They are telling lies about me to the insurers!

[HerGraciousMajTheBeardedPotato]

A few months ago I was shunted from behind while stationary at a T-junction, waiting to turn left on to a bigger road. I had been stationary for a few seconds, it was very obviously his fault, and he made no attempt to accuse me if doing anything. There were no witnesses.

My insurers were happy that I was not at fault, and the repairs to my car went ahead.

We haven't heard anything since.

Today we found out that the other party are claiming that I rolled back into him! It's all going to escalate into a his-word-against-mine spat.

I am so furious! Take responsibility for your own mistakes - this is why you have insurance! Don't dump the consequences of your incompetent driving on me!

I am female, mid-40s, driving for 20+ years, one other RTA (again a rear-end-shunt while stationary, a car ploughed into the back of the car behind me, which then hit mine). The other driver is male, 19, driving for 18months.

Any advice how to handle this!

I would have thought that the truth would be obvious by the damages in this case. Were you even on a slope?

You don't have to 'handle' it that's why you have insurance. They'll deal with it.

A slight slope, so, in theory, I could have rolled back. Only I didn't.

I'm worried that they'll settle for knock-for-knock, and therefore I - and my maximum NCD - will be penalised. Also, the cost of the hire car while ours was being repaired is only covered if we are not at fault. That's how we found out: the claims management company are demanding the cost of the hire car from us.

Do you have legal cover? We were in a similar situation that was not our fault but the insurance company wanted us to settle 50:50. We said no and that we wanted to use our legal cover to take it further. Eventually the other party backed down.

been there, twice. It is often somebody uninsured, or someone who doesn't want to tell their partner that they had a crash that was their fault.

they will bottle out of committing perjury so will back down just before it goes to court. Also the person who drives into the back of the other one is ALWAYS at fault.

get back to your insurers, reiterate what happened, make sure your position is recorded/in writing and tell them to get on with defending your case.

How heavy was the damage to your car? You say you were shunted - was your car propelled forward by the impact or was it just a collision to the rear i.e. no forward movement in your car? Was your hand brake on while you waited at the junction? You can use a lot of the details of what happened/repair costs/extent of damage to both cars to try and suport your stance, and simply refuse to accept a compromise on liability, but it's all dependent on the details of what happened as to whether your arguments can stack up.

I'm leaving work just now, but I'll come back later to see if you have any more info i can help you use in your arguments.

No forward movement. Damage to my car was fairly light: one broken rear reflector, slight damage to bumper, damage to parking sensor. His car looked worse off. (My car = MPV, his car = small hatchback.)

It is so long ago now, that I don't remember whether or not I had the handbrake on. I pribably did, because I usually do engage it if I am waiting at that junction. But I don't have any mention of it one way or the other in my notes. My photos show me appropriately positioned for waiting at a junction.

We had a similar problem. DH waiting at a junction to turn right (side road to main-ish road- mainish road on long sweeping curve). Woman driving towards him from the right, far too fast, tapped the front of his car and lost control, ending up in a ditch a long way down the road.

Police turned up, said to DH not his fault, which he knew as he hadn't moved. 4 men turned up for woman, had a word with police and suddenly DH had pulled out (left) and hit her up the back . No amount of arguing with police/ insurers made any difference. He wasn't even turning left! She then claimed for injury as she "wasn't even able to pick up her little dog".

DH had to go on a crash awareness course and was threatened with prosecution. I don't know how these people can look themselves in the mirror.

We'll to me it's obvious, that a rolling back on a slight slope isn't going yo cause that much damage to a car.

However, a shunt would cause that much damage. He's chancing his arm.

OP do you mind if I PM you? I can give advice but prob best if I do it privately.

Have you paid an excess?

Yes, I also think that there was too much damage for a roll-back.

How is the excess relevant?

Tallulah - grrr! - similar thing happened to a relative of mine. It was a nasty crash with injuries to his passenger. A pedestrian stepped forward and said that he saw it all and that the other car had jumped the lights. A few minutes later my relative sees the 'witness' talking to the other driver, but he's busy comforting his passenger while waiting for the emergency services. Then the police tell him that the witness confirms the other driver's claim that my relative had pulled out in front of him!

I had a similar accident a few years ago (stopped at the lights, car hit me from behind), and the owner tried to say that I rolled back (I hadn't). Insurance company told me that there was no case as the car behind should always leave enough room for safety. He was found 100% liable and I didn't have to deal with anything.

Op I wouldn't worry too much, they'll be able to tell from the damage to the cars. I'm also sure they'll have heard countless tales of how it was the other persons fault etc etc.
We went through similar recently and I was so upset snd angry but it a worked out fine in the end. The other driver is prob just panicking and trying everything to get away with it (not right I know!). The insurers will prob just get both cars to a garage to get inspected and go from there.
Hope it's sorted asap though.

My db works in insurance, he hears this crap every day. He can smell a rat a mile off.

Weirdly enough, a guy walked out in front of his car. The fella wasn't looking where he was going, and damaged my DBS car quite badly. Police came out, did the usual thing, no case to answer, has a letter from them. Then the bastard tries to sue him. The fecking cheek! He didn't get anywhere with it, as the police letter stating no case to answer was evidence enough. He didn't sue for months, so was chancing his arm, like the guy in your case.

I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face with people like that.

Feeling a bit reassured, thanks.

I felt sorry for the young man (dh thought I was mad!) but I'm losing sympathy for him now.

We had that but with a mid 50's woman on her mobile. Thought there was enough space to squeeze between my car and the curb so she could go left at the junction while I waited to turn right. Completely took out the front end of her car and admitted liability at the time. Few weeks later she'd changed the location of the accident and who was at fault, no witnesses and no photos to prove her wrong.

Insurance said that although they believed our version they couldn't guarantee that we were right so said we should each pay for our own repairs. We agreed as long as our no claims weren't affected and that we wouldn't have to declare it/have it affect any subsequent insurance.

No problem, no real damage to my car (cracked break light and a cracked bumper) and we were trading it in soon anyway. Only had one insurance company query the 'accident' after we took out a policy with them but they accepted what our old company had done and removed it from their records too