Car accident - Person at fault claiming 50/50

[Cindy1802]

My sister was in a car accident in November- it was a double lane junction at traffic lights: both lanes went straight on, and the left lane also turned left. My sister was in the left lane. When the lights turned green, she drove straight on and the person in the right lane veered into the side of her, assuming she was going to turn left.

At the scene, the driver and his son admitted fault, admitted he wasn't paying attention and no idea why he assumed she would turn left. An eye witness also confirmed fault of the other driver, and gave my sister his home address if she needed it.

3 months on, the driver at fault has not responded to the claim. Only this week, his insurance company is now claiming they were both at fault, and therefore should each pay 50/50. My sisters insurance (who have been rubbish throughout all of this) have said the only thing she can do is get this eye witness involved.

However she can't get hold of the eye witness - we've both called at his door at different times, put a letter through etc with no success. She is planning on camping outside his door all day on Saturday (he lives 90mins away from her) but it's not a very nice area so she doesn't feel great about having to do this. I'll go with her if needs be but it's not ideal.

Is this really the only thing she can do? Is it really this easy to not accept fault for an accident which absolutely was your fault?! The photos clearly show that he has driven into the side of her. What can we do if her insurance isn't helping us?!

Camping outside his door? Why?
If he wanted to respond he would - bullying him into it won't necessarily make him testify. I'd say he doesn't want involved.

Unfortunately it does come down to having an eye witness as we've found out to our cost - once when a car reversed straight out of a parking space and into us and then claimed we'd driven into the back of him, and once when a van in the right hand lane of a roundabout crossed over into our lane to take the exit and went into the side of us. Both times we took photos, both times the insurance companies went 50/10. We actually had friends of ours in the car in the first case but they weren't deemed independent witnesses, so the insurance company wouldn't accept their statement. Unless you can get hold of the witness then yes, it'll probably go 50/50 sadly - I'm still annoyed and ours were years ago.

My exDH went to court over a similar issue. The lorry that veered into him, I think, genuinely thought he was not at fault but ExDH refused to allow the insurance company to settle.

We drove the route and I took many photos showing the layout of the road and the road markings, downloaded maps and added annotations etc., emailed to the insurance company and printed the whole lot out to take to the court and the lorry driver immediately folded when faced with the evidence.

Can she submit a diagram with all road markings & pictures to back her up?

I had something similar happening to me many years ago. Once I submitted the diagram of the road layout with directional arrows, they backed off. It was very clear that from the damage & location of my vehicle that other party was at fault.

Camping outside a witnesses home address is not a good idea. The insurance companies should be left to deal with it, it’s what we have car insurance for.

@Residentevil I agree, but they arent. They wouldn't even post the witness form to him, we had to print it out and post it ourselves. I agree it's not the best idea but we are at a bit of a loss with what to do next, hence my post. She is a student and can't afford to pay 50/50, or have it affect her insurance premiums.

Have you tried to escalate this within the insurance company?

Also, do not harrass the witness. He does not want to help for whatever reason and you can’t force him to.

We did all that and it was clear from the damage on our car that the van driver had gone into us, but the insurance company could not have cared less <still bitter>

OP - Agree with others that it sounds like the eye witness doesn't want to be involved for whatever reason.

They are taking the piss. Get some photos of the road markings at the junction in question, and send them off. Threaten the insurer with the insurance ombudsman. Your sister was not at fault, and this could have a detrimental effect on her insurance premiums for years to come.

She's not going to pay 50%. Her insurance company pays. She will just pay her excess, cars will be repaired/written off, whatever and her insurance premium may increase next year unless she has protected no claims.

Insurance goes up every year for everyone atm, anyway.

@OldTinHat yes I know, she either pays or let's her insurance pay, and the latter will affect her insurance premium. I appreciate everyone's insurance is going up, but surely not by as much as those who have had to make a claim?

Also for context, we aren't "harassing" the witness - he approached the scene and was very vocal at the scene about what had happened - and insisted my sister use him as a witness. We have knocked on the door when he wasnt in, and posted a form through. So for all we know he has simply forgotten about the form. Not saying we will go back, but just to clear up that we aren't harassing him!

I'm just gobsmacked that it seems to be this easy to get out of taking responsibility for an accident that is your fault. The system clearly doesn't work!

Her insurance will go up anyway even if it's not her fault.
I would raise a complaint in the insurance company as they're bringing horrendous!! When all this is done, I'd be cancelling my policy too!