Help / advice please, my car has been damaged by someone

[Andyrado g60 0]

Hi everyone, some advice please as im having a bit of a nightmare!

 

Full re-spray 2 months ago, new lights, windscreen, cars looking stunning. Driving down the a38 behind a white van (04 plate) at a safe distance and the vans drivers window exploded! Just blew out throwing hundreds of sharp cubes of glass at my car. Like someone throwing a bucket of marbels at me at 60mph!

 

He pulled over as did i behind him on the hard sholder, checked he was ok, he was fine. Looked at my car and i was horified, approx 20 chips down to the primer on the bumper, 20 on the bonnet, also got the roof, both wings, both mirrors, down the drivers door, windscreen had appros 8 chunks out of it, headlight cracked, indicators and fogs have took a battering two with loads of little chips out of them.

 

The bloke in the van had no explanation and called his boss. The boss told him to give me all the insurance details and that its insured and to give them a call in the morning. Called them friday morning, logged the claim, explained the damage, they said thats all fine and someone will call you back monday morning to arrange an inspector to come out.

 

I called them back this morning, spoke to an advisor from the insurance company and according to him as there was no neglegence involved (it wasnt the van drivers fault) they will not pay out for the damage to my car! Argh! What a nightmare! Worst part about it is my car was due to be photographed to go in a magazine in 6 weeks!

 

Has anyone else had a similar problem? Is the insurance company trying to fob me off? Shall i go to the papers, is it worth me bringing out the big guns? Thanks very much in advance! Andrew

[chrishill 0]

sounds like they're fobbing you off there mate, insurance isn't just there to compensate for negligence!

[dinkus 10]

Bit of a tough one, but I'd keep persuing the insurance company about it.

 

Van windows don't just blow out for no reason, so it was either a manufacturing problem with the glass/van, or the window had been damaged at some point.

 

Either way, it's not your fault and someone needs to pay to put your car right again. Make sure you tell them that you'll be writing to watchdog and/or Sun and/or other papers if they don't take your claim seriously.

 

I'd suspect there may be a clause in the van driver's insurace to say they don't cover 'acts of god', but if they try and squirm out of that one, get the nail gun out :D

[chrishill 0]

Based on their 'no negligence' claim, if he'd been driving along side you and his tyre blew out on a nail in the road causing him to swerve into the side of you and totally wreck your car - they wouldn't pay out.

 

Like Dinkus says, van windows don't just explode for no reason. If they're being difficult threaten them with the insurance ombudsman.

[Tempest 0]

Are you fully comp on your C?

 

If so, contact your insurance and make use of the legal cover, then get the hounds onto the other insurance company.

 

Tempest

[Yandards 0]

Indeed, it is not an act of god, as per usual the scummers that are insurers are seeing if you will walk away first..

 

I would start looking at the ombudsman route like Chris has already said, work out what the process is and then speak to the insurance company. If they don't budge use your new found level of knowledge.

[Jon_R 0]

If they decree it an act of god then sue the Catholic Church. They claim to be gods representatives on earth so it's about time they took some responsibility along with all that collection money.

[Guest]

If they decree it an act of god then sue the Catholic Church. They claim to be gods representatives on earth so it's about time they took some responsibility along with all that collection money.

 

ooooh, can o' worms time :lol:

 

 

as said above, that thing about not being his fault is beside the point

 

good luck!

[Andyrado g60 0]

Thanks for all the oppinions / advice everyone! I have an updjate, I have been in contact with the lady who was driving about 200 yards behind me in her mg tf which also caught approx 10 chips (and she was 200 yards behind).

 

She has also been in touch with the company and by the sound of it said exactly the same as me. The company have sent her a damage declaration form (which im going to call up and get off them) Ween we both have recieved it we are going to fill them in and get them back off to them.

 

Aparantly they are saying that something was thrown at the window! Even though we were traveling atleast 60 mph, 2 miles from nothing but trees and fields and as soon as he stoped i inspected the front of the van, no glass or anything on the inside! They have then said there there are no whitnesses to what happend! What about me, who saw the whole thing and the lady and her mum in the car behind me.

 

I will not let this one get brushed under the carpet and i am prepared to fight it which is the exact attitude of the other lady involved. Someones damaged my pride and joy and im not going down without a fight. Watch this space! Any further oppinions / advice welcome!

[Goldie 2]

Godd for you Andyrado g60, stick to your guns and dont give up on getting it sorted...

[Son of a Beesting 0]

Dont be rail roaded Andyrado g60, keep at them. All the best, hope you get it sorted!

[khurrado 0]

In my experience, contact your insurer's legal representative. They will send out a letter of demand for payment, and once a final letter is sent, threatening court action, they ususally cough up the dosh.

 

Good luck.

[corozin 0]

Report the incident to your own insurance company if you havn't done so already. They will go after the third party insurer. If you have a witness (the lady behind you) who suffered similar damage I don't see how liability can be an issue.

 

Insurance liability is based on the concept of proximate cause. What this means is that in the event of damage, the person who was responsible/insured for the original action or incident that caused your loss is the person liable in law. The key element is that there must be an unbroken chain of events linking the proximate cause and your own loss.

 

On that basis, f the van's window blew out, liability lies with the van's insurers. It does not matter that the van did not actually hit you - the debris from his van did hit your car and cause damage. If the van's window had not blown out, you would not have suffered the damage.

 

The third party insurer is on a complete blag here. I assure you as soon as they receive a threatening letter from your own insurers they will pay out, as this would last about 4 minutes in court.

 

Good luck,

John

[Rob Heath 0]

Sorry to hear about that mate, bet your well gutted. Make sure you stick at it tho

 

 

If they decree it an act of god then sue the Catholic Church. They claim to be gods representatives on earth so it's about time they took some responsibility along with all that collection money.

 

Think ive just pi55ed myself

[corozin 0]

Sorry to hear about that mate, bet your well gutted. Make sure you stick at it tho

 

 

If they decree it an act of god then sue the Catholic Church. They claim to be gods representatives on earth so it's about time they took some responsibility along with all that collection money.

 

Think ive just pi55ed myself

 

Agreed. Act of God my arse. An "Act of God" is normally something like a lightening strike, or a meteor fall. Exploding windows just don't count.

 

If you were able to get the "Act of God" defence in writing from this company, you may have a legitimate grounds for complaint to the Insurance Ombudsman. It's worth knowing that you can complain to the Association of British Insurers, the Insurance Ombudsman, Area Trading Standards, and the Motor Insurer's Bureau if they continue to try and string you along. It sounds to me like this "insurer" are a group of Cowboys... yeeeehaaaa!!

 

p.s. Oh... and you can sue them as well :D

[Andyrado g60 0]

Waiting for their response from my letter threatening them with fsa and insurance ombudsman and my solicitors letter, watch this space!

[johnnyfication 0]

If you were able to get the "Act of God" defence in writing from this company, you may have a legitimate grounds for complaint to the Insurance Ombudsman.

 

All calls to insurance companys are recorded so as long as you know who you spoke to at what time on which day, the ombudsman, or yourself can get a copy.

 

Good luck in getting it sorted mate, looked stunning at the notts meet a couple of months ago.

[corozin 0]

I agree with your point in the large, but if you were to take this to a complaint or litigation there's nothing quite like getting it in writing. Although call recording is common now, litigation is still best done "the old fashioned way"