Personal injury claim when car accident blame was unproven. Possible to claim?
My accident occured a year and a half ago. I was driving across a roundabout when somebody pulled out in front of me suddenly and I hit the side of their car. Completely their fault. It went unproven however. I was 3rd party insurance only. I claimed against other driver through their insurance co. The “independent” damage assessment ruled she was not to blame. Other driver bizzarely withdrew their own claim against me however. I hit my knee in the accident which was painful and stiff for a few weeks. I also aggravated an existing neck injury (a muscle strain, not whiplash) which I eventually had physio to help. I am now considering an injury claim against other driver. Is it even worth trying, given that a supposedly independent damage assessor has already ruled the other driver could not have been to blame? I had to scrap my car and I am still living the other driver got off with the accident they caused. Is it worth a claim?Serious/expert anwers only please, no rubbish.
Q. by Anne
3 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Leave a comment
Listed on Ampulsion.co.uk
April 2nd, 2009 at 15:22
You could try a civil claim as you don’t have to prove to the degree you do in criminal court.
It is however unlikely you would have a claim as there seems to be no blame (I understand you feel the other party was at fault) and you would be claiming for exacerbation of an existing condition, tricky and expensive
April 3rd, 2009 at 15:22
Where’s your insurance company in all of this? Go through them, that’s what you pay a premium for!! Let them argue with the other insurance carrier.
If you have no insurance and obviously there’s a dispute here..the only option you have is to retain counsel or take them to small claims court.
April 6th, 2009 at 15:22
You can file a claim for your injuries(assuming you are tort eligible, and I have no idea what the threshold requirements are where you live), and your file will be reopened assuming the statute of limitations has not tolled.
Somebody was at fault for the accident, even it was shared liability, 50/50. From the few details you provided, it appears that you were in the rotary, when the other party entered the rotary failing to yield the right of way.
However, since they already denied your property damage claim, it is likely they MAY deny your bodily injury claim as well. I do not know the comparative negligence rules where you live. In the States, being even 1% at fault for an accident can bar you from recovery in some states.
If they do deny your claim, you can file suit against the other party. However, you will be dealing with the insurance company and their attorneys.
The adjuster may offer you a compromise settlement pre-litigation to avoid legal expenses.