Car Insurance Scams - Staged Car Accidents

[WelshMam2009]

You're extremely lucky to have this witness.

 

I would ensure that you alert your insurance company to this lady's statement as they are all too aware of this [problem]. It is not the damage to the cars that is the issue but the third party claims for personal injury compensation.

[WelshMam2009]

she asked me if we would just go our separate ways and not go through the insurance because both parties will deny liability.

 

Is she just being decent or does she know she'll lose?

 

I've already reported the claim to my insurance company anyway.

 

It's too risky not to report this incident to your Insurers and I'm glad to see you're being sensible about this.

 

All Insurers have a shared database and this incident will be recorded, regardless of the outcome. The third party is clearly familiar with this process and is not keen to get their name logged, especially when no pay out is likely.

[WelshMam2009]

I'm with Zurich also and have dealt with DAS in the past.

 

They will get there eventually, you just be patient as Kurvaface suggested.

[WelshMam2009]

I've just spoken with DAS Group, they called me to go over the claim details. So I explained what happened and now I'm just too confused I don't know where to start!!

 

My back bumper is slightly damaged and isn't worth the £800 excess I'd have to pay. She said they wouldn't be able to take it to a solicitors for some reason, they would have to deal with it in-house and that would mean I would only get less than £1000 PI compensation. I told her I'm not interested in claiming PI compensation, I'm not even bothered about the damage to my car, I'm only frustrated that some guy has crashed into me on purpose and there's no justice if he gets away with it.

 

She said that because I was reversing, it will probably be split 50/50 liability.

 

She said they could just deal with the car repair costs and it wouldn't go actually through my insurance so I won't get marked as having a claim.

 

I'm just too confused to deal with this, I don't understand what their job actually is, other than to act as my legal representation and it won't cost me anything because it's a part of my policy. But if I don't put a proper claim in for damages and compensation and just either get my car fixed myself or just leave it, the third party could still put a claim in against me??

 

She said even though you have an independent witness, it doesn't necessarily mean that liability will land on the third party - which I understand, but why the hell would it not if some woman off her own back came up to the police and told her what really happened??!

 

I don't know what to do now I don't know what will happen if I don't put a claim in and I don't know what will happen if I do put a claim in. I don't know how it all works in the insurance world and I tried to tell this to the girl on the phone but she kept on talking gobbledegook that I didn't understand.

 

HELPP!

 

Matt!

 

I would ask them to put your options in writing so that you can read through it properly and make a decision. DAS are essentially there to try and recover your losses but they're saying that this is a 50/50 claim so you're unlikely to recover anything from the third party.

 

What I think will happen, if you're not going for PI, is that DAS will arrange the repair and you will pay for the work as it is less than your excess. However, I believe that you are will still be covered by your insurance in case of any claims.

 

I reported a bump circa 4 years ago, just to be on the safe side, where there was no/minimal damage to either car just incase the other party submitted a PI claim.

[WelshMam2009]

Thankyou. So as I have already alerted my insurance company to the 'accident', would you advise me to just leave it, and if I decide to get the repair done myself, that's what I decide..?

 

To be honest, I can't be bothered with the stress and hassle over something which hasn't done very much damage at all, the only reason one part of me wants to pursue it, is because of the criminal who crashed into me.

 

But because I have already alerted my insurance company about the incident, and I decide not to claim through the insurance, how does this affect me if third party decides to claim through insurance?

 

Matt.

 

It's entirely up to you Matt. All DAS will do is refer it to an approved repairer and you will probably get a courtesy car.

 

If the third party successfully claims, then you will probably still have to cough up your excess. However, if it's 50/50 then they're unlikely to be successful.

[WelshMam2009]

That's totally wrong

 

If it's settled on a 50/50 basis the OP will recover 50% of whatever he is claiming, hence why it's called 50/50 (ie each side recovers £50 of their total claim from the other)

 

Mossy

 

I was referring to this specific claim where there appears to be negligible damage on both sides. Hence, any claim by the OP is likely be off-set by the counter claim.