Car Accident Advise :( No Insurance

[BOOSTDEF]

Heres the story.

Me and my brother were drove to go buy his first car the other day and as we were driving home (I was driving as he is on his L’s), we were involved in an accident.

As the car was still registered in the previous owners name, it had no insurance and unfortunately it looks as though I am in a little strife $ wise.

The scenario was that I was driving along the highway doing the speed limit where we approached a merging lane. The car in front of us quickly had to swerve from the left lane to the right lane, narrowly missing the car standing still due to being cut off from the car in front of them who was going to merge from a standing start.

I had no time to brake and unfortunately ran into the back of a brand new lancer, with 2 quotes so far returning a bill of $12000 rear end damage.

I understand the law states that if you run into the back of someone its pretty much your fault. But In speaking to another person who was involved in a similar situation, he got out of only paying a % payment of the bill given that it was not entirely his fault.

The car who cut off the car I hit did not attend the scene, but a witness who stopped had noted down his number plate and can vouch for what happened.

The owner of the lancer has filed a police report (Later. The police did not attend the scene) and has requested the total amount from me based on what the police have said. I can understand from their point of view entirely but I am just trying to do myself a favour.

I am happy to pay what I have to pay, I just wanted a few more opinions or advise on anything I can do to help my situation. Im a single dad trying to make ends meet and cannot even barely afford the rent let alone a $12000 payout to another person. I understand that I may be obliged to pay it and will co-operate and do so if it is entirely my fault.

The owner of the lancer did not have insurance either.

Im not looking for comments like “suck it up and just pay it.. “. I have simply stated that I am happy to pay what I have to pay, just looking for suggestions on the best way to handle it.

I have been driving for 8 years and this is my first accident. Both my cars are insured but unfortunately this is life

Thanks in advance.

[Peuty]

Third party insurance?

[BOOSTDEF]

It was a $1000 camry, they did not have a thing on it :( Its just something you overlook when your driving a car you just brought home. Well we did anyways. Live and learn.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Sorry to hear of youir incident.

Trying to chase others involved to prove degrees of blame my cost more than it's worth. They will put up a fight (as you probably would had the roles been reversed).

My sister was in a similar incident, however it was involving multiple cars. Each car that rear ended the other was to blame. Insurance sorted it out as all parties were insured.

Looks like you will be wearing the cost of repairs....

[jaydee]

What a mess. Just because you run into the back of someone doesn't make it your fault automatically, but it is true 90% of the time.
The guy in the Lancer would have to be pretty stupid not having insurance on a new car, or is he just telling you that so he doesn't have to make a claim and lose some NCB. Do you not have any type of 3rd party insurance? You say both your cars are insured, some companys cover you when driving someone else's car, it only takes a phone call, but remember they record all calls and file them against your name or policy number.
If you were in real financial strife I'd just be saying "Mate I'm real sorry, but I'm broke so you'll have to sue me".
Good luck.

[Sam_Boss260]

I'd hate to say it Boostdef, it might be time to go and seek proper legal advice mate.

Typically, your bother or you should have at least obtained a cover note of the car before driving off. Also I find it hard to believe that somone driving a brand new lancer has no insurance also, but at the end of the day you hit them.

I'm not aware of the % blame that you are talking about, once again this is where legal advice is probably going to be best mate.

Sorry to hear about your predicament.

[FPV GT40]

Thats bad...looks like you will be up for repairs.

I guess you kn ow this now, but never ever drive a vehicle that is not insured no matter what, not even for 50meters.

Lucky it was only a Lancer, imagine if it was a merc or similar...

[GT0132]

Originally Posted by FPV GT40

Thats bad...looks like you will be up for repairs.

I guess you kn ow this now, but never ever drive a vehicle that is not insured no matter what, not even for 50meters.

Lucky it was only a Lancer, imagine if it was a merc or similar...

The fact that the other party is uninsured means it's not as cut and dried as he would have liked....In ususal circumstances (i.e if he had full comp insurance) his insurance company would go into bat for him using their lawyers at their cost and, if necessary, sue you (or your insurance company if you had insurance) for the damage to his car...He pays no legal costs and neither would you if you're insured.

However in this case neither of you are insured and it's really his word aganst yours and how many $$ youre both willing to part with to fight the case. You may be lucky to find a good lawyer than can convince a judge that he pulled out in front if you and hence that was the reason you went up his rear...in which case the tables would turn the other way...he'd be found negligent and have to cough up for your repairs. This is fairly remote though but depends if you want to fight it...If you've been charged with culpible driving as a result of the accident that wouldn't be in your favour when determining damage fault though

[Poorboy_racer]

My advice (Im no legal buff) would be take a look in your phone book for a free legal advice centre. There are ones in most rasonable sized towns. You may have to make a meeting at some antisocial time but bearing in mind you do not have much money you should be entitled to some free legal advice. Take all your information witness statements etc and see what they have to say. Nothing to loose except some time. If they say you dont have a leg to stand on at least you know where you stand. Hope this helps. Good luck anyway. My understanding is that if it does end up going to court and your found to be in the wrong, you will probably be made to pay what you can for the next 100 years until its paid off.

[BOOSTDEF]

Some very good facts for me to consider guys!! Really appreciate it

[starwars_guy456]

Some quick thoughts I have:

1) Talk to the witness again, tell him your personal situation and ask him to help you. Try to "lock him in". Ask him what he remembered from the incident, and whose fault he thought it was? Did the other side get witnesses?

2) It might sound like surrendering, but perhaps make a counter offer to the other party? Save you time and legal costs.

3) Get a solicitor/go to community legal centre ASAP. Bring all your documentation/purchase contracts, even your brother. Note down information: time/ date, place, speed of car, visibility, road conditions, did the other car indicate? Consider how the magistrate will look at it based on what facts are available to him/her.

4) the fact that they do not have insurance weakens their position. I'm not sure if they will know how to pursue this matter in court, unless they get legal advice. However, if any court documents come, make sure you seek your own legal advice straightaway.

Well good luck...

-Ed

[BOOSTDEF]

Thanks mate!! This is great advise!! Appreciate it from all of you! Seems I have a few paths to take but by the sounds of it talking to a legal advisor/solicitor sounds the best option and may open up a clear path to take

[Captain Stubing]

Mate, look at Section 148 in the Traffic Regulations. Does Example 2 apply to you? It's on page 135-136.

Qld Traffic Regulations

[cant]

this is left of field, if maybe as a minor your bro was driving but you gave all your details as the supervising driver, THEN they would have to sue him as the driverand owner, AND as a minor with no assets he could probably go bankrupt with no real detrimental effects on him, and gets you off the hook !

Careful what you say to anybody, hard to go back when there are witnesses.

Goodluck

[typhonut]

imo don't admit to any blame factor or offer to pay any amount
definitely seek legal advice as the guys are saying
then decide on the part to follow
cheers typho.

[Yaw]

Originally Posted by BOOSTDEF

The scenario was that I was driving along the highway doing the speed limit where we approached a merging lane. The car in front of us quickly had to swerve from the left lane to the right lane, narrowly missing the car standing still due to being cut off from the car in front of them who was going to merge from a standing start.

I had no time to brake and unfortunately ran into the back of a brand new lancer, with 2 quotes so far returning a bill of $12000 rear end damage.


Thanks in advance.

Ok from an insurance point of view:
-You were driving along the highway doing the speed limit
-The car in front of you swerved to avoid a collision with a car in front of him that had merged badly.
- You ran into that car that had by that stage merged.

This is from the Torum
126 Keeping a safe distance behind vehicles
A driver must drive a sufficient distance behind a vehicle
travelling in front of the driver so the driver can, if necessary,
stop safely to avoid a collision with the vehicle.
Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.
Source:
http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LE...ntOpRURR99.pdf

So in this case there is sufficent reason to say that the car in front of you was able to take action to avoid a collision, which in turn means you were not a safe distance from the car in front of you (the car that swerved to miss the other one that you hit) means you were not a safe distance, because if you were you would have stopped in time.

Now on the other side of things that he does not have insurance or do you.
weather he has insurance or not, it does not negate your liability. However being the damage is more than $5000 would require more than a small claims tribunal, he would need to sue you through a magistrates court. Usually before it gets there, his legal team would offer mediation, that is the point where you may be able to offer a reduced settlement, (ensure if they do accept this you have them sign a release) However reduced settlements are usually to try to get a lump sum instead of "installments"
Where I work for instance may offer an options letter like:
If you pay $10000.00 as a reduced settlement by a 4 week period from the date of letter or
1 istallment of $5000.00, 2 installments of $ 2500.00 and 1 of $2000.00
over a 6 month period.

[duaned]

Did you organise the quotes to be done for the repairs to the Lancer? If not, I would look for an opportunity to get a quote to repair the Lancer at a repairer that you choose ( providing it's not a cheap backyard operation). I see that you as you will have to pay, at least you can confirm to yourself that it is actually $12K of damage that your hard earned has to pay for!

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by duaned

Did you organise the quotes to be done for the repairs to the Lancer? If not, I would look for an opportunity to get a quote to repair the Lancer at a repairer that you choose ( providing it's not a cheap backyard operation). I see that you as you will have to pay, at least you can confirm to yourself that it is actually $12K of damage that your hard earned has to pay for!

That sounds good, but think of it from the Lancer owners perspective. Would you as the lancer owner allow the other person to arrange for their own quote at a place of their choice just so that the person at fault can perhaps pay a few grand less??

Course not... If your car was damaged through no fault of your own, you would expect nothing less than a top notch job. And keeping yourself in control of the repair process is the only true way to know you will get a professional job.

The best the person at fault can do is get an independent assessment of the quote to make sure it is reasonable for the damage.

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

The best the person at fault can do is get an independent assessment of the quote to make sure it is reasonable for the damage.

Agreed. End of the day, you ran up the back of another car. However, I find it mind boggling that a new Lancer would not be insured. I'd triple check that.

Look at it from the Lancer owner's perspective. Had that have been you and someone ran up the back of you, you'd likely want a fair, speedy and equitable outcome.

Next car you buy, covernote covernote covernote.

[ZA-289]

Being that the lancer wasn't insured may be your saving grace, he will have to take you through court himself which will cost him.... where as if he WAS insured his insurance company would sue you.....

Get legal advice, you may have to pay a lesser amount.... 1/2????

[gtxb67]

there is alot of thoughts, that due to legal costs for the lancer driver being potentially high, that the original poster should stand his ground and force the lancer driver into accepting a smaller amount
would that not be more morally incorrect than hitting someones car in a car park and driving off. let's hope that anyone suggesting to use legal fees as leverage will never start a "can you believe these people" thread in the future

i sympathise with boostdef, hopefully the damage is not as bad as first thought. i cannot really offer any advice, but hopefully you look at it from the lancer driver's point of view as well. if your car was hit by someone, would you not want it repaired properly and fully

unfortunately with no insurance for either party, it will be messy at the very least unless boostdef suddenly wins some money. it does seem weird that a brand new lancer wasn't insured though - especially if it was purchaed under finance

[paule11]

Know someone he crashed into the back of another car it damaged 3 cars in front think it was about $15000 damage total the car that was at the front was an unmarked police car driving by the officer in charge of the local police academy.

He had no insurance had to go to court and pay it back at $30 a week or something ended up being waivered after a few years .

Go see legal aid

[svo supporter]

As the majority have said, seek legal advise. The fact the Lancer driver had no insurance is really irrevelant. If it was, it'd be the insurance company you'd be dealing through, not the owner of the car.

The same would apply if you had insurance yourself. The owner of the Lancer would be dealing with your insurance company, not you.


As for getting independant quotes yourself. Again, totally irrevelant. Unfortunately, the owner of the Lancer is entitled to take the car where ever he/she chooses to have the repairs done. Your the poor person stuck with the bill. If the job isn't satisfactory, it's the owner of the lancers problem, not yours.

A good example of this, is some insurance companies offer the service of you taking your car to your choice of repairer. This also applies with this situation. I'm sure if you think about it, it makes perfect sense.


Every state has a legal aid service which offers free legal advise. I'm fairly sure also the appointment is free and the fact your a pensioner, seeing as though it may end up in court, their fee will be very minimal. Just check out the phone book under "Legal services Commission" and it'll be there.

Should you be unfortunate enough to have to pay for this damage, the court system is leanient enough to allow installments to be paid, until the debt is cleared, especially considering your low income.

Good luck with it all and sorry to hear about this unfortunate predicament your in. I really hope things do turn out for the best with you.

[EF Futura 07]

all these things are true. also did the lancer that changed lanes indicate first? if not he is at fault. it doesnt matter what you hit ar what he hit, you MUST indicate when changing lanes. that includes swerving, if you cross them lines into the next lane you MUST indicate by law, also you must give way.

[Spanrz]

Originally Posted by jaydee

The guy in the Lancer would have to be pretty stupid not having insurance on a new car, or is he just telling you that so he doesn't have to make a claim and lose some NCB.

I know in VIC, any car that was bought "under finance" has to come with Full Comp Insurance.

Boostdef, ask the guy in the Lancer if the car was under finance.
Then you'll know if he was saying "No Insurance" so he didn't hurt his rating.

I was involved in an incident many years ago, I was un-insured. I did $6000 worth of damage.
Went to court, pleaded guilty for failure to "give way", paid a fine of $150, job done.
Then they sent the bill. I put a letter to the insurance company, said I'm an apprentice, paid like an apprentice, you'll only get $40 a week.
They had to agree as they had no base to claim more. Took about 3 years to pay off.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by Spanrz

I know in VIC, any car that was bought "under finance" has to come with Full Comp Insurance.

Boostdef, ask the guy in the Lancer if the car was under finance.
Then you'll know if he was saying "No Insurance" so he didn't hurt his rating.

.

In all fairness, how is the fact the Lancer driver not being insured got anything to do with it? The whole unfortunate thing is really to do with how is this poor member going to go about sorting out this mess? If the Lancer was insured, the problem would still be about. The member would be just communicating with an insurance rep, not the owner of the vehicle.

On the issue of not indicating. Perhaps contact the other party that saw the whole incident and see what they actually saw. Otherwise the failure to indicate thing might be right out the window.

Good luck sorting this whole incident out. BTW. I hope neither you or your brother was injured as a result of the accident

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

In all fairness, how is the fact the Lancer driver not being insured got anything to do with it? The whole unfortunate thing is really to do with how is this poor member going to go about sorting out this mess? If the Lancer was insured, the problem would still be about. The member would be just communicating with an insurance rep, not the owner of the vehicle.

On the issue of not indicating. Perhaps contact the other party that saw the whole incident and see what they actually saw. Otherwise the failure to indicate thing might be right out the window.

Good luck sorting this whole incident out. BTW. I hope neither you or your brother was injured as a result of the accident

^^^^^ spot on.

Bad luck to the OP. Get some legal advice.

As for posters giving advice on how to try and screw the dude with the Lancer is very poor form (considering it is NOT HIS FAULT). But it seems to be the way it is these days, no insurance and if you f#%k up and cause some damage it just a case of "ah lets just claim bankruptcy" or " he had no indicator on, its all his fault" or best one "blame the kid with no assets sitting in the passenger seat"

I hope the OP does the right thing because if some punk ran up the back of my car with a $1,000 bomb causing $12K damage and then wriggling out of it, I'd at his place knocking on his front door to knee cap him.

[sgt_doofey]

Just out of curiosity, why didn't you arrange insurance before going to pick up the car? You can ring an insurance company and sort out insurance and they'll give you a cover note that will cover you in case of an accident until the policy turns up.

[FPV+fteT3]

I do not understand why you had no insurance you can get a covernote that lasts a week from any company to cover anything when you pick it up then when you decide to insure or put 3rd party damage on it you pay the premium for that policy you have selected. But a covernote requires if you have an accident you pay the premium and excess for that policy and the insurance company takes over.

I am buying an interstate car shortly and have arranged to obtain a Vic roads permit to drive the car unregistered home have rung the insurance company already and have cover to drive an unregistered vehicle 1000k's with piece of mind if anything happens I'm covered. Mate a hard lesson to learn but you are not the first and certainly won't be the last to drive an uninsured vehicle even a POS should have third party on it. A covernote is free aslong as you dont have an accident.

[gtxb67]

it is true that the insurance status of the lancer driver does not really matter
where it does matter is that, if he was insured, his car could be fixed right away with limited agro. if he is not insured, it seems that he may only get a small amount each week until it is paid off
while it is not a good thing for the insurance company to receive a small amount each week, it is probably a better option overall for the original poster's conscience and the lancer driver if it is the insurance company getting the short end of the stick. if the lancer driver receives the same small amount per week, he is either out of pocket for $12,000 right away or his car does not get fixed

his insurance status will help the original poster to have more of the right thing done and help his car get fixed quicker