What to do? I have been deliberately hit by a UTE...Please Help!

[KonnecXion]

Hi Guys,
One proud S2000 here that is severely heartbroken and distressed...
So today I was driving to VicRoads via Alexander Pde/Eastern Fwy for work and a driver of a black ute decided to deliberately run me off because I merged into his lane late... He intentionally sped up and tried to avoid letting me in, but I managed to squeeze through...

Afterwards...

He honked the hell out of me and then went to overtake me from the lane beside me and merged into me, deliberately that struck the front right fender of my s2k. At that point, I was in complete shock, he kept driving until he was stopped by traffic and a set of red lights. I don't know if he knew he hit me but he looked like he wanted to run for it. I caught up to him, got off the car and try to tell him to exchange details. He did not respond, not until I started taking out my phone making calls.

So we did the usual thing, exchange details of both driver.

Now the whole day I have been trying to get this guy to call his insurance company to report the incident so I could get my car repaired. He is insured with RACV and I am insured third party + fire & theft. So automatically I knew my insurance company will not do anything to support me. And his insurance company won't help me for obvious reasons.

Therefore, I tried to negotiate with him explaining to him through SMS's and phone calls that he needs to report the incident to his insurer, he was deliberately hanging up the phone and ignoring the SMS's. He then made one reply saying that if I think I have a claim, do it through my insurance or directly to his and do not bother him, anymore direct contact with the driver at this point will be treated as harassment...

Sorry for the long story, but some guy has hit me who does not care about reporting it and I can't get my car fixed. I can't speak to him and I have no insurance people to sort this out. I am wondering if someone can give me some advice on what I should do?

I have spoken to his and mine insurer about this, and they cannot help. My own insurer has filed this report and I have reported this to a police constable.
I was suggested by the officer to obtain 3 car quotes and write a letter of demand to his insurer (RACV) and then to the driver. If that gets ignored, then I have a case.

[VeYzZii]

Do you have a firearms license?

[Moey.C]

Do you have a firearms license?

violence solves nothing LOL jkz DO IT :)

it will be ignored and you will have a case

i think for the mean time do what the police officer told you to do and stick with what they say because i dont think itll be untill your taking the driver to court that he will actually call his insurance company...

[Engin09]

I was suggested by the officer to obtain 3 car quotes and write a letter of demand to his insurer (RACV) and then to the driver. If that gets ignored, then I have a case.

do exactly that, get a case, take it to court and in front of a judge explain the same thing you have on here and you should win and he will be obliged to pay etc. ALSO make sure when you do take this to court that you argue you want the insurance companies mechanic or your mechanic to fix it, and NOT HIS! if hes this shady who knows what else he would do if you put the car in his hands. good luck let us know how you go!

[eriktufa]

Just do everything that you can if you think it is worth the hassle.

The other lesson is comprehensive cover. I don't know ppl skim on insurance.

[vyets]

agreed man, 3rd party on a s2000? what da heo.

But anyway, you can still report it to your insurance, because 3rd party still covers accidents that's not your fault they can still chase up his insurance for you.

[jmdjmaria]

I don't understand why people cant invest in insurance. It's the best "mod" u can get for your S.

[tay113]

would it help to get today tonite or a current affair ?That will help to provide pressure ,a shame file and stop these bad attitudes on the road as its getting out of hand.Though comprehensive insurance is expensive,its worth every penny in these days and age.

[IEVAQ8]

if u dont have a panel beatter to take care of it for u,
pm me and i'll sort it out for ya

[vyets]

would it help to get today tonite or a current affair ?That will help to provide pressure ,a shame file and stop these bad attitudes on the road as its getting out of hand.Though comprehensive insurance is expensive,its worth every penny in these days and age.

Please no.. aca will probally turn it on you for hooning or someshit ROFL

[KonnecXion]

Thanks for all the prompt reply guys...

Yeah I knew I should got that comprehensive. I am with just-car insurance, being just 24 yo it costs a fortune for comprehensive. I bought the car this year that is why I am a little short on cash, so I've tried getting second to best cover. Regardless, just-car has said they are not doing anything to chase it up for me, although I had one operator telling me they will do a letter of demand for me, I called back the second time and they said they won't.

So I am going to get three quotes today, then get the letter of demand going... I am not sure if I should be sending this in yet, as the incident just happened yesterday, does anyone know how many letter of demand I should send before I could take him to court? I had a person from just-car telling me I need to send one each time, wait two weeks, if no response then send another, a total of 3 before I could take this guy to small claims court?

I know this guy isn't going to make the call to his insurance until an organisation or the cops calls him about the situation since he only had a light scuff mark on his chrome bumper...

[tay113]

Have no fear if you honestly have not done anything wrong.I am sure you will be alright given the among of support from the ozhonda members.

[dc2r-0636]

im with just car aswell. you get covered for up $2k ? or something like that. your insurance pays you and gets ur car fixed. then they chase down his insurance for the money, you have 7 years to claim lol

[IEVAQ8]

dude, dont make it hard for urself....
pm me and i will give u my panel beaters number, all u gotta do is drop the car off and he will give u a hire care, anbd he will take care of the whole lot....
y should u go get quotes and go out of ur way when its not ur fault....

[jdm_b16a]

do exactly that, get a case, take it to court and in front of a judge explain the same thing you have on here and you should win and he will be obliged to pay etc.

Unless you have independent, 3rd party witnesses to back up your side of the events, it will be your word against his, and you therefore have NO case. Any solicitor will tell you that.

I have been in this situation, I had Comprehensive Insurance, and I exchanged details with the other party, but when my car was put in to be fixed, and a claim made, the other party changed their story (they were at fault and had agreed to that), and my insurer did nothing to help me, saying it was my word against theirs, and I had no witnesses.

Needles to say I cancelled my Insurer and went elsewhere.

Peter

[KonnecXion]

im with just car aswell. you get covered for up $2k ? or something like that. your insurance pays you and gets ur car fixed. then they chase down his insurance for the money, you have 7 years to claim lol

The thing is, I have not done anything wrong.... I don't want to claim myself for someone who deliberately struck me. This is the easy way out, but I didn't know I had 2k cover for my own vehicle too. but thanks for the suggestion!!

[KonnecXion]

Unless you have independent, 3rd party witnesses to back up your side of the events, it will be your word against his, and you therefore have NO case. Any solicitor will tell you that.

I have been in this situation, I had Comprehensive Insurance, and I exchanged details with the other party, but when my car was put in to be fixed, and a claim made, the other party changed their story (they were at fault and had agreed to that), and my insurer did nothing to help me, saying it was my word against theirs, and I had no witnesses.

Needles to say I cancelled my Insurer and went elsewhere.

Peter

Even when you had full insurance? Wow thats shit... but I will not go down without a fight for something I didn't do.

Well my case is a little different, if it was my fault why did he not report it? and I think it the damages speak for themselves.

[jdm_b16a]

The thing is, I have not done anything wrong.... I don't want to claim myself for someone who deliberately struck me. This is the easy way out, but I didn't know I had 2k cover for my own vehicle too. but thanks for the suggestion!!

You should have learnt one valuable lesson from all this - never engage another driver in any sort of car nonsense, because you will come off second-best, and end up with a whole mess of trouble, which is exactly what you have. There are so many idiots out there that don't give a crap about you and your ride, be it an S2000 or a VW Beetle or whatever.

The law is a very strange animal and most people profess to know something about it but have no real experience with it. The first thing you realise about our judicial system, the courts and what happens in them, is that even if you are RIGHT, you aren't necessarily in a court of law. If you have spent thousands of dollars on a good solicitor you may get somewhere; if you don't, then forget it.

My advice, having been tied up in our court system a couple of times - save/borrow the $$$, get your car fixed, and move on. The money you would spend on a solicitor will easily cover the cost of repairs to your car. Even if you decide to chase this guy, he can just ignore you, your life will get caught up in letter writing, etc and in the end, you will give up in frustration.

Sorry, but that is the reality of the situation. I know I'm being very negative and pessimistic, but as I said, I've been there.

Peter

[jdm_b16a]

... a driver of a black ute decided to deliberately run me off because I merged into his lane late... He intentionally sped up and tried to avoid letting me in, but I managed to squeeze through...

So he felt aggrieved because you merged in front of him. He was probably forced to brake by your action, and so thought your move a bit dangerous.

Drivers speed up like in your situation all the time. It's a male thing about giving up road space, protecting your position in the traffic - it happens all the time.

Why didn't you just back off at this point in time?

So you forced your way in front of him. Not a good move! If you were him, you would probably be angry too! But that doesn't condone his action of hitting you even though he did exactly to you what you did to him.


He honked the hell out of me and then went to overtake me from the lane beside me and merged into me, deliberately that struck the front right fender of my s2k.

So you can see already in a court of law (if you ever get there) his solicitor will say you provoked him. His hitting you was an accident caused by your forcing the issue. You can't prove it was delibrate. And by your own admission, you merged "late". How fast were you going? Were you speeding?


So we did the usual thing, exchange details of both driver.

You should have grabbed some licence plate numbers or stopped another vehicle who may have been a witness. I know this is all very hard when you are in shock from an accident.


Now the whole day I have been trying to get this guy to call his insurance company to report the incident so I could get my car repaired. He is insured with RACV and I am insured third party + fire & theft. So automatically I knew my insurance company will not do anything to support me. And his insurance company won't help me for obvious reasons.

Not true. Even with 3rd party (which is a No Fault Policy) you can ask for assistance.


I have spoken to his and mine insurer about this, and they cannot help. My own insurer has filed this report and I have reported this to a police constable.
I was suggested by the officer to obtain 3 car quotes and write a letter of demand to his insurer (RACV) and then to the driver. If that gets ignored, then I have a case.

At this stage this is all you can do. Fingers crossed and hope for the best. But without some sort of incentive the other guy will probably do nothing. If he hires a solicitor to defend himself, are you prepared to do likewise. Do you want to know what a solicitor charges per hour?

Peter

[KonnecXion]

You should have learnt one valuable lesson from all this - never engage another driver in any sort of car nonsense, because you will come off second-best, and end up with a whole mess of trouble, which is exactly what you have. There are so many idiots out there that don't give a crap about you and your ride, be it an S2000 or a VW Beetle or whatever.

The law is a very strange animal and most people profess to know something about it but have no real experience with it. The first thing you realise about our judicial system, the courts and what happens in them, is that even if you are RIGHT, you aren't necessarily in a court of law. If you have spent thousands of dollars on a good solicitor you may get somewhere; if you don't, then forget it.

My advice, having been tied up in our court system a couple of times - save/borrow the $$$, get your car fixed, and move on. The money you would spend on a solicitor will easily cover the cost of repairs to your car. Even if you decide to chase this guy, he can just ignore you, your life will get caught up in letter writing, etc and in the end, you will give up in frustration.

Sorry, but that is the reality of the situation. I know I'm being very negative and pessimistic, but as I said, I've been there.

Peter

Thank you for your suggestion and I understand what you mean. However, I have never intended to engage another driver in any sort of nonsense nor if this was the reason for the incident. The guy just unleashed his road rage, and deliberately cut me off but he didn't think he would hit my vehicle.I don't know. The right thing to do is to get out of the vehicle and exchange details. I know how it is with the law and I only intend to represent myself, I have been through the system for speeding terms etc and I understand what you mean.

I am sure as heck the guy would not be bothered with a lawyer at all if he couldn't even make a phone call to put through a claim. He is simply just being a d**head about it and testing to see what I can do. There is absolute no damage to his car. My car will need a front fender, respray and alignment which is not cheap to fix.

[KonnecXion]

So he felt aggrieved because you merged in front of him. He was probably forced to brake by your action, and so thought your move a bit dangerous.

Drivers speed up like in your situation all the time. It's a male thing about giving up road space, protecting your position in the traffic - it happens all the time.

Why didn't you just back off at this point in time?

So you forced your way in front of him. Not a good move! If you were him, you would probably be angry too! But that doesn't condone his action of hitting you even though he did exactly to you what you did to him.



So you can see already in a court of law (if you ever get there) his solicitor will say you provoked him. His hitting you was an accident caused by your forcing the issue. You can't prove it was delibrate. And by your own admission, you merged "late". How fast were you going? Were you speeding?



You should have grabbed some licence plate numbers or stopped another vehicle who may have been a witness. I know this is all very hard when you are in shock from an accident.



Not true. Even with 3rd party (which is a No Fault Policy) you can ask for assistance.



At this stage this is all you can do. Fingers crossed and hope for the best. But without some sort of incentive the other guy will probably do nothing. If he hires a solicitor to defend himself, are you prepared to do likewise. Do you want to know what a solicitor charges per hour?

Peter

1. I was making my merge slowly, he was speeding up making the situation much more dangerous, I was about 40km-50km/h when I was merging in so I did back off, and I had my indicators flashing for awhile. He was just trying to be a prick and close the gap. Male thing or not, it is ethically wrong. It made it very difficult for me to merge in, I ran out of road space in my lane otherwise I would let him past, even if he is not entitled to do that, he could have avoided it my lane ending, but he just wanted to push me out and NOT let me in. If i wanted to be a prick I would have just merged in right away, but I did it slowly, he just didn't want to give me a tad chance of letting me in.

2. Yes I do admit I merged late, even if he was provoked it does not allow him to run me off the second time by cutting me out and actually hitting me. My actions were not deliberate, and he could avoided the late braking if he didn't speed up to close this gap. It really is a fine line, and he could say if I didn't merge into his lane he wouldn't acted as such, but if I really didn't have the space, then how would I actually be able to get in? He just sped up to close the gap or he was already speeding when there were more than 1 car space to fit in. I doubt any of this will be brought to court as he knows his actions were deliberate, he just don't want to care until he is asked by someone with more authority to fix my car.

My point is that he was aggravated and took my actions personal. Turned it into road rage and knocked me out. He avoided an accident at the start and caused one himself because of his negligent driving. If his solicitor wants to argue this point then he will need to prove that I deliberately provoked him to cause an accident.
3. Yeah I missed the witness details, I was in complete shock when this all happened
4. I've called twice to my own insurance company and asked for assistance but they have disappointed me with no proper answer.

[m3ntAL_l2]

ring ur insurance again... i was with racv too - 3rd party

and when a ute reversed into me, he did not have any insurance but because i was not at fault and got all the details of the other driver, racv was able to pay my repairing up to $5000 upfront - no excess fee and then they will go chase it up the other person

so call them up and ask if that is in ur contract, u dont have to make an claim, this is easier than sending a letter of demand with all ur personal details on it

[jdm_b16a]

I hope you sort it all out in your favour. There is nothing worse than having your car damaged by unthinking actions of another driver.

Peter

[EvolElmo]

So you can see already in a court of law (if you ever get there) his solicitor will say you provoked him. His hitting you was an accident caused by your forcing the issue. You can't prove it was delibrate. And by your own admission, you merged "late". How fast were you going? Were you speeding?



You should have grabbed some licence plate numbers or stopped another vehicle who may have been a witness. I know this is all very hard when you are in shock from an accident.



:lol: Armchair lawyers. Every forum has at least one.

[dc2r-0636]

http://www.justcarinsurance.com.au/car-insurance/third-party-fire-theft-insurance.asp

Plus, you'll get all the benefits of Just Car's Third Party Property Car Insurance policy, which means you're covered for damage that your car causes to other people's property up to $20,000,000, and covered for up to $3,000 damage caused to your car by an uninsured driver.

but the other c*nt was insured so this means they will follow it up with his insurance

[KonnecXion]

Alright I have just seen a smash repairer in East Keilor called Becketts Accidental Repairs. These guys said they can get me lawyers to use a recovery method. Basically they act on my behalf and call the driver/insurance company to chase this up. If the other party don't agree we can get this sorted out in court and I don't pay a cent, the smash repairer will pay for this.

What do you guys think about this?

[blackouT]

Cant you make the claim and get it repaired then the bill just goes to the other driver? That happened to me. I went to change lanes (in my s15) and it was clear checkeck blind spot and it was all clear then went to changed and the car in front ebraked and i tipped it... we exchanged detail and then i never heard from them again.... a few weeks later a bill turns up on my doorstep... WTF?

[JamieP]

man theirs some real psychos on the road out there. I dont understand what it is about people and road rage. Why is it that when so many people are behind the wheel of their cars they think their super heroes... or super villains who can do and say what ever they want? I mean if somebody got in your way while walking down the street you wouldnt start screaming at them youd just ignore it and maybe at most get a little annoyed. but if its in a car, people get this weird comfort zone and act all crazy.... but this dude took it to the extreme! what a psycho!

hope you get it all sorted out mate. I really hope you find a way to get full comp insurance as well because with a car as nice as you have, youve just got too much to loose. Can you insure it under your mum or dads name and put yourself down as a once a week driver? thats what I used to do when I was under 25 and it made my insurance payments come right down

[KonnecXion]

Cant you make the claim and get it repaired then the bill just goes to the other driver? That happened to me. I went to change lanes (in my s15) and it was clear checkeck blind spot and it was all clear then went to changed and the car in front ebraked and i tipped it... we exchanged detail and then i never heard from them again.... a few weeks later a bill turns up on my doorstep... WTF?

lol that wouldn't be fair and what if the other driver don't want to pay for it? what i am doing now is similar, getting the smash repairs who have a bunch of lawyers who can claim it as recovery (no idea why they called it this) but they do the chasing up for you to the insurance company or the opposite driver. the charge for that will be paid by the smash repairer.

However, what happens if the guy decides to fight the case etc, then do I need to pay for those costs? I will need to ask this tomorrow when I get back to Becketts.

[zhong]

Best thing to do, is get your car fixed at a smash repair who liases with lawyers.. Although you may be asked to pay some of the costs involved, it sure gives the other party more hell than he bargained for. And your car will get fixed in the mean time. There was once, this drunk guy reversed into my parked car, and tried to run.. I called the cops, they came and did nothing because he drove off (even with his doors opened).. I got his details (which probably were old/fake) After a bit of investigating looking for this fella, I found out where he resided.. So I did all that letter of demand stuff... Long story short, not worth the time and hassle, but he claimed bankrupt and lawyers said he can only afford to pay me $2 a month for the repairs....... I was satisfied.

Hope you get it worked out man, or just confront him at his house and ask him what's the go.

Peace.

[dc2r-0636]

Alright I have just seen a smash repairer in East Keilor called Becketts Accidental Repairs. These guys said they can get me lawyers to use a recovery method. Basically they act on my behalf and call the driver/insurance company to chase this up. If the other party don't agree we can get this sorted out in court and I don't pay a cent, the smash repairer will pay for this.

What do you guys think about this?

yer do this, ive done this before. other drivers insurance tried to get my car fixed with some dodgy guys that i didnt trust. so i got my car off em and drove it to my panel beater and the lawyers took care of the rest. got a coursty car out of it aswell, aami called me 4days after i took my car back to my prefered panel beater friend. they said they will not give the job to my panel beater blah blah, told the lawyers they can take care of everything on my behalf. never heard of them again. Insurance companies act like heavies then they shit bricks

[KonnecXion]

yer do this, ive done this before. other drivers insurance tried to get my car fixed with some dodgy guys that i didnt trust. so i got my car off em and drove it to my panel beater and the lawyers took care of the rest. got a coursty car out of it aswell, aami called me 4days after i took my car back to my prefered panel beater friend. they said they will not give the job to my panel beater blah blah, told the lawyers they can take care of everything on my behalf. never heard of them again. Insurance companies act like heavies then they shit bricks


Did you need to pay anything? the smash repairer told me that I will need to be a fee but that will be covered by them when the layers send me a letter. What I am worried about is, what happens if it ends up in the court? Does the repairer cover those as well?

[dc2r-0636]

i got a letter in the mail telling me i wont have to pay a cent UNLESS i do something with out informing my lawyers, have you filled in that paper and drawing a picture of what happen?
i didnt have to pay anything. got my car fixed in 3 days after i took it in to my panel beater. got a courtesy car paid for aswell. doubt it will go court but. you will get your letter in the mail soon so dont worry.

[KonnecXion]

i got a letter in the mail telling me i wont have to pay a cent UNLESS i do something with out informing my lawyers, have you filled in that paper and drawing a picture of what happen?
i didnt have to pay anything. got my car fixed in 3 days after i took it in to my panel beater. got a courtesy car paid for aswell. doubt it will go court but. you will get your letter in the mail soon so dont worry.

That is exactly what I filled out! Those recovery agents are called AB litigation lawyers from St Albans!

Wow this is all calming news! Thank you so much guys! It's been on my chest all day thinking about being out of pocket to fix my car that was damaged by some irresponsible person. I will keep you guys updated with how I go. Right now I am with Becketts Accidental Repairs @ East Keilor.

[dc2r-0636]

AB litigation thats who i was with lmao. good people. i still got my letter in my draw

[Euro08Jaz]

Was his car damaged?

[dinorider]

You should have learnt one valuable lesson from all this - never engage another driver in any sort of car nonsense, because you will come off second-best, and end up with a whole mess of trouble, which is exactly what you have. There are so many idiots out there that don't give a crap about you and your ride, be it an S2000 or a VW Beetle or whatever.


Peter

I heartily agree. I always let the macho poseurs get ahead and do their thing, pass me, speed up, whatever, just go, get out of my life.

Am I being a wussy? No. I love my car more than they love theirs. Most of the time it's just a clapped out commonwhore or junky tradie ute. I give them plenty of space to prove their 'manliness' on the road. Their cars are worth f*ck all anyway if they hit stuff they don't care.

[s2kjn]

You should write a "letter of demand" stating the costs of the 3 quotes you received from your panel beaters stating that he should own up and pay within 14 days. This letter is essential so long as you make a copy and note the day you forwarded to his address. Your case is strong atm especially since you have an insurance & police report.

Good Luck!

[jdms2]

Go to legal aid, they give you all the legal advices you need and what you need to do.. Theres this other place too that specifies in traffic matters but i forgot what it was called.. Sorry but goodluck!

[nat123x]

hey dw about it.
do what the officer said.
file a police report and then take it to a panel beater and get a quote.
send it to his insurance and dont delete the sms'. dont be abusive or anything.
then take it to court and his insurance company will have to pay ur legal fees and damage done to ur car.
usually the insurance company is smart and will pay u out.
dont stop. keep ringing ur insurance company. they should help u.
gl man!

[KonnecXion]

Thanks for all the great responses guys, I have asked AB Legal Litigation lawyers to handle this on my behalf, they are a recovery agent. They will do the letter of demand to the driver and his insurer, once they have any info they will let me know.

Dinorider, I totally agree with what you say, I did nothing to provoke him and even if there was, it is not intended or accidental. How he perceives my actions is his personal choice, (maybe I had NSW plates on, nicer car than his etc) but surely he took it in a wrong way. He was just one aggressive driver and cut into me, so we can just leave it at that.

[foowoei69]

So, how'd u go dude? I know it's old but something must have happened my now.
Gl Hope it all worked out.

[tay113]

hey dw about it.
do what the officer said.
file a police report and then take it to a panel beater and get a quote.
send it to his insurance and dont delete the sms'. dont be abusive or anything.
then take it to court and his insurance company will have to pay ur legal fees and damage done to ur car.
usually the insurance company is smart and will pay u out.
dont stop. keep ringing ur insurance company. they should help u.
gl man!

HI nat, You were talking about quote and not deleting sms as i have not deleted your sms send out to me assuring me you were going to buy insurance on your supposedly Soft -top that i didn't received.Sadly you forgot to insure after i paid for the insurance money besides your soft -top.You gave me lots of grief and hell.If you are reading it,i expect a refund of $265 not that i will get it.Please dont bother to comment

[levi R]

Um wut

[androo]

hi nat, you were talking about quote and not deleting sms as i have not deleted your sms send out to me assuring me you were going to buy insurance on your supposedly soft -top that i didn't received.sadly you forgot to insure after i paid for the insurance money besides your soft -top.you gave me lots of grief and hell.if you are reading it,i expect a refund of $265 not that i will get it.please dont bother to comment
wtf??????????????????????????

[greek_rambos2k]

hey mate. just becuase you have 3rd party doesnt mean they wont help you. If another vehicle hits you and you are not at fault your insurance company will still chase it up as its part of your contract. All your insurance company and give them his details and tell them what happen. They will make hsi insurance company pay for it else they will take him to court with no charge to you. The only time where thrid party is restricted is if you hit him they dont cover the cost of your car. Also i would be calling the police. Fleeing the scene of an accident and causing one is against the law and he will be charged for it. if you need more help pm me

[tay113]

wtf??????????????????????????

stating the obvious nat123x not qualify to making helpful comments when i was made victim.Scam! Scam! Scam! forum(s2k for this summer needs help)