my car accident yesterday. bummer!!!!

[Penelope Pitstop]

Usually if you hit someone from behind regardless of circumstances you are at fault so as you said this is really a very good outcome and even though it doesn’t affect you either way it is nice to know he will be hit up for an excess to pay for his own repairs.

Having two parties at fault usually means that the Insurance companies disagree on who is at fault based on differing versions of events. Your insurance company would be backing your description whilst the other driver’s insurance company is backing his version. Making both parties at fault is a hell of a lot easier and cheaper then taking the matter to court.

Has your insurance company mentioned whether or not they will affect your rating based on this outcome?

Cheers, Tori

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by PirtekGirl76

Usually if you hit someone from behind regardless of circumstances you are at fault so as you said this is really a very good outcome and even though it doesn’t affect you either way it is nice to know he will be hit up for an excess to pay for his own repairs.

Having two parties at fault usually means that the Insurance companies disagree on who is at fault based on differing versions of events. Your insurance company would be backing your description whilst the other driver’s insurance company is backing his version. Making both parties at fault is a hell of a lot easier and cheaper then taking the matter to court.

Has your insurance company mentioned whether or not they will affect your rating based on this outcome?

Cheers, Tori

it is going down on file as both at fault . they told me on the day it happened that even if i am held completely at fault that i would keep my 60% no claim bonus. dont really know why . maybe because i have everything i own insured with them and havent made a claim for 20 years . still i dont know the reason.

[Black XR6]

Good to hear you are not taking the brunt yourself. I was going to post that both would be found at fault as I remember reading some other accident on a freeway where a car jumped into the slow lane from the fast lane and hit the brakes hard trying to make it in time for an exit. The car he jumped in front of hit him in the rear. Both at fault.

This is where the law really stinks. Take this scenario. Two lanes, im following a car in the fast lane with 4 car lengths between us. In the slow lane next to me is a truck about two car lengths in front of me. Right next to me is a car. He speeds up and jumps into the fast lane right in front of me. Right at that moment the car that was 4 car lengths in front hits the brakes hard for whatever reason, so does the car that just took the space in front of me and I slam into his rear.

How, can anyone say I am even patially at fault? I was leaving plenty of space. I was prepared to stop if I needed to. The other car pulled in front of me and immediately hit the brakes hard so I had nowhere to go. There was no way in hell I had time to adjust my space left between cars before the brakes were applied. No human being driving on earth in any car in the world would be able to avoid this accident. Yet insurance companies say im atleast partial at fault in this scenario?

What avenue is there for pursuing this legally? There must be some way of refuting the insurance companies ruling. Alot can be at stake here when you have %60 no claim riding on some fools actions.

[Penelope Pitstop]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

it is going down on file as both at fault . they told me on the day it happened that even if i am held completely at fault that i would keep my 60% no claim bonus. dont really know why . maybe because i have everything i own insured with them and havent made a claim for 20 years . still i dont know the reason.

I would say it’s because you must have Rate 1 For Life which means that they take away the “For Life” bit and leave you with just Rate 1. Basically that means that your premium will stay the same. In 12 months time as long as you have no other claims then you will get your “For Life” back, however if you do make another claim then you will fall to Rate 2. I always look at the “For Life” as a get out of jail free card – because it doesn’t actually mean for life – it just means you get one "free" accident before your rating is affected.

Glad to hear its getting sorted though!

Cheers, Tori

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by PirtekGirl76

I would say it’s because you must have Rate 1 For Life which means that they take away the “For Life” bit and leave you with just Rate 1. Basically that means that your premium will stay the same. In 12 months time as long as you have no other claims then you will get your “For Life” back, however if you do make another claim then you will fall to Rate 2. I always look at the “For Life” as a get out of jail free card – because it doesn’t actually mean for life – it just means you get one "free" accident before your rating is affected.

Glad to hear its getting sorted though!

Cheers, Tori

thanks tori you obviously know your insurance . i have a qyuestion for you. you may be aware that as a result of this accident i borrowed a friends car and had another accident. this time i was hit from behind at high speed the friends car i was driving was comprehesively insured with another insurance company , in the accident the car i was driving was written off . i was the driver not the owner . it gets worse , the person who hit me drove off leaving only one damaged car on the road with my story of what happened !!!! the only evidence was the rear end damage to the car . now i had to pay the excess for this cars damage as well . so does this affect my rating . , also does this go down as an at fault accident as well . i really am ill informed on this .

[Penelope Pitstop]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

thanks tori you obviously know your insurance . i have a qyuestion for you. you may be aware that as a result of this accident i borrowed a friends car and had another accident. this time i was hit from behind at high speed the friends car i was driving was comprehesively insured with another insurance company , in the accident the car i was driving was written off . i was the driver not the owner . it gets worse , the person who hit me drove off leaving only one damaged car on the road with my story of what happened !!!! the only evidence was the rear end damage to the car . now i had to pay the excess for this cars damage as well . so does this affect my rating . , also does this go down as an at fault accident as well . i really am ill informed on this .

Yeah I know my Insurance – It’s what I do.

Um, Let me think… I do recall your other accident…

Because they were not able to access information on the Third Party and his insurer and seeing as how you had to pay the excess there is every likelihood that you will be deemed at fault. But then again the damage would indicate that the Third Party was at fault – being a hit to the rear and all – but then the insurer has no one to seek damages from… This is a real grey area one and would really depend on your investigator. My gut feeling however is that you will be deemed at fault because there is no Third Party to blame and at the end of the day the insurance company must find someone accountable.

Bad news is that because you were the driver you do need to disclose this information to your current insurer even though they were not covering this particular vehicle. And there is a really good chance that your insurance rating will drop to Rate 2, but the difference between Rate 1 and Rate 2 is not that significant at your age (not implying that your old just that you are over 25!). The fact is you just had a string of bad luck and in 12 months time your insurance rating will be back to normal and fingers crossed you get another 20 years of incident free driving.

Hope that helps F.;)

Cheers, Tori

Be interested in your take Yaw?! You out there :

[EBII Fairmont]

Sorry to hear about your misfortunes gtfpv.

I was involved about 2 months ago in a car accident where this morone went into the left lane and and claimed to have put an indicator on(which inever saw), and turned into my side of the road hitting the left hand side of my car. Im currently in the middle of this insurance battle, because it is supposably my fault. They reckoin i should have stopped so she could park when i was right next to her when she hit me.

Now because i have no one my side i have decided to go haead and fight them and not let them get the better of me. Now if you have witnesses thats is very helpful. If not go to your local polica and fill out a statutory declaration and hand a copy to your insurance company. Brush up on the actual road rules. For my case, i went to the book which is used for probationary drivers, and found that this old mole should have given way to me because i was on the right hand side. Never admit its your fault and let your game down. I've had how many threatening letters to pay up, but i refuse to budge. If cops came and filled out a form thats a bonus if they prove in your favour. If you can find out if he recieved a fine for brake a road law, then you have won and he will be paying for it.

Best of luck.
Bill

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by PirtekGirl76

Yeah I know my Insurance – It’s what I do.

Um, Let me think… I do recall your other accident…

Because they were not able to access information on the Third Party and his insurer and seeing as how you had to pay the excess there is every likelihood that you will be deemed at fault. But then again the damage would indicate that the Third Party was at fault – being a hit to the rear and all – but then the insurer has no one to seek damages from… This is a real grey area one and would really depend on your investigator. My gut feeling however is that you will be deemed at fault because there is no Third Party to blame and at the end of the day the insurance company must find someone accountable.

Bad news is that because you were the driver you do need to disclose this information to your current insurer even though they were not covering this particular vehicle. And there is a really good chance that your insurance rating will drop to Rate 2, but the difference between Rate 1 and Rate 2 is not that significant at your age (not implying that your old just that you are over 25!). The fact is you just had a string of bad luck and in 12 months time your insurance rating will be back to normal and fingers crossed you get another 20 years of incident free driving.

Hope that helps F.;)

Cheers, Tori

Be interested in your take Yaw?! You out there :

why do i have to tell my insurance company and what happens if i don't? i was the driver not the owner and although the owner had nothing to do with the accisdent it was his insurance policy . he made thew claim i paid the excess and compensated him as well . he also did not lose his no claim bonus once again i dont know why .

[Smoked]

Mate, thats pretty bad luck to be having.

Unfortunatley, or fortunatley if you play your cars right, insurance laws are set to guidlines as to who gets "at fault" for accidents. In your case, becasue you did hit a car infront, the law says you must be held accountable because you failed to provide suffcient distance between the two of you. Again, if you had a witness as to the other dirver cutting in front of you in a manner dangerous to the conditions of the road, then its a whole different ball game. I feel for you, i see this crap happen all to often and the outcome eventually will not be as fortunate as yours.

For the poster who;s mother was almost charged, again, SOP for police. I witnessed a 4 car pile up on Sprinvale Rd last year. When I approached the police to offer my details as a witness, i overhead them cautioning the Last Driver (one who caused the pile up) aswell as the 3rd and 2nd drvier for ont leaving suffcient gap between their stopped vehicles.

Needless to say the charges were dropped because their accounts aswell as mine were enough to have it proven that last driver was travelling as enough speed that it was unavoidable for the last 3 to pile together. ITs unfortunate but in most accidents, the police are compelled to charge 1 or more individuals for something.

Hope it all pans out ok for you in the future.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by Smoked

Mate, thats pretty bad luck to be having.

Unfortunatley, or fortunatley if you play your cars right, insurance laws are set to guidlines as to who gets "at fault" for accidents. In your case, becasue you did hit a car infront, the law says you must be held accountable because you failed to provide suffcient distance between the two of you. Again, if you had a witness as to the other dirver cutting in front of you in a manner dangerous to the conditions of the road, then its a whole different ball game. I feel for you, i see this crap happen all to often and the outcome eventually will not be as fortunate as yours.

For the poster who;s mother was almost charged, again, SOP for police. I witnessed a 4 car pile up on Sprinvale Rd last year. When I approached the police to offer my details as a witness, i overhead them cautioning the Last Driver (one who caused the pile up) aswell as the 3rd and 2nd drvier for ont leaving suffcient gap between their stopped vehicles.

Needless to say the charges were dropped because their accounts aswell as mine were enough to have it proven that last driver was travelling as enough speed that it was unavoidable for the last 3 to pile together. ITs unfortunate but in most accidents, the police are compelled to charge 1 or more individuals for something.

Hope it all pans out ok for you in the future.

THANKS MATE YOU ARE TO BE CONGRATULATED FOR BEING A WITNESS .IN BOTH MY ACCIDENTS PEOPLE STOPPED FOR A LOOK AND THEN FLED . it is very important to get witnesses if possible in an accident everyone . or if you witness one doesn't matter if other people stop as well just get out and give the person you think is the innocent party your details and then write down what happened asap. in the case of my 2nd accident the car who hit me from behind stopped. his mate in aother vehicle stopped. asked if i was ok . waved the witnesses through got on thier mobiles and as soon as no traffic was around fled the seen . leaving me inside a mangled wreck on the side of the road . SO "TRUST NO ONE"

[Penelope Pitstop]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

why do i have to tell my insurance company and what happens if i don't? i was the driver not the owner and although the owner had nothing to do with the accisdent it was his insurance policy . he made thew claim i paid the excess and compensated him as well . he also did not lose his no claim bonus once again i dont know why .

Okey Doke – The reason you have to disclose the information to your current insurer is because your rating with them is determined on your personal driving history - not just the driving history of the vehicle you have insured with them. If you look on your certificate of insurance it will ramble on something about the need to keep your details up to date and that you must disclose whether or not you have had any at accidents even ones where a claim was not made. If the insurance company finds that you have not been honest and disclosed all relevant driving histories that may reduce or refuse to pay any future claims.

Now your mate may lose a rating due to the fact that he made a claim against his policy – you may lose a rating with your insurer due to the fact that you were driving and your driving history has been blemished. It kinda sounds like a double up but its not, I would ring your insurer and just ask them anonymously what their policy was. If you give them your details and then ask them they legally have to take action and record what you have told them.

Find out whether or not this accident was recorded as At Fault – If your mate has kept his NCD then it would appear that it was not recorded in this way. If he has retained his Rate 1 but lost his “For Life” then it has been recorded as At Fault and you will need to disclose it – Clear as MUD?!

I didn’t write the rules but I am pretty sure this is how it goes…

Cheers, Tori

[gtfpv]

thanks Tori. will do. :