Hey all,

I'm spewing, but I'll try to keep this to the point...
An uninsured driver ran up the back of my kombi when it was stopped in traffic recently.
Firstly she didn't have her licence on her so she walked home to get it and came back before the cops arrived.
She admitted fault (a good start) but after I asked her said she wasn't insured and she didn't have the money to pay for the damage to my van.

Cops attended and were thoroughly useless. One of them even said that her ctp would cover my damage.
After cutting off the fanbelt and jumpstarting the cracked battery I was able to limp the van the 5 odd km it was to my place and it hasn't moved since. Because all cars were "driveable" she escaped a neg driving ticket. Lucky her.

I have had a professional quote for repairs to the damage and it was $8011. Both chassis rails are twisted so you can imagine the damage. The engine seems untouched which is fortunate.

She claims now that she was only doing 20kmh which is BS since she managed to hit hard enough to push it into the towbar of the car in front and bend it, bend both chassis rails and both rear quarter panels, and even crack some of the wooden cupboards inside.

The kombi is sadly written off...I'd have put it's value at 4-5000 before the accident.
I told her this and she said she refused to pay for my entire car when she was only doing 20.

She wants me to drive to a chinese panelbeater that is 40km away to get another quote. I said forget it unless you pay for the tow which she refused.

That was a couple of days ago...

I love my kombi but not enough to cut and shut another rear onto it...so I guess it's curtains for the camper.

It has a pretty mean exhaust note now though...

That really sucks man. It's sad to see another one of these old beauties off the road. I hope you manage to get something out of her.

I gotta say it will buff out, its a pain in the ass however. you may want to talk to a lawyer or something or just get a lawyers header.

On the crash repairers side, you can choose who you want to do the fixing.

I can't help it...the b#$%h even said that because it was so old that she doubted it would have made it 40km anyway! That pissed me right off. I'd bet a ball that it would make it around Oz without any probs actually!
If it goes to court and she says she can only afford $20 a week then that is all i will get for the next whatever weeks... Don't want that either!
Time to play hardball...any ideas?

I did download a template letter of demand and have it and my quote ready to hand deliver this weekend.

Take her fishing
or give me her address
I will charge 30%

did you have full comp insurance??,cause if you do, have the insurance company go into bat for you,but yes its sad to see a bent kombi

You're funny

Hey Pod
Given the value of that car and that I've never had full comprehensive in my name before I decided it was not worth it due to having a 0% ncb!!
I've heard that some 3rd party policies pay for your car if you're not a fault in an accident.
Unfortunately that didn't apply to me.
And yeah, spewing...I bought this with my wife when we married to do up and trek around Oz.
If it were a 58 samba if just *might* be worth fixing...but it ain't.

no probs mate ,i feel your pain,looks like court will probably be your only answer and time to find another body

Take her to Small claims court !

That looks like more than a 20kmph hit! I think you need to engage some sort of legal help, to assist in her remembering why you need full comp insurance.

20k's.... tell her she's dreaming!







ya reckon!?

Dam man, that really sucks. Hope that bitch gets whats coming to her

If she could see she was doing 20 kays, why didn't she see a Kombi?!

Any money she was bloody on the phone texting someone or some crap. How can you not see something as big as that in a colour that bright?!

Ok so I have an idea but it's probably pretty stupid and more than likely won't work. So the repairs will cost 8k? Will you be able to have your insurance company squeeze the 5k out of the idiot lady that the van's insured for and then you personally take her to court for the extra 3k to make up the 8k? I know that you can't get money out of someone who doesn't have any but insurance comepanies don't care about that. Panel beaters are normally pretty easy going so you may find one nice enough who will do an "insurance quote" for your insurance company to see and a "real quote" for you. At least that way your van won't be written off and most of the repairs will be covered. Worst case you can just fork out the extra 3k if you can't get it out of her. At least that way you get to keep your van and will be a lot cheaper than getting another one. Unless of course it can't be repaired safely.

I had a 94 Statesman that a drunk lady ran up the arse of causing nearly a grands worth of damage. Insurance took care of the lot and I even got a letter in the mail about three months later saying that I may need to attend court because she still hadn't paid. So in the end she paid for it one way or another even though she had no money. Might work with you too.

Hope that made sense. It's pretty late.

get a lawyer take her to court tell her with accident expert advice you can prove her lying about the speed
then you will sign an affidavit that she went home to get her licence thats a fine for her.
im going through this now & have been adviced that the old $20 a week payment is not on nowadays plus you can end up with the sherif going around & claiming property of hers to pay.
you don' have to go to any but your own panelbeater for a quote.
sue the arse off her disrespecting your bus.
another thing get the solicitor to demand payment with a suggestion she has to get a loan to pay for damage or when you do or if you do take her to court you will claim for stress, demurrage, full repair cost & court/solicitors cost plus whatever else comes up.
go to police now & report she did not have her licence

Third party only does make it hard, when have fully comp this is all done by your insurance company. But you do need to take her to court for sure. Ive been backended once in a previos car and since then I always installed a tow bar. Rarely use it but makes a good back bumper IMO

Your all too nice!

Just because she wasn't charged with negligent driving doesn't relieve her of responsibility. She has hit your vehicle from behind and has admitted it. It is now her responsibility to reimburse you for your damages. It will then be up to the court to enforce it if she doesn't do it voluntarily. This "I don't have the money" is a crock of shit and she can borrow it if need be. That will teach her to drive without any insurance at all. If, as you appear to believe, your vehicle isn't valuable enough to insure for itself, you at least need to cover yourself for others property which is what you have done. That is responsible which is something she needs to find out.

Don't try and do it yourself though or it will drag on forever. Go straight to a lawyer as she will take that letter more seriously than one just from you.

Yogie

Even if you have 3rd party you normally have access to their legal section and they can help, perhaps give them a call.

I only had 3rd party insurance on a car that was rear-ended and written off by an uninsured driver.My insurance paid me $5000 for it because the other driver was uninsured. I got the wreck as well. It wasn't what the car was worth but it was better than nothing at all. It was with RACQ. Maybe see if your insurance has anything like that?

If your car was not driveable the Police would have investigated and taken action. The fact you drove it home makes it a self reporting accident where no investigation by Police is required. Not a matter of them being useless. As for the CTP remark snot everyone understands insurance.

You may have done this, but if not, ask your insurance company for advice on how to proceed and also go and speak with the Chamber Magistrate at your local court. They will provide frewe advice on how to get things going.

If you have NOT made a report call 131444 and make the report.

Sorry to hear about your hassells.

Are you with NRMA??

They have a free legal aid service if you are

yeah dont take it lying down.. get on to it and make her pay..
i cant believe she left the scene.. guilty!

Hang on a tic...I didn't say I had 3rd party. Guess that makes me no so responsible. Sorry if I gave that impression!
The car was not a daily driver. It did maybe 40km a fortnight and I keep it in good mechanical order.
That's no excuse I know, so go ahead and flame me it you feel the need.
My daily is comprehensively insured (EDIT: It's in Dad's name still - max ncb for life)

I should not have driven the van home...most ppl wouldn't have. 2 reasons I did are:
1. The towie wanted $280 to tow it to my place (Pennant Hills to Dural). He reckoned it was a statutory rate...yeah yeah.
2. The police would have issued her with an infringement notice...I tried to avoid that occurring. After all I want to get paid.

Thanks for the encouragement and the sympathy. I think she will "find" the money. I just need to apply a bit more pressure.
She just needs to be educated that it's pay now, or pay a LOT more later.

I still think it would have to be more than 20 kays, although her air bags didn't go off?

so you say you had no insurance whatso ever independently taken out on the bus then?
fully comp or 3rd party?

a little bit of insurance goes a long way, but there is always silver!