car written off :o(

[malfunction]

"I spoke to the university's insurer yesterday afternoon and they have said that they should make a division on the case within 5 days of receipt of my claim and photos."

At least they are looking into it with some degree of urgency, Normally things like this drag on for weeks or months. Looking at the photos and your description of events i'm with you on this and I hope you get it resolved in your favour and quickly.

Mal

[JMugs]

Bummer! Hopefully all will work out well.
On the small claims court front, I have been on the receiving end of people trying to make claims when I ran my own car sales business (not lost any) and the guide line I followed in business was "What was the most obvious" .... in this case the most obvious was that great big monolith!
So all is not lost...and might be worth mentioning if haggling with the university insurers that the parking monolith is 15,000% (or whatever) bigger and almost impossible to obscure when compared to the exit only sign, which is very easily obscured.

All the best

Janners

[arthur.daley]

My wife had 9+years no claims, we let this lapse and had to start from zero again, it's amazing just how small a maximum no claims discount really is. Her policy went up about £20 for the first year starting at zero.

Are you sure they'll write it off?

I get 79.9% discount for 9 years plus accident, incident and claim free.

I am pretty sure they will write it off as the car would cost to buy maybe 2.5k privately or 3k from a dealer with a bit of warranty. The estimate for repairs is currently at £2.4k in parts, paint, labour and VAT and they have put on a note to say that other damage may be revealed as the car is disassembled and therefore the bill could increase which they will want to avoid like the plague. They like to know exactly, to the penny, what things are going to cost.

Arthur

[arthur.daley]

"they should make a division on the case within 5 days of receipt of my claim"


A division?? Maybe 'decision' was the word I was looking for there!

Best get the missus to proof read my claim before I submit!


Arthur

[Angloman]

I would use a no win no fee company , or claims direct .At least you can have a chance at getting your money back. Does your policy include legal aid as they can pursue this for you with out a claim on your insurance. We had a hit and run in to the back of us, I was driving and my wife was a passenger,she was paid by my insurance company for whip lash and I was also paid by the motor bureau for mine.Did not effect my 80% 11 year noclaim discount

[arthur.daley]

i did briefly consider a no win no fee outfit but couldn't bring myself to do it, it would have to be a desperate day before I turned to them for help.

You miss the point about No Claims Discount NCD. My 80% NCD is protected and even if the university insurers refused to pay out and the claim was paid out by my insurers - my NCD would still apply. That is, I would still get 80% off of whatever my premium was. Its the premium that will go through the roof. My current premium is in the order of £1400 per year. The NCD takes this down to just under £300. So when I come to renew my insurance in May 2015 and I am asked if I have had any claims, convictions or incidents I won't have had a claim on my policy, I can tell them about the incident and it will have very little bearing on my renewal premium. However, if I had made a claim the premium especially if my claim wasn't paid IN FULL by the third parties insurer, my PREMIUM could potentially double. The increased loading on the premium would also haunt me for at least 5 years - most insurers will ask if you have had a claim, conviction or incident in the last 5 years

My insurer already knows about the incident - I have reported it and they have noted it on my file as being reported for information purposes only, ie NO CLAIM.

Now heres a thing - loads of people have asked why I have told my insurer about the incident. If I didn't tell them, how would they know? The third parties insurer would n't tell them because they have no idea who my insurer is unless I tell them. Wrong. The first thing they will do is to make sure that I was insured after all if I have no insurance then I shouldnt have been on the road in the first place - they will have full access to the UK insurance database just like the police do. Also, read the small or not so small print on your insurance policies guys, in just about every case you are required to tell your insurer of any incidents even if no claim is made or it is a 3rd partys fault and they have paid you out directly, in the past five years. Failure to do so would constitute a breach of contract and they will drop you like a stone.

Ironically my policy does have legal protection, but they are interminably slow and would insist on going the 'conventional' route via my insurer ie I make a claim to my insurer who then pursues the third party to make a claim against them - takes for ever.

My only personal injury was a small scratch on the top of my head where my pound land reading glasses which were perched on top of my head were trashed when my head hit the roof of the car as it dropped off the barrier.




Arthur

[JMugs]

My only personal injury was a small scratch on the top of my head where my pound land reading glasses which were perched on top of my head were trashed when my head hit the roof of the car as it dropped off the barrier.




Arthur

I know I shouldn't ...but the image made me chuckle.

Janners

[arko]

Any pics of the exit?.... and also possibly of the distance between the two in a pic?. Im on no-ones side but as a matter of common sense after we have all no-doubtedly used a carpark on public and private premises hundreds of times, we should know or at least presume, the possibility of that car-park being insured in your favour is next to nil! The fact that a sign stating Exit Only is there regardless of when it was erected can only serve as a warning. It would take a cyclist a split second to pass that sign ans at some time before it was too late would have been visible to the car driver. Does the exit side of the barrier have clear signage? Are there any other signs around or in the near of the car-park (whether it be at the entrance or further away) stating that barriers are in operation?...... even if it is a couple of hundred meters away?..... Will be interesting to hear the outcome of this. ........

[arthur.daley]

Hi Arko

Did you see the photos at the start of the thread??

That photo of the barrier and the stone monolith on its left - that is the EXIT!! The view is of the exit from outside of the car park - the signage indicating it is a car park is on the OUTSIDE of the car park - the view that is presented to the motorist as they approach the car park. The real entrance is another 50 yards further along the road and has no signage on it.

You are quite right in saying that a single cyclist only obscures the sign for a moment - five or six obscure it more somewhat longer as do a gaggle of students on their way out together. When you make the turn into the car park and there are cyclists and pedestrians around - it is all too easy to miss the sign - after all why would you automatically look for an exit only sign in the bushes when there is a six foot plus tall stone monolith covered in signs indicating you are at a car entrance.

Interestingly other car parks on site are having these rising barriers removed and replaced with arm type barriers. Also on one of the remaining ext rising barriers there is actually an Exit Only sticker attached to the barrier itself warning the unwarey motorist they are approaching the exit not the entrance.

Not aware of any signs warning of rising barriers - I am pretty sure I have photos of every sign on site.

My day job is that of a University facilities manager and departmental safety - not on this site, I am also a member of the Safety Committee for the site where the incident occurred and for my sins an ex union shop steward involved with saftey inspections as well as general union duties. (The incident is on the agenda for the next safety committee meeting next Friday. The committee is an advisory body with a degree of powers of enforcement but not day to day managerial responsibility for safety.) However, I can honestly say that seeing this whole fiasco from both sides of the fence that once the insurers accept that the barrier came up under my car and that I didn't drive into the barrier when it was already up it becomes a closed case. I went to the garage yesterday morning and took some more photos which show reasonably well the front of the car relatively intact and that all of the major damage is below the car - easily confirmed during the inevitable visit by a loss adjuster.

I too look forward to the outcome of this!

[arko]

- after all why would you automatically look for an exit only sign in the bushes when there is a six foot plus tall stone monolith covered in signs indicating you are at a car entrance.

That could well be the factor that loses you your claim Arthur!....... YOU ASSUMED it was the entrance because it had a monolith covered in signs..... but not one of those signs indicated or implied in any way that it was the entrance. BUT regardless of how small, there was a sign saying EXIT!.... Just dont say that you assumed it was the entrance in your claim! Insurers will do just about anything to get out of not paying. Good luck mate..... waiting with baited breath for the outcome!..... we could be here months!. Lets hope it goes through as quickly as possible for you. Did you find out about whether you could add the cost of a hire car to your claim?