Insurance Law - Collision with 2 reversing cars from their driveways

TheSphinx

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Hi There

Both me and my neighbour were reversing from our driveways the other morning. On Reversing our cars collided, she claims she was not moving at the time of the impact and beeped the horn. (Me or my house mate did not hear the horn) The Gardai were called, Insurance details were exchanged, The Gardai said that if one member does not accept responsibility for the incident then it is up to the insurance company to decide. I gave the details to my insurance company (which subsequently is the same insurance company) She had said to me that it appears to be a 50 50 case. The rear of my car recieved the damage, and the rear driver side door received the damage to her vehicle. While I was taking the turn from the drive i looked around the front of the car, in this time she appeared to have reversed from her drive.
I accept the 50 50 scanerio as we were both at equal fault, but she won't she believes I am at fault, and wants to get an investigator.
I wish to fix my car myself without going through the insurance, what are your opinions, is it 50 50, am I at fault?

The Sphinx
 
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The Gardai said that if one member does not accept responsibility for the incident then it is up to the insurance company to decide. I gave the details to my insurance company (which subsequently is the same insurance company) She had said to me that it appears to be a 50 50 case.
The Gardaí are correct, and I'd say it's practically certain that the insurance company will choose to settle it on a 50/50 basis (which they can do regardless of either of your wishes). That way you'll both lose your NCB and they'll recoup the damages (and perhaps more) by upping both your premiums over the next few years. It's just business.

If the damage can be repaired at reasonable cost without making an insurance claim, you'll probably both save money.

Whether or not you can work out a mutually acceptable arrangement with your neighbour is quite another matter...! :(
 
My experience with a same company crash was that the insurance company disagreed with the Gardai as to who was at fault and didn't pay out - which suited them of course. Neither party had comprehensive insurance at the time so it was a 3rd party claim.
 
I accept the 50 50 scanerio as we were both at equal fault, but she won't she believes I am at fault, and wants to get an investigator.
I wish to fix my car myself without going through the insurance, what are your opinions, is it 50 50, am I at fault?

The Sphinx

Just to echo, 50/50 and I assume she means an assessor as they would not waste their time with an investigator.

Sounds pretty straight forward.
 
If the damage can be repaired at reasonable cost without making an insurance claim, you'll probably both save money

My neighbour by the sounds of it wishes to claim of the insurance, can i fix my own car - and she can claim away with her own insurance, or does she have to claim of my own insurance. I don't see why I have to be penalised if i don't wanna make a claim.
 
...she believes I am at fault
It seems pretty clear that she plans to claim against your policy, not hers! But unless she has very strong (video?) evidence, it's her word against yours. Why would the insurance company take itself to court (and incur expense) when it can just rule 50/50 on the liability and recoup the monies from both of you?

Is the damage to her car likely to cost a lot more to repair than yours? Or is her car a lot newer/more expensive? Could you envisage working out a 50/50 deal on the total repair bill for both cars?
 
My neighbour by the sounds of it wishes to claim of the insurance, can i fix my own car - and she can claim away with her own insurance, or does she have to claim of my own insurance. I don't see why I have to be penalised if i don't wanna make a claim.

She obviously wants to claim off your policy to preserve her own NCB. Are you both comprehensively insured with NCB protection?
 
Is the damage to her car likely to cost a lot more to repair than yours? Or is her car a lot newer/more expensive?

It appears that there is more damage to her car then mine, My car is a 08, I have it less then a month, her car is a 04. I would believe my car to be more expensive.

She obviously wants to claim off your policy to preserve her own NCB. Are you both comprehensively insured with NCB protection?

I am comprehensively insured with full bonus protection, but just for simplicity and speed I would prefer to repair my own vehicle, and let her claim on her own insurance for the damage to her own car. I cannot imagine why the insurancce wud not agree to that, as they won't be out as much money sue to the fact my NCB is protected.
 
If it is 50/50 then usually you pay for her damages and she pays for yours so you fixing up your own car is of no benefit. If you like you can offer to pay for her damages and then claim for your damage from her insurance.
Alternatively just let it go through the insurance and when you find out how much was paid to her from your insurance, pay it back to the insurance company. That way you should find it easier to shop around as even though your bonus is protected with your current co, a lot of other companies won't take you on.
 
How much damage is involved? It might be uneconomic to make an insurance claim, between excesses and loss of NCB.

Just an aside, but I thought reversing out of a driveway was incorrect. You should reverse into a driveway, and drive out.
 
i have been talking to the person who is dealing with the claim this morning in the insurance company. Apparently the other party is adamant that she is not in the wrong, and puts full blame on me, she claims she was stationary at the time of the impact, but why would anyone be in a stationary position in cul de sac, blocking my exit?
The Insurance company is sending out an investigator, which seems very silly, anyway have to see what way it unfolds...
 
My experience with a same company crash was that the insurance company disagreed with the Gardai as to who was at fault and didn't pay out - which suited them of course. Neither party had comprehensive insurance at the time so it was a 3rd party claim.

I don't think this has anything to do with the guards at all. Or their opinions. The insurance company gets an investigator and/or accessor out and they make a decision on it. Usually its which ever is the most cost effective/profitable to the insurance company. In my experience.

When I had a dispute after an accident the insurance company held it open for 2yrs, the other party tried their hardest to claim of me but I resisted all the way. But I couldn't change insurance, and they charged me as if I'd no no claims and penalised me aswell. Eventually no blame could be proved with way. I hounded them till they closed it. It was decided 50/50 and I didn't make a claim. So I should have been refunded all the excess I had paid to that date, but they found a way of not refunding it.
 
The Gardai have established that they haven't witnessed the accident so they cannot indicate who is liable. I will fight this all the way, I will NOT accept 100% responsibility, because I know I definitely wasn't, I want to get this sorted as quickly as possible my car is 2008 and it is hateful driving around in it with the rear bumper hanging off...
 
You can generally horse trade with the insurance company. Tell them you want to get it fixed yourself, and won't be claiming from them. If they stonewall the other party and insist its 50/50 theres nothing the other party can do, as there are no witnesses. Anyone in either car doesn't count. All your insurance company can do is leave the claim open until a defined amount of time has passed.

I know you don't want to do it. But if you give the neignbour a donation towards her repair it might be less than any ncreased premium come renewal, if the claim is still open. Also theres goodwill with your neighbour to consider.

If the other parties not that bright, they might thing an offer is an admission of guilt and think that will help them claim off your insruance. But it won't. No witness, no other evidence, theres nothing more can be decided. 50/50.
 
presumably if you hit into her driver side rear door she was 'there' before you unless she was reversing at some speed so i would have thought it was more your fault than hers. you also admit to looking out the front rather than the back and that both you and your friend heard her horn but didn't stop (unless that was a typo) so it would again seem to me to be your fault.
 
you also admit to looking out the front rather than the back and that both you and your friend heard her horn but didn't stop (unless that was a typo) so it would again seem to me to be your fault.

Just before i started to turn to the right I glanced around the front of the car to ensure I was not hitting something in front, (I was thought this while doing driving lessons many years ago, I had passed my driving test first time I might add) NEITHER of us heard the horn being beeped, she never heard beeped the horn.

presumably if you hit into her driver side rear door she was 'there' before you unless she was reversing at some speed so i would have thought it was more your fault than hers

Both of us were taking a reverse right turn out of our drives. My drive is at the very bottom of a cul de sac, her drive is to my immediate left slightly up from mine, as i was taking a right hand turn i was looking in my right hand mirror and over my right hand shoulder, as she was reversing from my left and also taking a right into my path. If she was using her mirror as you are supposed to when taking a right hand turn she would have seen me more so then I as she was reversing from my left.

Must've been a collision at some reversing speed to leave the bumper hanging off?!

My bumper is not exactly hanging off, but it is cracked and scored, showing white marks against black. I was not driving at speed, but i cannot indicate if she was, all I can state is the my own factual evidence, she wasn't there one second, and there the next.

The investigator is coming out to me on the 12th February, he indicated that it looks like a 50 50 case on paper. but as she isn't accepting this an investigator has to be brought in to resolve it, if there is resolution.
 
50/50 does NOT mean that each pay for the other's damage. Nor does it mean that both parties bear 100% of their own losses. It means that both are 50% at fault, therefore the respective insurance companies pay 50% of the damage.

A hits B. Case is 50/50/ A has €1000 damage and B has €500. A's insurers pay B €250 and B's insurers pay A €500.

if the damage is not much, then being neighbours it would be pragmatic to bear your own losses, that is each party pays for their own repairs. Both must live side by side or in this case literally across the road from each other and there is no point in having an angry neighbour.
 
You might want to amend your wording when you meet the investigator.
The golden rule at all times is 'if you can't see you can't drive',
While I was taking the turn from the drive i looked around the front of the car
it might seem like semantics but, if by your own admission you were reversing back while looking forward then technically you were'nt looking where you were going. I know you're going to come back and say you only looked away for a milli-second, but in that milli-second you're cars collided, what if it had been a child that ran out in that instance?
I'm sorry if that sounds harsh and unsympathetic and I can honestly say there but for the grace of God goes any one of us, but if both versions of events were read out in a court of law, yours looks more shaky than hers. Just my humble opinion.....
 
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