iain m Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 My sister in law recently had a low speed collision on a roundabout when another car decided to turn right and heavily scratched the paintwork the length of her car. The other car had minimal damage and the female driver jumped out clearly thinking she was the victim?? The two young children in the back were not in child seats and no one was wearing seat belts and if the driver was not on the phone she was clearly driving with it in her hand?? Some time later she receives a call from her insurers to interview her regarding the accident, It seems the other party are claiming £20,000.00 compensation for inconvenience, shock and mental and physical trauma???, just how low would our premiums be if they only had to cover car repairs?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Frankland (T3OMF) Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Doesn't this have in the USA, then they sue each other personally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Algar - Competition Secretary Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 It looks like in car cameras are almost going to be compulsory soon. Crazy situation. Part of the problem is the lawyers and then the courts just siding with the so called injured party. So insurers wont even bother going to court with these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Seriously considering a dash cam myself for day to day driving, it really is starting to get insane on the roads in and around Manchester, (I assume most metropolitan areas are probably similar). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTR2Turbo Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I think that the problem is the insurers just look too narrowly at the cost of defending these cases and pay out instead. We have had it at work where someone has slightly injured themselves being silly and then claimed following contact by a no win no fee lawyer. We chose to defend at our risk otherwise it would have set a crazy precedent and example to other employees. We won but the insurer advised against this and would not have fought if their choice I think that they need to fight the claims on principle otherwise the costs overall soon get out of control when people latch on as we are now seeing. We also need a tighter whiplass law as in my view it is fraudulent claims Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmad Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I had somebody go into the back of me a while ago, very low speed and minimal damage done, bit of TLC on the bumper and all sorted. I had about 5 calls from claims companies trying to persuade me to pursue a whiplash claim. Now the only place they could have got my details from would be the insurance company. I am sure the insurance company got paid for passing on my details and what's the worst that will happen. They will increase premiums to cover the higher claims!!!!!!! Sorry this doesn't help the original question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickmaster Andy Lowe Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudSlater Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I had somebody go into the back of me a while ago, very low speed and minimal damage done, bit of TLC on the bumper and all sorted. I had about 5 calls from claims companies trying to persuade me to pursue a whiplash claim. Now the only place they could have got my details from would be the insurance company. I am sure the insurance company got paid for passing on my details and what's the worst that will happen. They will increase premiums to cover the higher claims!!!!!!! Sorry this doesn't help the original question. I had the same, but it's been 2 years now and the calls still continue on an almost daily basis. What happens is the insurance company doesn't sell your details, a third party company handles the claims for your ins co, and those are the ones who sell them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 It's all good business for the insurers is the problem, no incentive for them to do anything other than pay up no matter how outrageous the claims might be. My missus got caught a few years back when we had some bad snow. Coming over a small hump-back bridge, slid the car at very low speed into the back of a stationary car. Some chipped paint on the front of ours, scraped numberplate. Car she hit had a dimple in the back bumper - that was it. Last time I looked, the claim had gone to 9k. All down to the no win no fee mentality. Apparently, car was a write-off and both driver and passenger had serious whiplash injuries......and our insurance had to pay back all their benefits for the period they weren't able to seek work...does tell you anything? No decency or honesty any more.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff oakley Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 The whole industry is wrong. The big winners are not those injured it is the legal profession. My wife was run into in her MR2 which hurt her shoulder as she was T boned. We have incurred costs which is all we want to recover, but to do so our insurers have instructed a firm of solicitors who really know how to rack up the costs, letters to all and sundry, experts to be commissioned. I had a very frank conversation with them as to the methods used by the Doctor we saw, leading questions all aimed at escalating the claim value in my opinion. My neighbour works for a large insurer in the fraud department. He has just had to settle a claim which was a false one in their opinion, they settled out of court for £11k as the legal and medical costs were over £100k and if they went to court and lost the potential was another £50k costs and as much again on the compensation. In his eyes it was wrong as they cannot claim costs for failed claims, so they weigh up the odds. If someone claims a small amount that is why they pay as long term they are better off, however it encourages people to claim in my opinion. once the Genie was out of the bottle with the no win scam there was no going back. As for the cameras, they can help as we have found with our vans, however they can work against you if it is a 50/50 case if on viewing the footage your driving prior to the accident is questionable. A guy I met told me he has one but if he was in an accident that was his fault he simply threw the sim out before the police asked for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 The Rozzers are well aware of Bash For Cash incidents, started in the Midlands cities and is spreading. They will get involved with insurance claims of this nature if some proof of over claiming is prevalent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2rrr Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I lost count at about 85 phone calls in almost 3 years I'm guessing I am up to 100 by now. They all want to help me, yeh right, absolute disgrace and almost no one can stop the vultures pestering you. Someone should put them out of business as they perform no meaningful or helpful function. Bob :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff oakley Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 The easy way to stop this is for the legal fees to be capped at a multiple of money awarded to the "victim" say 2 times award. So "victim" gets £4k they can claim a maximum of £8k. Just watch how quick the whole rotten system would go back to only real worthy cases being pursued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 sadly £20k is small beer in terms of settlement - insurers would rather pay that to a deceiving scoundrel that fund lawyers at 500/hr and barristers at 1500/hour arguing the toss… it all adds up though and i'm not condoning it in any way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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