Had a bingle & Insurance Co hassling me

[DeeJay]

Hi, Opinions sought !!
Not in my Landie, but wish it was !!
I had a very minor "brush" with another car that came up behind me in a bus lane when I was changing lanes ( at the end of the lane) a few months ago.
After exchanging names & addresses, & some strong denials from her being in the 24 hour Bus lane ( a $400 fine & 3 points in Vic) we parted company.
The thing that concerned me was that the other lady seemed to have little English capability & denied any liability and strongly denied being in the bus lane.
The damage to her & my car was white scuffing - her car was black & mine green which was pretty confusing & made me think it might have been previous damage to their car.
The white markings buffed out of my car & that was it.
I got a letter from their insurance company about 3 weeks later claiming I was at fault & they would notify me of $$ owing in due course.
I replied that I accept 50/50 as their client was breaching a traffic rule & should not have been where they were as I had checked for a bus only 10 seconds prior but saw her car too late.
Luckily I have a rear dash cam & provided the screenshots below to them.
They are now still saying I am at fault but if I provide the footage they might reconsider.
Should I provide the footage or hold on to it in case this goes to court??
They haven't mentioned costs & my insurance co want $650 up front to handle it & I reckon I can kiss that goodbye...

Thanks, David

[chuck]

Clearly she was in the bus lane.

Why don't you call in to the police station with your images & see what they say?

[DeeJay]

Clearly she was in the bus lane.

Why don't you call in to the police station with your images & see what they say?

Thanks,

Already done that & they say they would have needed to attend to issue a fine.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

yep kiss the 650 goodbye,,
Though I would hope you get it back if you win,,

[V8Ian]

Precede all correspondence with "Without Prejudice".

[BigJon]

I would suggest that she is completely in the wrong given that she was driving in a bus lane. Show those pictures to her insurance company and I suspect they will back down straight away.

[rocket scientist]

Thanks,

Already done that & they say they would have needed to attend to issue a fine.

They are just being lazy.
I have provided Police dash cam footage of people overtaking on double lines,
and they issued fines.

[V8Ian]

To me, it appears that you have completed your lane change and she is a reasonable distance behind your vehicle, assuming that both of you are travelling at +/- 50kph.. If you have then stopped and she has run into the back of you. In my opinion, she is at fault.
Admittedly, two still pictures is not much to build a scenario from.

[V8Ian]

Further, if the damage is under a couple of grand, the insurance company is unlikely to pursue the matter in court, commercially it is cheaper to wear the cost of repair. Bluff comes cheap.

[101RRS]

A friend had something similar - your first mistake was to admit to 50 50 - never ever admit anything - don't lie but don't admit fault. You can claim on your insurance and the problem goes away except you pay the excess, your premiums go up and etc.

I would simply send a letter back denying responsibility and if they wish to take the matter further you would be happy to let the court determine blame and abide by their decision. For the amount involved they are unlikely to take the matter further but will continue to harass and intimidate you hoping that you will cave in. Your response in all cases should be to deny responsibility and indicate you are happy for a court to adjudicate.

I would tell them that you have dash footage that will be presented in court in support of your case but I would not give them the footage. If it does go to court you may have to give it too them then but not before.

If you have advised your insurance company of the incident but not claimed be aware that it will impact you future coverage cost wise even though you have not made a claim.

Good luck with it - it is a stressful process and the insurance company will try to make it as stressful as possible to get you to pay up.

Garry

[Roverlord off road spares]

I don't know who you are insured with but if you have a life time rating 1 then it should not effect your next years premiums. ( I know that with Shannons that I am with they don't penalise protected rating 1 drivers). also if it is a not at fault accident then you do not need to pay an excess they will persue the other driver fully. As the other driver was behind you it can be argued they did not drive safely enough to the conditions of traffic ahead of them by giving a clear distance of traffic in front, and that they where in a bus lane.

[DeeJay]

I don't know who you are insured with but if you have a life time rating 1 then it should not effect your next years premiums. ( I know that with Shannons that I am with they don't penalise protected rating 1 drivers). also if it is a not at fault accident then you do not need to pay an excess they will persue the other driver fully. As the other driver was behind you it can be argued they did not drive safely enough to the conditions of traffic ahead of them by giving a clear distance of traffic in front, and that they where in a bus lane.

Thanks Mario,
I did report it to my insurance co but decided to proceed without them. I just didn't like the attitude from the other party with the denial of passing on the inside where they should not.
In short, I don't like liars... I just hope the insurance company show them the picture. Its a $20 dash cam that just goes & goes. A good investment in this case.

David

[Signal1]

Road Reg 148 addresses giving way when moving from one lane to another. The onus is on the driver changing lanes (David) . The fact she is in a bus lane is a seperate offence which VicPol could issue a TIN for. If she has hit from behind and deemed from footage she could have avoided the collision, then she is at fault.

Important to note that a driver can travel for up to 100mtrs in a bus lane if they are leaving the road. Other exceptions apply.

[rangieman]

Dave going by the pic you were in the lane and she had closed to a minimum distance behind you its her fault [wink11]
And yes as been said never except blame .
I know with cam footage it is hard to judge distance and id play on that.
What proof does she have apart from her lying ways [thumbsupbig]

[carjunkieanon]

I'm trying to work out what kind of car you're in. Rear spoiler looks similar to my green Toyota Corolla. Am I right?

My thoughts? Claim back against her. She might just drop it as too expensive to contest.

[V8Ian]

Ford

[DiscoMick]

From what you've said she appears to be in the wrong in two ways:
1. In a bus lane
2. Ran into your rear
Don't respond in any way to any approaches from the other party or their insurer. I would go with your insurance company's process and provide it with the dashcam footage. Let it handle it. You'll probably hear nothing more. Don't assume your premium will be affected as it depends on what happens.
For future reference, always ring the cops, just to place the item on record and get an incident number, even if they don't attend, for your insurer.
Never admit liability - you're not a lawyer.
Take lots of photos as well as the dashcam. Make sure you get the other vehicle's numberplate and the driver's face, plus their name and other details.
Relax. It happens every day. Shunt it off to your insurer and move on.

[Tins]

They are just being lazy.
I have provided Police dash cam footage of people overtaking on double lines,
and they issued fines.

Agree. They can issue fines if there are two independent witnesses, so a cam should be easy meat.

[DeeJay]

Ford

Its a relation to Rover !!!

[V8Ian]

Orphan.