Car insurance claim incorrectly recorded as 'at fault'

[nobbyblobby]

A close family member was driving her car on a roundabout when a cyclist left the pavement attempting to reach the roundabout itself, ie not joining the traffic but crossing it and collided with her car (he was fine, luckily).It was caught on CCTV by a house on the roundabout and several police cars arrived, two of which were traffic vehicles and the rest local police vehicles. The traffic officers went into the house, watched the CCTV and told us it absolutely wasn't her fault and she had nothing to worry about, the cyclist had inexplicably cycled directly into her path.

 

There was some damage (ultimately costing almost £1000) so she went through her insurance. She's come to renew her insure now and has found that the insurance company has recorded the claim as being her fault! She has protected no claims but it is still affecting her quotes with the same insurance company and other companies.

 

Any advice on what could be done to remedy this as obviously it isn't true that she was at fault.

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

I'd think getting in touch with your family members insurance company would be the first thing to do, see what they say.

[nobbyblobby]

Thanks for your input, she's already done that and they're refusing to change it as they couldn't reclaim the money from the cyclist. Probably should have mentioned that in original post....

[maroondevo52]

Thanks for your input, she's already done that and they're refusing to change it as they couldn't reclaim the money from the cyclist. Probably should have mentioned that in original post....

 

Sorry, yes thought my reply was a bit obvious, I'm not too clued up on Insurance companies and their procedures, hopefully someone with some useful input will post shortly.

[nobbyblobby]

Cheers!

[unclebulgaria67]

It will stay as a fault accident, because the Insurers will not recover their outlay from the cyclist.

 

People are often confused by what the label fault means. It is not purely related to who was at fault for an accident. It can also mean that the Insurers have or will not be able to recover their outlay.

 

Why won't the Insurers recover their outlay from the cyclist ? They won't pursue the cyclist, as it will cost them money to do this and they may not get anything back.

 

If your relative really wants to change this fault situation, they would have to take the cyclist to court for the full value of the accident i.e the amount paid by Insurers and any losses suffered by your relative e.g excess, hire car if relevant, other expenses. I am not sure your relative will be taking this action and will therefore just have to accept the situation.

[nobbyblobby]

That seems really unfair!

 

There's no chance of getting anything from the cyclist - he was as high as a kite at the time of the accident and he was known to the police officers, which makes me put two and two together and get drug addict.

 

As usual, the ones that play by the rules get punished.

[unclebulgaria67]

That seems really unfair!

 

There's no chance of getting anything from the cyclist - he was as high as a kite at the time of the accident and he was known to the police officers, which makes me put two and two together and get drug addict.

 

As usual, the ones that play by the rules get punished.

 

Yes unfair. It is just bad luck.

 

Makes you want to live on a small island somewhere, where you can have a quiet life, not spoilt by other humans.