Having problems with car insurance paying out after accident

Question

A couple for weeks ago I had an accident with another driver that resulted in my car being written off

What happened was another car joined the motorway, switched lanes but obviously wasn't paying attention and he clipped my back wheel, this sent my car across the outside lane, it flipped and landed on the hard shoulder

I wasn't too seriously injured and I remember the driver admitting fault at the scene (he kept apologising and saying how sorry he was) and It told the police this when they came to see me

Now it seems he is blaming me for the accident, saying he never admitted fault and that I wouldn't have known if he had anyway as I was drifting in and out of consciousness (this isn't true)

So now his insurance company won't pay out untill they prove who was at fault

Does anyone who how this works and how long it can take?

It's not a huge issue because I can't drive at the moment anyway but I just don't want it drag on for months

Answer 1

I take it that you have third party insurance and are not fully comprehensive.  Ask your insurance company to write to the police who attended the accident and ask for a statement of what happened and what was said by the other driver at the time of the accident.  If you were fully comprehensive the insurance would arrange for your car to be fixed and fight in out after.  Always try (if you can) and take out the legal protection when you insure your car.

Answer 2

It can take weeks! They will have some stupid adjuster drive to the scene, and they have to revise everything. Arg. That happened to us, but we just ran the our car through our insurance and got reimbursed by the other insurance company later.

Answer 3

hi i work for an insurance broker and deal with the claims. you dont have any thing to worry about on this. he has clearly hit your car as he has clipped the back of your vehicle. i have seen easier claims than this drag on for months. you could very well end up with a court summons etc over this - but dont panic if you do, just get it straight to your insurers. the key here is NOT to reply any letters etc you have from the third party nor the insurers - send everything straight to your ins co for them to handle as you may (without realising it) put your insurance companies position in jeapordy. if you want to do something to get things moving, get written statements from ALL witnesses and a copy of the police report (your insurers should do this anyway in time, but the sooner they have them the better). if you dont have contact details for the witnesses, get in touch with the police and they will give these to you. try not to work yourself up over it all, the third party was bound to try denying liability - they always do after speaking to soandso down the pub who knows better etc...you will find that the claim is settled in your favour though, as for him to hit the BACK wheel of your car - you were obviously infront of him, therefore, it was his responsibility to watch what was infront of him. if you need any further help, email me at [e-mail] and i will help you as much as i can. hope you feel better soon.

Answer 4

find out if there is a police report.  Were there any witnesses you can talk to?  Did you get the other driver's insurance information?  An insurance adjuster should be able to inspect your vehicle and tell how the accident happened.  You most assuredly should get an attorney.

Edit:  Did you get contact information from the witnesses?  They would be your best bet.  Get them to write a statement, and have their signatures notarized.  

It is not obvioust to the other driver's insurance company whose at fault because he is denying it now.  They would be just as happy not pay out.

Answer 5

It is always a good idea to hold some good resources at firstplaec.here is one of them.http://car-insurance.online-tips.info/ca...

Answer 6

I am afraid this could take quite a while and, unless you have a witness, could end up with a fifty fifty ruling from the insurance companies. However, If you were comprehensively insured you should be able to get your car repaired quite quickly or a payout if it was written off.  

Answer 7

It's unlikely that the police investigation will have been completed yet.

It doesn't really matter what the other driver says as the police will establish the position of both vehicles at the point of impact and their relative paths beforehand.  Their report will then be sent to the insurance companies for the claim to be settled.

You should concentrate on getting yourself fit again first.

It can take an awful long time to resolve a serious case like this.

Answer 8

If you have informed your insurance comany and he has done the same let them sort it out. They will probably wait to see if the police intend to prosecute somebody. It could take a long time.

Answer 9

Insurance companies always tell their customers not to admit responsiblity.  A similar thing happened to me, I wrote to my insurance company describing the incident exactly, concentrating on certain details such as him hitting me at the rear, I added a detailed diagram of what happened. Initially They were demanding £1000s from me, it was a fire service vehicle that hit me, he called the police who backed him up at the time, the police officer even swept up the broken glass I wanted to photograph as evidence. My report was so detailed I won without any further correspondence.

On the diagram I drew the road exactly as it is  and showed the cars positions with arrows.

Answer 10

As the police have been involved they will investigate the incident and will probalily have taken statements and done some roadside evidence gathering.This may involve taking photographs of the scene and looking at the damage to the cars ,looking for skid marks on the road and of course trying to find any witnesses to the accident and posibly cctv coverage if your lucky.

They will check both vechiles for road worthyness and guess the speed of each vechile.

They can prosecute if they believe a law was broken eg danerous driving.

The police report will be used by the insurance company to decide who is to blame for the accident however sometimes both parties are at fault and an agreement is made like 70/30 or 50/50 and a compromise is agreed between the insurance companies.

If either party contests the evidence or the conclutions drawn from it then a court case may result to settle the argument.

After all this your insurance company can drag its feet and delay payment and months can go by.