Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 96 total)
  • Woman reversed into my car, now claiming I hit her – advice please?!
  • stumpy01
    Full Member

    Sorry if this gets a bit long winded.

    Basically I was in a cinema car park behind a woman in a 4×4. She approaches a turning, moves over to the wrong side of the road & indicates right. I stop on the correct side of the road behind her. The turning is on a slight kink in the road that we are on.
    She decides to go down this turning, but has overshot slightly, so sticks car in reverse (I presume without looking), I stick hand on horn continuously but she reverses back into me. Because she is on the wrong side of the road & at an angle to me (due to the kink in the road) she hits my car where the drivers door meets the front wing. At this point she stops, looks over her shoulder & drives off.
    People have seen what happened, but as she appears to be driving off I follow her rather than get witnesses.
    She claims it was my fault, I claim it was her fault, we swap details & go our separate ways.

    I've had an e-mail from my insurance company this morning, saying that she claims I hit her stationary car, not the other way round & they want to settle it 50/50 as the damage to my car can have happened in either case & there are no witnesses. I disagree that the damage would look like it does had I moved into her. When I call them, I find out they don't even have her statement, only the fact that she claimed I hit her has led them to offer a 50/50 settlement.
    I ask whether they can get hold of her statement & they say yes. The girl then looks at the photos of the damage I sent in & says she can understand why I am contesting it…….so why the hell were they happy to settle with 50/50?

    I have basically rejected a 50/50 settlement claim at least until they have compared her version of events to the damage on my car.
    Even though my partner is a police officer she apparently cannot be a witness, and as I feared she would drive off, I followed her rather than stop to get details of witnesses.
    My partner was in the car at the time, but even though she is a police officer she cannot be used as a witness.

    I am so annoyed that she will not take responsibility for her actions. I am really annoyed that we didn't swap addresses, only phone numbers & car/insurance details. I feel like doling out my own kind of payback.

    What happens now if they get her statement & say that it is still not possible to see that the damage happened by her reversing into me, not vice versa? Do i have to just accept that & pay half my excess & lose my NCD? I am going to the cinema tonight to see if they have CCTV, but I doubt I will get anywhere with it.

    Not sure how clear it will be, but here's a pic of the damage:

    Anyone have any words of advice on how I should proceed with this? I think there is virtually no chance there will be CCTV footage & without that, there is no proof of what happened, unless her description of events & the damage to my car don't tie up.
    Am I just going to have to put up with an outcome I am not happy with?

    Great start to the weekend this has turned out to be!!

    clubber
    Free Member

    It's possible you may have to accept 50/50 if you can't prove otherwise.

    I'd look really hard into getting CCTV/etc – she'll be in the **** if you can prove she's lied… As you say, other than that, how else can you prove anything unless the damage on your car can be shown to be caused by her reversing rather than you hitting her (can't really see how that's possible but I'm not a crash investigator…)

    FWIW, if someone ever does hit your car and drive off, get their reg and witnesses before chasing after them.

    GaryLake
    Free Member

    Fight it to no end, it's cheaper for them to just settle then it is to contest so have no interest.

    I had a similar thing but wouldn't give in, eventually they got an independent ex-police assessor to handle the case and her lies eventually caught up with her and a year later I won.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    aracer
    Free Member

    I'm not an expert, but in this case I think you may be OK. It's going to be pretty hard for her to come up with a story which ties in with the damage.

    My partner was in the car at the time, but even though she is a police officer she cannot be used as a witness.

    Can she not be a witness to somebody leaving the scene of an accident though (criminal offence)? Surely all you need to do is put the frighteners on her – words like "fraud" and "perjury" spring to mind.

    Shakey
    Free Member

    I was going to suggest a couple of things that you should have done but hindsight is great and obviously you don't want to hear it.

    I would get your statement to your insurance company and insist they contest it. The damage certainly looks it was caused by reversing so this is the line your insurance company should take.

    BTW – What is the damage to her car.

    Also, it sounds like she knew exactly what she was doing i.e. leaving the scene knowing that her car would be difficult to trace and that you wouldn't get any witnesses!

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    it's cheaper for them to just settle then it is to contest so have no interest.

    Unfortunately this is the case – financially it wouldn't be worth their while. Perhaps you contact her directly and ask her to pay you for the damage (it doesn't seem too extensive) and therefore avoid either of you paying increased premiums (a long shot I know)….

    steveh
    Full Member

    She won't be in trouble if it turns out she was lying or at least the boke who tried something similar with me wasn't. I do believe it should be an offence to knowingly lie in this way.

    By the sounds of the damage to your car you'll be ok tho. it what saved me when a bloke tried to do a u turn out of a layby across 2 lanes of uphill traffic over the 2 solid white lines and into the downhill lane. how he was claiming i hit him when it was the rear door, wing etc of mine that were damaged lord knows.

    racefaceec90
    Full Member

    i just watched channel 4 news and there are an increase in scams,where people purposefully,get hit by someone,so they can claim the insurance.they will brake suddenly e.t.c,without warning,and the other person won't have a chance not to hit them.just thought i would let you know,as this sounds very much like one of those scams!!!

    JCornford
    Full Member

    You could always report her to the police for leaving the scene of an accident and then add that report to your claim.

    BlingBling
    Free Member

    It sounds nothing like one of those scams 😕

    sockpuppet
    Full Member

    …often without working brakelights too, so you really have little chance of stopping when they emergency stop in front.

    Olly
    Free Member

    how do you hit the side of a car, not the front, by hitting something.
    as i see it, its pretty hard to!

    i would argue that, and also include leaving the scene of an accident.

    the more information you can gather the better, and the truth will out!

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    Does your insurance include legal services to contest this on your behalf?

    Beware as well in similar events deciding where blame lies, that's for the Ins companies to work out. As a mate who is a broker advised me once, never admit liability even if its clear, as doing so is against the terms of most contracts and could theoretically create problems down the line.

    sockpuppet
    Full Member

    so she reckons you hit her, and damaged her car. she then drove off without speaking to you, while you dilligently followed along after to give her your details so she could claim for the accident you caused to her car?

    sounds likely to me…

    are you sure you didn't nip over into her car and reverse it into yours while she wasn't looking? i mean, it could happen…

    bauchlebastart
    Free Member

    Similar thing happened to my wife. Didn't even bother involving our insurance company. Approached the other parties insurance company direct and insisted they get an engineer to assess the damage to our car Eventually they paid out much to the annoyance of the abusive scum that reversed into her. We did have a witness though and because things got a bit heated the police attended also

    jonb
    Free Member

    Does your car move sideways? You'd be hard pushed to hit a stationary car with the part of your car shown.

    whippersnapper
    Free Member

    as above – unless your car was spinning I can't see how that damage would be caused any other way than you being hit.

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    often without working brakelights too, so you really have little chance of stopping when they emergency stop in front.

    apart from your duty as described in the Highway Code to drive so that you can stop before colliding with other road users ? (posed as a question as I've not driven for years)

    tyke
    Free Member

    Certainly contest it. Not only is the other party at fault but it could affect your No Claims Discount (assuming you have one).

    ebygomm
    Free Member

    I had similar and the insurance company weren't bothered in contesting it. In fact I don't even know what the outcome was because they just kept ignoring me and I ended up going elsewhere when my renewal came up (first year of insurance so no no claims to worry about). My car wasn't worth getting repaired

    I reversed out a parking space where I used to live and was stationary, about to move forward, car comes into the car park at speed and hits my driver side door. Insurance company put down initially it was my fault because I was the one 'reversing', and were happy to settle up, I contested it but I don't actually know the outcome.


    my car


    £600 pounds worth of damage apparently

    barnsleymitch
    Free Member

    Death by crushing (or stoning, stoning's good) – it took me four bloody years to sort out the myopic **** that pulled out in front of me, but stick with it, you'll get there in the end.

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    I have to ask, why you are dealing with this yourself?
    Not having a go at you, but thats why you pay insurance companies to deal with all this sort of crap.
    Just tell your insurance co that was not your fault and you are not willing, quite rightly, to accept a 50/50 settlement! Unless your car can move sideway!

    ski
    Free Member

    I had this a few years back, in my Mrs old Mini, we were stopped in stationery traffic. We had a lady who reversed into our little car out of a parking space!

    Another Lady 4×4 driver 😉

    Said it was our fault as her reverse sensors did not warn her, we called the police who turned up after she had left!

    It would have got nasty as she went through the book at us, she claimed for whiplash, said we were speeding, drunk, had a kid driving! on the wrong side of the road, the list was endless…

    If it was not for a witness, a driver behind us, she would have got away with it.

    Her insurance eventually paid up in full in the end, a mini victory 😉

    Good luck stumpy btw

    sockpuppet
    Full Member

    indeed, you do have a duty to stop, and this should include your reaction time, not just braking distance. that reaction time would be greatly increased in the absence of brake lights.

    i can't deny SFB that you are indeed correct. you should be able to stop.

    a tiny minority of people actually leave that amount of room in reality, and you can bet they're assuming that the brake lights in front are working

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    apart from your duty as described in the Highway Code to drive so that you can stop before colliding with other road users ?

    But it does make it difficult to know they are stopping if the brake lights aren't working. How, please tell, would you know they were braking, especially if at night on an unlit road…

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    In future, I will do as you mention clubber. That was my first instinct, but I think I just wanted to confront her about it. Probably would have worked in my favour had she driven off.

    aracer, that is a good thought. I did report the incident to the police & have an incident number. I might call them up & see how I stand with that.

    Shakey, there appeared to be no damage to her car. It was a Ford Maverick 4×4 & she hit me with the very corner of the bumper. It was low speed, but she then kept moving into me.
    She didn't leave the scene entirely, but at that time I couldn't tell what she was going to do. She carried on down the turning she had intended to drive down (one of the parking lanes) (approx 30m). I followed her, she then got to the end, initially looked as if she was going to turn right towards the exit but then parked in one of the bays directly opposite the end of the road. Once I realised she had parked up, I should have got my other half to get her details while I chased after some witnesses!

    MF – the damage is gonna be pretty costly. It's gonna be a new wing & door (the leading edge of the door is kinked inwards), plus the wing has been pushed up against the bonnet edge and warped the bonnet. Not sure if that will just pop back though or not. If you look the top edge of the wing in the image, it should line up with the top edge of the door, but doesn't – it's been sent upwards & inwards.

    I don't think it was one of those scams. Her brake lights worked, her indicators works & her reversing light worked.
    That is what is really annoying. She initially claimed I was trying to undertake her. But I was stationary & sounded my horn as her reversing light came on. She couldn't explain how if I was undertaking her how I would have seen her reversing light & why I wouldn't have just kept going to avoid her.

    Olly, that is what I am relying on…..the fact that the damage to my car would be very hard to produce had I been the one that was moving.

    theotherjonV, I think I have legal cover & will see what happens once her statement has been properly reviewed.

    sockpuppet….indeed. It's just a question of proving that though, as well. For all i know….she could have claimed that she approached me for my details.

    bauchlebastart – the repair company has my car already. I think I will ring the insurance company to see if I should stop the work being started incase I need to get an independent assessor in.

    Excellent suggestions & help everyone. I feel a bit better about things now. I just don't understand why people can't own up to their actions.

    Bunnyhop
    Full Member

    The exact same thing happened to me. I had the hand on the horn as this woman in a big merc, (me in my polo,) kept reversing into me. Luckily the noise caught the attention of a couple who came over and said they would be my witnesses. The driver got out and said she didn't hear my horn 'cos her music was turned up too loud. She then starts to say I ran into her. The witness and myself disputed this and an argument started. She said you're only saying that 'cos I'm foreign (her English was poor). Luckily due to the witnesses I got the damage sorted. She too would have driven off if the male witness hadn't have put himself in front of her car.
    Sorry this is not much help to you, but witnesses are crucial.

    BigButSlimmerBloke
    Free Member

    Haven't read the whole thread so apologies if someone's posted this but – if it was the cinema, then some people will ave paid by credit/debit card, so the cinema has enough details for the cops to find them if they want to. possibly one or two of them may be witnesses you're after?

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    so the cinema has enough details for the cops to find them if they want to. possibly one or two of them may be witnesses you're after?

    I doubt privacy laws would allow such information to be divulged…

    g6dcs
    Free Member

    I use to work in this area of law and the problem is Insurance Companies want to get the claims off their books as quickly as possible. So matters where it is not clear cut (often because someone is not being truthfull) they just jump straight to a 50/50 split liability settlement.

    The problem is most insurances companies have what is known as a subrogated right which effectively allows them to conduct the claim how they feel best rather than what there policyholder wants. All boils down to costs!

    With respect to accident damage proving one parties fault over anothers, rarely does it prove things enough but bear in mind that you only have to prove liability on the balance of probabilities! and from what you have said it would appear that your version is more probable given the photo of the damage so I would stress this to your insurance company.

    Konastoner
    Free Member

    Stumpy, get the wife to go to car park Security in uniform if possible. She will have more pull as they will be reluctatnt to give what could be evidence to the public, I had my 1 day old A4 wing crumpled by a learner driver trying to park and had to pull in a favour from a PC friend to get a copy of the tape. As soon as I had the evidence the other party's story soon changed.

    KS

    AlieN
    Free Member

    Stumpy,

    It seems to me from the picture you posted that you have a "dent". If you had been moving at the time of the collision, then surely you would also have some "scraping" marks on your car. I'd try and get your insurance company to accept that; it then destroys the other driver's arguement.

    Neil

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    But it does make it difficult to know they are stopping if the brake lights aren't working. How, please tell, would you know they were braking, especially if at night on an unlit road..

    if you are unable to identify stationary lit objects in front in the dark then it would be better for you to take a taxi :o)

    JonHood
    Free Member

    2 options – that may be took late to try

    The answer was in your original post "…Hit her…" – if she's claiming it and it isn't true make it so! Not PC but i'm sure it crossed your mind 🙂

    Hit yourself and claim ABH – this could snow ball and she could hit herself for a counter claim, you would have to resort to GBH and before you know it you could both be seriously (self) injured or dead – still worth a try though

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    AlieN….I have e-mailed the insurance people earlier & that was one of the arguements I put forward. There are absolutely no scrapes on my car of the type you would expect had I moved past another car & hit it.

    I have just spoken to the Police & I can't do the woman for leaving the scene as we did actually exchange details, even though the action of her driving off & not stopping meant I failed to get witnesses.

    I have also spoken to the insurance company regarding delaying the repair of my car in case it needs to be assessed at a later date. They have said they have enough photographic evidence that they do not require the car to remain un-repaired.
    I hope this is the case. I did say to the guy I spoke to that they had better not turn round in a fortnight & say that because I had the car repaired they cannot tell who hit who.

    If anyone sees a red Ford Maverick, reg P227 PDX in the P'boro area please give it a very wide berth!!

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Barnes – stop being such a bloody smartarse. It's amusing no-one. We get your point now contribute or sod off!

    Good luck to the OP 🙂

    neilsonwheels
    Free Member

    Women should not be on the road.

    Surely when they find out that it involved a female of the species reversing it will be thrown out.

    Women are no good at reversing unless theres a c**k behind them. Fact. 😉

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    agree with molgrips & thanks for the good luck

    laugh lots at neilsonwheels comment….
    only problem with that is in this case, perhaps there was (if you speak to some of my friends)! 😀

    slugwash
    Free Member

    Women are no good at reversing unless theres a c**k behind them.

    Yeah, but even then they come into sudden collision with me 😉

    whippersnapper
    Free Member

    I have also spoken to the insurance company regarding delaying the repair of my car in case it needs to be assessed at a later date. They have said they have enough photographic evidence that they do not require the car to remain un-repaired.
    I hope this is the case. I did say to the guy I spoke to that they had better not turn round in a fortnight & say that because I had the car repaired they cannot tell who hit who.

    get it in writing if possible

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 96 total)

The topic ‘Woman reversed into my car, now claiming I hit her – advice please?!’ is closed to new replies.