i am fuming over this!

here’s my thread…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/hit-by-a-bus-insurance-advice-please

long and short. i was stationary at a junction, a bus decided to try and squeeze past me and clipped my van. yesterday i was suprised to hear this was stinn undecided when i had a letter from the insurance company saying they were going to do a 50/50 settle.

the bus company will not accept my witness because his kid happens to go to the same school as my kid. the statement from the diver, dated in february so no rush there, is not only full of inaccuracies (car position, vehicle type, even the side of the road the bust stop is on) but the driver blatantly lies by saying that he was the stationary vehicle and i drove into him.

i’ve just called the insurance company who were pretty lack luster about it to say the least. i’m going to take photos of the junction to prove my point and also the innacuracies in the drivers stament.

but to be honest is it worth it, and is there anything else i can do?

my real anger is that i’ve tried to be fair and honest with this claim, i try to be fair an honest in life and teach my kids to do the same, and yet some git is prepared to blatantly lie.

It all comes down to money and how much each company will have to spend to get this sorted.
While you are emotionally involved with a sense of justice, honesty etc. the insurance companies are purely looking at this as numbers.
I’d be looking to see how it was going to cost me financially and if the answer was loads, I’d be kicking and screaming. If not much, I’d let it go and move on.

Sorry, no advice, but that is crap. I used to pay for something called Driver’s Legal Protection on top of my insurance. Maybe I should look at adding it again.

Tell your isurance company they do not have your authority to settle , take over the claim and sue the bus company yourself .Their is no reason not to accept your witness , ask the bus company for the internal cctv from the bus that will show the bus moving . does the bus have a tacograph ?

Why is the world so full of tossers arrrrhhhh I feel your frustration. Sorry no advice just morale support of another good honest citizen.

If you muck up man up and fess up. People live in such a state of fear they will blatantly lie, insulting others intelligence this pisses me off beyond belief. JUST BE HONEST AND NICE it isn’t hard. 👿

Sorry rant over, I really hope this gets sorted for you soon.

Tell your isurance company they do not have your authority to settle

We did this once, and also stated in same letter that as they had not represented us and worked on our behalf we would also be taking them to small claims for return of premium, excess and future increase in premiums for 5 years, and costs of sueing other party ourselves. Cost=£000’s. This letter cost £50 for a solicitior to write for us.
.
Suddenly we had a case that was a year(!) long sorted by them in a 2 weeks, premium and excess returned, £50 M&S voucher and a letter asking us nicely not to sue them…

looks like matt-outandabout has the answer to your problems

Before spending any time with this, does your van actually need fixing, if not tell your insurance company and save losing any NCD/excess etc.

If it does need fixing, accept it could cost you NCD/excess…

I’ve no specific advice other than start puttign everythign in writign and keep copies.

OP – I have no real advice to give other than that I know where you are coming from! I wouldn’t take no for an answer if I knew I was right either. Get heavy on their asses as suggested above. Do not give in even a little bit. Mrs PP took American Express to the small claims and won, so don’t think you can’t win against the big guys because you can if you can present your case. 🙂

Categorically refuse to accept 50/50?

How can it be 50/50 unless you were moving.

Where did it happen and which bus company?

Pretty much every bus in the UK is fitted with multiple cameras with hard drive recorders. Usually they have forward and rear facing and at least 2 internal cameras as an absolute minimum.

I don’t know how long they keep the data for but the bus company should have verified the details from the cameras at the time of the initial claim.

The bus company will be trying to wriggle out of it because most of the large operators self insure themselves.

and yet some git is prepared to blatantly lie

Happy to see that none of the posters above have recommended anything dodgy, but lying is frequently the recommendation on here. In fact I’m surprised somebody hasn’t popped up offering to have seen the whole thing for you.

even the side of the road the bust stop is on

If I was on a bus where the driver didn’t know what side of the road the bus stop was on, I’d be slightly concerned…

I aologise for forgetting to give you my details at the time why not e-mail me and i can give you my storyevidence woh what I saw 😉

if they were being untruthful over this on point of principle i would not stop or just take it
good luck

Stagecoach per chance?

thanks guys.

cams and tacho, genius i will ask for that to be verified and if not why not.

threatening small claims on insurer also a good call, i will mention that.

i feel much better now, time to be all english and write a firm letter.