dont know what to do regarding insurance claims

[dailfc]

Hi I was involved in a collision monday which wasnt my failt however the liable driver is trying to blame me, it was very close to a set of traffic lights on coychurch road bridgend, by asda if anyone knows the area, I was wondering if anyone knows if there is cctv on the lights or road as it was not my fault, or does anyone know where I can find out if where there are cctv cameras on traffic lights etc, thanks

You need to contact the local authority that covers the location and find the dept that covers the CCTV. You'll need to request the necessary forms that would allow you to request any footage that might exist, and pay a fee for the processing of this. It's covered under the DPA so can be very difficult to obtain.

Forgot to add, there is usually a time limit i.e. the footage is wiped within 28 days so vital to make early enquiries. You might get on better by asking your insurer to go this, but often they can take too long and miss the chance to get the footage.

I know where you mean exactly. Try the council but try the trading estate there too - they may have a camera covering there.

What happened? What is the third party saying happened?

you get on to your insurers and get them to handle it, that's what you pay them for. Also keep nagging re CCTV.

generally someone lying about insurance blame will bottle out when they are required to stand up and lie in court, but they waste a lot of everyone's time before they get to this stage.

The problem with leaving it to the insurer is that they can miss the window where the footage would be available. It happens a lot, and once it's deleted, nowt you can do. If the OP can at least establish if there is a CCTV camera in the location, and that there is something worth obtaining, then it would simply be a case of keeping on top of the ins co to make sure they apply in time to get the CCTV.

Well the guy apologised for running into me by the lights he came out of the industrial estate and I was stopping at the lights to turn into asda... but since then ive had a letter off his insurance blaming me, I phoned him and he now insists I swerved around him and cut back in to his car... he has a damaged front bumper, I have a damaged rear passeneger wheel, and panels surrounding it, I had right of way as I was on the main road I am unsure how he plans on pulling it off but I would like the cctv as it would just show in black and white that he was to blame. If I can get this I will be reporting him for insurance fraud for being a sneaky bugger and allowing me to believe he woukd accept liability as he should before filing a claim on my insurance

Most insurance policies say you should report any accidents to them- blameworthy or not. I'd give them a call and send a copy of the letter from the other insurers. Also take photos of the location to the claims handler can visualise where each person was - help them see it's not your fault

I told my insurance kn the day what happened and sent them a copy of the letter yesterday after phoning them about it... they seem pretty certain the other guy doesnt have a leg to stand on, so im hoping theyll fight as much as they have to.

Well if the front of his car is damaged and the back of yours is damaged the I'd say he doesn't have a leg to stand on either!

I hope you told the insurance company that he admitted liability at the time of the accident by saying sorry!

Might be he was in a company vehicle and is trying to dodge the blame if he's in bother at work over it?

If you gave a clear map of the incident when you filled in your claim form it should be clear. I mean, who swerves round someone then cuts back in... to do the damage you describe you'd have had to actually reverse into him.

I know its stressful at the moment but the insurance companies are usedto dealing with people like him, you pay them to sort crap like this out for you. Do agree with trying to see if any cctv footage is available, can you get someone to drive you back to the scene to see if you can see any cameras, and what they are attached to (ie lamppost etc), that might give you a starting point to see who to contact.

Bear in mind though that often they don't even keep the cctv footage for more than 12 or 24 hours. We were involved in a terrifying near miss a few years back when a woman pulled out of standing traffic on the exit slip road, right in front of dp doing 60mph. He braked sharply and somehow we drifted across onto the hard shoulder, through the gap she had left by pulling out. It was horrible I was shaken for days. We carried on and caught up with her, got her reg no, and I rang the police the next day.

The officer was very understanding and took her number, said he would send some one round to have a word with her about reckless action, and agreed that we were very very lucky indeed not to have hit anything else - at 60 it would have been horrific.

However (there is a point to all this!) unless there is actually an accident which needs evidence from the cameras, the footage is on a constant loop and overwrites itself after 12 hours or so. They simply can't store all that footage from potentially thousands of cameras, for days or weeks, so be prepared for the footage to be wiped already.