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?

They'll deal with it. They'll be able to see from the damage who drove into who, and I assume you have photos of where your car was parked and the position of the car that drove into you. Don't worry about it. He's trying his luck, but he won't get away with it.

Do you not protect your no claims?
Have your insurance said it's going to affect them and are they now asking for the excess?
It would have been very wise at the time to have taken the witness information but the photos show well that he drove in to you then let the insurance deal with it, how do you actually know he's denying liability? has that come form the insurance company or has he said it to you? Notify your insurance that there is CCTV footage and the contact details of the gym.

I’d do this. I’d also point out to the insurance company that your car isn’t inspector gadgets car, how can it possibly hit someone else sideways of the car only goes forward and backwards

I’d report it to 101 and ask them to ask for cctv from the business. That way you have evidence.

I’d contact the police and be clear you think he’s confused and concerned re his ability to drive.

Facebook page for the gym re witnesses / be polite can you help/ come forward.
distressed that you were stationary and now someone has changed their tune etc.

id just be blunt and ask around the gym - amazing what a bit of naming/shaming does!

You tell your insurance everything and let them deal with it. That’s what you pay them for!!
If they can’t help go to the police and explain it’s on cctv but the gym will only release to the police etc.
He’s committing fraud by lying about what happened and you shouldn’t be out of pocket or penalised because of his actions

I was once stationery and a woman drove into the side of me, she also apologised and said “I didn’t see you”. She then disputed it saying I was somewhere I shouldn’t have been, I was waiting in the road to turn right when she came out of a petrol station and into my passenger side. My insurance company asked for details from me, so I duly gave my side of events and said she didn’t see me but my daughter who was in my passenger had shouted “hey hey”, proving I’d seen her but couldn’t stop the impact, I then said I would not accept responsibility under any circumstances and would happily go to court if she continued to dispute it. I never heard back other than her insurance company had given authorisation for my repairs. They try it on, just kick it back.

If other people saw it just get the witnesses. It can't be that much of a problem to ask about or message a Facebook group etc. Once you have a witness he's toast
In the meantime do not message him.

@Eastie77Returns

You have a right to obtain cctv footage that you are in:

https://www.gov.uk/request-cctv-footage-of-yourself

Report incident to police (if not already done)
Ask insurer to request CCTV
Submit a formal SAR to the gym
If refused get a Solicitor letter referencing civil disclosure rules

I had this happen. Was stationary, other driver hit me and then disputed it. It even went to court and the other driver changed their story but still the judge found in their favour. Was years ago and I’m still bitter about it.

Don't get personal, let insurance fight it. In court if need be. An elderly man who hit me (would've been much worse had it not been for my quick thinking) took me to court, trying to blame me. I won.

Well thank you for your advice

Tell your insurance company it can not be a 50/50 claim as you were stationary. Tell them to investigate properly and get and request the footage.

request the footage again in writing from the gym and report the accident to the police and ask them to investigate the accident as you were stationary surely he was driving without due care and attention? Put everything in writing and copy in your local MP and also put a note up local fb asking for witnesses

Hopefully you can fight this, but if not:

• Do you have protected NCB? This will help keep future premiums low if so
• If you don't have protected NCB then you shouldn't go back to 0 years NCB but will likely be reduced by 2 years
• It may not affect your premiums as much as you expect. DH had 2 fault claims in 18 months, one of which involved another car. While our premiums did increase, it wasn't massively. Although we did have protected NCB which obviously mitigated this.

Put it on a local facebook group then.

Have you reported it to the police as an accident? Do that and get them to obtain the cctv.

Your insurance are imo failing to defend you from the third party’s insurance trying it on because you can tell from the damage on a car what the likely cause is, and the inspection should offer some support to your statement.

I would avoid hassling the third party if I were you; it will not help your claim and you do not want him to be able to bring a harassment charge against you.

I'm so annoyed on your behalf. I had very similar years ago where a fella moved into my lane and admitted it at the roadside. He then said I drove into him. It took months but I had to complete loads of accident forms, the damage to my vehicle proved he drove into me (he forced me onto the kerb which also damaged the passenger side. We both had witnesses who were passengers so not impartial. I didn't back down and ended up winning my claim and he was held 100% liable. It was also a work van he was in and I called him up and asked if he was insured to drive his wife and child around and use the van for personal use. That's when everything went my way. It's a shame you can't do similar to him. Use this experience to invest in a dashcam although it still may not be clear cut - i am 3 years into a claim where I was rear ended at speed. I have my dashcam footage proving I was no way at fault. Again, young lad admitted fault at roadside and had his brother on the phone begging to keep insurance out of it. He said I turned left into his lane - my insurance replied saying it's a single lane carriageway and my house is on the right hand side of where it happened. Then he said I reversed into him. Even with video and his changing stories, it's going to court. These insurance companies are useless.

After having a claim settled on a knock for knock basis (both parties deemed at fault) when a car hit me, I now pay extra to have legal protection; so in this event a legal team will hopefully fight my corner.

The businesses can release if you have a crime number. Did you report it to the police?

This is no help to your current situation OP
but a lesson for all of us.
If anything like this happens get your phone out and record every second of the aftermath.

As an aside my dh was driven into by another. When he reported it he said he had a passenger and hence witness that said my dh went into him. He was, however, alone in the car. People will lie through their teeth.
Record everything. Including the inside of their car and surrounding area.

I'm afraid I don't share a lot of posters' confidence in either the insurers or the police. In my experience the insurance system is all about the money and nobody cares much about the truth. If it's a relatively low value claim and it will cost more to pursue than it is worth to the insurers then they will probably settle 50:50. That was certainly the case for one of my DC's who was hit on a roundabout when the other party falsely claimed DC was in the wrong lane.
I have had a big claim as I was seriously injured. The other driver was convicted of a criminal offence so I thought the insurance would be cut and dried but it was far from that, and I had to do a lot of the leg work myself. Once the police had their conviction they lost interest completely and were frankly incompetent, even sending the wrong details to the insurers, stating that no action was taken against either of us. It was me who had to prove that wasn't true and eventually they corrected the error. It all took ages and I was still arguing to get my excess back about 4 years later.
Hopefully other people will have more positive experiences, but going by mine I honestly would trust nobody and collect as much evidence as possible myself.

"... The incident happened outside a local business but the owners will not release the CCTV footage due to GDPR etc...."

Surely they will have to release the footage to your insurers if they ask?

GDPR is a red herring here as the business can simply redact people not involved in the collision.

In any case you must leave this to your insurers to sort out and not get involved yourself, otherwise you may risk invalidating your insurance and/or prejudice your own claim. Leave it to the experts. This is what you pay insurance premiums for in the first place.

Only get involved if your insurers suggest it was 50/50, but I don't see how that can be if you have photograhic evidence that you were stationary and the other car hit you.

Report incident to police (if not already done)
Ask insurer to request CCTV
Submit a formal SAR to the gym
If refused get a Solicitor letter referencing civil disclosure rules

Similar happened to DH 2 years ago. Woman hit the door and wheel arch of his car when he wasn't even moving. Insurance tried to fight it (or so they said) but after a year of phone calls and stress, it ended up 50/50.

Makes you wonder why we bother with insurance.