Cars & Motorbikes Car accident

writing this out of frustration and anger...

About 4 weeks ago at traffic lights, somebody bumped my car from behind. Light bump, no damage to my car (i have 4x4). They had Mazda 2 and their number plate got dented. I looked and nothing else seemed to be damaged. I know its hard to tell if anything inside got damaged, but hard to believe considering they were 2 meters behind me and they bumped because the other driver didnt hold the foot on the brake so the car rolled forward.
We moved to side street exchanged details and it all seemed good. I said not to worry no damage to my car and that was it.

I got a letter now from their insurer saying that they are claiming insurance and to admit that i was at fault!! WTF!

I was alone in the car and there was 2 of them in their car....

How can people do this!? Anyone been in similar situation? They claim that there was 2.3k damage to the car! They said they obtained quotes from repairers. Can I request that they go to independent repairer? First its not my fault, second there is no freaking way that there was that much damage! I checked with a friend of mine (panel beater). His first questions were was radiator damaged, NO, were lights damaged, NO again. Even if the front panel needs to be changed it was 1.2k.

This looks like a shakedown more than anything.... what can i do in this instance? .

 

Put it in the hands of your insurer and tell them you do not want them to settle but want your insurers legal cover to fight their claim....

My understanding is that it's always the fault of the car that hit you from behind unless if can be absolutely proven otherwise.

Hit from behind car accident: Determining who was at fault and what to do afterwards - Acorn Rentals

 

Its a pity you did not take several photo's of your car,and the car that rear ended you on the day,then a simple call too your insurance and talk to their legal department within the company later that day..

Just ring up your insurance company,and let them deal with the problem this is quite common when insurance companies try and spread the risk..

 

If you have insurance just hand the matter over to them and fix yourself a cocktail.

If not just write to the other parties insurer and tell them you are not at fault and go jump. Insurance companies try this type of thing on all the time with uninsured parties because they scare the uninsured. Fix yourself a cocktail.

 

Thanks all!

@wylie - I do have an insurer and I have called them and handed over all the details. The reason why I didint take photos was because there was no damage to my car at all, not even a tiny lil bump or scratch. I just went to check again.

@Propagate thanks for the link. I have left it up to the insurer. However it still makes my blood boil that people would do something like this! They seemed so nice when i met them.

Their number plate was bent, but its one of those plates that sticks out slightly from the front of the car. I was stupid for not taking the photo! I regret it now so much! My insurer told me that the damage might not be visible. That its internal. I know this can happen but damn still 2.3k worth!!??

@Ed Barton I will have few drinks tonight!

Thank you for your replies... this was more of a rant. Another lesson: to always cover your own a** no matter what the situation is, or now lovely other people seem. Even when you are not at fault or there appears to be no damage.

 

I seem to remember a scam going around a few years back where someone would back into the car behind then accuse them of being the ones that rammed forward, (the scammer would have a "witness" in the passenger seat corroborating their version of events. That's a bugger of a one to fight as the blame usually goes straight to the car behind.

 

I have received a bit more detail. Apparently the damage was inside the bumper. So even if i took the photos it wouldn't show anything.

My insurer is currently dealing with it, Like @Propagate has said they did have a witness in their passenger seat. Unfortunately i had no witnesses. So the onus might be on me to prove i didnt roll back.

They will get back to me with more details next week. .

They say that they booked the car repair for 4th Jan. I asked if I could see the quote for the cost. They claim that I will know he cost after they fix it. This is frustrating....

 

If you were not reversing and they hit you they are at fault.

 

That's what I said... but how can I prove that? When they have a witness saying that my car rolled back. Which is odd in itself.. It automatic and it was flat. If anything it should roll forward!

 

Courts will go on most probable evidence and it does not even seem logical that a car will randomly roll back

 

My guess its probably the insurer seeing if you're dumb enough to pay.
Generally a quick call advising them that the person of the other car admitted fault is enough to get them off your back... especially when they are rear car who rear ended you.

 

The other person's insurer is probably being lied to also by those two scumbags.......

 

Was the driver of the other vehicle Sally Major? She knows how to do it, apparently.

 

My understanding is that the passenger inside a car involved in the collision cannot be used as a witness.
My experience is that all people are *******s. I’ve had my car T boned by a car and I was hit so hard that my car rolled on it’s side and was written off. No way it could have been anyone’s fault but the other driver but he claimed I was speeding, driving illegally etc to try to get out of paying for anything. 5yrs later and it’s only now about to be compensated.
My lesson - Always get photos of the accident, photos of their license. When possible find a witness and get all their details too.

 

My last experience was similar. Guy crashes into my car and does a runner, I follow and catch him in traffic at a red light. I say pull over and exchange details or I will go to the police. We exchange details, he admits fault.

Then next time I contact him he says he has thought it over and thinks we are both at fault (or some other such warped logic). I go to the police for advice, they say that since we exchanged details it is not their matter anymore...........(even though the guy had an old address on his licence they said that is an RMS problem).

So in this situation I should have let him do a runner in the first place (since I have some wonderful dash cam evidence), then it would be a police matter and they would have to act.

As it stands now, I have had to go through the court system, was awarded damages but the guy does not have sufficient income level to deduct from his wages.........

If the police were involved he would have been fined for leaving the scene of an accident and then he would have the stress of paying a fine (I guess the sting here is that the RMS can refuse registration due to unpaid fines) as well as me chasing him for money via the civil court system.

Long story short, get a dash cam front and rear and then let them escape................temporarily

 

I learnt that lesson too. I have a dash cam in both our cars and i installed them in my parental in laws car. Hard to argue with video evidence.
If I had a crash cam 5yrs ago, I would have solved the “who’s as fault” problem with a simple SIM card vid file showing me driving straight and then having a random roll around.
I’ve also had my parents in law car run up the back by a P plater. All seemed straight forward til the P plater sent her lawyer dad to their door to threaten they admit they “rolled back into her car” or he will chase them in civil court to pay for his daughters BMW. Either daughter lied or dads an *******. Either way - crash cams are essential.

 

I regret not having a dash cam also.
Was hit last week
20m from a red light we were approaching, side by side, this guy merged into my trailer
I instantly took photos in my rearview, then had my phone on video mode before getting out of my vehicle
Recorded everything this lovely little new aussie had to say in broken english, try to fight that
Even though he couldnt close the drivers door and had a flat tyre he thought he could drive away
My trailer, well its missing some paint