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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Male driver hit me from behind and tried to intimidate me into admitting fault ...wwyd?

101 replies

Cain · 28/01/2011 21:03

Pulling away in stop start traffic, the transit van behind ploughed into me.
I was in shock trying to collect my thoughts when my driver door was pulled open and the driver of the other vehicle stuck his head in my vehicle and shouted " what are you doing?" I answered "you ran into me!" He started yelling, I cannot remember what but I was scared so I pulled the door shut, he fought with me but I managed to get it closed enough to catch and lock it - not completely because the 'door open' siren was going off although it took me a few second to realise what it was.
He went back to his vehicle and I could just about see him in the rear view gesticulating and yelling.

He came back another two times trying to open my door, banging on the window and yelling through the glass trying to get me to admit fault.

I had called the police and as soon as the traffic police arrived he stopped the ott behaviour but still strutted up and down the hard shoulder yelling down his mobile phone.

The traffic police, my insurers and a third party no win no fee type set up have said they can see no fault on my part so my question is this...

After being scared, upset, and now bloody angry I now want to 'do' this sexist bastard as I am quite sure he would not have behaved like that had I been a male driver.

How do I get some justice against him?

I am going to contact the police tomorrow to ask their opinion as well as Enterprise, the owners of the vehicle that hit me.

Can anyone offer any further thoughts. I hate the sexism of it. He should not get away with behaving like that towards a lone female driver he had run into the back of.

OP posts:
Tiredmumno1 · 29/01/2011 00:20

There are 2 enterprise companies, one being the hire company and the other is infrastructure, and the op explained the logo to be infrastructure

iamamug · 29/01/2011 00:24

She said it was Enterprise with a capital E -commercial Hire firm. That's the hire company. Nationwide car and van hire.(few post ago)

Original poster
Cain · 29/01/2011 00:27

I have fully comp, legal cover and protected no claims of 7 years.
If I have paid for it I might as well use my insurer to pursue personal injury....I have had 3 days off work and am still in pain by mid afternoon and need to get away from my desk and stretch a bit.

I didn;t pursue PI the last time I was in an accident, the driver of a 7.5 tonne lorry pulled out on me and put me into the central reservation on two wheels but I wasn't hurt. Lucky for that shit DS was not in the car with me or I would have wiped the floor with him without hesitation.

Whilst I have had calls from the solicitors of the third party firm, my own insurers have not been in contact yet.

I actually thought it was not their interest but wanted to discuss the implications of PI claim on my car repair.

I don't understand about the impact of a pi claim on the repair of my car.
That is my priority as well as making that nasty git regret being aggressive with me.

OP posts:
Tiredmumno1 · 29/01/2011 00:29

No its not the hire company is a small e, if you go to enterprise.plc.uk you will see they have a capital E, then check enterprise hire vehicle its the small e,

and Enterprise plc (infrastructure) use allianz cornhill for insurers

the hire company dont use that insurer

iamamug · 29/01/2011 00:33

The PI is dealt with by your legal cover - Insurers sell you that but don't deal with it themselves - it's classed as an 'uninsured loss' along with your excess and any other out of pocket expenses you might incur (phsio, chiropractor etc)

You don't need to worry about it now- you actually have 3 years to do it!

Just get your car sorted for now.
Get checked out by Doctor so there is something on your records and use osteo/phsio if you need it and keep all receipts.
Also - go get that tosser via the police route!

iamamug · 29/01/2011 00:36

Oh Tiredmum- my mistake.
I would still use the route above - OP's Insurers will recover their outlay and she has legal cover for the rest.
Let them do the work!

notinbed · 29/01/2011 00:39

However, don't inflate the claim for spite - it will not affect him at all.

It will, as future insurance costs are affected by the size of any claims made against you in the past (makes sense really). In any case it appears Cain has a totally legitimate injury claim - take them to the cleaners.

Be careful what you say to solicitors working for the 3rd party insurer - they might well be trying to get you to accept a small payment in settlement when you're entitled to a lot more. Get in contact with your legal cover ASAP, so next time you can simply tell them to speak to your solicitors.

Tiredmumno1 · 29/01/2011 00:40

Thats ok iamamug, it is confusing, but at least the op can find out who he works for and complain

and if the statement from the police is along the lines of what they said to the op then they will have to admit liability

Tiredmumno1 · 29/01/2011 00:43

And op just to add it might be a worker from manchester council or the gas in manchester, just call the Enterprise head office, they should help, contact details on the site i mentioned

hth

iamamug · 29/01/2011 00:51

Notinbed - when I said he wouldn't be affected by the insurance claim I thought he had hired the vehicle.

I am perfectly aware of claims affecting your premiums in the future but as a hirer - it would have been extremely unlikely that he would ever declare it to future Insurers. (Me Cynical?? just a bit)

As it appears he works for a large company, depending on his contract, he may be liable for the excess for the damage to the van.
He would still be very unlikey to hear what happens regarding OPs possible PI claim.

Unless he is disciplined for having a claim and they bring it up he's unlikely to find out. The larger the company the more unlikely he will ever know.

Much easier to trace him though and advise his Employers of his attitude.

How's my driving? That's a laugh!!!

0karen · 29/01/2011 00:54

I feel sorry for you Cain, being in an accident is a horrid feeling, not helped by the reaction of the van driver.

However give a guy a break, he was probably as shocked as you were and it is natural reaction to blame the other driver.

I was hit from behind a few years ago, just after I passed my test. Stopped to allow oncoming vehicles to pass, the lady driver jumped out and immediately blamed me, why because I stopped.

She was huffing and puffing until the police arrived

The Fiat Uno I had at the time seemed to have relatively little damage whilst her car was a wreck. Examined later it transpired my Fiat floor folded.

She came down the following day and asked if she could repair the car without claiming the insurance; then she accused me of insurance fraud - did not claim injury - once I outlined the extent of the damage.

Took about a year to sort out as she was denying responsibility.

Original poster
Cain · 29/01/2011 01:05

Thank you very much for your input, I will read and re-read. I posted earlier in chat asking totally the wrong question - it just goes to show, you get answers to your questions as you ask them. I'm not really bothered about PI but that was what I originally asked about.
This has been a far more useful thread, thank you.

OP posts:
iamamug · 29/01/2011 01:06

Good luck and night night!!

Original poster
Cain · 29/01/2011 01:07

0Karen I have no sympathy whatsoever and will not give the guy a break.

No way

OP posts:
Tiredmumno1 · 29/01/2011 01:08

Yup good luck cain, let us know how you get on.

night iamamug Wink

Tiredmumno1 · 29/01/2011 01:12

karen the only reason he tried to make cain take responsibility was to make sure his job was safe, why should she have to put herself in that position for his stupidity, and he should never have opened her door, that is not allowed

Original poster
Cain · 29/01/2011 01:26

Thank you both for your very useful input. Faulous, thank you Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
Cain · 29/01/2011 01:27

Fabulous, even.

OP posts:
0karen · 29/01/2011 01:58

You know that for a fact Tiredmumno1.

Maybe he should not have opened her door but we all do things we should not especially in stressful circumstances.

Maybe I am to soft but I put myself in the other persons situation and feel sorry for them too. I find myself thinking well tomorrow it might be me who runs into the back of someone.

Bogeyface · 29/01/2011 02:04

Never underestimate the power of road rage. My ex was a victim of this and actually got physically assaulted when he stopped as a witness to an accident. He got told to fuck off and mind his own business and got a smack in the mouth for his trouble. The guy then carried on screaming (literally screaming) at the other driver.

It is very unlikely to be sexism but more that he has now lost the massive deposit he will have paid on the hire van.

Bogeyface · 29/01/2011 02:09

Sorry, I see it wasnt a hire van. If it was a works vam then he may well get stung financially there though. Ex had a works car and if he was at fault in an accident he would have to pay all sorts of things. I cant remember the details as it never happened thankfully, but I do know that there was a financial penalty, perhaps to cover increased premiums etc.

Tiredmumno1 · 29/01/2011 02:25

karen i am pretty certain as dh works alongside that sort of industry, and knows plenty that had to fork out a fortune and lost their jobs, it was his own incompetence

BlackSwan · 29/01/2011 02:31

Cain - sorry you crossed paths with this moronic male & bad driver. I agree his behaviour was sexist. And rude & intentionally intimidating. Stand up for yourself and don't make any apologies for doing so.

MsKLo · 29/01/2011 06:09

I have heard about people doing this and it us awful - the bastard

Let us know what happens

LoveBeingADaddysGirl · 29/01/2011 08:23

He was intimidating and threatening, he was opening her car door and shouting, she was having to pull the door closed and he kept trying to open it. That alone is threatening.

Op was he swearing? Did you feel threatened? Did you mention ay of this to thebofficers on the scene?