Hello all you Lobstarry folk, from a warm and sunny French France Wednesday.
Moved to write after reading NotSpag's recent car incident and on hearing that she's been further upset by the behaviour of the idiot who rear-ended her car.
Do NOT worry or allow yourself to be put under any pressure by Him, His insurers, His Loss Assessors (doubt he would have a lawyer involved!!!) - all they will try to do (with his story-telling capacity) is save money.
Often with a vehicle insurance policy there is an offer of help and assistance with loss, or 'legal' advice to help a driver support his claim. Unfortunately, this advice is often proffered by one of a team of 'children' working online and taking and making hundreds of calls in the hope of reducing or dismissing claims on behalf of their customers. They are, of course, listening to often outrageous claims which are made by those who are clearly at fault. There seems to be no brakes applied in the effort to avoid payment, including brow-beating of innocent people like yourself in the hope that you might say something they can take issue with.
So, you said that you were struck in the rear of your vehicle - quite a whack - by someone who failed to stop and this was presumably whilst your route was blocked/you were waiting in a queue/unable to drive on. He was surprisingly chatty and amicable about how he was rushing to a hospital appointment but so happy to be alive. Bizarre! Had you been in any way at fault, it's doubtful that he would have spoken like that. The illness and hospital detail was just a smokescreen.
Was it suggested later that you 'rolled' back into his vehicle? If that word was used, you must have been on a very steep hill, without handbrake to summon sufficient speed to sustain such damage to your car! He, in turn, would need to have been stationary and a long way back for you to develop the necessary damaging speed! That certainly suggests interesting driving, NotSpag, or maybe just a vivid imagination on his part. People will often say anything (ridiculous) in the hope that they can deflect the blame.
He never saw your brake lights? He wasn't paying attention? He was far too close and not concentrating? He was distracted? Doubt he will have said anything like that to his insurers and
none of these are reasons or excuses to avoid his liability for the collision. It was completely of his own making. But, hey, worth a try?
Please don't worry about it unduly - it's bad enough to be without your car. Hopefully you will have already contacted your insurers and obtained an estimate from the garage concerning the cost of possible repairs (or worse!) You'll need to supply your insurers with that together with a completed claim form with all the details of the accident and who said what to whom, etc, (unless they have already done that for you over the 'phone.)
Do NOT speak to or respond to anything from the offending driver, or his insurers, or his so-called lawyers. This is why you have insurers to intercede on your behalf. Pass on any papers you might receive. Anyone can say anything over the 'phone and then deny it. Anything they wish to say they can say to your insurance company and in writing, so that matters can be dealt with. This is the job of your own insurance company and they will need to have the information which only you can provide in order to deflect any ridiculous claim against you.
As Kaimoana has inferred, most people know the law concerning rear-end collisions and the one that happened to you doesn't sound as if it could possibly be an exception. So, good luck with an early resolution and please stop worrying. It is a blessing that you weren't hurt.
Keep on keeping on, all you lovely Lobstars. x
for Doodle. We took DH's ashes to
