Legal advice required stat!

Hey guys and gals,

Not property related in the slightest but.. My little sister has gotten herself into a bit of strife with a recent fender bender she had with a taxi in Melbourne. My folks received a letter today (the car she drives is registered in their name.) for a bill of $6700 for damages for a little scratch that seems like it would buff out. they've also just got an email from NRMA wanting over $1000 for the excess. She has full comprehensive insurance.

My sister is adamant she only bumped into the rear of the car lightly, that left a mark but didnt even cause a dent and likewise on her car. This cabby driver is claiming the front is damaged as well, and has provided photgraphic evidence, but my sister says there is no way she is resposible for this more extensive damage.

Here is the letter and photos this lawyer sent us for your perousal, any advice on how we should proceed would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Michael



This is the photo my sister took at the time on her phone:

 

Isn't the obvious answer that your sister should see her own lawyer?

 

Why would she need to do anything except contact her insurance provider and advise them of the letter and incident (presuming they don't already know)?

I'd have expected they cover all the legal back and forth.

 

Just so you can hopefully read these two now...

 

I missed that part about the insurance - I agree, why isn't her insurer picking up all this?

 

Yeah NRMA emailed the folks today with a bill of $1050 excess. The problem is this amount seems grossly unfair for the nature of the accident and this cabbie is claiming damage to the front of his car that didnt occur from my sister hitting him. Fraud?

 

Is NRMA your parent's insurer? Or the taxi's insurer?

Assuming they're your parent's insurers, then I don't see what is so unfair about the excess fee - isn't that the fee that has been agreed for them to cover your parents damage and liability?

 

/fin

 

So what your parents have is a letter of demand, it's just a first step from the taxi owner. I'm assuming that NRMA is your parents insurer?

1. Talk to NRMA about how to handle the taxi's claim. They'll probably just ask you to forward them the letter and you won't have to do anything else except pay the $1000ish excess (for both cars).

2. The excess really just depends on what is in the policy. If your sister was not a nominated driver, or is under 30 or 25 or something, there are additional excess amounts to pay on top of the regular "at fault" excess. Seems pretty cheap compared to the taxi repair quote.

3. $6,700 seems like way too much for a Falcon repair job. The quote was probably from a mate.. your insurer will sort them out. Having said that, most bumpers are plastic, with supporting steel underneath. When they get hit in an accident the steel bends/breaks but the plastic pops back into shape. If the plastic is cracked that usually requires a replacement, which needs to be repainted and colour-matched (colour matching can sometimes mean painting/blending in on half the car). Don't be surprised if a realistic number is around $3k.

 

@Phase2 that said, it is not unheard of for unrelated damage to be included in an insurance claim.

 

They are trying to claim loss of use for five days!

 

Had a similar thing occur to me. Just nudged their wing mirror. Not hard enough to fold it in. $75 to polish out the scratch in my guard. Just over $4k claimed by the other guy for mirror, door, guard and bonnet.

Insurance declared his car an economic write off an settled.

 

Thank you very much to everyone who replied. It really helped us to get a handle on what we were dealing with here and how to proceed. My father got onto NRMA and my sister has now spoken to them with her account of what happened. We will send them photos of the Taxi damage and the small scratch on her car. Never dealt with a car accident situation before where a claim is made for damages that could not possibly have occurred as a result of a small tap from the rear end. Interesting to hear something similar happened to you Ghoti.

 

Why are you fighting this? Just hand it over to the insurance and don't worry about it. You're only saving money for the insurance in the end and you will have to pay the excess regardless. Tick the forms and move on.

 

Agree, you pay for comprehensive and dealing with this BS is why. As others have said, send to insurer and advise that all that damage was not caused by her. They will be well versed in the scams the taxi drivers pull, and will fight it out on her behalf.

As she is at fault, the excess will most likely be payable though.

 

haha $6k is more then the value of thetaxi