Hi all. I am looking for some advice following an accident i was involved in when driving a Class 2 vehicle.
The accident happened on the M6 about 5 months ago. I clipped a car (unsure whose fault it was) and it spun into the central reservation. To cut a long story short… at the time I gave my name and the company details I was working for as I assumed it would be their insurance which sorted it out. However I have recently received a letter from the third parties insurance saying I owe them nearly £3000!!! I am unsure as what to do having never been involved in an accident before. I was under the assumption that it would be the Company Insurance who pay out. Is this correct??
Were you agency driver at the time, or self employed, if agency they may well be liable, if you are or were self employed it all depends on the small print of your terms and conditions at the time.
If you were employed driver, liability will be in your contract of employment, but generally it won’t be you responsible unless you signed to accept liability when you took the job on.
If you have separate car insurance of your own and have renewed in the meantime, did you inform them of this accident at renewal time? (lots of people driving lorries are under the misapprehension they don’t need to do so and won’t get found out under failure to disclose, they will), because you should have done and your case must be up on the data the insurers all use because this claim has come direct to your house.
If this is the case i would contact your car insurer promptly and be honest you didn’t realise you had to report work accidents, better get it sorted now than them finding you failed to disclose after you’ve rammed an expensive motor up the arse in the winter conditions in you own car.
Had one where “solicitors” acting for a third party which pulled out in front of me on a roundabout (their fault) was claiming for loss of earnings due to “injuries” sustained at the time (despite stating at the time they were ok) all verified by a “doctor” who happens to live 200 miles away… called the company to get them to deal with it via their insurers and had a rep take a statement regarding the collision… I wondered at the time if this is a frequently used scam to try to find in the absence of the accused (documents were sent to my mothers address) almost three years after the event. Needless to say case was dropped when they realised that it was going to be vigorously defended, I would have of course put in for reasonable expenses loss of earnings etc… hope all goes well for you…
Can we just confirm you were rmpliyed by the company and you did tell your employer all about the incident.
If it’s no to either or both, then the liability may be thrown towards you at this stage. Looks like you would be wise to speak to your employer if it’s still the same one or seek a bit of legal advise and then the employer if you have left them. And do it NOW. TODAY. Any delay could be quite costly by ignoring Ignoring it
Jpatz75:
Hi all. I am looking for some advice following an accident i was involved in when driving a Class 2 vehicle.
The accident happened on the M6 about 5 months ago. I clipped a car (unsure whose fault it was) and it spun into the central reservation. To cut a long story short… at the time I gave my name and the company details I was working for as I assumed it would be their insurance which sorted it out. However I have recently received a letter from the third parties insurance saying I owe them nearly £3000!!! I am unsure as what to do having never been involved in an accident before. I was under the assumption that it would be the Company Insurance who pay out. Is this correct??
Any help or advice would be most welcome.
Thanks in advance
J
^^^^^^^^^^^
they are sending it to you so you save them the bother of working out what insurer to send it to as obviously now youve kakked yourself you are going to make sure it gets passed on to whoevers covering you .
take copies,send 1 to the agency and the company you worked for along with a letter saying the balls in their court and you wont be going to any inconvenience to chase paperwork for them.
send them recorded and take a back seat from there.
you could also send one back to the 3rd party insurer stating that you have done so and also to basically ■■■■ off and deal direct with the company that you worked for at the time.
after that,your liability ends.
My wife had something similar with the car. Had minor accident and months later got a request for a payment of thousands from the other insurance company. We phoned our insurance company and they said yeah don’t worry they are scaremonging to get payment as we hadn’t settled it yet due to ongoing dispute. They said within all premiums money is put aside for each side to take it to court (even when you don’t pay extra for personal legal fees which is something different) if it goes that far and they will contact them to advise not to contact you demanding money again and we are to forget about it. Never heard another word on the matter.
I’d advise finding out how you can get in touch with the insurance company on your side and asking them what the score is.
I clipped a lamppost in the middle of Leeds with my Moffat a few years ago, I rung the relevant people and the TM came out to check out the damage. Anyway fast forward a year and I get a phone call from SSE telling me the TM couldn’t recall me working for them, even though I was full time. So i gave them my old employment number and didn’t hear anything back but safe to say I was ■■■■■■■■ it for a while
write back that you have forwarded their letter to your employer . dont write anything else . im a bit suprised you didnt tell your employer at the time if you did surely theyd have took details down and informed insurance
If you was working for a company be it employed or via agency it’s the insurance that should pay out.
It isn’t your problem .
Although a lot of company’s now insist you have to pay there excess if you have an accident. Which is about 500 And they stop so much a month./week from your wages
As long as you reported it filled.in forms details etc.
If they insist you have to pay the full amount of go to citizens advice
Normal.
All insurance does is pick up the tab once you’re found liable. A step not always seen as it happens behind the scenes is you get the bill first, and they settle it.
If insurance companies can’t agree, it will be you that gets served papers, if you’re found liable you will be directed to pay, it’s all against you personally, but then your insurance kicks in and they pay it for you. If you had insurance, nothing to worry about at all, forward to your insurer and forget about it.
switchlogic:
I never give my personal address at the scene of a accident in the truck. Always give companies address and just put my name down as the driver
The way you’ve worded it sounds like your often at the scene of an accident they you’ve been involved in
Firstly do not engage with the 3rd party insurance or whatever company is contacting you. You’re not there to help them and they don’t know you still live there.
Next send all details to the company registered post and ask them to pass it to their insurance immediately. Keep a copy as well. If the letter includes the transport company insurance co and claim number, maybe send it straight to them instead (ideally remove your address).
This came from an insurance broker years ago but you absolutely do not want to engage with any 3rd parties. Doing so could give either side wriggle room even implying admission of liability in legal circles.
Also they might not be the insurance company. Could be a 3rd party claims management company who are more interested in claiming compensation, fees etc and have no part in the original claim.
Insurance companies play games but will sort it out between themselves.
switchlogic:
I never give my personal address at the scene of a accident in the truck. Always give companies address and just put my name down as the driver
The way you’ve worded it sounds like your often at the scene of an accident they you’ve been involved in
Couple of years back during the beast from the east a woman followed me through an industrial estate in Ashbourne and claimed I’d hit the back of her car with my trailer.
I asked her where, she showed me slight damage on her car and where on the trailer, she pointed to the edge of the rear underrun bar.
Noticing that the damage on her car was half a foot from the ground, the underrun bar is about 2 feet I just said name and number is all over the front of the cab and trailer give them a call.
switchlogic:
I never give my personal address at the scene of a accident in the truck. Always give companies address and just put my name down as the driver
The way you’ve worded it sounds like your often at the scene of an accident they you’ve been involved in
I always think “scene if an accident” sounds severe too.
Reality is a minor bump wherever is the “scene of an accident” but for whatever reason just using the “scene of an accident” statement conjures up images of carnage
came across someone who worked dealing with insurance fraudulent claims. she told me that if a claims found out to be fraud no matter how big or small the claim is, the person doing it is on the insurance fraudster database for life , i cant recall now whether theyre refused cover in future or just sky high premium for life.
Some really good advice and then some bad
If you want to give your private car insurance a reason to screw you then be my guest, its nothing to do with them its a separate data base so what your have been told is by people who were stupid enough to ring them and walk themselves into it, and im sure the insurance company loved it, they love fools
Never ever give your home address much the same as its NOT your policy, now that’s good advice
If the police are called you must give them your personal details but they can not pass them details to anyone else
