What's the process for making a claim after car accident.

qwerty5

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This isn't something that I've any experience of. I just want to make sure I don't miss anything.

My missus was in a fender bender yesterday evening.
Car in left lane on roundabout decided to turn right so went into the side of our car. The lady driving said she was just following her GPS. No major arguments. It was just an accident.
A Guard was passing. He stopped. Checked that everybody was OK He didn't take any details as it was all in hand.
We have it on dash cam so you can see positions of both car easily.

Details were exchanged All grand.

Our car has some damage It's movable but we can't really drive it as I feel resistance in the area of the accident

So today I've got to ring insurance companies Ah fun .

I'll ring ours to inform them

I'll ring the other company. I'll need a rental car while our car is out of action. Will they pay for that?
Do I have to use the mechanic they say? The car is two years old. I don't want the bare minimum done to it. I want it back to the way it was.

My missus has a sore neck. It started yesterday evening and is still sore this morning. She's going to go to the doctor today. She doesn't want to claim for injury and probably won't need to but I want it documented in case she has any issues.

Does that process sound reasonable. Am I missing anything?
 
When you call your insurance company, they can put you straight through to the claims department of the other insurer.

The first thing they'll want to establish is who was in your car, and if there are any personal injuries.

Regarding damage to the car - they really don't care about the expense. They'll replace your car if they have to; the cost is nothing compared to a personal injury claim. When we had to make a claim, they asked us where we lived, and suggested a few places they deal with. I'm not sure if I could choose somebody else, but they had a list of exceptional places - out car was less than 2 years old so wanted it done properly. The repairer provided us with a car while it was being fixed.

You're right to document any personal injuries. I was rear ended years ago. Settled directly with the guy that hit me as it wasn't big, and he didn't want to involve insurance. Roll on 4 months and I finally had to get treatment for a neck injury that can only have happened in the accident. Cost me close to 1,000 in expenses.
 
We had an accident in a new car and the other insurer allowed us to bring back to the dealer for repairs and official parts to be used. They simply asked for a work quote and then got their assessor to sign off that it was reasonable. There was no hassle at all with them forcing us to use particular place. To be honest, the whole thing was pretty painless.

Tell your wife not to be a martyr. If she is hurt, she will need treatment. Even if it is just a couple of doctor visits. I know where you are coming from. It is mad how it has to the stage where genuine people are nearly afraid to make a claim unless they lose a limb but we pay enough for insurance. If you have a genuine claim, then claim and don't feel guilty about it.
 
Claims on roundabouts can be tricky, anecdotally I've heard insurance companies tend to settle with each party paying their own costs unless there's a recorded admission of liability. So I take it this was a marked 2 lane roundabout. Did the other car stray right from lane one into the lane 2?
 
Claims on roundabouts can be tricky, anecdotally I've heard insurance companies tend to settle with each party paying their own costs unless there's a recorded admission of liability. So I take it this was a marked 2 lane roundabout. Did the other car stray right from lane one into the lane 2?

To turn right from the left lane you have to cross the path of the traffic going straight ahead Id have thought. As it was she left her lane and went into the side of our car .
Both lanes at that area are clearly marked .

I'll update with however it works out with the insurance.
 
To turn right from the left lane you have to cross the path of the traffic going straight ahead Id have thought.

Everyone's path in a roundabout is circular, up to the point of changing lane or exiting. There is nothing in law to state that a car in lane 1 must take any particular exit unless the approach road to the roundabout has arrows painted on the roadway in advance. Without such markings, cars in lane 1 are perfectly entitled to travel the full circuit of the roundabout. Cars in lane 2 wishing to move to lane 1 or exit the roundabout may only do so if lane 1 is clear.

There are guidelines in the RSA's Rules of the Road publication, but you'll note they use the word 'should' when they say:

If taking any exit between the 12 o’clock to the 6 o’clock positions, motorists should generally approach in the right-hand lane.

Generally, when the ROTR use the word 'should', the advice that follows has no direct basis in law. Where they offer advice dicteted by legislation, they use the word 'must'.


As it was she left her lane and went into the side of our car .
Both lanes at that area are clearly marked .

Hopefully they'll just admit liability so and this can be cleared up pretty quickly.
 
I should have mentioned in the first post that the lanes are marked. The lady in the left lane was in the lane marked with an arrow pointing straight ahead and left.

Similarly my missus was in the lane with the arrow pointing straight ahead and right.
 
So long as the other car moved into lane 2, and more importantly admit that fact, you should be good.
 
As the injured party, you get to choose where the vehicle goes for repairs.
They should cover you with a replacement vehicle for a reasonable period.
Assuming the other driver's insurance does accept the claim, you can also ask for a depreciation payment. This is typically about 10% of the value of the repair.
Your wife needs to get her neck properly checked out. Spinal injuries can make themselves known some time after the initial injury. Even if it's just a doctor's visit and a couple of trips to a physio, there's no reason for you to be out of pocket.
 
When you call your insurance company, they can put you straight through to the claims department of the other insurer.

The first thing they'll want to establish is who was in your car, and if there are any personal injuries.

Regarding damage to the car - they really don't care about the expense. They'll replace your car if they have to; the cost is nothing compared to a personal injury claim. When we had to make a claim, they asked us where we lived, and suggested a few places they deal with. I'm not sure if I could choose somebody else, but they had a list of exceptional places - out car was less than 2 years old so wanted it done properly. The repairer provided us with a car while it was being fixed.

You're right to document any personal injuries. I was rear ended years ago. Settled directly with the guy that hit me as it wasn't big, and he didn't want to involve insurance. Roll on 4 months and I finally had to get treatment for a neck injury that can only have happened in the accident. Cost me close to 1,000 in expenses.

I'm down near a grand already from an injury caused by someone else's negligence nearly four months ago, this wasn't a motor accident but its wise to take a wait and see approach if you sustain what appears to be a mild injury at first as symptoms can develop slowly.

Don't be shy about claiming OP if it was the other sides fault, life's too short to be a martyr for someone else's stupidity, I was rounded on for allegedly trying to fleece someone a few months back and told to take the financial hit all by myself so don't expect universal support or sympathy in online forums,amongst other things People like to play the doctor sometimes without having the first clue about the complexity of injury etc.
 
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A small update.

I reported the accident to our insurance. And the other parties insurance.
The other company arranged a rental car easy enough. They sent out an assessor and came to €4000.
Initially they said that the other parties statement matched my wife's.
So we chased for a couple of days to see if we could get the car fixed. Then the company said that the statements didnt match and that the investigation could take three months. They told us to claim off our insurance and they could claim off the other company after the investigation.

So at that stage we got a solicitor. Gave him our documentation and photos from the dash cam and just told him to handle it. We were tired of chasing them every day. After two days of dealing with the solicitor the other parties insurance accepted liability and we're waiting for the car to be picked up now to be fixed .

If they hadn't messed around we'd just have gotten the car fixed and moved on. My missus wasn't able to work for a few days. She's been to the doctors twice and now theres a solicitor bill. So this is all adding up now, for them.
 
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