Car accident liability

[cupoftea84]

So earlier today DH was driving, me and LO in the car.

2 lanes turning into one.cars merging in turn.
Our lane has an arrow in it suggesting it's our lane that ends but they both sort of merge really. It's not clear.

We go to merge and car behind tried to undertake and hits the back passenger door with their front drivers wheel arch.

I can't work out who will be liable. I was renewing the car insurance today (bad timing) and it's gone up by nearly £200 as we have an unresolved claim.

I think the other driver didn't want to merge. He beeped his horn and carried on driving then hit us. It all happened very slowly.

Any advice appreciated.

were you moving left or going straight ahead? if you moved to the left, did you only start to move over when it was clear for your car to move other? if so then it does not sound like you would be liable.

Regardless of fault you must notify your insurer of the incident. They will wait to see if the other driver makes a claim (I assume you are not intending to make a claim on your/their insurance?). If no claim is made nothing further happens and it should not effect your premium too much.

Was there an actual 'merge in turn' sign or was your lane ending and you pushed in?

If he hit you from behind chances are the other party will be fount at fault.

Please please please, if your DC use car seats replace them. An impact at any speed means you must replace the seats.

Accidents when merging are difficult. If your lane was coming to an end you should give way to traffic in the other lane, so that could make it your fault. However, if the other driver was overly aggressive it was his fault. So no-one on here can say for sure.

You do not need to replace your car seat after a minor bump.

After a moderate or severe crash then yes, replace your car seat. But a minor bump like this doesnt put any extra stress on the plastic of the car seats and you are not advised to replace them.

Do it if you want too, but don't be forced into it over a minor bump.

TBH, it’s probably not cut and dried enough for the insurers to bother fighting it out, so each insurer will settle their client’s claims and you’ll both lose your no claims bonus unless you have no claims bonus protection.

A lot of insurance policies include uninsured loss legal expenses cover now. If yours does, have a chat with the provider to see if they think you have a case. They’ll know whether it’s worth pursuing.

I can't work out who will be liable.

Even if you could it wouldn't matter. It's up to the insurers to make that decision. What you think isn't relevant; nor is the opinions of anyone on here.

We go to merge and car behind tried to undertake and hits the back passenger door with their front drivers wheel arch.

So either ("You" means the car the OP was in) :

• the car was already to your rear and accelerating and you decided to move to the left anyway ?
• the car was not already to your rear, but in moving it accelerated fast enough to cover 1/4 the length of your car while you were moving ?

It'll come down to a question of whether you were aware the car was there or not. The problem is that either answer isn't good. If you were and moved anyway, you are straying into reckless driving. If you weren't aware (because you didn't check your mirrors before moving) then it looks like careless driving or driving without due care and attention.

I think the other driver didn't want to merge. He beeped his horn and carried on driving then hit us. It all happened very slowly.

Not slow enough for anyone to stop though ?

Was there an actual 'merge in turn' sign or was your lane ending and you pushed in?

"Merge in turn" seems to be a peculiar concept for Brits to get their heads around. Fair enough, I guess. We do have Strictly, Love Island, and Naked Attraction to compensate. There's a regular run up a hill near me that's 2 lanes going into one, and there's a sodding big sign saying "USE BOTH LANES UNTIL MERGE" 200 metres before the merge, but you still get entitled twatwombles who think it's their job to police the merge. Strangely it's HGV drivers that totally get it. I've seen them stick in the outside until the merge and the silhouettes of drivers impotently hopping up and down because they're forced to MIT.

A very general principle in road safety is preventing accidents trumps being right. No matter how right you are, if you can prevent a collision then it's expected you will do so. Otherwise we'd all go around hitting cars that pull out of side roads without giving us space and so on.

Insurers simply won't be bothered. They love going knock for knock as both companies win and means both premiums are affected (irrespective of whether you have a protected no claims bonus as the premiums get loaded)

I had experience of helping someone like this a few years ago. Different as at the scene they accepted it was their fault and hey presto when comes to repairs and claims they denied it. I advised my friend and they decided to get their own repair done and purely notify their insurance company of the incident but they would deal with themselves. I then drafted a letter to the other party for them. They ignored and passed to the insurance company who rang her and instructed her not to contact their client which is utter rubbish as they are the defendant if going to court.

We didn't mess around. Drafted a letter to the other driver, warned her if she didn't accept liability the next letter would be the formal letter before claim for the small claims court. Next phone call was from their insurer saying she was now accepting liability and claim would be settled forthwith

So depending how confident you feel, that may be the best route to deal with it yourself which you are entitled to do

Sounds like you were merging into their lane so I’d say it’s your fault. You shouldn’t try and push in. Yes it would be nice if he’d let you in and he sounds a bit of An arse. Insurance will probably say 50/50 and you’ll both have to pay your excess.