NSW Car Accident - Other Party Trying to Claim Repairs?

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Mathew

Guest
Hi All,

I am hoping someone may be able to give me some advice. I was involved in a car accident where a truck ran up the rear of my car. I pulled in and when I was in the lane the truck blasted me and I accidentally touched the brakes and wasn't able to accelerate out before he hit me. That's the short of what happened, this was about 6 months ago. My insurance company also cancelled my insurance policy due to the fact that I hadn't advised them of a previous accident (4 years ago) and I had to pay all my repair bills.

Today I received a phone call from a lawyer advising the truck driver is seeking payment of $8,200 for repairs done to the truck. As far as I know he only had 1 quote and got the repairs done. I am also suspicious of the repairs as the police report states "light damage to the front bar of the B-Double".

Due to my car insurance not paying out this makes things difficult. Where does my responsibility lie? Shouldn't he have put the accident through his insurance company and I then pay the excess? Is the truck at fault for usingt his horn unnecessarily (As I was back in the lane when he blasted me?)

Many thanks
 

Rod

Lawyer
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27 May 2014
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www.hutchinsonlegal.com.au
a question for the lawyers here - if the insurance company refuses to cover you for something that happened 4 years ago, can you claim back your insurance premiums since that time as you were not covered?

I'd be asking to see their supplier repair invoice and list of work done. Then you can check that only damage repairs were completed and not other work, and you can check with other truck repairers what it costs to do those repairs.

I'd also be arguing that you are not responsible for the entire bill. The truck is supposed to keep clear of vehicles in front of it. The issue is if you've moved into the 'safety/stopping area' and then immediately braked. If however the accident happened 30 secs, 1 min after you moved into the lane then the truck had opportunity to back-off. And yes, you can argue using the horn contributed to the accident, how much it means legally though I can't answer. Might mitigate your damages.

I don't know if he needs to use his insurance company, maybe someone else knows that answer.
 

Sarah J

Well-Known Member
16 July 2014
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Melbourne, Victoria
Hi Mathew,

Give the Financial Ombudsman Services a call about your insurer's decision not to cover you for failure to disclose. It depends on your insurance policy, so you should have a close read of that, but it does not appear to be reasonable that they completely deny coverage after four years of paid premiums. I would expect some sort of compensation/raised penalty, for the difference in premium rates, instead.

In relation to the accident, it does appear that the truck driver bears at least some responsibility. Even if you did brake suddenly, the truck driver has a duty to keep a safe distance behind you and to brake in emergency situations. If they fail to do so, they are responsible (at least, partially) for the crash. Was police called at the scene? Do you have a police report?
 
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