Advice Please - Settle 50/50 or Small Claims?

[TickTokGreyRock]

Dipstick (feel free to use a harsher term) collided his Merc wing mirror with mine on a country lane. I reported it, have clear dash cam footage etc etc. My Insurers say the idiot is claiming I'm fully responsible and recommend going 50:50. FWIW my Insurers appear to be worth less than the crap on my car wheels but hey ho.... It is clear he is in the wrong but insurers say he's on his side of the road but infuriatingly he is not! If we settle at 50:50 but he doesn't accept and presses on that I'm fully responsible (which I'm not) and it then goes to court surely that makes my argument weightless...surely I should continue insisting he is fully responsible and take to small claims? Problem is legal fees and time and insurers say it's unlikely I'd be successful. But I don't see why?! To me it's obvious he's at fault?! What would you do?!

I also passed 2/3 other cars no problems. Footage is crystal clear he's more on my side than they were. But there is no white dotted line.

If there’s no white dotted line then unfortunately you are unlikely to be successful. Insurers will go fifty fifty if there’s any doubt. Crap for you though.

Narrow road collisions tend to be deemed 50:50 but if you have dashcam footage showing that on the balance of probability the other party was at fault follow it through and insist in defending it. My dh was advised by his insurers to settle but i said no, (I'm a non-practising solicitor) lets defend it, in part due to the after event photos and independent witness, and he was successful.

If you have claimed via insurance they will often decide whether to settle 50/50. You can give your view but they often don't want the hassle as it is win win for them as both drivers get a claim against them and even if they have protected no claims bonus you get clobbered on renewal with enhanced premium.

The only answer is report as an incident to your insurer, and tell them you will resolve it yourself. Similar happened in our family, car hit in car Park etc. Driver remorseful and admitted liability at the time then denied it after. Letter sent to driver stating the facts, resulted in some angry person from the insurance company demanding we stop contacting their client. Pointed out that is how English law works and no we wouldn't stop.

Further letter sent, with copy of the previous one. Informed them that if they didn't settle the bill for the damage then it would be court and the next letter would be a "letter before claim" which is the first stage of the court process.

Said driver decided they didn't want an outing to court and insurance company then rang and Informed they would admit liability and settle.

Few offenders want an outing to the county court. If you have dash cam footage that is a big plus if it supports your case.