3rd Party Insurance Claim

[Dave A]

another guy gave me more advice-
try to get 3 of the most expensive quotes
and see if they will pay me out in cash for the lowest of the 3

then take my vehicle & the money & go to one of the cheaper guys- that way i can get something out of it, as apart from the damage to the vehicle- its also causing a big inconvenience

Be careful of the counsel you keep. Some doors should not be opened, my friend.

[msmoorad]

Be careful of the counsel you keep. Some doors should not be opened, my friend.

dont worry- i was just "thinking aloud"
not going to do that, as tempting as it seems.

and in response to flaker
yes, i thought of that too
just hope and pray it does not end up there
though, from all the feedback/advice i have been receiving, it seems unlikely that the other party can escape liability-seeing how its clear they hit me from behind.
if i had entered Umbilo Rd without checking for approaching vehicles, i would have been hit in the front left side-which is not the case.

and i was going slowly- enough time for approaching vehicles to see me and slow down if they need to.
it was raining- so slippery road could play a part.
irrespective of whether i did something wrong, he was also speeding- going really fast.
and if he were not doing that, he would have been able to stop in time or would have had the time to change lanes to avoid me.

another thing-owner says companys not responsible- only the driver and only he is responsible/liable to pay- if its decided in COURT , which is where she wants to go.
dont see how she can avoid it
it was company employee. driving company vehicle, during business hours and most likely doing company business.

[Hermes14]

-last thing I remember doing after the accident was turning off my indicators

Why did you turn your indicator off?
If the traffic officer that arrived at the scene gets called to testify he is going to say they he could not find any evidence that the indicator was on.
Never touch anything until all the evidence has been captured & keep all looters away from the scene.
Here are a few pointers to note when you are involved in an accident.
Try and take as many photos of the accident scene as possible concentrating more on the vicinity than the vehicles itself, also try & capture as much footage of the debris, skid marks & anything else that that could provide evidence of what happened.
Take a photo of the other vehicle’s licence disk & number plate.
As soon as the first tow truck comes racing to the accident scene & stops right next one of the vehicles that he wants to tow, take a photo of it as well.
Try & capture his number plate as well as his company logo on his vehicle. (He will most probably try & get you to delete the photos of his vehicle with in the scene as he could be charged with destroying evidence)
If either you or your passengers are injured in the accident let the doctor that is examining you know that you are intending to claim for injuries as there is a form that he must fill in which the court will require.

tow truck guys took his van away and they asked me what I want to do

Due to the fact that you don’t have insurance & if you were unable to drive the vehicle or get a friend to drive it for you, should have first asked him how much is he going to charge you & got him to tow the vehicle to either your house or a friend’s whichever is closer. The standard rate is about R650-00 I have talked tow truck driver down to R300-00 before.

The first thing I would do now if I was you would be to all the shops in the vicinity & ask them if they have any cctv cameras that might have captured the incident & try to trace anybody that might have witnessed the accident.

If you have an attorney advise him/her that if the matter goes to court you want to claim costs incurred from the accused party.
You might need a road accident reconstruction specialist (not a fly by night) to prove that the other party was negligent.
I have done road accident reconstructions before but I am not a specialist.
If you were in the Gauteng area I would have put you in contact with a friend of mine who is a specialist. The last time we spoke he still had 100% success rate on the cases he took on.
N.B. don’t be fooled by an orange light & a nice big badge on the side of his vehicle.
A lot of these guys who claim to be accident reconstruction specialist don’t know their ass from their elbow.
If you do decide to employ an accident reconstruction specialist, ask him to show you a few accidents that he has investigated & for a few references as well if possible.

[msmoorad]

has anyone done an RAF claim on their own?
im thinking about it.

lawyers take too much money and if i use one,i dont think im going to get enough for 2 people!

the pain on my leg and the back of my head still persists

i told the police officer writing my Accident Report that i suffered only minimal injuries but still...
and since legally, im entitled to claim

although im hearing the RAF has become stricter & they ONLY pay when theres a fracture or a serious injury?
that does not seem correct as im also paying/contributing towards the tax/levy they impose on all vehicles at the petrol pump.

any input/advice?

[Mangaliso]

Sounds like they're playing the blame apportioning game. But even then, there certainly seems to be a problem with their maths.

If you are confident you didn't contribute to the cause of the accident (other than unfortunatley being there), my suggestion:
Don't sign acceptance of their offer (that's all it is).
Respond by instructing an attorney to issue summons for the full quantum of your damages against the driver (and/or owner if the vehicle was being used for business) of the other vehicle.

I think Dave A, is correct.

[Dave S]

I was in an accident, fault was not on my side. The other driver did not stop at the yield sign and collided into me. I am trying to claim from 3rd party but they are now applying the law of damages and delict, whereby they only pay 60% of the damages. My damages amount to around R35 000.00. They now say that i have to contribute to 40% of the damages as they say that i am liable for 40%. After all of their calculations i am told that they will only pay me R5373.24.
Can anyone please help shed some light on this, don't i have any rights re this? Sadly i dont have vehicle insurance.

In SA a yield sign, with a few exceptions, means you must yield "right-of-way" to a vehicle approaching from your right, and is very critical of which vehicle was in the intersection first. Many motorists seem to think that a Stop sign has a higher priority than a Yield sign, for instance, at a 4-way stop, where vehicles turning left have to yield, many people make the mistake of thinking that the vehicle at the yield can proceed before that vehicle at the stop, this is not the case, if the vehicle at the stop has stopped "for a period of not less than 5 seconds", this vehicle will have right-of-way over the yielded vehicle, the yielded vehicle does not have a "5-second rule" and the "wait time" is indefinite.

A "yield sign accident" is one of the most controversial of our motoring laws, and also the scenario where insurance companies have a fair chance of applying a "proportion" of damages. There are many factors that they will look at, 1. Which vehicle collided into which, in other words which vehicle was already in the intersection. 2. Which vehicle applied the brake first, in other words which driver saw the potential for an accident first and/or did either of the drivers fail to apply brake at all. 3. What were the approach speeds of the relative vehicles. They will make many more considerations to ensure the minimum payout to either party.

As the info you have included is very vague, it is impossible to say whether you would have the stronger case or not, best advice, seek an attorney who deals specifically with motoring law.

Good Luck...

[Santosh]

Sounds like they're playing the blame apportioning game. But even then, there certainly seems to be a problem with their maths.

If you are confident you didn't contribute to the cause of the accident (other than unfortunatley being there), my suggestion:
Don't sign acceptance of their offer (that's all it is).
Respond by instructing an attorney to issue summons for the full quantum of your damages against the driver (and/or owner if the vehicle was being used for business) of the other vehicle.

I had an accident 2 weeks back whereby i was proceeding through a traffic light controlled intersection with a green light when a vehicle turning right proceded to turn when i was halfway across, i tried swerving out of his way but he drove right into my vehicle.

I have no insurance and am in process of claiming form his who submitted me the below:

We have assessed the merits and came to the conclusion that there was negligence on both sides.



Most court cases based on similar incidents would be settled on an apportionment basis. This apportion can be 70/30% or 80/20%.



Even though a greater duty of care rests on the person turning right at a traffic controlled intersection, there is also a duty of care on the approaching vehicle.



Oncoming traffic does not incur an obligation to stop or slow down when a driver, who has signalled his intention to turn, directs his vehicle towards the middle of the road preparatory to doing so. He must however, keep such vehicle under observation and, as soon as it is clear that, despite the fact that the moment was inopportune, it intends to cross in front of him, he must take all reasonable steps that may be necessary to avoid colliding with it.



The damage to our clients; vehicle is R33 576.27



Your vehicle is a write off with a market value of R8 950.00. Salvage is calculated at 30%. Therefore the value of the vehicle is R6 265.00



1. 70% of your claim is R4 385.50

30% of our damages is R10 072.88



In this case you are liable for R5 687.38



2. 80% of your claim is R5 012.00

20% of our damages is R6 715.25



In this case you are liable for R1 700.25



3. 90% of your claim is R5 638.50

10% of our damages is R3 357.63



Our client is liable for R2 280.87



Purely based on the monetary values of the claim we are prepared to settle the matter on option 3. Please note that this offer is made without admission of liability and merely to settle the matter.



If you decide not to accept the offer, it will be withdrawn with immediate effect.



We enclose a release for your signature and when you return the release please enclose proof of your bank account.



Any action taken will be defended vigorously.

Kindly advise on how i should proceed with this.

[Dave A]

Hi Santosh,

What is the estimate to repair your vehicle?

[Santosh]

Hi Santosh,

What is the estimate to repair your vehicle?

I was unable to get quotations from panel beaters as the car is stored by the towing company and panel beaters require the vehicle be brought in to quote.

[Dave A]

You're going to have to make a plan to get a repair quote, otherwise you're going to get screwed by a comparison of apples to oranges. Assuming the insurance company's valuation of your vehicle is correct, your only chance of getting a fair shake is to get apportionment based on repair costs which should put you on a more even footing.