So angry. AIBU the driver who is now disputing he caused crash

[Eastie77Returns]

I was sitting stationery in my car when another driver drove into the side of my car causing substantial damage. He was an elderly man who emerged from the car looking quite confused and buffudled. He was extremely apologetic and we exchanged details. My claim was initially a no-fault claim but the other driver has now claimed that I drove into his car (impossible, I was not moving) and damaged HIS car. This despite the photos showing my doors are caved in and his car barely has a scratch. The incident happened outside a local business but the owners will not release the CCTV footage due to GDPR etc.

This will obviously impact my premiums going forward and NCB. I have been driving since the age of 17 and have never had an accident.

I have this person's number and am tempted to send him angry text message. I know this will not acheive anything. WWYD in this situation?

What a shitty thing to do! Am angry on your behalf. No idea what happens in these situations but hope the insurance fight this for you

I’ve had a similar situation before. You just sit and wait for insurance to sort it. It sounds clear from the evidence that he drove into you. My insurance settled the claim in my favour and it didn’t affect my premiums.

Insurer's will deal with it. This type of thing is par for course when dealing with claims. I wouldn't contact him at all. Insurance doesn't protect you from civil claims made against you.

They can release CCTV to police. If you exchanged details your insurance company should be claiming from his insurance?

Do you have legal protection with your car insurance? I would just go back to your insurance.

Stick to your guns. It will be obvious from the damage that he drove into the side of your car.

If he is quite elderly and confused it’s possible a family member has contacted the insurance company on his behalf and is trying to shift the blame?

We had something similar, someone drove into the side of us and admitted fault at the scene. He then changed his story to his insurers and they tried to fight it but ours were really good and argued it. Eventually we were found not at fault and his insurers paid out, although it did take about a year in total

Let the insurers deal with it. I was hit head on - on a country lane with a van on the wrong side of the road. He denied liability for 17 months... The court date was a month later.

Twat.

As others have said the insurance companies will resolve it. As for cctv evidence, the insurance companies can be quite persuasive about obtaining this. As you're vehicle was stationary at the time of the incident the other driver has no defence.

Just leave it to the insurers. It should be obvious what happened from the damage/photos.

Look at Big Jobber on FB, and he explains how claims handlers handle things, it's quite interesting. Even with photo evidence of the cars it will be clear he hit you. Your insurance company make their profits by making sure the other lot pay out, if it's as clear as it sounds, it's very likely that you will get the result you want.

The insurance company will be able to tell from the area of damage on your car vs his who drove into who

Thanks all. I have just spoke with my insurers who are basically saying there is very little they can do without a witness or CCTV footage and it will therefore be a 50/50 claim, hence my anger.

The incident happened outside a gym where we are both members so I will probably see this twat again. The gym has the footage but has said they will only release it to the police due to data protection. Several gym-goers came up to me after the incident to ask if I was ok as they saw the incident but unfortunately I cannot recall their faces and don't know who they were. I was thinking of putting up a notice asking for them to come foward (it was very early on a Saturday morning so they hopefully attend a class there at the same time each week) but the gym probably won't allow that either. So frustruating.

I hope he falls off the treadmill and breaks his fucking knee when he's next at the gym.

Make sure your insurance company understands that you were stationary and he drove into you, they should sort it out. Give them a ring if you don't think they have understood the accident.

I would make a subject access request for the CCTV

The pictures I've sent show very clearly he must have hit my car. The problem, according to the gym, is I don't have pictures of the car 'in situ'. He drove over to the side of the road after the accident and those are the pictures I have of his car, not when they actually hit my car.

Also there are exceptions to GDPR for legal proceedings

My friend has to go to court next week due to a dispute where the driver who hit her empty parked car is denying hitting her despite her having a text from him with his details where he apologised and even more… friend found out it had happened because police knocked on her door after they witnessed it. Bonkers. He is still denying it was him.

If you can't put a notice up for witnesses could you go back to the gym at roughly the same time and just ask people?

Can I take this matter up with the police? Make some kind of civil claim against him? I guess not. I do not have to pay for any of the repairs, the insurance company waived my excess at the beginning as it was so clear I was not at fault, but I this is going to massively impact my insurance premium.

Thank you, I am planning to do this.

Under the UK GDPR, CCTV footage is considered your personal data. Owners cannot simply use GDPR as a blanket excuse to refuse access. You have the right to request it via a Subject Access Request (SAR)

I'm surprised your insurance company isn't backing you if the damage is on the side of your car and the front of his, you can hardly drive into him sideways. They can go by where the damage is, I've argued similar before and they agreed.

Put some signs on lamp posts or whatever is available, not on the gym premises if they won't allow you to put them up inside. Hang around outside at the right time with some leaflets in your hand and pass them out, the message should get through to someone.

I had this when I was 21 with a middle aged man. Took responsibility at the time and then said I was speeding and drove into him, which was impossible given the damage to my car. I had legal cover with my insurance but in the end, the solicitors advised to split 50/50 and I lost my NCB. I was furious at the bloke but I was never sure if it was actually him or the insurers lying in order to reclaim their costs.

I'm sorry you’ve had the same shit. It seems very few people these days can take responsibility for their actions.

I don't understand why you can't push your own insurers harder. Have you drawn a picture and clarified exactly where you were and he was? Is the damage on your car clearly on the side, or on the front corner of your car? If front corner, there is a chance you could have driven into him, but surely the specific damage on both your cars tells the tale? Are you absolutely hand on heart telling the truth that you were completely stationary?

Good idea to ask for witnesses at the gym the next day. You could also go to the police and get a crime number and ask them to ask the gym to release the footage?

If your insurers won't budge you need to do a formal complaint to them and then escalate to the financial ombudsman. You are right this could cost you thousands in premiums, and if you are genuinely not at fault then you should not have to take this.