Well probably... He will find out today once the insurers have looked at it. Our 98yo Aunt is in a Nursing Home and he went to collect the mail from her flat. Waiting to join a quiet residential street from her flat, a driver decided to leave the road, mount the pavement, and T bone his Zafira! Young girl, very upset, no injuries and my bruv felt sorry for her. Fortunately, a witness driving behind, saw it all in slow mo, and my bruv had presence of mind to get both her details and an immediate written statement, plus lots of photos. The witness wrote that the girl had been moving her downwards as though looking at her lap moments before she drove across the pavement. Texting she thought.
This happened Friday evening. The girl admitted total responsibility and both vehicles were towed away. Sat AM my bruv rings her to confirm details and her father tells him it's 'knock for knock' and that he distracted her! That's why she drove off the road, across the pavement, and into his stationary car. My brother read out the witness statement. There was no phone, she was admiring her new shoes he says!
I've told my bruv that his insurance will likely increase, despite him being the innocent party, although he thinks not. He is now speaking to his insurers legal dept because Ms K is lying through her teeth. And still awaiting a courtesy car for his gardening business. Which won't have a towbar.
Last edited by: legacylad on Mon 1 Aug 16 at 13:54
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"knock for knock' "
A meaningless term, just ignore it. Mind you, I'd include in your claim form that the girl's Father said she wasn't paying attention and was admiring her shoes.
Shout if there's anything you need.
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Update.
Dacia Duster courtesy car
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Who is the car from and who is paying for it?
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No idea No FM2R. I assume it has been provided by his insurers as part of the insurance package, but will speak with him this evening. Horror stories abound about these things.
He is quite ( very) disappointed to get a Dacia Duster, but he was promised an SUV and it was never going to be a Disco Sport or Ford Edge.
I imagine, having seen the pictures of the RTC, his '09 Zafira will be written off.
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Horror stories do abound, but panic not as the vast majority go through without issue.
It is just worth keeping a careful eye on what is going on. Courtesy cars can occasionally persuade unwary people to sign agreements that they should have read and considered first.
It is not that anything is likely to go wrong, it is that if anything does go wrong he will be thankful of any discipline he shows now.
An overly simplistic example; John Smith says "this car will never cost you a penny, even if we lose". - At least make a note of who said it, when and under what circumstances, better still get it in writing.
If in doubt, say and do nothing. Always take time to consider. The world will not end because someone takes a few hours to either think or consult.
I cannot remember if you have my cell phone number, but emails come directly to my phone in any case.
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I don't think allowing herself to be distracted by anything unless it was on a collision course would be any sort of defence even if it were true. Stick with the 'no fault' and the witness account.
If she will kindly put the new shoes bit in writing (no chance you might think) then as NoFM implies he is home and dry.
Inter alia,I once wrote, at the scene, a brief summary of a no-fault accident I had (circs too bizarre to explain again) and asked the other driver, who had admitted fault and apologised, if he agreed and would sign it. It didn't mention blame, just what had happened. He agreed, but before he signed it a policeman turned up, and the other party asked the copper if he had to sign it. The copper said "no", so the party gave me the pen back.
The copper then added, as an afterthought "it makes no difference anyway, the facts speak for themselves" so he signed it!
Weeks later, head office (it was a company car) wanted in effect to charge me the excess. The party had told a completely different story in his claim form, and had said it was my fault.
The satisfaction I experienced when I sent his insurers the photocopy of the very clear and contemporaneously agreed account has not been matched 30 years later.
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Unbelievable what people will do to try to shift the blame.
Hope it works out OK Legacylad
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>>Unbelievable what people will do to try to shift the blame.
It is, but in this case I suspect that the Father hasn't got the full, uncensored story.
It'd be a brave girl that would say to her Dad "Yeah, I was texting and not watching where I was going and so I ran into the side of another car".
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I was sitting at the traffic lights in Wavertree, Liverpool in 1978 and a plonker crashed into the back of me. I wrote
"I ran into the back of Mr madf's car when he was stationary at traffic lights" and got the driver to sign and date it.. No problems with insurers- My Triumph 2.5 PI had new rear bumper, rear panel and some beating of the rear wings.
His Escort was a write off..
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Haven't checked recently, but didn't policies used to state something like "Do not admit liability or the policy will be void"
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My bro was fibbing when he hold me that his courtesy car was a Dacia Duster.... He sent a pic of a 65 plate VW Sharan. Quite a decent courtesy car for the Vx, allowing him to continue his job.
It has been written off.... Now the fun & games start negotiating its value with the insurers. It was an ex mobility '09 diesel auto Zafira with only around 35k miles ( I think).
I have no idea of its value... Hope he didn't under insure it!
I don't know how much ££ he has to replace it, but with no p/ex it puts him in a good purchasing position....my mechanic pal sucked his teeth when I mentioned 'Vx diesel Zafira'. I'd like an E class with tow bar, or SMax to replace it.
Time will tell
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Best of luck for sorting out the replacement car for your brother. There should be compensation for lost time with this kind of stuff too after accidents. Finding a replacement car takes time and time is money.
I can't see how she can claim it was in any way his fault. His car was stationary and she T-boned it. Was he even in it?
If she has any sense she'll get her insurer to pay out ASAP and accept responsibility. Although it's possible to prove someone was texting it might be harder to prove she was looking at Twitter or Facebook. Those two might be more likely these days.
.. as for admiring shoes... do you think she could even see them whilst driving if she was wearing them?
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 2 Aug 16 at 17:29
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The 'at fault' driver has now accepted full liability and is no longer in dispute...my bro emailed several photos to his insurers, and the letter from the independent witness. Repair cost was £3500. His ex car was immaculate inside & out... Only 23k miles not 35k. I've not heard from him what the insurers have offered yet.
I think the other driver was very fortunate not to be charged with driving without due care and attention, seeing as she mounted the pavement and T boned his OS front wing and door.
I'm going have a look on AT and see what prices for a replacement Vx are in the same condition. I think he will have to negotiate hard with his insurer, although he gets to keep the courtesy vehicle for 7 days after an agreement is reached. Very fair in the circumstances.
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>> I think the other driver was very fortunate not to be charged with driving without
>> due care and attention, seeing as she mounted the pavement and T boned his OS
>> front wing and door.
Did the police attend? They're not usually bothered if there are no injuries. However call an ambulance and they'll arrive en masse.
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He rang the police but as no one was injured they did not attend.... I would have said that the accident involved dangerous driving. Maybe they would have then.
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>> I'm going have a look on AT and see what prices for a replacement Vx
>> are in the same condition. I think he will have to negotiate hard with his
>> insurer, although he gets to keep the courtesy vehicle for 7 days after an agreement
>> is reached. Very fair in the circumstances.
For goodness sake! Give the poor bloke a break. Can't he have something other than a blasted Vauxhall as a replacement?
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I'm not going to suggest a replacement Dunc! Your sentiments echo mine. Just curious as to what his insurers will pay out... He should be put back in the position he was in ( car wise) pre accident. A similar spec on AT, private sale, is £4.5k, less any negotiation.
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When my wife's beloved Beetle was written off I scoured Auto trader and VW dealers to get the ammunition to fight the settlement figure.
They then offered higher than any figure I had seen and stacked as evidence!
So don't necessarily fear the worse!
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>> I have no idea of its value... Hope he didn't under insure it!
Market value most probably.
Basically they'll offer him what it would cost to buy a similar spec model, with similar mileage etc, from a dealers forecourt.
The settlement price won't be as bad as you might think it would be. It'll be a lot more than the trade in value, and more than what a private seller would want.
>> For goodness sake! Give the poor bloke a break. Can't he have something other than a blasted Vauxhall as a replacement?
For goodness sake, change the record.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 3 Aug 16 at 01:36
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I have no experience of having a write off but I would imagine the offer will always start out as reasonably fair. Otherwise the insurer will waste time (and therefore money) negotiating.
Time to upgrade to a newer car. Nothing wrong with Vauxhalls (I prefer VAG but VX is better than Ford IMO). Maybe a chance to get something more appropriate. Is this for business only?
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 3 Aug 16 at 01:51
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As a rule the insurer offer is quite reasonable compared to the market value. Often optimistic.
Equally, the insurer offer compared to owner's valuation is often wildly different.
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>> As a rule the insurer offer is quite reasonable compared to the market value. Often
>> optimistic.
>>
That's certainly my real world experience, based on SWMBO's two written off Zafiras in a year (neither her fault!) I wouldn't have given more than a grand for the first one (the one that caught fire) - 162K on the clock and tatty - but they offered 1600 quid :-)
>> Equally, the insurer offer compared to owner's valuation is often wildly different.
>>
As a bangernomics buyer there's certainly no shortage of sellers who think a 10 year old car is magically worth double because it's shiny and has FSH.
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I know someone who decided not to p/ex his car in order to receive a small discount. He eventually sold his '04 Pug 307 for 40% of his original asking price, plus the hassle of time wasters & AT costs.
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So this Zafira was one of the ones prone to catching fire wasn't it? Could be a blessing it was written off.
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>> So this Zafira was one of the ones prone to catching fire wasn't it? Could
>> be a blessing it was written off.
>>
Nah, speaking as a trailblazer in Zafira fire terms;, this was a Zafira A; the ones prone to catching fire are the later model, Zafira B. I reckon SWMBO's caught fire due to a sudden oil leak onto the exhaust manifold. It would've been nicer if we weren't in the middle of nowhere in North Cornwall, with family + luggage + dog in the car at the time!
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He really, really liked his Zafira. And his previous one ('04 plate) which was a good workhorse until it rotted away. Fuel consumption averaged 35mpg which I thought pretty poor for a 1.9 diesel although it was an auto and had poor aerodynamics. And mimsing, lots of, was involved. No choice really!
I'm not getting involved in its replacement.
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>> Fuel consumption averaged 35mpg which I thought pretty poor
>> for a 1.9 diesel although it was an auto and had poor aerodynamics.
>>
That is pretty poor; having had 3 Zafira As over a 10 year period they all averaged around 33 around town and 40 on a gentle motorway cruise - that was the 1.8 petrol with manual box. Really roomy, practical vehicles, quite nice to drive, I'd have another - although clearly not something to buy for the adrenaline rush....
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>> although clearly not something to buy for the adrenaline rush....
Unless it's the Zafira VXR ;)
www.vauxhall.co.uk/microapps/vxr/archive/zafira/performance.html
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Latest update he is thinking of returning the courtesy vehicle and buying either an Impreza 1.6 petrol auto or Ford B Max. Had test drives in both from garages already, although not heard from insurers yet on the payout.
Best not getting involved methinks...
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My neighbor's cleaning lady had a Zafira and swapped it for a B Max about 6 months ago. This morning she turned up in a 15 reg Porsche Cayenne.
I've been down to Halfords to get some L plates for the Dyson and Mrs K has agreed to start giving me lessons this weekend.
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>> I've been down to Halfords to get some L plates for the Dyson and Mrs
>> K has agreed to start giving me lessons this weekend.
>>
I'm waiting 'til they start selling 'autonomous' ones.....
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At least if your cleaning lady has a Cayenne she should be able to get through to do the dusting when it's snowy
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The insurers initially offered £4.5k ( '09 1.9 diesel Zafira 35k miles) increasing it to £5k which he accepted. Now bought a second hand BMax 1.6 petrol auto ( power shift) from a local garage. I think it's a year, maybe two, old. About £8k
From date of accident to replacement vehicle less than a week. He is very happy.
Ironic really that I sold my 330 for £5k......
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Vauxhall Zafira B - My brothers car written off - No FM2R
