Accident claim

Mon Gol on 10/08/2015 - 23:02

Hi guys, need your your advice, hope to hear constructive feedback.
My friend had a car accident on the 29th june. It was her fault. She was driving too close to the car in front of her. On the traffic light, once the light changed from green to yellow, the car she was following suddenly stopped. She did not expect this, but managed to hit the brakes. However, it did not help - the road was slippery, it was raining… Her car was damaged badly, the car she hit was ute, and there was no damage, just the back side of the ute was slightly bended… She gave her details to ute driver, btw, police presented at scene as well. Her car was towed away, ute was fine, the guy just drove away.
Problem is - her car insurance was finished a couple of months before this and she did not renew it. The ute had only third party one.
The following day she called ute driver to find out whether he was able to assess the car and estimate how much it would cost to fix it. The guy said he will contact her. He contacted her today, 1.5 months later, demanding her details to be sent to him as he decided its time to fix his car.
So she is calling me, telling the story.
She is not willing to pay anything, given the guy did not go to mechanic to estimate the damage (well, the bended ute back is still a damage), but contacted her after such a long period of time… She is just afraid he is trying to fool her - anything could happen to his ute after that…

What do you think? If you were in my friend's shoes, what would you do?
I know the best answer - buy insurance.
But now, in her situation, what can be done? She is not keen to pay a penny. She would if he contacted her with estimation within 1-2 weeks after accident, but now…
If she refuses to pay - is there any legislation or something which protects her?

Once again -she was waiting for this guy to contact her, and she was willing to pay the damage cost, but now she thinks it looks suspicious…
Thank you for your feedback - as always)

Automotive

Comments

  • Handsoff on 10/08/2015 - 23:57
    +1

    Unfortunately she'll have to pay something either way. She was at fault no questions asked. That's why you have insurance - for moments like these.

    Did your friend take any photos of the damage of the ute? If not then that's her own fault. She'll have no way to prove that the repair is overquoted.

    Sometimes superficial damage can lead to other parts being bent out of shape as well. If your friends cars front end was completely smashed and towed, most likely the ute would've had a bit of damage too.

  • suchislife12 on 10/08/2015 - 23:58
    +21

    Tell her to ask for an official itemised quote from a panel shop. After that she has to pay. The guy has 5 years under statute of limitation legislation to seek his damages…1.5 months is nothing especially when this guy is probably relying on his car for work.

    Tell your friend that people have busy lives and that now must be the most appropriate time for him to fix his car. She was negligent and now is trying to get out of it because she thinks it's 'sus'… that is not a valid defense.

    Also if the ute tray was bent in any way shape or from your friend will be up for big money probably heading into over $1000. Also let her know that he can hire a car that is similar to his and she will be required to pay.

    • tomleonhart on 11/08/2015 - 08:08
      +5

      What tes2131 said.

      And also tell her not to drive too close to the car in front. It's called tailgating.

    • [Deactivated] on 11/08/2015 - 02:19
      +2

      Fairly certain mate that if the police were in attendance, that they'd have at least some record somewhere of the parties that were involved.

      Pulling a shifty here isn't going to work.

  • [Deactivated] on 11/08/2015 - 09:14
    +2

    Sorry but I am siding with the ute. I hear nothing that supports your friend at the moment. Accidents happen….

  • jaykay on 11/08/2015 - 09:24
    +1

    its her fault, SHE WILL NEED TO PAY - to fix her own car, and HIS CAR too.

  • strikerzebra on 11/08/2015 - 09:29

    She didn't stop and hit the car in the back and didn't have insurance, 100% her fault

  • sparkles on 11/08/2015 - 09:36

    Insurance never seems like a bargain, until you crash into someone.

    Culpability doesn't end because a month has gone by. The ute driver probably thinks this is a huge pain in the ass (pun intended), hence the delay. Do you think he's spent the last month knocking a few more dints into his ute with a hammer? Get a couple of quotes and pay up, or come to some sort of agreement with the ute owner. He might take lesser cash just to make the issue "go away".

  • ChrisLevo on 11/08/2015 - 10:25
    +1

    Sorry, but need to be blunt.

    Your friend was at fault, and has to pay.
    That is all that is needed to say on that.

    However, it may help her in future if she understands that third party property insurance is very cheap, and it is beyond me why anyone would not have it.

    We pay comprehensive insurance on one car, because it's worth more than we could easily find the funds to replace it if we were at fault in an accident.

    However, our other car is only worth a few thousand dollars, so we pay around $5 per week for third party insurance.
    Cheap peace of mind.
    If we cause an accident, then the insurance fixes the other car(s) damage, and we only have to worry about getting ourselves another cheap car.

    We went through CGU, but I would expect that others will charge around the same.

  • Mon Gol on 11/08/2015 - 11:12

    Hi guys,
    Thank you, appreciate your feedback.
    Yes, i hope she learned the lesson…
    Talked to her, she understands she needs to pay, but still thinks he might be trying to benefit from this… I told her to request official quote from him so she knows what she is paying for.

    Thank you once again!

  • bobbified on 11/08/2015 - 11:48
    +1

    The ute had only third party one.

    You seem to be in NSW so when you say "only third party", I'm not sure if you mean "Compulsory Third Party" or "Third Party Property Damage". Compulsory Third Party Covers personal injury caused to another person where you're at fault (and sometimes a little for yourself), whereas, Third Party Property Damage covers damage caused by the insured to other people's property (only) where they're are at fault.

    However, a common feature (it wasn't like this before) of Third Party Property Damage policies is that it covers the insured for a certain amount (usually $3000, $4000 or $5000) where the driver at fault can be identified.

    If by "third party", you Third Party Property Damage, then the driver of the ute can claim against his own policy while providing your friend's details as the person responsible. Where this is done, the insurer will pay to have the ute fixed and will simply forward the bill onto your friend.

    If after seeing the quotes that the guy presents, your friend is still suspicious that this guy is trying to rip her off (I'm not going either side on this!), then she can ask him to claim it on his insurance and they will then forward the bill.

    But it is worth keeping in mind that mechanics that do repairs under an insurance claim generally try to charge as much as they can (versus someone walking in and getting it fixed with cash from their own pocket), so if you go down that route, the final bill that the insurer will send you is likely to be much higher than a genuine quote from the ute driver.

    To put it simply, one way or another, your friend will have to pay. Just remember that if cash is being handed over, you should get a signed receipt from the driver and a statement that discharges your friend from any further liability.

    • Euphemistic on 11/08/2015 - 12:54

      "If by "third party", you Third Party Property Damage, then the driver of the ute can claim against his own policy while providing your friend's details as the person responsible. Where this is done, the insurer will pay to have the ute fixed and will simply forward the bill onto your friend."

      This may not be the case. Third party insurance is designed to protect you from damage you cause to others. It does not cover your vehicle, but some insurers will include some cover to not at fault incidents depending on the policy. Mine covers "cover up to $5,000 if your vehicle is damaged in a crash with an uninsured at fault driver". Might be the case for the ute driver, but different policies cover different things.

      • bobbified on 11/08/2015 - 21:02

        Not sure what you're getting at here - I think you've pretty much just repeated what I said?

        The limited cover for the insured vehicle is a common feature nowadays of the Third Party Property Damage insurance policies.

        In this case and what I've said above, the "insured" would the driver of the ute.
        *The repairs in question is for the ute. The driver of the ute is not the driver at fault.
        *The driver at fault does not have insurance and can be identified.

        Therefore, if the driver of the ute has this cover, he can claim against his policy and provide the OP's friend's details as the responsible driver….

        • Euphemistic on 12/08/2015 - 07:42

          Yeah, must have misread it, sorry bout that.

        • bobbified on 12/08/2015 - 09:19

          @Euphemistic:

          haha.. no probs.. i was sitting there reading and re-reading what i wrote earlier trying to figure out where i went wrong :P

    • Euphemistic on 11/08/2015 - 12:55

      Oops duplicate.

    • Mon Gol on 11/08/2015 - 14:30

      Not sure which one of "third party" it was… Need to clarify.

      Once i have been involved into accident myself, my car had third party property damage one, the guy who hit me - his insurance company paid for my car to be fixed.

      Thank you for the input. Good lesson learned.

  • Aeonx on 11/08/2015 - 16:33

    She can always pay the mechanics directly after receiving the itemised quote.

    Some people are just disorganised and as it's just cosmetic damage, he probably didn't think it was priority.

    • suchislife12 on 11/08/2015 - 21:28

      No. She has no right to request this.

      • bobbified on 12/08/2015 - 09:59
        +1

        why not? There's nothing that says she can't pay the mechanic directly if the other party agrees.

        It's up to both parties to negotiate on how they want to settle this. If they wanted to, they can even both agree to just go out for dinner and leave it at that…..

        • suchislife12 on 12/08/2015 - 21:42

          What I'm saying is she has no 'legal' right to do that. Probably should have clarified it better. He can request a cash settlement if he wishes.

      • Aeonx on 12/08/2015 - 13:09

        Um it's no different to if she had insurance and they paid the mechanic directly.

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