I'm b*&^%£y fuming

[Toadflax]

If my experience is anything to go by, then the person with the injury will need to jump through a lot of hoops in order to prove the injury and it could take a considerable period of time, by which time they may lose interest.

I was knocked off my motorbike (by an uninsured, non-MoT driver), fortunately at a low speed, but jarred my left arm and lower back resulting in mild shooting pains down my left leg and a regular 'locking' of my elbow. These have now cleared up but persisted for a couple of years.

There is now the MIB, which acts as the defendant in non-insured driver cases (the insurance companies have to contribute to this organisation in order to provide funds for such cases) and I was able to get a fair settlement for my losses (e.g. loss of no claims bonus) and injuries...

...however I had to attend quite a number of hospital sessions and three or four independent assessments over a period of about two and a half years before a final settlement was made. Hopefully, if someone is not genuinely injured, they may lose interest if they have to keep going for this length of time. Also, in all this time, I only dealt with my insurance company and had no dealings with the offending party.


Good luck


Geoff

 

[Bootstrap Bob]

Steve
My experience of insurance companies is not a good one either

I have been on the receiving end of similar bumps three times now and to be honest it wasn't in my interest to fill out the paper work as the damage was usually just a scuff and pop out the plastic bumper again. If only everyone else thought the same way.

My latest claim was when my Landy was stolen. I had insured it through a specialised insurer and listed all the off road equipment fitted which doubled its value. When I came to claim however they denied all knowledge of the additional items even though they were listed on the application.
Well to cut a long story short, I contacted my local ombudsman and they helped out but I only managed to get back some of the value of the stolen items.
I'm now sat without a Landy again and unable to buy a replacement not to mention the years of collecting the off road stuff.

My point is, don't give up, that's what they expect!

 

[Tadpole]

Sadly it’s a boat that quite a few people find themselves in nowadays, at the slightest bump people are calling the lawyers. Insurance companies deem it more prudent to pay up rather than face court cases that will cost a shed load of cash before they even get to court. They pay up rather than face a bill for three or for times what the pay out would be. And like all prudent people they have insurance against having to pay out My brother in law was T-boned by someone pulling out from a junction in his road. Like a fool, he moved his car, so as not to hold up the morning rush hour, the police attended and said there was no fault on his part. However, as the vehicles had been moved. The other driver was not going to be prosecuted. Two months later letter from his insurance saying that they had paid out £1700 to the driver of the other car, and his insurance was going up by £300. the claims for whip lash was dismissed by the insurance company as the driver was already suing someone. To me the whole thing was a farce as the other driver was a probationary without an accompany driver with a full licence.
The woman who rain me off my pushbike, told the police man at the scene she never even saw me, but in her statement she said I had jumped the lights. (There were no traffic lights within 100m of where she drove over me) took me over two years to get compensation, for the months I had off work.
My second brush with the compo-gravy train was paid for and backed by the might of the T&G union, a work accident involving a half tonne weight my arm and eight months in plaster. My employer could not have been more helpful in helping me sue for compensation, discomfort and loss of pay.
It pays to have the big guns on your side
My tips
Don’t move the vehicle, always call the police, always get names and addresses of any witnesses, get the numbers of the policemen, take photos of any road signs, skid marks, damage. Draw a detailed map of what happened and take lots of pictures. Write a detailed report of anything and everything that happened even if you are sure it doesn't make any difference to the accident. Make a note of the weather and what the roads were like. Tell your insurance company first; get your claim in first. In addition, ask for twice as much as you reasonable expect to get.