Advice for accident

[Geoandre]

Let me share some incidents, hopefully it will help to navigate better if any forum member happens to meet such events in the future.

 

1. TAXI

Long time ago. Travelling on the left lane when suddenly a taxi sped past on the right & before I could react, suddenly cut in into my lane & jammed brake to pick up a passenger(there was no such thing as car camera then). The damage was very minimal & my Jap car did not have any damage at all; couldn't even tell the scratch/dent was new or old as it was not a new cab. The cab driver started swearing & even took out a stick to threaten me. Warned me that as long as my car hit the rear, I must pay up. I was at a loss. Finally was made to compensate $50 for the 'damage' & it was quite a sum then. It was like daylight robbery.

 

2. DECENT-LOOKING GENTLEMAN

An MPV hit my relatively new conti car from the back. The MPV driver admitted fault & begged to settle privately, even used his baby as negotiating tool. Agreed to his request & was kind enough to repair/respray the bumper instead of changing to a new one just to help him to mitigate the cost. Weeks later after settlement; received a call from him, asking for my help to sign some paperwork. Drove down to his workplace, realised he had secretly filed a police report & was unable to renew his insurance policy due to pending case. What a jerk!

 

3. RELIGIOUS-LOOKING MOTOR-CYCLIST

Whilst turning into my workplace, a speeding power bike hit my car from the left back passenger door. It caused quite a damage. Until now, I have a phobia whenever making a left turn. Immediately tended to him & requested my company security officer to call the ambulance as the rider seemed to be in pain. Meanwhile I called the Police. Based on the positions of my car & the bike & the point of impact, the Traffic Police was certain the biker was speeding & at fault. The case was closed with a traffic summon & demerit points issued to the biker. Years later, I received notice from my insurance that the biker has filed claim for injuries, medical & loss of income etc. Cut the long story, the biker submitted a claim of over $60K! I wanted to proceed to trial as the pre-trial judge also agreed that the biker was at fault. However for whatever reason, the defending insurance lawyer insisted to settle & even agreed to pay 50% of the claim(which was >$30K). Upon my resistance & insistence & even threatened to call my insurer directly, both parties' lawyers finally settled at $12K. 

 

Have left out the details as would be too lengthy, hope this gives you a picture of the world out there. Have fun.

It is never easy to prove the other party to be 100% liable. Some are prepared to lie, cheat & even change statements later & usually with the advice of their lawyer or workshop. Most judicial outcome would end up to be a shared liability to both parties.

Hence:

 

1. the other party will inflate the claim as much as possible, knowing it will eventually be apportioned by percentage.

2. knowing the defending lawyer will try to avoid trial as it can be expensive & the outcome can be uncertain depending on the trial judge.

3. insurer does not want to go through full trials due to the uncertainty with outcome & costs.

 

Also to note:

1. the trial judge has a tendency to be sympathetic towards the 'lesser' party (cyclist, bikers..etc) with injury in the decision. 

2. to the lawyer, the truth is not important but the facts are. And so-called 'facts' can be manipulated like speed, traffic flow, signals, weather, injury, damage.......etc

3. most of the lawyers know one another & in some cases, they do communicate.

4. have even come across legal firm being the legal adviser to both parties & it becomes tricky. 

 

A good dash cam is a necessary investment. 

[JCSL]

Dear Sir/Madams, I finally bought a new car recently after years of working and saving up. However last week I had met with a car accident and had been traumatised by the accident. The accident was totally not my fault and the other driver whom is driving a rental is claiming 3rd party damages against my insurance. 

 

I was travelling on a major road going straight and the other driver was approaching from my left with STOP wording and DOUBLE BROKEN WHITE lines on the road. I did not drive fast but the driver just abruptly drove out from the left side and his top right bonnet crashed into my top left bonnet. He had a kid and wife in the car, where his wife claimed to be feeling unwell after the accident. Although I felt his wife was over-exaggerating but giving her the benefit of the doubt, we called in the Traffic Police and ambulance. 

 

I basically had the right of way and he just drove out without checking for oncoming traffic imo. He claimed that he checked for all blindspots and only drove out when the traffic from the right was clear. There was a tree blocing both of our views but how can the traffic be clear as per what he claimed.  But the other driver started scolding me that I was driving fast and could not stop in time to avoid him after the accident happened! He even asked me to write a letter stating that I am in wrong for the accident, which I did not write the letter. I told him that we should leave it up to the insurance companies to settle this matter.

 

I claimed 3rd party damages for my car against the rental car insurer as it was not my fault. A few days ago I received news from my insurer that the a 3rd party claim had been filed against my insurer. What I cannot believe is that the other driver is claiming injuries for his whole family(Other driver: spinal injury, Kid: Chest pain and bruise on forehead, Wife: Bruise and hip injury)! How can they do this? The cars were slightly damaged only! On the accident day, when the paramedics and TP asked the other driver and kid if they were alright on that day, they replied that they were alright. Only the wife was conveyed to hospital by ambulance. My insurer is putting a reserve amount of 20k SGD for this 3rd party claim pending investigation outcome. This is not right!

 

I am very unhappy about this matter and would like to seek advice on what I should do. I want to make sure I am not penalised and would not have to accept any liability for this accident.

 

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Personally the way i see your case, you will win the case from experience of being in the claims business. 

 

Reasons:

1. There is a STOP line

2. Small road entering main road

3. You were going straight

 

Dont worry about the 3rd party claim against you, he can claim all he want, it wont go thru. Anyone can file 3rd party claim when an accident happen, whether at fault or not. 20k reserve amount is almost standard, so in other words if case not close fast, they will put the reserve sum as a back up and your next year insurance renewal will increase but if the case is close with you being less than 20% liability, you will not have ur NCD affected and whatever amout paid for renewal in excess will be refunded to you.

 

Forget about his statements, he can say what he want, i ever did a statement for a claim and the driver claim that "the tree shouldnt have been there" when he knocked onto a tree...

[Pocy]

Did TS travel straight or filtering to the next lane when accident happened?

[Volvobrick]

I just don't understand why people can spend 70k or 100k on a new car but can't spend 50 bucks (or less) on a dash cam.... That's less than one tank of fuel.

[wjong]

Did TS travel straight or filtering to the next lane when accident happened?

I am travelling straight and there is only 1 lane.

[Ricky_doodle]

Deleted

Edited October 30, 2018 by Ricky_doodle

[wjong]

I just don't understand why people can spend 70k or 100k on a new car but can't spend 50 bucks (or less) on a dash cam.... That's less than one tank of fuel.

 

I agree and lesson learnt. But I think a good dashcam costs more than 50 bucks though. I have to get new dashcam, one with cloud syncing capability. Any recommendations and is an extra battery needed for Parking Mode?

[Volvobrick]

50 dollars can get very good one already with Full HD plus. With HDR. Parking monitor if activated. What else do you want?

[t0y0ta]

50 dollars can get very good one already with Full HD plus. With HDR. Parking monitor if activated. What else do you want?

 

Brother... TS already clarify that he has car cam, but it didn't work fully so no video downloaded. Best you read thread first before blasting him.

 

IMHO... not always about expensive cam.... those branded ones like Blackvue many also kaput under the sun.

 

Cam not working when needed can happen to anyone... with any cam..

 

Peace....

[t0y0ta]

Ok noted. I do not see any medical reports attached to the other party's insurance report.

 

Do not think there is loop-hole here.

 

Medical reports can be conjured up with any "imagined" injury anytime.

 

I have even seen witnesses being conjured up.

 

There is an entire industry behind the workshops that manufacture these type of claims.

[Ricky_doodle]

50 dollars can get very good one already with Full HD plus. With HDR. Parking monitor if activated. What else do you want?

In my opinion, TS has been very respectful throughout when asking for feedback and has been very receptive to all comments.

 

He is already feeling very stressed out by the ordeal. The least we can do is to provide constructive feedback, or none, if you are unable to provide any.

 

I believe you have a camera that you are aware of, based on the price and features which you have mentioned. Will you be able to help TS or even the rest of us here what this particular brand and model of camera is, and maybe even the place to purchase it?

 

Yes it may sound like spoon-feeding to some, but what's a little help to a forum bro here? Won't hurt right?

[inlinesix]

Brother... TS already clarify that he has car cam, but it didn't work fully so no video downloaded. Best you read thread first before blasting him.

 

IMHO... not always about expensive cam.... those branded ones like Blackvue many also kaput under the sun.

 

Cam not working when needed can happen to anyone... with any cam..

 

Peace....

 

My 1st blackvue kaput under the sun.  Got a replacement which i need to clean up the lens 3 yrs later.

 

My current Blackvue no issue since i bought it.

 

Using apps, i could download video directly.

I agree and lesson learnt. But I think a good dashcam costs more than 50 bucks though. I have to get new dashcam, one with cloud syncing capability. Any recommendations and is an extra battery needed for Parking Mode?

 

I have been using Blackvue for some years.  Video is downloaded directly through apps to phone.

[Philipkee]

I agree and lesson learnt. But I think a good dashcam costs more than 50 bucks though. I have to get new dashcam, one with cloud syncing capability. Any recommendations and is an extra battery needed for Parking Mode?

Hi TS

 

One lesson to learn. Don't expect miracles from your camera because based on your story, it was a hit from an angle so a front back camera might not save you. One experience was when at customs a motorcyclist accused me of scraping my rim against his ankle. My query is that i never hit the motorcycle or him so isnt it his fault that he rested his leg aganst my wheel? No footage so I paid $100 to settle it on the spot cos the customs officers were involved (it happened at the queue itself) and I did not want to escalate it.

 

For this reason at traffic junctions if there was a motorcycle beside me I let him move off first now cos there is the chance he put his leg in front of my wheel.....

 

But I have cameras now and who knows it might save me one day....

[wjong]

Just an update.. I got back my car from workshop with car repaired.. The 3rd party claim against me still under investigation and my insurer said that they will not anyhow make payment for this 3rd party claim. Still awaiting TP investigation outcome but I guess I should be fine based on TP investigation officer's conversation with me. I bought iroad dashcam(wifi) with a batt pack for parking mode to replace my old dashcam. 

[Geoandre]

Just an update.. I got back my car from workshop with car repaired.. The 3rd party claim against me still under investigation and my insurer said that they will not anyhow make payment for this 3rd party claim. Still awaiting TP investigation outcome but I guess I should be fine based on TP investigation officer's conversation with me. I bought iroad dashcam(wifi) with a batt pack for parking mode to replace my old dashcam. 

Keep your fingers crossed, hope the other driver does not play foul & file claim against you for personal injuries, medical & loss of income later. This can still happen even when the IO has concluded the investigation & found you 100% not at fault. So meanwhile do take whatever measures you can think of to avoid such an event, it is best you seek legal advice from your insurer as they are a party of interest too. Going through the legal defence process is a real pain itself & generates lots of anguish & angst as there is nothing you can do to stop others to take financial advantage of the loopholes. 

[LimShiMin]

usually when your insurance says wont anyhow pay

they will always seek some settlement with the other insurance company

like maybe 50 / 50%. which is still stupid in view its not our fault

 

I Once had encountered an accident. A car crashed into my back. I thought this is a clear cut who is at fault scenario. We were on a straight road. the other party claimed that i had suddenly cut into her lane and jam braked. Causing that collison.

 

Our insurance wanted to settle with the other insurance on a 50 / 50 liability too. So we refused and passed this case to someone to settle for us. A third party workshop which fixed everything and did the claim. Lucky for us, they managed to get some eye witness and a video from a car cam behind.

 

Went all the way to court to fight this out. The other party scrapped the car halfway into our prolonged 2 year battle. Finally, was ruled in our favour and we could claim 100% against that accident party. 

 

All the pain and time wasted for court and etc. If only we had a dash cam. 

[wjong]

Latest update: The other party went to see a doctor 3 weeks after the accident to get a medical report to claim me for injuries and damages in total of 20,000 plus sgd! I received lawyer letter recently which was sent to me and my insurer to claim against me. This is a joke. TP report still not out yet. Should I engage a lawyer to countersue him back? This is really making me unhappy that there are still people who is trying to milk money out of this accident.

Edited November 29, 2018 by wjong

[Geoandre]

Latest update: The other party went to see a doctor 3 weeks after the accident to get a medical report to claim me for injuries and damages in total of 20,000 plus sgd! I received lawyer letter recently which was sent to me and my insurer to claim against me. This is a joke. TP report still not out yet. Should I engage a lawyer to countersue him back? This is really making me unhappy that there are still people who is trying to milk money out of this accident.

Just my view based in trust your description of the accident:

 

1. Communicate with the TP IO to check on final finding & when will be the official report completed. He must have given you his contact details during the interview.

2. Seek advice from Insurer on next steps & be firm with your stand.

3. Consult a lawyer "specializes" in motor claims, a seasoned workshop will be able to recommend one. It takes a crook to catch one.

 

In order to play the same game as a defensive measure, one should also visit a doctor 'regularly' to file complaints on headache, neck pain, spinal injury, cold sweat....etc after the accident. This is to put on record just in case......I can assure you no doctor can be 100% certain you are not telling the truth even with extensive checks & scans. But please don't do it purely to cheat innocent party!

 

Most importantly, do not walk away. Do your best to handle this challenge. Otherwise this event can haunt you the rest of your life (as long as you drive). You'll start to question the word 'justice' & the judiciary system in place. The entire experience is not going to be a pleasant one.