Insurance question

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mrjamesmurray

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#29750 17-Jan-2009 17:40

I recently had a crash in a car park while driving a friend of mines car (they were on holiday and had leant it to me to pick up cat food etc). The crash was clearly the other persons fault - they reversed into me when my car was stationary as they were not looking.

We exchanged details and he said he would file a claim.

He has now emailed saying he has not filed a claim as it was not clear who was at fault and that we should exchange insurance companies and let them sort it out.

The only problem is that I am not sure if i was insured on my friends car (still finding out). I am in New Zealand and there is no legal requirement to have insurance here.

What is my next step - I have already emailed him with a detailed description of the incident which shows how he was at fault and have drawn a diagram I could send and taken pictures of the damage caused.

Cheers

James

rossmnz

507 posts

Ultimate Geek

#190211 17-Jan-2009 18:25

did he apologise?

Saying sorry clearly constitutes that he was at fault in the laws eyes. You need to stick to your guns and tell him that he was at fault and that he needs to cough up

The force is strong with this one!

mrjamesmurray

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#190212 17-Jan-2009 18:26

he was apologetic but as far as i can remember did not actually say sorry.

ajobbins

5052 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#190216 17-Jan-2009 19:00

If it turns out you are not covered by the owners policy, you may lodge an uninsured third party claim against him by contacting the other parties insurance company.

mrjamesmurray

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#190217 17-Jan-2009 19:01

so for that I guess I just need to know his insurance details...

mckenndk

911 posts

Ultimate Geek

#190219 17-Jan-2009 19:09

It is usually best to let the insurence companies sort it out as they use their lawyers etc if things don't get sorted out.

The insurence company that will sort your things out is the owners of the car as long as your over 25 it should cover you but as it was not your fault I don't think this clause matters.

So find out who the owner of the car deals with and give them your statement and the other persons insurence company details (the owners might need to call them first) and they will deal with it from there

It is always best to have insurence if your driving a car even if its only 3rd party and I always ask my friends if their car is insured if I use theirs as if there is an incident and I am at fault I won't want to have to pay the $10000 cost to fix the persons expensive european car.

Dion

riahon

946 posts

Ultimate Geek

#190235 17-Jan-2009 20:39

He's obviously gone back, looked over his claim and found out there will be some sort of wording that says "Whatever you do, irrespective of how obvious fault may appear, never never never admit fault".

If you were authorised to drive their car, and hoping that you match any criteria (eg not under 25yrs old like my policy) then let the insurance company *cough* earn their money. Sounds like it will be in your favour if what you described was accurate.

lapimate

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#190263 17-Jan-2009 22:40

mrjamesmurray: so for that I guess I just need to know his insurance details...

Your friend's insurance company would prefer that you have the other party's insurance details but in fact they can probably easily obtain them via the inter-company arrangements if you know the other party's registration.

The main things are for

1. you yourself directly to let the insurance company of your friend's car know ASAP about the incident (usually this can be done on the 'phone [State]) so there are no "surprises" particularly if the other party submits a claim claiming you were at fault. Note the date & time of your call, the name of the insurance rep. and ask for an "incident number".

2. Your friend will need to submit a formal claim for the damage done to your friend's car to keep the paper-work straight, easiest if this is done over the 'phone by your friend with you present so you can give the details (such as the accident circumstances and your age/licence details). You cannot yourself submit a [no-fault] claim to your friend's insurance company on your friend's behalf because you are not the policy-holder. Prepare a properly dimensioned scale diagram (and take some images with your 'phone) - nothing worse than a distorted amateur "sketch-map" selective memory version of an accident site!

Actually I believe mall owners are in cahoots with panel-beaters - they have installed hydraulically movable pillars with concealed teeth, walls and other cunning devices to ensure a steady supply of repair and paint jobs. Our local mall has multi-coloured pillars as a result of the pillars squeezing cars as they try to escape.