told my insurers that there is NO WAY this woman could be injured and they sort of agreed and are like "but there is nothing we can really do" - I find this claim culture absolutely disgusting - to the point I said so I should have just lied and claimed for "injury" too then!? Can people really get away with this??
What's more I have booked my car in for repairs at a local garage because my insurers own garage is miles away and has a bad reputation. The local garage has a good reputation and is a bodywork specialist. But my insurers want me to pay £25 to insure myself on the local garages courtesy car for a week which is further insult I assumed that I would get this as standard but apparently not because I didn't use their own which is 30 miles away and has a terrible reputation!? Is this right?? What did I pay £400 insurance for, seriously?
Please help - I feel like I am being completely shafted and that there is nothing I can do about it.
Further note - can you claim personal injury for stress?
Thanks for taking the time to read this.