hit a barrier

[gideonssword]

My daughter was going over a toll bridge and the barrier was down, she paid the fee to cross the bridge.

 

The sun was directly upon the windscreen and she got distracted and tried to drive off hitting the barrier and knocking it off.

 

The company that owns the toll booth sent my daughter a letter stating they want to claim of her insurance.

 

My daughters insurance as cost nearly 2000 pounds which she paysmonthly by direct debit as she is 19 and not been driving for a full year yet.

 

I genuinely fear for her as she is pregnant and this claim would send her insurance astronomical upon renewal.

 

Can we offer to pay the damage outside of the insurance? How do we go about that?

[BankFodder]

You will have to write to the company and suggested and that you may want to deal with it directly.

 

The company may be reluctant to do this because they might sense that there will be complications.

 

I suggest that you couch your letter in a way which suggests that if you settle directly then they will be less delay and it will be more straightforward all round.

 

You need to ask them that an assessment of the value of the damage. However, you will probably be in for a surprise that it is going to cost much more than you think.

 

You might find that when you have all the figures in front of you, that the insurance is the only way to go

[BazzaS]

My daughter was going over a toll bridge and the barrier was down, she paid the fee to cross the bridge.

 

The sun was directly upon the windscreen and she got distracted and tried to drive off hitting the barrier and knocking it off.

 

The company that owns the toll booth sent my daughter a letter stating they want to claim of her insurance.

 

My daughters insurance as cost nearly 2000 pounds which she paysmonthly by direct debit as she is 19 and not been driving for a full year yet.

 

I genuinely fear for her as she is pregnant and this claim would send her insurance astronomical upon renewal.

 

Can we offer to pay the damage outside of the insurance? How do we go about that?

 

Bear in mind that she will still be obliged to inform the insurance company of an accident causing damage if asked, and it would be asked for at renewal.

 

Thus she could expect an increase in premium as she will be viewed as being "a higher risk" than if she hadn't had an accident.

Failure to declare an accident could lead to her insurance being voided if the non-declaration was discovered. This, then, would make her even worse off as she'd not only risk having any claim rejected but also have to declare having insurance cancelled on any later applications, too.

 

So, she should inform her insurers.

 

It will then become "which is more costly, settle it myself having declared it" and "let the insurers sort it out", for which you'll need to know how much the claim will likely be for, as Conniff has noted.

[ericsbrother]

If she had paid the toll why was the barrier down? Had she moved off too quickly or was there another reason? I am asking to see if there was any contributory factor that was under the control of the bridge company or even a malfunction of their equipment which would mean that they played a part in the damage being caused.

[king12345]

Just as a side note, if your daughter adds an experienced driver to the policy, the price will be reduced by a bit.

As long as the other driver drives the car occasionally, this is perfectly legal.

[heliosuk]

If she had paid the toll why was the barrier down? Had she moved off too quickly or was there another reason? I am asking to see if there was any contributory factor that was under the control of the bridge company or even a malfunction of their equipment which would mean that they played a part in the damage being caused.

 

 

That's the first thing that jumped into my mind EB.

I regularly use the M6 toll road and as soon as the payment clears the barrier opens. In fact it opens before you get your card back. I'd be asking for the CCTV footage as they are all recorded.

 

 

Personally I'd be asking to see the evidence that she did do something wrong. I wouldn't be rolling over straight away.

[Conniff]

Personally I'd be asking to see the evidence that she did do something wrong. I wouldn't be rolling over straight away.

 

 

I wouldn't either.

How much damage is there to her car?

[gideonssword]

Thanks from what I can gather she paid the toll then the guy who took her money was talking and after about half a minute she assumed he'd raised the barrier but obviously not and she hit it, she couldn't see it due to dun dazzling the windscreen.

 

what's more worrying is she as an excess on the policy of 750 which she has no means to pay as she only works part time.

[heliosuk]

Half a minute is 30 seconds which is a long time waiting for the barrier to move up. Does your daughter remember seeing a green light?

Plus I have a feeling some of these barriers have proximity sensors for Toll Tags. I don't get this and am beginning to think the employee might be equally to blame here.

[Ganymede]

Half a minute is 30 seconds which is a long time waiting for the barrier to move up. Does your daughter remember seeing a green light?

Plus I have a feeling some of these barriers have proximity sensors for Toll Tags. I don't get this and am beginning to think the employee might be equally to blame here.

 

The employee is equally to blame?

[JoeyJoeC]

That's the first thing that jumped into my mind EB.

I regularly use the M6 toll road and as soon as the payment clears the barrier opens. In fact it opens before you get your card back. I'd be asking for the CCTV footage as they are all recorded.

 

 

Personally I'd be asking to see the evidence that she did do something wrong. I wouldn't be rolling over straight away.

 

Unless the barrier went up, and back down as she was moving forward, it would be seen as her fault.

 

It's like rear ending a car and blaming it for being in front of you.

[steampowered]

Personally I don't see how she could blame the company or the employee. Ultimately she drove into a stationary object.

 

Normally I would say keep everything in writing. But in this case is it worth giving them a call? This won't be the first time someone has driven into a barrier so you might be able to get an informal estimate of how much it usually costs. The person dealing with it should be able to tell you fairly quickly whether you are looking at a few hundred or a few thousand, and whether there is any scope for dealing with it outside the insurance.

[JoeyJoeC]

Personally I don't see how she could blame the company or the employee. Ultimately she drove into a stationary object.

 

Unless the barrier was coming down as she moved forward.

[gideonssword]

there was no light system on this barrier it's a on a hill on a country road and there is a little booth in the middle of the road which there is either one or 2 man in it taking money off motorists from either side of the road.

 

The irony in all of this is that it costs just 12p to go through the barrier.

 

However I think I would agree with the general consensus on here in that I'm afraid she will have to bite the bullet on this one and put it down to experience and learn from it.

[dacouc]

She won't have to pay her excess if the claim is just for the damage to the third party property as you only pay your excess if you're claiming for your own damage.

 

P.S This may cheer you up...

 

[gideonssword]

Thanks dacouc

 

Love the video as well