Late in the evening last year in October, i was waiting to leave a petrol station, when the car in front of me, who was waiting to exit, decided to put his car in reverse and then reversed into me causing damage to my bumper and bonnet, he apologized and we swapped details etc, there were no witnesses to the accident but there was a passenger in his car, there was also no CCTV covering the exit of the petrol station, only on the forecourt. I rang my car insurance the next morning as they were closed for the night the accident took place and i explained what had happened the previous evening, they did a VIN check on his car and he was the named driver and he was insured, i was told that my car would be picked up and taken away to be repaired and that i would get a hire car as in my policy i am guaranteed a hire car, I have fully business comprehensive insurance, as i am support worker and i transport my clients around.
In the meantime, i received three missed calls in the space of five minutes from the driver who hit me, as i was working i couldn't answer my phone but i immediately knew that he was panicking over something, anyway I rang him back later in the evening, but before i made the return call, i set up a recording device on my laptop and i would record our conversation and act a bit dumb in the hope that i would make him confess or say to the effect that he reversed into me, (i have later found out that because i didn't inform him i was recording our conversation, it wouldn't be used as evidence against him) anyway in no uncertain words, he said that he didn't see me when he reversed into me and he also said that his insurance expired on the morning of the accident (very convenient) and because he's not insured i would have to go through my insurance if i wanted my car repaired as he wasn't insured and he felt terrible for what had happened. He then said, he's got a mate who can fix my car cheaply (his words "repaired for £300") i think he thought he only caused a little bit of damage when he reversed into me, but i took my car to a garage to get a price quote and they quoted me £1000, i explained the cost to him and he said that he can't afford that (the total price in the end for my car to be repaired was £1241.23.)
Anyway, i got my insurance quote a few weeks later, and it jumped from £450 to £898, the reason being is because i had made a claim, i rang my car insurance to see if it was a misprint but they explained that because the claim was ongoing and the other driver hadn't taken liability, my insurance renewal quote had gone up. Anyway, after a quick search i found new insurers and i paid £505, i would have got it cheaper but because my claim was ongoing, my new car insurers had to put it down on record that i have made a claim but they said that if the other driver claims liability, then i would get a discounted rate, I informed them as i had 9 years NCD and that I've been driving for 19 years without an accident.
Earlier this year, I rang my old car insurance to find out if the other driver had admitted to being at fault and i then could send some prove to my new insurance company and hopefully get some money knocked off for what i had just paid, i was told that the other driver has now claimed that i rolled forward into him, even though the road surface was flat and it's impossible for me to roll into him and cause the damage that he caused to me, i was fuming. I was then told i would receive a Motor accident report form to fill out, when it came, i enclosed the completed from and i also took photos of my car on the exact spot where the accident took place to show that the surface was flat, also enclosed with the form and the photographs, i enclosed a disc with the conversation i had had with the other driver and also a letter, highlighting the key words that the other driver used during our conversation.
After phoning my old insurance today, as i hadn't heard a word from them since April after i sent all the evidence i had gathered, i was asked if i would consider a 50/50 split liability, which i refused. I was told that the conversation i recorded couldn't be used and because there were no witnesses, basically it is his word against mine and that the other driver hadn't or even hasn't made a claim, they also said that they would send him a letter and wait for his response and that if i obtain any new evidence to back my claim that he was to blame, then to send it to them, what happens next if nothing changes?
In the meantime, i received three missed calls in the space of five minutes from the driver who hit me, as i was working i couldn't answer my phone but i immediately knew that he was panicking over something, anyway I rang him back later in the evening, but before i made the return call, i set up a recording device on my laptop and i would record our conversation and act a bit dumb in the hope that i would make him confess or say to the effect that he reversed into me, (i have later found out that because i didn't inform him i was recording our conversation, it wouldn't be used as evidence against him) anyway in no uncertain words, he said that he didn't see me when he reversed into me and he also said that his insurance expired on the morning of the accident (very convenient) and because he's not insured i would have to go through my insurance if i wanted my car repaired as he wasn't insured and he felt terrible for what had happened. He then said, he's got a mate who can fix my car cheaply (his words "repaired for £300") i think he thought he only caused a little bit of damage when he reversed into me, but i took my car to a garage to get a price quote and they quoted me £1000, i explained the cost to him and he said that he can't afford that (the total price in the end for my car to be repaired was £1241.23.)
Anyway, i got my insurance quote a few weeks later, and it jumped from £450 to £898, the reason being is because i had made a claim, i rang my car insurance to see if it was a misprint but they explained that because the claim was ongoing and the other driver hadn't taken liability, my insurance renewal quote had gone up. Anyway, after a quick search i found new insurers and i paid £505, i would have got it cheaper but because my claim was ongoing, my new car insurers had to put it down on record that i have made a claim but they said that if the other driver claims liability, then i would get a discounted rate, I informed them as i had 9 years NCD and that I've been driving for 19 years without an accident.
Earlier this year, I rang my old car insurance to find out if the other driver had admitted to being at fault and i then could send some prove to my new insurance company and hopefully get some money knocked off for what i had just paid, i was told that the other driver has now claimed that i rolled forward into him, even though the road surface was flat and it's impossible for me to roll into him and cause the damage that he caused to me, i was fuming. I was then told i would receive a Motor accident report form to fill out, when it came, i enclosed the completed from and i also took photos of my car on the exact spot where the accident took place to show that the surface was flat, also enclosed with the form and the photographs, i enclosed a disc with the conversation i had had with the other driver and also a letter, highlighting the key words that the other driver used during our conversation.
After phoning my old insurance today, as i hadn't heard a word from them since April after i sent all the evidence i had gathered, i was asked if i would consider a 50/50 split liability, which i refused. I was told that the conversation i recorded couldn't be used and because there were no witnesses, basically it is his word against mine and that the other driver hadn't or even hasn't made a claim, they also said that they would send him a letter and wait for his response and that if i obtain any new evidence to back my claim that he was to blame, then to send it to them, what happens next if nothing changes?