My car hit by recycling lorry!! Advice needed please.

[cynopterus]

Hi all,

 

I am hoping someone can advise me of the likely outcome of this situation that I find myself in.

 

My car was recently hit by our local recycling firm causing some damage to the bodywork - car itself is ok.

 

No note was left by the driver, although he apparently got out and had a look at the damage before driving off!

 

A note was left by an independent witness however. I have contacted the company in question and they have moved quite quickly so far. Called them on Monday, they came and viewed car on Wednesday and then called me on Friday to say their insurers would be in touch soon.

 

The car is probably worth about the same as the cost to fix the damage would be, maybe less.

 

My questions really are:

 

1) Do I need to inform my insurers?

2) What is the likely outcome?

3) Is there anything I should know about this process as it's all new to me!?

 

I don't really want to lose the car but feel aggrieved as something of mine was damaged by a third party - and the fact that the driver left without reporting it.

 

The company's rep was very quick to point out that they encourage all their drivers to stop and report incidents. This is probably because I mentioned the word 'criminal' in the conversations we had prior to his visit.

 

Any thoughts would be much appreciated

[king12345]

Unfortunately you will need to notify your insurance.

You won't be making a claim to your insurance but they need to be notified, it's in the t&c so they can charge you more at renewal.

The lorry insurance will have to pay for the damage.

It's my understanding that because the repair will cost more than the value of the car, they will try to write it off.

You don't have to accept this and can opt to repair the car instead.

Should they start claiming that they will not repair, give them a 3 days deadline before appointing a no win no fee solicitor.

Because there's no disputed liability, you will find one very easily.

The lorry insurance probably will accept to repair your car to avoid paying legal expenses which will cost much more.

[unclebulgaria67]

The third party insurers will have a process for this. They might send out someone to check the damage and give a costing. They might have authorised repairers who will pick tbe car up and see if an economuc repair is possible. Or if the car is still driveable and roadworthy, to ask you to get a couple of repair quotes from garages local to you.

 

See how the third party insurers want to handle it. If you allow them to collect the car, it is not ideal because it is then parked at some big repair company which could be miles away. Best if they can come to inspect and get repair estimates locally.

 

The benefit of claiming directly against third party is no excess to pay, but you cannot use FOS for any complaint.

[unclebulgaria67]

If you have to go through your own Insurers, for a repair you would have the excess to pay. For a write off, you have the excess deducted and if you have been paying monthly they might also deduct any remaining premium for the year. For these reasons, it can be better to claim directly with a willing third party insurers.

 

If there is no personal injury involved, a no win no fee Solicitors is unlikely to be interested, as it is not worth it for them. If you have legal cover on your own policy, they might help you if needed.

 

Do make sure the third party insurers have your witnesses statement saying what they saw. Just in case they try to argue. There can be issues because the drivers of these vehicles are supposed to report, as it is company policy,as well as being a requirement under road traffic acts. Without the witness statement in front of them, they might try it on.

[panther12]

With my old battered van that someone hit and dented, No liability issue and the insurance wrote it off as uneconomical to repair but gave me quite a good price and the option to buy it back for a small fee. Considering every other panel was already scratched and dented it wasn't a problem and I just banked the cheque.

[cynopterus]

Thanks for all your responses people

 

Guess I'll just have to wait and see what they say first.

 

They do have a copy of the note that was left on my vehicle. The witness was also able to tell me what the truck was actually collecting at that time, so that should correlate with their records ...

 

Thanks all

[BankFodder]

I would urge you very strongly indeed to go and visit your witness and take a statement.

 

It is important that you get a full statement as close as possible to the event.

 

The statement should identify the name, address, occupation of the statement maker.

 

It should then go on to identify where he or she was at the time of the incident, the time that it took place and the reason why he or she remembers it was that time, what the weather was like, what the conditions generally were like and what was your witness doing the time.

 

Your witness should then give a reasonably detailed account of what they saw happening, how they reacted to it, and why they eventually decided to go and leave a note on your windscreen.

 

If you want, the witness could give their own opinion as to who they believe was at fault and why.

 

It would help give a sense of gravity at the end your witness was prepared to say "I'm prepared to attend court and give evidence of necessary".

 

The witness should then sign and date the statement.

 

It really is essential to get this done. Don't simply rely on the fact that you know the witnesses and they told you something. You can't imagine how often witnesses later changed their mind or the details get hazy or they get challenged for their account because it was too far away from the event. Do it now and get the statement on file.

 

Give a copy of the statement to the witness if they want one.

[BazzaS]

Thanks for all your responses people

 

Guess I'll just have to wait and see what they say first.

 

They do have a copy of the note that was left on my vehicle. The witness was also able to tell me what the truck was actually collecting at that time, so that should correlate with their records ...

 

Thanks all

 

Have you also reported this to the police?. The driver was obliged to stop and leave their details (or report it to the police themselves!)

They may have reported it to the police, but if they hadn't : you'd have been at a loss if you hadn't have had the third party let you know who hit your car!.

[Conniff]

Have you an update for us please cynopterus ??

[cynopterus]

Ok so the latest update is that the witness received a statement to complete regarding the incident and the driver's actions. He did so, categorically stating that the driver definitely knew he had caused damage. Cory are saying their driver "can't recall" anything.

 

I received an email from the insurers saying that they will not do anything as there are "inconsistencies" in the witness' statement relating to dates and times and locations. I have a feeling that the form already had this info on it, provided incorrectly by them (whether deliberate or not) and the witness simply wrote his bit and signed for that. I am currently trying to get a copy of the statement.

[king12345]

Go to the police with the witness and report it under the road traffic act.

Leaving the scene of an accident without exchanging details or informing the authorities used to be a criminal offence and unless they changed the law, it still is.

The old bill will try all the tricks in the book to avoid doing anything, but insist that it is their responsibility to investigate this , find the driver and book him.

Do not trust insurance companies.

[cynopterus]

Ok peeps, so the story goes on and this is where I'm at now ...... any help with how to move forward would be great!!!

 

Witness was sent statement to fill out. However he copied the date and location, which was on the cover letter, onto his witness statement. Now the insurers are saying that the date and location are wrong and they will not pay out. I have a copy of the cover letter that was sent with the witness statement and sure enough the date and location are NOT what I reported when I called, and met with, the company's reps who came to look at the car.

 

So they have mis-reported the incident to their insurers, my witness copied date/location believing them to be correct and because of this they are refusing to play ball!! Infuriating!

 

Any suggestions as I'm getting to the end of my tether tbh!!!

 

Cheers all

[cynopterus]

I have copy documents emailed between me and the company prior to the date that they reported!!!

[unclebulgaria67]

I have copy documents emailed between me and the company prior to the date that they reported!!!

 

I should imagine they were testing your witness, by putting wrong date and location. Why would your witness copy wrong information ? Unless your witness has more information to supply or there are other witnesses or evidence, i think you might find this now difficult to pursue.

[cynopterus]

He was simply in a rush. The letter simply asked him to fill out the attached form relating to the incident that occurred on X date at X location. He had no reason to pay much attention to that I guess. You wouldn't expect it to be wrong. And as far as the location is concerned , myself and the company rep never agreed on a road name because even I didn't know it (and I live around the corner), he asked me to draw a map which he then drew again and we both agreed that he understood where it was.

[Conniff]

I think I would now go for a letter before action along with a bill for your repairs and threaten court. I honestly wouldn't mess around with them any longer.

 

As you have the proof in writing, don't be afraid to use the word 'liar' in your next letter to them.

[unclebulgaria67]

Conniff does raise an option. If your witness is willing to act as a witness for court purposes, you could start go down the court route with a letter before action.

[cynopterus]

Thanks for your help guys.

 

They have now admitted that THEY had put the wrong date on the letter but are still arguing that the location is the issue now. Their clients (Cory Environmental) have obviously, despite me and their rep agreeing as to where it happened, deliberately (I would guess) reported the wrong location to their insurers as I mentioned above. And .... if I don't know the name of the road (and I live there) then it is perfectly understandable that my witnesswould not know eh!?

[cynopterus]

Just to clarify .... If I were to go down the LBA route, who would I be sending it to? Cory or their insurers - because to me it feels like they're tag teaming!!!

[unclebulgaria67]

Just to clarify .... If I were to go down the LBA route, who would I be sending it to? Cory or their insurers - because to me it feels like they're tag teaming!!!

 

LBA to Cory

[cynopterus]

***UPDATE***

 

For any of those of you following this -

 

I have just returned from Thailand after an extended 2 month trip and, unfortunately, have had to be in touch with QBE Insurance (Cory Environmental's insurers) during this time to ask them to explain why their insured misreported the location of the incident to them. After being thoroughly bemused and annoyed by the response I got, I then threatened to send Cory an LBA upon my return and to post a copy of every email, photo and any other correspondence regarding this matter all over social media.

 

(Both QBE and their insured (Cory Environmental) have, as far as I am concerned, been complicit in deliberately misreporting the incident, misleading the witness and also been down right rude to me.)

 

The response I received the following day, in Thailand, was the first positive step I have had in this whole fiasco. They said that 'they were in discussions with their policyholder and could I provide a quote for the cost of repairs' ...

 

I got two quotes when I returned last week and have forwarded them the costliest one. There is no doubt that the vehicle is worth far less than the estimate for repairs so I guess I'd be looking at a Cat D write off?? (Could I buy back if this is the case?)

 

I am wondering what the next likely steps are and, again, how long? (This has been going on since Feb!)