Hi everyone,
2 weeks ago, I got my first car accident after 15-year of driving, and other driver denied his liability. I am dealing with insurance company for the first time and got so many unanswered questions. Hope someone here can shed some lights.
My story:
There were 3 lanes, 2 on the left going same direction and 1 on the right which is an opposite lane of traffic. I pulled over from the far left lane to the middle lane, and fully developed my space there, the other driver who was supposed to be behind me in the middle lane at some point cut into the right lane (which is the lane of opposite traffic), with high speed and then tried to overtake me by cutting back into my lane (middle lane), and it was when his left rear wheel hit the right front of my car (and the front wheel). We both stopped our cars within seconds. We didn’t have much conversations except for exchanging insurance details. We took pictures of the vehicles, then went our own ways without any witnesses.
I have a couple of pictures showing that (1) his car stopped between the middle lane and the right lane (opposite traffic direction), which means part of his car, in particular his right wheels, was still on the right lane. Note that the width of the lanes is just the width of a bus. (2) his left wheel was just sitting on the Big White Arrow (the road mark at the center of the middle lane), which is a good indication about the position of his car, and (3) his car was still in an angle cutting into the middle lane. I went back a few days later to the scene, trying to see if there are cameras that might have caught what happened, but unfortunately there didn’t seem to have one that shot at that particular spot.
Our insurance company (called ULR) advised us to claim against the third party’s, otherwise we will have to claim our own insurance. Unfortunately, I just learned that the third party denies the liability and we will need to argue them. I heard that one of the common outcome is 50/50 share of all the costs especially when there is no witness, but I wonder what you think about my chance in court, given I got photographic evidence.
I have got a fully comprehensive cover which probably includes legal expense, but I don’t understand the consequence of making use of this cover. If I use a solicitor, and if we end up only getting 50/50, will the legal expense be added to the amount of my overall accident claim?
Accident Exchange (who took our case from ULR) also got me a replacement car the next day as soon as it was confirmed that our car is no longer safe to drive on the road until it is repaired. Again, if we get 50/50, will the cost of this replacement car be added to the claimed amount as well?
However, I worried about the NCB the most. Assuming the other driver also doesn't want to lose his NCB, would it be worth it to negotiate with him and settle the case in private? That is, we paid our own repair and withdraw our insurance claim. But I do wonder, if that is the case, who would absorb the cost of the replacement car and the legal expense? Accident Exchange or ULR? Would they let it happen?
Would appreciate your advice!
2 weeks ago, I got my first car accident after 15-year of driving, and other driver denied his liability. I am dealing with insurance company for the first time and got so many unanswered questions. Hope someone here can shed some lights.
My story:
There were 3 lanes, 2 on the left going same direction and 1 on the right which is an opposite lane of traffic. I pulled over from the far left lane to the middle lane, and fully developed my space there, the other driver who was supposed to be behind me in the middle lane at some point cut into the right lane (which is the lane of opposite traffic), with high speed and then tried to overtake me by cutting back into my lane (middle lane), and it was when his left rear wheel hit the right front of my car (and the front wheel). We both stopped our cars within seconds. We didn’t have much conversations except for exchanging insurance details. We took pictures of the vehicles, then went our own ways without any witnesses.
I have a couple of pictures showing that (1) his car stopped between the middle lane and the right lane (opposite traffic direction), which means part of his car, in particular his right wheels, was still on the right lane. Note that the width of the lanes is just the width of a bus. (2) his left wheel was just sitting on the Big White Arrow (the road mark at the center of the middle lane), which is a good indication about the position of his car, and (3) his car was still in an angle cutting into the middle lane. I went back a few days later to the scene, trying to see if there are cameras that might have caught what happened, but unfortunately there didn’t seem to have one that shot at that particular spot.
Our insurance company (called ULR) advised us to claim against the third party’s, otherwise we will have to claim our own insurance. Unfortunately, I just learned that the third party denies the liability and we will need to argue them. I heard that one of the common outcome is 50/50 share of all the costs especially when there is no witness, but I wonder what you think about my chance in court, given I got photographic evidence.
I have got a fully comprehensive cover which probably includes legal expense, but I don’t understand the consequence of making use of this cover. If I use a solicitor, and if we end up only getting 50/50, will the legal expense be added to the amount of my overall accident claim?
Accident Exchange (who took our case from ULR) also got me a replacement car the next day as soon as it was confirmed that our car is no longer safe to drive on the road until it is repaired. Again, if we get 50/50, will the cost of this replacement car be added to the claimed amount as well?
However, I worried about the NCB the most. Assuming the other driver also doesn't want to lose his NCB, would it be worth it to negotiate with him and settle the case in private? That is, we paid our own repair and withdraw our insurance claim. But I do wonder, if that is the case, who would absorb the cost of the replacement car and the legal expense? Accident Exchange or ULR? Would they let it happen?
Would appreciate your advice!