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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to want more compensation?

46 replies

Jellymuffin · 10/02/2017 17:04

I was involved in a car collision just before Christmas, was stationary (or there abouts) waiting to go at a junction behind other cars. I heard a loud crash behind me and then was hit myself. The driver who hit myself and the car behind had ploughed into us at at least 50mph, his air bags had gone off and his glasses case had broken his windshield. He was slurring, confused and couldn't stand.

My first thought was that he was legless but I don't know a lot about shock so thought it might be that too. I got a paltry amount for my little car (50% more than I'd paid the week before for a repair) and have had to buy a new car for far more money. I have been contacted by the police as this is now a criminal case. I'm assuming he WAS drunk.

Can I apply for criminal compensation too? I'm just about to start maternity leave and it would really help. I'm not usually grabby but thoroughly pissed off that this person has caused me massive financial loss because he decided to drive drunk.

OP posts:

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 10/02/2017 20:14

The fact that he was drunk and I'm being requested to give evidence has bought it all back.

Apart from the point it isn't 'fact' as your OP says you assume he was but don't know.

Oysterbabe · 10/02/2017 20:18

My DD and DH got NO compensation just the price of my DD car back.

Why not Birdlady? The MIB should have paid out for that.

wifeyhun · 10/02/2017 20:28

Was you not injured? We were hit from behind at 30mph at least and we all suffered from whiplash and I had to have physio for months.

user1486669405 · 11/02/2017 09:06

Judging from your last post it sounds like you were injured. You really need to see a solicitor.

Also FourKids, I agree with you. £250k for thumb vs £125k for a life is insane and grossly unfair.

foxyloxy78 · 11/02/2017 09:10

You were pregnant! Talk to a lawyer.

LlamaDrama · 11/02/2017 09:17

YABU - sound like you are seeing this as a bit of a cash cow.

If you old car had broken down and it was too expensive to repair, you'd still be in the same situation as you are now. You'd still have to buy a better car, you'd still have to tax it etc etc etc.

Insurance purely returns your situation to where you were, rather than trying to improve it.

KathArtic · 11/02/2017 09:38

I think it depends on what kind of insurance you have.

If you buy a car for £5k, then two years later it is worth £2K then you will only get the value of the car which is £2k. So you have to find £3k to buy a similar car.

BorrowedHeart · 11/02/2017 10:11

First you say you aren't sure if he was drunk, now the replies aren't going in your favour he suddenly was drunk. You sound like a greedy money grabber, who wants a quick fix of free money. You can buy loads of cars for second hand, your car wasn't new so you don't need a new one.

user1471517900 · 11/02/2017 10:47

She wasnt hit at 50mph. The car behind her was (and her car was shunted into by the second car) if I've understood the OP correctly. So from her POV the 50mph is neither here nor there, as the second car wouldn't have been doing anything close to that.

Willyoujustbequiet · 11/02/2017 11:01

Yanbu.

Whilst I sympathise with other posters stories the fact that you got nothing does not make the op unreasonable for wanting compensation for pain and inconvenience. Its not a game of who is worse off.

Yes go and see a solicitor

wibblywobblyfish · 11/02/2017 11:10

Our 14yr old car was reversed over by a lorry and written off. We managed to claim 2k through insurance, which was a reasonable amount however we couldn't replace the car on a like for like basis. In reality we ended up spending about another 1k on top to get another similar car, plus time and inconvenience. It's gutting.

user1471517900 · 11/02/2017 11:23

So presumably if anyone got anything, it should be the person who got hit first (as she said she heard a big bang first which I assume was first car being hit) as they probably did get injured (at best)

RoastitBubblyJocks · 11/02/2017 11:27

If you buy a car for £5k, then two years later it is worth £2K then you will only get the value of the car which is £2k. So you have to find £3k to buy a similar car.

No, because the 3k more expensive car isn't like for like, it's 2 years newer and has done less miles.

GemXo · 11/02/2017 11:35

Yes what happened is unfair but I'm afraid that's life, you will only be compensated for the value of your vehicle you had at the time of the accident. You cannot claim criminal injuries also know as CICA as you was not injured in the accident. I'm afraid what you got is all your going to get.

GemXo · 11/02/2017 11:36

FYI I work within a solicitors and I'm afraid you will not get anything more than you have already received.

GemXo · 11/02/2017 11:40

I would advise not to lie either about being injured more than what you was if injured at all, how you described the collision any solicitors would deem you not to be injured for more than 8 weeks, to make a claim through CICA you need to be injured at least 12 weeks. Also CICA cases take at least 1 year to get you your compensation as its not a complex claim

GemXo · 11/02/2017 11:42

Sorry my last post was incorrect I meant to say 'from how you described the accident I would presume you was injured' but from what it sounds like you don't seem as if you were OP

honeysucklejasmine · 11/02/2017 11:45

I think it's called "betterment". Insurance covers only the current value and condition of what you have, not what your bought it for nor indeed what you choose to replace it with.

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 11/02/2017 11:52

Whilst I sympathise with other posters stories the fact that you got nothing does not make the op unreasonable for wanting compensation for pain and inconvenience. Its not a game of who is worse off.

Sorry but people losing their life is a lot different to what the OP has experienced and it is extremely disingenuous to say it isn'ta case of 'whose worse off' because tbh the OP isn't even in the same ball park.

OP keeps changing her story. There is no mention on 'pain'. Inconvenience is extremely difficult to prove.

MycatsaPirate · 11/02/2017 11:59

YABU. Be grateful you weren't injured.

My dp was coming home from work on his motorbike in 2013 in a 50mph zone. A car pulled out of a side road and my dp had no way of avoiding it. The bike ripped the entire front of the car off, the handlebars of the bike folded in two and pushed into my dp's stomach.

He had 7 tears in his mesenteric artery, a broken sternum, 4 broken ribs, both lungs collapsed, horrendous bruising and he was lucky to live. He had massive internal bleeding.

It took three years to sort the insurance claim, he was off work for two years. In total he received £55k but that covered his loss of earnings, the loss of the bike and all his bike gear, sat nav and his injuries. I thought the payout was an insult considering the pain he is STILL in. He is struggling to find work he can do and we are using that money to cover rent and bills.

Seriously, you don't ever want to be or someone you love getting the call that your partner is in hospital waiting for a transfer for emergency life saving surgery.

tobecontinued2000 · 11/02/2017 12:03

I was hit by a car when I was stationary at 40mph, I was injured and still am, I have nerve damage and a trapped nerve in my neck.

You're very lucky to not be injured.

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