car accidents & insurance claims (bit long)

[tallulah]

I need to rant, because I'm SOOOO angry!!!

2 years ago DH was taking 2 of the kids to school & got stuck in a massive queue following 2 mopeds riding 2 abreast. Everyone in the queue carefully filed round these idiots at less than 30 mph until it got to his turn. He was overtaking them when some clown pulled out from 8 cars back, shot down the outside at about 90 mph (according to witnesses), hit DH up the back & span the car round. He went through a hedge & some distance into a field- smashed the car to bits but fortunately he & the kids weren't hurt (miraculously).

We had legal cover, so we've had a solicitor trying to sort out the expenses side of things. All the way along this idiot claims it wasn't his fault. At the beginning the solicitor said we had a good case, blah blah. Now all of a sudden they say DH pulled out in front of this car so is 75% responsible. They've let all but 2 of the witnesses disappear & 1 of those left didn't see the actual impact!! The other one contradicts herself in 2 different statements.

The car we lost was in excellent condition, FSH etc. We are still paying the loan on that, plus the loan on the new car we had to buy because the "book price' was well below what we needed to replace it. We have lost a small fortune over this.

2 weeks ago DH had another crash (he is driving me mad!). This time it was his fault & he admitted responsibility straight away (he is also honest to the point of stupid!). They were going along at less than 20 mph & he wasn't concentrating, didn't notice the lights were red & hit someone up the back. It was a 4-car shunt with him at the back.

He rang me to take the insurance papers to him & gave the other 3 drivers his name, address & insurance company name & policy number. He DIDN"T TAKE THEIR DETAILS (honestly, I could swing for him). No-one was hurt, & the cars all suffered minor damage- 1 just dented a bumper- except ours which ended up undriveable with the bonnet caved in.

If you're still with me, apologies for the drawn-out nature of my tale.

He rang his insurers, told them what had happened & gave them all the details. They told him to ring the police to ask for the names of the other drivers but of course they wouldn't tell him. he reported this to the insurers.

We had a really really stroppy letter from the insurers of one of the people, telling him it was all his fault (he knows) & demanding his insurance details (which he'd given everyone) & telling him he was obliged to provide this under some Act. He rang his company & they said to just send it on, then mentioned that they'd already had 3 claims.... this was an extra one.. They have had separate claims from a husband and wife. Each of the cars had 1 person in, and there were only 3 other cars.

Today he's had another letter, from a solicitor, about the wife of this couple, saying she's suffered whiplash & claiming expenses for loss of use of vehicle, personal injury & allsorts!!!

In view of the problems we have had in sorting out a genuine claim from a major incident I am furious that this couple are trying to take us to the cleaners over a minor bump! There is no way she suffered whiplash, & it's unlikely her car was even off the road. Obviously I'm going to have to put this back to the insurers to sort out but I'm so angry I'm spitting feathers!

Any advice out there?

tallulah, no advice, only heartfelt sympathy. I spent £700 on my car 2 months ago, only for dp to have a head on 3 days after I got it back. It was on the school run and thankfully no-one was hurt (only at 20mph) but the damage is either £1k or £2.5k, depending on which garage you ask. Since Dp was only 3rd party on my car we're having to pay for it and even though no-one can prove whose fault it was the other woman is denying any responsibility therefore we're unlikely to get anything out of her insurers. My car will ending up costing us a total £1.7k to repair and has been in the garage for 10 weeks now, leaving me trapped in the house. The damn thing is only worth £2.5-3K so it's a close call deciding to spend the money but the alternative is no car and we won't get the same quality car for £1.7k so it's jsut about worth it. IKWYM about being annoyed at your dh being ditsy too- this woman asked my dp to sign a document agreeing it was his fault and he phoned me to ask whether he should or not. Err, noooooooooo! Makes you want to spit doesn't it? Sorry that wasn't very helpful to you, but it got it off my chest!

Next time I renew my insurance though I'm going to go for the one that promises a courtesy car and quick results. And dp won't be driving my car or vice versa unless we're fully comp. IMO your insurer should be fighting these battles for you, that's what they're paid for. Can't you just respond in writing to them and leave it to all the insurers to battle out? Maybe keep your own details of witnesses though in future, although let's hope there's not a next time eh? I hope someone else has better advice.