Insurance Claim/accident Help!

[AYGO59]

Hi all, haven't posted for a while!

I wonder if anyone could offer any help or advice on this...(sorry for the length)

My dad was waiting behind a taxi at a swipe card barrier at a council depot, the taxi did not have a swipe card so my dad got out and was going to swipe him in. But before he could the taxi backed up without looking and hit my dad's Corolla. This caused minor damage to the Corolla (broken number plate, damaged paint and scuffing) and a small scratch to the Mondeo taxi. The taxi driver said he wanted to pay privately for the damage, details were swapped.

Later that week my dad gets a call from his insurance saying the taxi driver is putting a claim in saying my dad hit his car and was to blame, causing the car to be un-roadworthy and that he needs a courtesy car and that he has whiplash. The insurance company say that it may have a 50/50 result due to lack of evidence. The legal department man says he knows what the taxi man is upto so we need to find evidence. We have looked into CCTV footage, but this is unlikely to show the accident.

The taxi went straight into the inspection/MOT area following the accident as he was originally there to get his taxi inspected/MOTd by the council. My dad has written to obtain the inspection report which should state that the vehicle was not significantly damaged or unroadworthy as a result of this accident? Where would having this report get us if anywhere?

I would just appreciate any ideas or potential solutions to this problem or what other people's experiences of this kind of fraud are?

Thanks.

[Jan&tone]

Sounds to me like bad news.... Without evidence of what happened it's your word against his and the ins co's will settle 50/50....

Cctv may show cabbie backing in to you, but the moral of this story is never settle anything privately i think....

[Daveyonthemove]

Cheeky Bar steward!

I'm quite a trusting person and probably would have agreed to settle without the insurance company knowing, but after reading that i think i would rather call them and get them to sort it out.

Sorry i can't offer advice, only moral support.

Good luck to your dad, i hope he sorts it out problem free.

[Parts-King]

This type of scam happens every minute of every day Blame the no win no fee culture we have now in this country

The good thing is you are insured and despite your Dad not wanting to have the insurance company involved, the time has come to let them handle it on his behalf. They have legal departments who will do all the leg work for you, yes it might end up a 50/50 claim but thats the way of the world I'm afraid. Getting involved in it yourself would prove messy and best left to the professionals.

I expect he took the taxi plate number? not the reg number but the cab licence number? You could contact the local council and report the accident to them, tell them the driver is reporting that the car is a write off and unroadworthy, if he is still using the car I'm sure the council licencing department might have something to say about that!

Without any CCTV or witness evidence, the whole thing will be difficult to prove, let the insurance company deal with it, they will be well aware of what is going on!

Kingo

[bothwell_buyer]

I agree with Kingo - writing a complaint to the council licensing dept will alert them to a chancer driving a taxi... = a person not fit to run a taxi. Its puts the guy under more pressure to explain and also I guess you may be a council employee??? If so then use yer contacts!!

I'd even be tempted to write to the taxi driver saying you consider him an unfit person and are making representations to the Licensing Board - if ebnough people report him then he aint got a chance come renewal time!!

I'd advise you not to torch his home as it could harm innocent people. Driving a JCB into the taxi whilst its empty and claiming its handbrake was left off and it ran into yer path is more like it. Or watch the film A Fish Called Wanda".

Taxi drivers are well known to claiming for loss of earnings.... so ask the insurance company to ask him for proof of earnings... then send this to the tax man. Any insurance payout should also be coped to the taxman.

[Parts-King]

. Driving a JCB into the taxi whilst its empty and claiming its handbrake was left off and it ran into yer path is more like it.

A friend of mine was a JCB operator all his life and he was the type of chap to suffer fools gladly. One day whilst in a line of traffic on the inside lane of a very busy A55, some blurt in a big 5 series BMW cut him up and tried to squeeze into a narrow gap that wasnt really there. Well I dont know how many of you have driven a JCB but they stop well enough but have a tendancy for the bucket to sway a bit under emergency braking, so my pal let the bucket do its best, and a split second later, a couple of teeth on the bucket were removing the side of the said BMW with great ease, rather like an industrial can opener, he could have taken avoiding action but felt that turning into the BMW was a better form of justice. When the driver got out of the car to see the complete side of his pride and joy opened up from front to back he went a strange colour

Just thought I would share that story, My pal can be hired by the hour

[Jan&tone]

. Driving a JCB into the taxi whilst its empty and claiming its handbrake was left off and it ran into yer path is more like it.

A friend of mine was a JCB operator all his life and he was the type of chap to suffer fools gladly. One day whilst in a line of traffic on the inside lane of a very busy A55, some blurt in a big 5 series BMW cut him up and tried to squeeze into a narrow gap that wasnt really there. Well I dont know how many of you have driven a JCB but they stop well enough but have a tendancy for the bucket to sway a bit under emergency braking, so my pal let the bucket do its best, and a split second later, a couple of teeth on the bucket were removing the side of the said BMW with great ease, rather like an industrial can opener, he could have taken avoiding action but felt that turning into the BMW was a better form of justice. When the driver got out of the car to see the complete side of his pride and joy opened up from front to back he went a strange colour

Just thought I would share that story, My pal can be hired by the hour

Sounds better than summary execution

[balli hi]

This type of scam happens every minute of every day Blame the no win no fee culture we have now in this country

Kingo

I can relate to the comment above , the miniscab driver should have his balls cut off , i'm fed up with sheisters like him forcing everyone else's insurance premiums up, if someones been genuinely injured then i have no problem with people making a claim and i would encourage them to do so , most recently my cab had been rammed side on whilst i was stationary minding my own business , i suffered minor injury but nothing what so ever that prevented me from working or getting on with my life , i was in a loan cab the following day and back at work the day after, i went with a non fault accident company to recover my expenses , the thing that shocked me was the extent of how much pressure they were exerting on me to put in a personal injury claim phoning me virtually every couple of days, despite me telling them that i had not suffered anything other than a bruised forehead a few headaches ,other bruises aches and pains, they kept telling me that it didn't matter and that i was entitled to make a claim and that they would get me a minimum of two grand , in the end i said ok go ahead and make a claim for me they then sent me a legal form to fill in and sign , in the space where it asked what my injuries were, it had already been filled in by them stating "whiplash" the first half of the form was filled with legal jargon explaining their costs which would be passed onto the third party insurers , in short the third party Insurers would have been hit for approx 10 to 12 grand to cover their costs in pursuing my claim plus whatever i was awarded , one of the questions on the form asked if my injuries had lasted for 4 weeks or more , basically you can't make a claim for personal injury unless you have suffered for a minimum of at least 4 weeks , so i filled it in stating 3 weeks which was correct , thereby killing the claim right there , some might say i'm a mug for doing so but when i saw just how much money the non fault accident company stood to gain i fully understood just why they were so keen for me to make a claim , they are there to line their own pockets first and foremost and their costs are extortionate , i'm sorry but sometimes we need to look at the bigger picture , all these bogus claims are pushing premiums up higher and higher :censor:

[hertsnminds]

First thing I do in any accident now is mobile phone out and take pictures of any damage any registration details and any faces at the scene. It gives you a much better point to start any claim or negotiation from and even if you never have to use the photos it gives you piece of mind that you actually saw what you thought not what someone else claims.

[Daveyonthemove]

I'm the same, if i witness an accident or i'm ever involved in one i will take pictures straight away.

If nothing else, it may help to prevent 15 people claiming for whiplash injuries when only 2 were involved.

[Jamesbelfast]

Just a thought - have you considered contacting your local police to see if the accident has been reported.:)

[Cyker]

It really does seem like the whole insurance field is corrupt.

Even the insurance companies are trying to screw each other over by trying to get you to claim for unnecessary and full on fraudulent stuff (Hire cars, whiplash, repairs for damage that wasn't caused by the accidents etc.)!

My dad had a scrape with a lorry, and the cowboys that Saga handed the claim handling to actually told him unless he claimed for a hire car (Which he told them he didn't need since he was going on holiday the next day!) they wouldn't get as much money and wouldn't bother to pursue getting his excess claimed back from the other party!

:censor: :ffs:

[bothwell_buyer]

which brings on the subject of loss adjusters - another heirarchy of fraudulent lying people of the gutter.

[Parts-King]

which brings on the subject of loss adjusters -

Paid commission to reduce your claim to the absolute minimum.......classed with estate agents, car salesmen et al

[Raistlin]

which brings on the subject of loss adjusters -

Paid commission to reduce your claim to the absolute minimum.......classed with estate agents, car salesmen et al

I spent five years as a loss adjuster... Nuff said, I'll get me coat