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Author Topic: Shot oneself in the foot ( insurance )  (Read 2964 times)

Neil

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Shot oneself in the foot ( insurance )
« on: May 14, 2014, 11:42:27 pm »

I love it when someone, especially a company shoots them selves in the foot.........and even better when it's an insurance company trying to rip you off {-) {-) {-) {-)

Last November I and my two daughters were sat in our car at traffic lights behind two other cars, on red lights, when suddenly we were rammed up the rear by another motorist..........he was an absolute nutter.........

got out his car ranting and raving, why were we stopped what had he done to deserve all this............shouting and swearing he looked at my car with all arms flailing, kids in his car sprawled all over the place....not wearing seat belts and him smelling of marijuana and booze

took one look at my car.........No damage there mate and got into his motor and drove off...........leaving me to take his reg number..........I called the police ...........

anyway he admitted it to the rozzers and admitted liability to the insurance company.....

we suffered quite bad whiplash from it, and the kids had hurt their knees as well..............

so because the police were involved so my insurance was notified and a solicitor became involved from Motorbility.........

well, my car in fact to my untrained eye didn't look damaged and I told my insurance who had to tell the other nutter's insurance.

It was then that the other insurance company became "clever" and told my solicitor that because the car hadn't been "damaged" they fealt that we three were lying about our injuries and therefore were not going to play ball............

so today I was told by my insurers. and solicitor that I should take the car to a recognized repairer of Fiat for an assessment........the result shocked me.........

they found that the light cluster lens had been cracked...........the tail gate had been knocked out of alignment giving a distorted closure to the tailgate and leaving bad panel gap ( something I have always been used to from owning old brit triumphs and MG's) meaning that either the hinges on the door OR  the roof had been bent, the rear panel was bent throwing the boot catch out of line and giving bad locking of the tailgate and underneath the car the rear bumper reinforcing bar ( unseen unless you take the bumper panel off under the car) had been bent 2.5 inches out of line.........and when I said to the panel man that I was amazed he said...........all damage that is easily masked to an untrained eye............

what's the estimate to fix I said............removal of tailgate, bumper rear panel , possible new tailgate, and respraying to colour..............around £1500  - £2000 he said................plus a courtesy car for the week that the vehicle is away for repair..................

That'll teach the insurers of the other geezer to get clever...............had they settled for injury in the first place then I would have been no wiser as to the real damage and all the  extra costs to them............

And please don't bleat on about a claims culture..............If someone injures me and my kids through their own idiocy then that is their and their insurer's problem.......not mine..................we all hurt for weeks!!!

 
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Footski

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Re: SHOT ONESELF IN THE FOOT
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2014, 06:19:09 am »

Neil,
You should have known the car had been damaged, simply by its name. After all it is a Fix It Again Tomorrow! (Fiat).  {-)
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Neil

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Re: SHOT ONESELF IN THE FOOT
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2014, 08:10:04 am »

ahhhh, bless it, it's a lovely car, {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-)
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sparkey

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Re: SHOT ONESELF IN THE FOOT
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2014, 08:35:03 am »

 ;) A woman in a Range Rover whacked into the back of me at the lights, she was on the phone at the time and not paying attention, I got out to see what she had to say and she told me to F.O. as she was having an important conversation, the police pulled up as there was quite a back up of cars, seems this woman had been convicted of using a mobile while driving 4 times so the case went to court, lost her licence for a year and told to get an office or hands free as the car is not a place to conduct business, I was on my own at the time so it was good luck that I was not hurt but made a mess of the Mondeo though, these days when I pull up at the lights I am nervously looking in the mirror,Ray. ok2 
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Guy Bagley

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Re: SHOT ONESELF IN THE FOOT
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2014, 09:29:10 am »

get a tow bar fitted   O0  - thats my recommendation- if you can cover the cost of having it fitted...and then you have the ability to tow should you need to , it may save you in the long run !
 
-2 years ago i was involved in a low speed rear end bump at the top of a motorway 'off' slip road, i was sat at the roundabout in my car waiting for a gap in the traffic to pull away, and the driver behind came up the slip road in her ford focus estate... her car was getting bigger and bigger in my rear view mirror and for that split second i thought she would brake hard and stop  just in time ...surely she had seen the stationary traffic in front of her....
 
errr no..... she didnt brake hard enough and she ran into the back of my car at about 10 mph..... -now i do tow and i do have a tow bar fitted to this vehicle.... this impact pushed my car about 2 feet forwards even though i had my foot on the brake....
 
i jumped out to take a look at what had happend and instantly saw copious amounts of fluids flowing down the road, my first thought was is it fuel - had the collision popped my fuel tank ?, was it all going to go up in smoke ?
 
- luckily it was the contents of her washer bottle and her radiator, - my tow bar had pierced her bumper  and i guess the internal sections of her bumper had been pushed back to burst her radiator, - the washer bottle is also behind the front bumper on her car, the front valance,  bonnet grill, cross member, radiator, air con intercooler, we all in bits, the front of her car was destroyed, i mean really knackered from a 10 mph shunt....
 
she accepted full responsibility, - and her insurance covered the costs, -
 
i had my car inspected at the main dealer, i had a new tow ball fitted to  my towbar and i had a small scratch touched into my painted bumper, total damage to my car was £180... i expected the dealer to try and get rich quick with the damage and quote for a new bumper, but due to the fact the scratch was not huge, they used a 'scratch away' kind of repair done at a smaller cost
 
i dread to think what would have happened if her car had been in contact with my tailgate as opposed to my towbar- i think the damage would  have made the vehicle a write off
 
i got all the ambulance chasing lawyers offering ot make claims for me but luckily we had no injuries....- but the towbar saved a huge bill !!
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dreadnought72

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Re: SHOT ONESELF IN THE FOOT
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2014, 10:30:31 am »

^ Same here.

I was rear-ended on the M8 a few years ago. The car that hit me was never going to stop in time (I'd looked in my rear-view mirror as I was approaching near-stationary traffic to see him approaching at a phenomenal velocity). His car, a Rover, was p--ing radiator fluid and was pretty much done-in by my towbar. My damage? A crack on the towbar plastic cover. We pulled over to swap details, and he was going to be stuck until a tow truck turned up. His first words to me (he'd not read the never admit liability statement on his insurance) "I'm sorry, I've just returned from holiday and fell asleep on the road..."  :o

Andy
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SteamboatPhil

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Re: SHOT ONESELF IN THE FOOT
« Reply #6 on: May 15, 2014, 10:53:56 am »

I am with Guy on this one, at traffic lights (red) handbrake on......bang.....what happened enquires steamboat apprentice.....hum says I looking at the stereo which needs one of the fancy tools to remove from the dash board...which is now hanging by its wires...I think we have been hit...Out I get to investigate.....well the picture tells all.
So after thepolice, fire service and ambulance all leave, off I trot miffed that my tow ball cover got cracked.......However I did get it checked out, and they found the fuel pipe had been cracked but that was all.....
I supose it helps that the towball is connected to a landrover....... O0
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malcolmfrary

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Re: Shot oneself in the foot ( insurance )
« Reply #7 on: May 15, 2014, 11:48:08 am »

Neil, if their insurers had just settled, you might have had a nasty shock come MOT time.  As it was, it looks like the rear bodywork did its intended job of absorbing the impact forces before they did serious harm to you and yours.
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grendel

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Re: Shot oneself in the foot ( insurance )
« Reply #8 on: May 15, 2014, 12:41:35 pm »

Another Towbar enthusiast here, I have had several rear end shunts onto the towbar, and all have come off worse.
Though a few weeks back I had a neighbour complain I had reversed into his car as his number plate was damaged by a towbar, and I had been parked nearby and had a towbar. I thought what the  ### as I always drive out of my parking space forward and do a U-turn. I explained this to him and he said no it was definitely me, and gave a time - 3 hours after I had already left for work.
We agreed to disagree that I had caused it, for neighbourly relations, but it does cut both ways (I have since spotted at least another 3 cars that park in that area with towbars).
Grendel
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TheLongBuild

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Re: Shot oneself in the foot ( insurance )
« Reply #9 on: May 15, 2014, 01:11:59 pm »

Another Towbar enthusiast here, I have had several rear end shunts onto the towbar, and all have come off worse.
Though a few weeks back I had a neighbour complain I had reversed into his car as his number plate was damaged by a towbar, and I had been parked nearby and had a towbar. I thought what the  ### as I always drive out of my parking space forward and do a U-turn. I explained this to him and he said no it was definitely me, and gave a time - 3 hours after I had already left for work.
We agreed to disagree that I had caused it, for neighbourly relations, but it does cut both ways (I have since spotted at least another 3 cars that park in that area with towbars).
Grendel

If you are certain you were at work and can prove it and as he has given a specific time , suggest that he takes it further as you were at work and he will still be out of pocket..

Neil

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Re: Shot oneself in the foot ( insurance )
« Reply #10 on: May 15, 2014, 05:11:42 pm »

there's only one thing wrong with tow bars.........I used to forget I had them fitted when I had my caravan.........and kept walking into the b***** things..............gawd they hurt, lol
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Brian60

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Re: Shot oneself in the foot ( insurance )
« Reply #11 on: May 15, 2014, 06:48:47 pm »

Back in March my sis in law picked us up at Leeds Bradford airport. On the way home we pulled off the A1 southbound up to Bramham roundabout. She waited for a gap in the traffic and pulled on to the roundabout wanting the second exit, passing the first exit/entry a Range Rover came barrelling out without slowing and rammed the nearside rear wheelarch and door.

Recovering from the impact and luckily slow enough not to lose real control I told her to pull over and wait, the other car will go around the roundabout and come back--no it didn't! The car was drivable and we carried on, half a mile up the road sat in a layby was a police traffic car, I got her to pull over and report it straightaway, the cop was incredulous that the other car never stopped. Anyway she had the car fixed in three day, an amazing turnaround by the company, it needed a new quarter panel and door skin, repaint etc etc. The problem is she has now lost her no claims bonus and the insurers keep ringing the wife and I to go through neck excersizes to make sure we don't have latent whiplash {-)
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