Hit by a HGV - insurance company denying liability

[CloudyMemory]

I'm wondering if i can go anywhere with this one.
I was stationary at a set of lights and hit by a HGV (bin wagon. Apologies if they're not classified as HGVs). He was turning in, angled towards me and hit my wing mirror which snapped against my driver window, the casing shot off (which wont fit back on), the glass cracked like a spiders web.
I thought the guy was going to stop as he seemed to slow down but then carried on. I did a 180 and went after him but lost him.

I caught on dash camera him driving by me, i caught the vehicle reg but obviously i didn't catch video of the guy hitting me - only the audio and then a few seconds later you see me do a 180 and give chase. It seems audio isn't enough to prove liability.

At this stage i'm well aware that some will say "it's only" a wing mirror, "it's only £10-£20 glass", a whole new mirror is "only" £120 for the unit plus fitting and my vehicle is "only worth £500 tops". Easy for people in their nice new cars to say ... but it's not the point. Not my point at least. Why should i let this guy get away with it and why should i put my hand in my pocket for any amount through no fault of mine - that was my point.


The bin wagon insurance company got back in touch today - said the drier has denied all liability. Said the company depot has reviewed my dash cam footage and again denied all liability as it proves nothing.
Not sure how they'd explain away the sound of him hitting me and then me spinning around and going after him. They'll probably say a gunshot went off in a nearby field and i changed my mind as to which direction home i wanted to take.

It's just not on. There's people conning insurance companies and get away with it and when you're honest and expect something out of it you get nothing. Very frustrating. Just wondering on my chances of getting anywhere with this based on the fact my dashcam only really shows audio of him hitting me.

[des8]

hi and welcome

I'm afraid that is life.
You have to prove that he hit you, and if for any reason he won't admit being responsible, I doubt your "evidence" is sufficient.
Your dash cam only records the sound of a minor collision, which IMO at any rate, would not be enough to win a court claim
Sorry

[CloudyMemory]

It just seems that common sense has disappeared out of life completely.
I'm not saying that's anything to do with you, far from it but when you see the guy come in my direction, you hear a bang, you see me go after him, i send in photos of said damage - it's pretty obvious that what i said has happened has actually happened.

The whole idea of a farmer in a field 10 miles from you could've fires a shotgun at that exact moment or a stone could've bounced up at that precise moment and you could've just decided to turn around because you were bored - using these kinds of things as ways to get out of it is just ridiculous.

Sadly it seems ridiculous wins. Short of having a camera pointed at every angle of the car.

I went direct to their insurance company. I never actually informed mine as i wasn't going to claim off my insurance. I presume this will now be on the database and i'll have to declare it for 5 years. Gets better & better.

[des8]

Well I haven't seen your dash cam and I don't know how persuasive you can be.
Perhaps you would win a court case, but I don't think the odds are in your favour

If you declare it to your insurers it should be recorded as a non fault incident and nil claim and so not affect your premiums.

[CloudyMemory]

Well I haven't seen your dash cam and I don't know how persuasive you can be.

Unfortunately at the end of the day if they say no and the chances are against me anyway then it seems likely it'll only cost me more money.

The dash cam doesn't show physical impact as in the car doesn't violently rock side to side. It only really has the audio for anything to go on.

If you declare it to your insurers it should be recorded as a non fault incident and nil claim and so not affect your premiums.

Not so.

I ran a dummy run on insurance and it raised it £30 for the first year at least.

I had a similar incident 2-3 years ago. I was driving home, a pickup tried to overtake about 4 cars and then me and judged it wildly wrong before swerving in to me.
I pulled in a few 100yds down the road to exchange details - he did one. As did the cars behind him. My rear arch was all dented and scratched in because of it.

I got his reg, called the police. They investigated - found they were a company based down south doing work in the area. He denied all knowledge.

This guy was the reason i got a dash cam installed.

Difference there was that i phoned my insurance first and told them all about it. I paid up to get his insurance details off askMID website but as he denied everything the other option was to claim through my own insurance - in the end i decided not to.

Despite this, i'd told my insurance company about the incident so had to report it for the next 5 years as a non fault non claim. I did a dummy run as though it never happened - it was cheaper.

I told my insurance that if the police have investigated it and the other guy said it never happened & i'm getting nowhere with this then i must be clearly crazy and making this up. If i'm making it up then it's a lie and i don't need to declare it as there's nothing to declare, surely. We can't both be right so if the other guy is right then i'm the liar and i wont declare this.

You can't do that they said. It's on the database as an incident. We went round in circles before i eventually gave up - how can it be an incident if it never happened, according to this guy.

[des8]

Not all insurers hike premiums following "notifications" as non fault non claims are known.
Quick research names Coop and Direct line
Shop around?

[HeinrichJ]

This is not too dissimilar to my experience with a hit and run on my car. The damage was a scrape on the wheelarch and bumper. A witness left me a note with the details which I reported to the Police via their website but was told it was not in the public interest to pursue even though I had a full witness statement.
As my renewal was approaching I then went to my then insurance company and was told I had to include it event though I was not looking at claiming as the cost was likely to be less than my excess. when they decided to increase the premium by £75, I then told them I may as well claim. I spoke to someone in the claims department who told me it was likely to be a total loss due to the age of the vehicle, they were not interested when I told them that it was just going to be some paintwork, they were adamant that is would need two new panels.
So I have ended up going through the Legal Cover to claim back from the third party after I have had the repair done.

However, this meant I was not going to stay with this company as I was not happy with the service or attitude. It meant a bit of searching due to having multi car but ended up having to try and deal with a really bad broker which I want to check the legal situation with.

So will start a new post shortly.

[CloudyMemory]

It's a kick in the stomach this insurance lark for sure. I've had a few bumps over the years and only 1 really turned out ok.

1st - a woman jammed on in the rain, went in the back of me. Actually did barely any damage surprisingly and gave me £100 as a settlement. I was happy with it as i just popped my plastic tow bar cover on and job was a good un as they say.
2nd - i overtook a guy who during the overtaking process i was told by my passenger who it was (local nutjob who was at one point in prison for attempted murder of his girlfriend). This guy swerved in to me to try and hit me off the road. I wasn't hanging around & left. I had all intentions of reporting it when i got home but he'd beaten me to it. Outcome - i was at fault because i was overtaking. I told the insurance ok then next guy who overtakes me i'll ram them, it'll be their fault & i'll get paid right? "We understand your frustration" was their answer.
3rd - About 7 years after the 2nd was the pickup incident. Virtually identical - only difference is he as the overtaker hit me, he didn't stop at the scene like i didn't. I thought this must be clear cut the same way it was with me.
Like i told you earlier - no incident as the guy denied it.
4th - this one. You get a dash cam installed thinking it'll help you out but unless you're hit head on then you're basically screwed. Doesn't matter that audio is picked up apparently.


You begin to see why some people don't bother paying for insurance.


I wonder whether the company can take any legal action against you if you put it on YouTube? As that's where i'll be looking to put it. [company name] - dishonest company. Show the email they sent me and the dash cam footage.
Wont get me any money out of it but it'd be all i could do.

[HeinrichJ]

There are just too many dishonest people out there. Unfortunately a lot of the insurance companies are just looking at profiteering too. They are very happy to take your premium but when it comes to them fulfilling their obligations, they seem to look for loopholes.