Non-fault car accident- need help quick!!

[Nunski]

I was involved in a car accident last summer in a car park where a lady reversed out of her parking space into my passenger door. I was stationary at the time and damage was a large dent to my door. Her car was fine. There were also two witnesses to the incident.

I have fully comp insurance with Churchill and informed them of the accident and gave witness details that same day. I was given the offer of fixing the damage on my own insurance then relclaiming from the 3rd party to which i said no because i didnt want to risk losing any of my NCB.

2 months passed and i heard nothing from Churchill so i chased it up with them and they said i needed to fill in a form and draw diagrams of what happened etc as the 3rd party is not admitting liability for what happened. they also informed me that the witnesses i had could not be used because i knew of them! (the incident happened in a staff car park therefore i knew of everybody who worked there including the 3rd party).

A few more months passed and numerous phone calls to churchill to chase it up were getting me nowhere so i contacted the 3rd party's insurers, morethan, and asked what was happening. I was read out the statement made by the 3rd party which was along the lines of ''I reversed after looking right and left and was distracted by 2 people waving. I hit the other person's car which was moving out of the car park at the time.'' she also states in her statement there was no damage to her car and a dent in mine and puts the whole thing down to MY inexperience. Her insurance advisor at this point tells me on the phone that from her statement she is to blame and they would give her 2 weeks to respond, if not they would fix my car for me on her insurance.

Surprise surprise she responded with a letter saying she retracts her original statement and that I drove into HER car?!!?

They're now offering me a 50/50 deal. Useless Churchill in the meantime have said they can do no more as i'v made no loss (car still isn't fixed) and it's my word against hers. They also sent me a renewal notice for next month and knocked off 3 years NCB!!!

I don't know what to do about this whole thing anymore. I'm not going to renew with Churchill but also dont want to lose NCB years for something totally not my fault!!

I'm also considering taking court action against the 3rd party but not too sure which is the best way to go about it...

I'd appreciate any advice

[sang33ta]

I had a similar problem.

Explain the dent is in the side of your car and unless your car can drive sideways like a crab she must have driven into you! Ask for you court date so it can be settled. It costs them a fortune to go to court and they will likely give up but some disreputable insurers will make you wait right up until the court doors. As for witnesses you can use anyone you like.

The statement makes me laugh ''I reversed after looking right and left and was distracted by 2 people waving" you look over your shoulder when reversing and she admits she was destracted!

You need to get a copy of this original statement its pure gold if you need to take the matter to court!

[Nunski]

I know its all ridiculous, this whole matter is driving me crazy!! I only have 3 weeks left before my insurance runs out with churchill and i dont think i'm gonna be able to get the matter resolved that quickly (its been exactly 7 months since the incident!). I'll be forced to renew my policy with 1 year instead of 4 years NCB.

Is it allowed for someone to retract their original statment some 6 months later and completely change their story?

Both insurance companies have said that somebody i knew can't be used as an independant witness and that this would also apply if I took the matter to court.

I told the 3rd partys insurance that I would take this to court and they said they'd defend her. I don't have legal cover with churchill, do i need a solicitor before going ahead?

[sang33ta]

Your home insurance may provide legal cover. You could also do it on your own through the small claims procedure if the value is less than £5000.

I believe anyone can be a witness in court, the legal system wouldn't work if the people who were with you couldn't give evidence! They will swear to tell the truth and if they lie they have commited a criminal offense an can go to jail for lying so this keeps most people honest.

I always pay for legal cover because these damn idiots on the road are never honest or their insurers advise them not to admit liability or your insurer will not fight the claim.

When somone hit me reversing out of a parking spot she said she worked for an insurance company and as it was private land I had no claim against her. I also had bogus details to make a claim against her but i tracked her down and won the claim quite easily on the basis my car does not drive sidways and she was was reversing.

I might be worth checking if your car park has cctv but it's long shot after this ammount of time.

[revolting peasant]

Just to be clear - the damage to your car was on the door - I know there was no damage to her car but where was the point of impact on hers?

[Nunski]

Point of impact on her car was mainly the driver side boot corner but there was not a scratch on it when we got out to have a look and until present she hasn't put in a claim for damage to her car anyway.

I contacted Churchill again today to see if they'd gotten the witness statements yet and was told they only had details of one of them even though I'd written full details of both witnesses on the claim form I filled in for them last Sept! They said they dont have access to my file at this moment while they are on the phone to me. So all this time my file is probably gathering dust on some shelf somewhere at the back of their office while they fob me off with excuse after excuse as to why they 'can't' do anything more. Churchill advisor then has the nerve to ask me if I would be able to chase up the witnesses for statements myself as it might be quicker!

May as well cancel with churchill and do all the chasing up to sort it out.

Oh and they're happy to give me a copy of my file but there would obviously be a charge for this service.

[revolting peasant]

From what you have described it is clearly infeasable that you hit her so from that point of view you have a case.

The witnesses are in my opinion independant as whilst they are known to you as acquaintances and work colleagues, they are not close friends or relatives and would have nothing to gain from making a false statement.

There might be some merit in issuing proceedings on the small claims track. With respect to Sang33ta, it is highly unlikely that your home insurance will provide legal expenses for a motor damage claim but by all means check it out.

I would suspect that a court sumons will galvanise the third party insurers into doing the right thing. What puzzles me most is why they are fighting it so hard in the first place.