[timbob]

Many weeks ago now, my daughter was on her way to work and this happened:
View attachment 59721

Caused by this:

It was on HER side of the road on a bend, but the insurers say it's 50/50 because 'that's what usually happpens on narrow country lanes'. She tried to steer away to avoid contact, but he didn't.

Here's the proof about what side it was on:


The small pile of dirt is from her o/s wheel arch. The tractor had at least 9 ft of empty road to use on it's n/s, but chose not to.

He said she lost control and skidded into him ( at 15 mph) but the dashcam proved him wrong there.

Who's to blame?

The insurers also tried to convince my daughter that the Highway Code says that large vehicles 'have priority' (Rule 221). Gross misrepresentation of the Highway Code at least!

Car is writtten off, she will lose her NCB and will have increased premiiums.

Feckin' tractor drivers!

 

[Roma]

Thats not good. With the evidence she has can she not appeal that decision. Hope she can. I had a similar situation but had a solicitor to fight it and i won , now i have a dash camera.

 

[storeman]

Were the police involved. The attachments aren't working so we can't see what you've tried to post but if it was obvious that the tractor driver was at fault then the video footage would have been used in the police investigation perhaps leading to prosecution and a successful insurance claim.

Not sure if you can retrospectively involve the police. It may be worth enquiring.

 

[timbob]

Not sure why the pix arent loading?

The dashcam shows that 'both parties were on their own side of the road' according too the insurers. The dashcam was not so clear due to reflection from the 107 dash, but the pix should have supported the facts. The insurers simply want to take the path of least resistance.

Police weren't called and the tractor driver moved the vehicles within minutes, before I could get there to take pix. I have considered contacting the Police, but really shouldn't have needed to.

Dealing with her OWN insurers has been so stressful, it would have been easier to deal with the third party insurer I reckon.

In case anyone is considering using 'quotemehappy' as their provider....DON'T!

For those that are interested.....Highwway Code Rule 221:

Large vehicles. These may need extra road space to turn or to deal with a hazard that you are not able to see. If you are following a large vehicle, such as a bus or articulated lorry, be aware that the driver may not be able to see you in the mirrors. Be prepared to stop and wait if it needs room or time to turn.

Doesn't really say that large vehicles have priority, especially when they come around a bend on your side of the road does it?

The small pile of dirt on the left of the pic is from her o/s arch. The rest of the road was his to monopolise.

 

[reliable406]

If the width of the road is such that they could have passed side by side then the tractor driver was in the wrong if he was indeed cutting the corner.

Take a pic of a car on the road or even better 2 cars passing each other its up to YOU to prove they were wrong your insurance company are useless as with all of them !!

Measure the road width and get onto the tractor drivers insurance company not your own they are dealing with it yours will just tell you any bollox to get you off the phone !

As for naming and shaming they are ALL rubbish in my experience

We had something where the other party was obviously at fault and their insurance company tried to say they were not took a year to sort out and we ended up with much more than we originally wanted as we got so pissed off we claimed for extra stuff !!

 

[IanML]

Reliable406 is right on the money - don't use your insurer to deal with it - get onto the tractor's insurer and hold them fully responsible - if they won't pay, take them to court. They usually cave in when they hear that.

If you have sufficient photographic evidence, it is not too late to report it to the police, using the words "careless driving on the part of the tractor driver". You'll have to make a statement, and that should prompt a notice of intended prosecution to the tractor driver. He will have to report that to his insurer, and that will add weight to your case.

 

[timbob]

Thanks for the replies chaps. I have measured the road and given that information to her insurance, but they are simply ignoring it. They keep saying that they have reviewed the dashcam footage and 'in their opinion' it shows that each driver was on their own side of the road! I keep explaining that the pix show the size of the road, where my daughters car was positioned, the amount of room etc They ignore it. Maybe a pic of two cars or tractors (as you say reliable406) might help, but I doubt it.

I'm now in the process of going through the FOS having exhausted the complaints procedure at quotemehappy. Not sure what that will do, but got to try.

I would go through the third party insurer, (NFU naturally) but have had enough stress and wasted time just fighting her OWN insurer.

I had planned to see a solicitor, simply to get his view on it all. They offer a 15 min free surgery at my local one, but can't see them until next Thursday. If he advises don't fight it then I'll tell my daughter to take what she's got and move on.

IanML, in a way, the Police are involved because a passer by that lives right by the corner has offered a witness statement to say this particular tractor driver often drives in such an oblivious manner. She is quite high up as a SOCO. I mentioned this to the insurance but again it was completely ignored, maybe because it would just be 'hearsay' because she didn't see the collision, arriving a minute after.


The Police could still be an option, but the threat by quotemehappy that a court case 'could find her totally at fault' is concerning, because the third party apparently stopped a 'split second' before my daughter.
Really, you have to watch it over and over to catch it, but the insurers have seized on it. Bearing in mind he had a better line of sight being high up and that my daughter tried to avoid him by steering to the left ( as much as she could given she was so tight in the corner) in a controlled brake. He made no effort to do so, but if he had, it would have been all OK and they would have not collided. Many many times, cars and tractors pass safely here, it's just down the road from us so we know and which is why she was so cautious.

I'd like you all to see the footage but how do I upload it????

 

[reliable406]

Forget fighting with YOUR insurance company get onto HIS yours are plonkers insurance companies look for the cheapest option and are trying to bully you into accepting the lowest offer.

As for a court case finding her at fault it does not matter who stopped first if he was on the wrong side of the road he was in the wrong its all down to what you would reasonably expect another driver to do/be on the corner.

In our case the other party drove out a side road onto a dual 50 mph road we moved out to lane 2 as we seen them keep going then they decided they wanted lane 2 !! we hit their rear but it was still caused by them as we had nowhere to go.

Her insurance also wanted 50/50 we dug in said no.

 

[timbob]

Don't worry, we're digging in alright. My daughter is mobile again, her car isn't as pretty as it was, but it gets here where she wants.

We're happy to wait it out and get the most out of them. If I go to HIS insurer, she could only expect the car to be repaired, so back to where it was before he hit it. She would have been happy with that, but the attitude of her insurer has irked me somewhat, so we're going for what we can now.

At the moment, I have managed to get a decent PAV on her car and got a local bodyshop to give me a good price to fix it.

The only problem is the 50/50 decision because it simply isn't correct and has higher future premium costs attached to it ( despite them saying shouldn't have any impact). As you say, it's the easy way out for the insurer.