Argh! Possibly a victim of a unfit driver!

[Keaney]

Hi all, this is one of my first posts but i figured i'd ask if anyone has any advice for me.

On the 2nd of January I luckily escaped a head on collision after a guy coming towards me had a "Blackout / Stroke" and started veering towards me on a road. I managed to turn out of his way but he clipped by rear quarter.
I asked the police to take the car away for me as i was going on holiday and asked Winns solicitors to take over my case for me.
When i got back i had a courtesy car and have been advised that my car (A4 B6) was a write off due to the un-economical repair costs but that the damage done was only to the bodywork. I've decided that i want the car back so have been trying to get it back from the salvager.

Now this is where my problems have started, the guys still in hospital (supposedly) and so has not made a full statement. His insurance company have acknowledged he had a stroke but will not admit blame to settle my claim as they have requested his medical files to determine if he had a pre-existing condition.

If they find he had a history then they will not essentially pay out! While this is going on its obviously costing me storage and a company car which theres no chance i'm going to pay!

I think my options if his insurance company don't pay out are to take him to small claims court or get my car back and try to sell it for as much as i can as a Cat D.

On the brighter side its made me get the car i want earlier!
So i'm now a proud owner of a C5 RS6 but was hoping that the settlement would have helped me a bit.

Does anyone have any guidance? Or experienced similar scenarios?

[AdrianE]

insurance companies are essentially useless when it comes to claims handling - the name of the game is keeping their costs down, hence why they won't pay out until they know the other party is going to caugh up in the longer term.

If the other party decide not to pay out because of a pre-existing condition invalidating his insurance then you'd come under the MIB scheme as if you'd been hit by any uninsured driver - you could try pressing that with your insurer to get them to pull their finger out!

http://www.mib.org.uk/Home/en/default.htm

Don't bother getting your car back - just start identifying similar spec cars in the classifieds (or at dealers to up the value!) to make sure you get what you want back for it - print off or save ads so you can e-mail them a load to bore them into submission!

You may end up paying your excess until such time as it's resolved. Get your solicitors working harder for you - they should have this under control - if they're useless, see if you're covered for legal via another means (house insurance, bank, employer etc)

Congrats on new car - at least the payout on your old car should cover a service or two lol

Best of luck

Adrian

[Keaney]

Thanks for the link Adrian, didnt know such a site existed!

I want the car back as it took me a while to find and a member of my family wants it, especially considering the damage is only meant to be cosmetic.

My solicitor thinks that we'll have a good chance of getting a settlement but advised it could take a while before it happens, its now been a month so far.

I'll update this post with what happens so other members know what can happen.

[P_G]

If you are using Winn Solicitors don't expect them to pull all the stops out, they are useless. I have had dealings with them as a customer and against them and I'm not impressed either way and certainly not quick.

[Keaney]

Indeed! i've been passed to their legal team and told them my car is in storage and i've been trying to get it back for three weeks now!

They've told me i'd need to settle the bill for the storage and claim it back and if his insurance company won't pay out then its my loss! Winns even advised i could get the car back two weeks ago but after going to the coachworks they said they needed paying and that Winns hadn't sent them a confirmation email so essentially Winns have cost me 2 weeks worth of storage fees for dilly dallying!

Sounds like his insurance may claim for automotism and are awaiting his medical records which can take any amount of months... surely thats just a way out of paying and admitting liability!

So i'm now torn between telling the coachworks to keep my car and pay nothing until a decision is made which can go for or against me, or shell out 30 days worth of storage fees and hope i win the case.

One of my other options is to claim on my insurance, but as this is my first ever crash after 11 years NCB i'm very reluctant to do it.

[AdrianE]

The damage might only be cosmetic, but your relation will end up with a cat D repaired car, worth much less than one that hasn't and more difficult to insure potentially. Personally I'd avoid if given the choice - but my experience of body repairs hasn't been great in the past! If a proper job to fix it is worth more than x% of the car's value to the insurance company then it'll cost you more or less the same to get it to a state you'd be happy with.

If all of this ends up being paid for by the other party's insurance, then you can claim storage costs back as part of the claim, but may need to pay yourself and risk taking the hit if that's what you really want to do. If you really want it back, speak to their insurer and offer them a deal to pay the storage fees to date and you'll store it from now on - on the basis the fees will only mount up while blame is apportioned. Bare in mind you won't be able to get it sorted repair-wise until your insurer agrees, and their insurer has an opportunity to inspect.

Hence why I'd wash my hands of it and press for a fast pay out - too much hassle! I'm dealing with a claim for theft of parts from my car and even that's taken over 2 weeks to get to the point it's in for repair, just making a claim on my own insurance! Third party claims can take years to resolve.