quick advice please

[Aladinsaneuk]

went to the local town centre today, and parked on a council car park

went to rear of my car and opened nearside rear door to remove my son from the car

as i was undoing his straps, some silly bint reversed into the door

one of the internal hinges is stressed and broken

(Car is a BMW 535 in excellent condition btw... not the cheapest car to work on....)

I do have her details.

I will be reporting it to the police - just in case

am i correct in thinking that i can claim totally through her insurance company as i was not in/driving my car at the time?
therefore i can contact her directly for her insurance details - or do i need to go through my company?
(I really cannot afford to pay out the excess and claim it back...)

thanks in advance

[GregD-UK]

Hi all,

Well, glad no-one was injured. Firstly, I would of got my phone out of my pocket and took pictures, insurance company love them and so do the police. I would of called the police, as she could of been done for driving without due care (T.C. may well correct me on this ).

Dis she admit it was her fault? Did you ask her if she wanted to cliam through her insurance, or settle without going through the process? Remember, the longer she has to think about it, the longer her story can be from the truth

Hope you get it sorted fella...

[T.C.]

No point in reporting it to the Police, you have complied with the law, there was no injury and therefore no Police interest.

Given that it occured in a council car park, even if the Police did attend, you could forget careless driving.

You can indeed claim off her insurance and it should be fairly straightforward as she has a statutory duty of care, even when in a car park, however, (and I appreciate ytou can negate this) just be carefull that she does not make a counter claim of negligent opening of a door (which is often alleged and is a specific offence).

Any pictures taken at the time are admissable, make sure you write down a comprehensive account of the circumstances as soon as possible as this can be used in evidence later as contemp notes, but more importantly it can also be transferred into statement form later if required.

Just don't bother going to the Nick, it will be a waste of space and time as they will not be interested given that everything has been done by the book.

[Aladinsaneuk]

and ouch

seems the kick strap has been pulled from the bulkhead.....

[Aladinsaneuk]

well what an evening

having decided i would find out what damage is, and give the lady the choice of what to do - go through insurance or pay herself, i received a phone call from her husband.

apparently it was my fault!

and he had been in touch with his insurance company, and had filed a claim against me

well i was fucking livid

i mean - another twenty seconds and it would have been my son that would have been hit - not the door...

so - i rang norfolk's finest and reported an episode of driving without due care and attention

i explained what had happened and the nice young lady who i spoke too - who did reveal that she also had a young child was also horrified about the near miss

anyway, she gave me the incident number and promised me that an officer would investigate

next i rang my insurance company and spoke to people there - have to say the chap from LandV was fantastic... has arranged for car to be looked at, and informed me that they will be going for 100% liability from the other party...

finally, i made some phone calls and tracked down the witness to the whole event, who has agreed to give me a full statement as to the events

so - there we are only downside - if bmw decide that a new bulkhead is needed, my car is likely a write off :(

[HowardQ]

Sorry to hear about your problem Pete.
From my experience, once the other lot start claiming it was your fault, the insurance companies are very likely to go for Knock for Knock, unless you can really make a good case of it. You will really need the witness to have a good chance of winning, and then be prepared to give it everything, (or chat to somebody like TC !).
I had a case like this years ago, (posted up on here before so won't go through in detail), I went through the legal help I'd paid for through the insurance and they gave up very quickly. I then took it up myself and finally won the case, i.e. finally got it classed as being 100% the other blokes fault, (he did pull out straight in front of me off a garage forcourt without even looking!). Their case was totally floored and should have been easy for them to disprove, but most insurance investigators don't seem to want hassle so they are likely to go for Knock for Knock if it is not straightforward.
However, when I did destroy the other blokes evidence and saved them paying out, they were then very happy.
Good luck mate.
Hope the bulkhead situation turns out to be OK.

[Aladinsaneuk]

witness sorted

and insurance company seem to think that it is other parties fault

and finally - i need some luck LOL

[Samray]

- i need some luck LOL

Careful what you wish for ... it comes in two varieties you know!
Is that where you have been going wrong?

[Aladinsaneuk]

well, lost my wife, lost my parents - don't ask, and that was enough for one day

(don't even go near my facebook entry as that is so naughty i will end up in jail if someone dies)

lets just say that today was not a good day for some one to piss me off...