Today is a day of victory! For I was able to win my car insurance liability dispute. Hurrah!
For those who might've not known, a quick summary of events: basically I had turned left into a Coles Express site, to be impact with another car who had gone onto the road shoulder to by pass the line to get to a slip-lane after the Coles Express store. What followed was about $4000 worth of damages for my poor SAM and insurance, while first inclined to not assign liabilities to me, then turned around and said that it was not completely clear and liability was currently sitting with me.
Not to go too deep into the debates and arguments, after about 6 weeks, the claim is finally resolved in my favour. This has been hanging over my head for so long, cause it's $900 excess that I cannot afford at this point after recently quitting the CSC and cutting back on work hours. Not to mention savings for my Asia holiday trip.
What I would like to record are the steps I took to win the argument, so that others may also learn from my Insurance Turnabout episode (I've also been recently playing Phoenix Wright Attorney on NDS emulator hehe OBJECTION!). Basically, here is what I've learnt:
At the scene
It is important to document as much as you can on the scene. Photos are the most valuable things you can get, so hopefully your phone can take photos. Take photos of 1. your car damages 2. other party's damages 3. location, specifically road markings. These photos will most likely only be used as evidence if the case goes to court, which is very unlikely. But they will help you remember the incident and what has happened as weeks go by (and insurance claims can take a very long time!).
Also, obviously take all the other parties details. Name, phone number, licence plate (take a photo too), address and insurer. Be polite and make sure the other is OK. It never hurts to be nice, as most of the arguing will be spent with insurance. Don't spend time arguing about who is right or not, as ultimately that is all decided by insurance. NEVER admit that you are in the wrong, even if you're pretty sure you are. Until you have thoroughly looked at the road situation, you may be in the right.
Witnesses are good to have. In my case, I did not have any, so I'm not too sure how involve they become in drawn out cases, but I'm pretty sure they would be very helpful. Most cars won't stop to help you, so if you know someone saw something, try and flag them down safely and grab their contact details at least.
Obviously if you're car is not drivable, you will need to contact off-road assistance. If people are hurt, I believe you need to call the police and obviously any medical assistance if required. This falls outside of my scope.
Notifying Insurance
From my experience and other's, it best to contact insurance as soon as possible. Get the ball rolling, especially if your car needs repairs. Before you call them, take a few minutes to collect yourself and prepare what your statement will be. The guy I spoke to in this incident was very helpful in phrasing what I want to say. Some insurance people may not be as good.
What is important is that your story matches 1. the evidence/damages and 2. road situation. Remember, the insurance was NOT with you at the time of accident. So while it may be obvious to you, keep in mind that these people may not even drive in your area. Keep it simple and to the facts. They do use Google maps, so have a look yourself before you call.
If you are not sure if you are at fault, another thing you can do to assert your position is call your local police station. They enforce all road rules, do NOT call VicRoads for clarification of road rules/markings. The police will have a traffic department that will confirm whether or not something is legal or not.
In the long run
Never give up. My friend William gave me this piece of advice: Insurance companies are bastards and will 90% try and take your money. Don't feel intimidate or flustered when they call you up to tell you are at liability. Simply ask the reasons why and logically dispute it. Don't get defensive, just point out the facts that you believe makes the other party liable and ask them to explain why this isn't valid.
Insurance companies expect people to dispute when they are at liability. I was told to fill in a mailed traffic diagram to explain what happened, which was good as I was able to more clearly explained what happened. I believe this is what tip the decision in my favour. I described a situation that clearly saw the other party's car leaving off the road, based on the evidence that the speed that the car hit me at (shown by the damages), it couldn't of been directly behind me. As the Coles Express entrance was only just after the single lane, the other party must've left the road and therefore illegally created their own lane. (TAKE THAT!)
Do everything and then forget about it
What I wasn't able to do. Dealing with insurance is stressful and requires a lot of patience. Whenever you are frustrated with the situation, just remember this: What can be done to see that the situation is turned out in your favour? Have you done it? If you have, you cannot do anymore, so forget about it.
This has turned into a very long post, so I will stop there. Goes without saying that I am very relieved and happy =]
teoh,
