No claims

[m2287]

So the mrs was involved in a small accident over a month ago. Basically she rolled into the car in front of her at around 2mph, no damage done to the other car, my mrs number plate got a tiny crack in it. The other lady driver had a look, said she was fine, they both took a couple of photos of the cars to be safe and went on their ways.

Fast forward to last week, I get a call from the insurance company who are saying the other lady was claiming for personal injury. Had an assessor come and look at the car which still only had the slightly cracked plate today!

My question is, since no one is claiming for car damage, will she loose her no claims, it's 3 years and not protected?

Yes I know it was her fault and she should have been concentrating, but on the other hand....whiplash from a 2mph accident!!

 

[Benz270cdi]

At a guess yes she will a good friend of mine had something similar happen when he was reversing off his drive in a cul de sac a vito drove behind him and he clipped it no real damage to either vehicle , vito driver then put a whiplash claim in for himself and 3 yr old child and got 12k out of it against my friends insurance

 

[AMGeed]

It sounds like the other party has decided there is some money to be made out of that little incident. Something so trivial and then a later claim would make me very angry I'm afraid.
I don't believe your wife would lose all her NCB as usually any claim drops the bonus by a certain percentage, eg 40% down to 30%.

 

[MDC250]

So the mrs was involved in a small accident over a month ago. Basically she rolled into the car in front of her at around 2mph, no damage done to the other car, my mrs number plate got a tiny crack in it. The other lady driver had a look, said she was fine, they both took a couple of photos of the cars to be safe and went on their ways. Fast forward to last week, I get a call from the insurance company who are saying the other lady was claiming for personal injury. Had an assessor come and look at the car which still only had the slightly cracked plate today! My question is, since no one is claiming for car damage, will she loose her no claims, it's 3 years and not protected? Yes I know it was her fault and she should have been concentrating, but on the other hand....whiplash from a 2mph accident!!

It's a claim against the policy so as long as it's successful NCB will be lost I'm afraid.

Insurers can and often fight these claims tooth and nail for what it's worth...LVI (low velocity accidents) have been contested for some time mainly by insurers who have continental links (likes of Allianz) as in certain jurisdictions if speed of impact is determined at being below a certain threshold there is no claim for injury.

Not worth worrying over, other party has to prove her claim and one thing your insurer will be good at is looking after their own interest.

 

[markjay]

So the mrs was involved in a small accident over a month ago. Basically she rolled into the car in front of her at around 2mph, no damage done to the other car, my mrs number plate got a tiny crack in it. The other lady driver had a look, said she was fine, they both took a couple of photos of the cars to be safe and went on their ways.

Fast forward to last week, I get a call from the insurance company who are saying the other lady was claiming for personal injury. Had an assessor come and look at the car which still only had the slightly cracked plate today!

My question is, since no one is claiming for car damage, will she loose her no claims, it's 3 years and not protected?

Yes I know it was her fault and she should have been concentrating, but on the other hand....whiplash from a 2mph accident!!

Exactly the same happened to my wife some four years ago.

Very low speed rear shunt, and the next thing we know is a call from Aviva saying the other lady submitted a personal injury claim.

In our case, my wife had protected NCD, so it did not affect the renewal premium much, but it did go up a bit due to the claim.

 

[Rayny]

Normal rules are:

A)If the claim is opened, but refuted and closed without any payment being made before the next renewal date then she will not lose any no claims bonus.

B) If the claim is still on-going at the time of the next renewal, nshe will not earn this years no claims bonus and will step back by 2 years. So at the end of the policy year she will still have 1 years no claims bonus.

C) If a payout is made and the claim is closed before the next renewal, the result will be the same as B).

I have had so many 'legal firms' phoning me up since my car was hit about 4 years ago - All saying that I am entitled to compensation - Even though I was not in the car at the time - Once I was almost tempted to let them put in a claim just to stop the phone calls!

 

[flowrider]

Put in a counter claim against the other party saying she rolled back into you.

 

[geraldrobins]

Making false claims is unnacceptable. hope that was a tongue in cheek remark.

Regarding the alleged injury, some people do have very poor joints etc and a slight impact can give them minor dislocations giving pain. Whiplash is another injury of course. you presume 2mph but can you be sure of this. The claimant will have to obtain a medical cert before a claim can be made I imagine.

 

[John]

The claimant will have to obtain a medical cert before a claim can be made I imagine.

This presents no issue at all to the 3rd party.

Doctors cannot disprove it so a certificate will be forthcoming...

 

[MDC250]

You may be surprised to hear that insurers often make pre medical offers, not so much now as they were made to look ridiculous arguing so many fraudulent claims and yet paying out without any evidence.

In LVI accidents it's not only medical evidence that is considered, often forensic engineering evidence plays a role. Ultimately though it often boils down to the credibility of the Claimant.

Fraudsters are often not the brightest bunch and regularly stitch themselves...Facebook is a regular source of material for insurers. Their intelligence is actually frightening and quite sophisticated. FB is at the crude end of the spectrum.

A genuine Claimant should have nothing to fear, somebody taking the Mick should. Heard of a case recently where Defendant Insurer proved fraud, they got a charge on the Claimants property and actually compelled sale. That is extreme and indeed rare but should be reported more as a warning to others.

 

[Dieselman]

This presents no issue at all to the 3rd party.

Doctors cannot disprove it so a certificate will be forthcoming...

IMHO, That's not how it works.

The claimant has to have a medical examination by a registered Consultant. Only injuries noted as a result of that examination will be considered.
The claimant has to prove the injuries are a direct result of the accident.

My opinion is formed by having made a partially successful claim.

 

[Benzowner]

This is why we pay so much for our car insurance

 

[Dieselman]

This is why we pay so much for our car insurance

In my case, I would say the insurance company got off very lightly.

 

[Harrythedog]

People who claim for whiplash should be stopped from driving until they get medical clearance. That'll sort a few out

 

[John]

You may be surprised to hear that insurers often make pre medical offers, not so much now as they were made to look ridiculous arguing so many fraudulent claims and yet paying out without any evidence.

In LVI accidents it's not only medical evidence that is considered, often forensic engineering evidence plays a role. Ultimately though it often boils down to the credibility of the Claimant.

Fraudsters are often not the brightest bunch and regularly stitch themselves...Facebook is a regular source of material for insurers. Their intelligence is actually frightening and quite sophisticated. FB is at the crude end of the spectrum.

A genuine Claimant should have nothing to fear, somebody taking the Mick should. Heard of a case recently where Defendant Insurer proved fraud, they got a charge on the Claimants property and actually compelled sale. That is extreme and indeed rare but should be reported more as a warning to others.

My post was taken from a quote from a show on BBC1 about Crash for Cash a year or two ago - where the medical profession stated they could not disprove injury.

Looks like the industry has smartened up and got tougher!

 

[MDC250]

This is why we pay so much for our car insurance

Not really, common spin from the ever powerful Association of British Insurers. Quite how the Govt can invite stakeholders to discuss reforms of personal injury and omit pretty much everyone other than the ABI almost smacks of being in bed with the money men.

Nearly as common as the often spun notion that as much gets paid out in Solicitor/legal costs as does compensation.

Claims are generally on the decrease (every personal injury claim has to be registered with the Department for Works and Pensions) so those stats are irrefutable.

Changes in the system mean that all claims with a value up to £25k have to be submitted via the Ministry of Justice Portal (road traffic as well as employer, occupier and public liability claims).

If the claim remains in the scheme costs are formulaic and limited. If it falls out for example a liability dispute then costs are still drastically less than what they used to be.

All of this was gifted to insurers by the Govt on the promise that they would reduce premiums. They did for about 5 minutes and now one by one they are coming out publicly and saying they will have to put prices up.

That folks is on any interpretation a tragedy, access to justice has been decimated and insurers are laughing all the way to the next bonus pool not living up to their promises.

Oh and not sure of exact figures but seem to remember ABI collectively hold circa 25% of all privately held stocks and shares. Cynic in me finds it hard to accept they would swallow that kind of loss in terms of market crash over last few years. Even if you have had a reduced premium recently don't expect it to last/continue, this champagne receptions don't pay for themselves ;-)

 

[MDC250]

My post was taken from a quote from a show on BBC1 about Crash for Cash a year or two ago - where the medical profession stated they could not disprove injury. Looks like the industry has smartened up and got tougher!

Media sensationalising an issue? Never.

For once the media found a foe and common interest with the insurance industry.

Libel claims have been costing the press a shed load of money and I mean obscene sums of money.

Conditional Fee Agreements (no win/no fee) were brought in by previous administrations to plug a gap in an ever diminishing Legal Aid Budget.

Major flaw to a CFA is the uplift...if a claim goes to Trial you recover a 100% success fee, basically double legal costs.

Now would the press want to see an end to and restriction of legal costs? I'll leave you to decide that. But CFAs are pretty much dead now.

Great practical example of how whiplash works...take a medicine ball and throw it unexpectedly at a person sitting down. Ball is your head the force of it being thrown at you is a typical low end prang. That difficult to accept injury can occur?

All sorts of factors come into play...if you are not expecting impact, angle of impact, age, even gender plays a role (women atypically have smaller and therefore weaker necks).

Yes there is no definitive test for whiplash but it is well studied and the mechanism well understood. Inappropriate (Waddel) signs can be displayed by a Claimant which often means trying to swing the lead but not always as can be a sign of psychological overlay (whole different beast).

Current Govt is basically working towards accreditation for doctors to deal with medico legal reports. Not a bad idea in principle but will end up with schemes with fixed damages which is like trying to plug a round hole with a square peg.

Many a time an innocent looking injury has ultimately had a devastating impact and it is for those people I feel sorry for going forwards.

People who want to milk the system and get a holiday out of something and nothing I have no time for. The answer for those people is for insurers to fight and fit the Govt to legislate for harsher punishments that the Courts can then implement.

The crash for cash debacle emanates from allowing claims management companies onto the scene, thankfully the worst of those have gone with the abolition if referral fees and good riddance to them for the damage they have done.