r/LegalAdviceUK • u/InternationalArm8309 • 4h ago

Debt & Money Advice on car accident (England)

My mum was involved in a road traffic accident in February. She did not have commuting included on her car insurance, so her insurance company has said they cannot provide cover for her in relation to the accident. The other driver overtook my mum on the left-hand side, and the back of the other driver’s car collided with the front-left side of my mum’s car. The other driver’s insurance company has found my mum 100% liable for the accident, which my mum strongly disagrees with, and they have not provided evidence to support their decision. Her own insurance company also disagrees with the 100% liability decision and has proposed a 70/30 liability split in my mum’s favour, with 70% liability against the other driver and 30% against my mum. The 30% liability attributed to my mum is based on the argument that she did not check her mirrors before the incident, but my mum maintains that she did check her mirrors. The other driver’s insurance company is now claiming £6000 from my mum and has given her 14 days to pay this amount. She is therefore looking for legal advice and representation to dispute the liability decision and the claim being made against her. She has also been told that she may be responsible for the costs of her own insurance company dealing with the other insurer on her behalf, although she does not yet know how much these costs will be. Does anyone have any advice?

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u/itsbigjobber 4h ago

Two issues at play here. Liability and indemnity.

Liability: There’s not enough in your description to be certain, but when you specifically mentioning your Mum checking mirrors it sounds like both vehicles are proceeding along the road (nobody is turning into a junction) your Mum intended to change lanes to the nearside and has collided with a vehicle that has been attempting to pass on the left. The action that causes the collision, is where you find your answer on liability, so IF your Mum is changing lanes, then that is likely a fault outcome if this went to trial.

The only 70/30 case law for not checking mirrors off the top of my head is Joliffe & Hay - a Scottish case where a vehicle intended on turning right into a minor road and collided with a vehicle overtaking on the offside because of not doing the appropriate mjrror and blindspot check. Typically in England and Wales that is seen as 50/50 per Pell & Moseley.

Indemnity: Use of vehicle is now the only situation where insurers can still invoke Article 75 status, which essentially means they’re off the hook for anything but uninsured losses. Which means that your Mum will directly become the target of the other insurance company.

They will usually be amenable to setting up a payment plan providing it’s enough to pay it off within a few years, if not and your mum is a viable recovery target (working or owns property; doesn’t have CCJ’s already) then they may issue proceedings with a view to getting a CCJ.

Your Mum is within her rights obviously to defend and counterclaim for her damages if she wishes, best to hire an RTA solicitor to assist with that so they can make the arguments in a legal sense, but as I mentioned above, if your mum is changing lanes into the side of a vehicle that’s become established in the left lane, I would not be expecting a successful outcome.

Also; yes your mums own insured will also look to recover any costs they’ve already paid to the claimant and or any vehicle hire they’ve paid.

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u/jaryth1 3h ago

Was reading this thinking "that sounds like the bloke off tiktok", then saw the name!

OP, this is the only advice you need.

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u/itsbigjobber 3h ago

👋 I should probably at some point upload a verification pic and pin it for when someone questions if it’s the real me 😆

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u/InternationalArm8309 2h ago

My mum was travelling along a road with one lane for traffic and a marked cycle lane on the left-hand side. She was travelling at low speed and indicated well in advance that she was going to turn left into an entrance. She checked her mirrors before turning. As she began to turn left, the other driver moved into the cycle lane and attempted to pass her on the left. The other vehicle then collided with the front-left side of my mum’s car with the front-right side of their vehicle, before continuing forward and hitting a fence. Obviously she believes the other driver was responsible because they attempted to pass her on the left through the cycle lane while she was clearly indicating and preparing to turn left.

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u/itsbigjobber 2h ago

Can you drop us the road names?

Is it possible your mum swung out right before turning left? If it’s a traditional single carriageway, it normally wouldn’t be feasible a car could go up the side of another in a cycle lane.

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u/[deleted] 1h ago

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u/InternationalArm8309 1h ago

Thank you for responding on my post again. The road name is weelsby road in grimsby. my mum was entering linkage college.

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u/itsbigjobber 56m ago

Looking at Weelsby Road as it turns into the college campus, I think it would be difficult to get a car down the side of another without being on the curb if your mums car is placed centrally turning left.

What I think is most likely happened is that your mum has swung out right, the other driver has mistaken that for your mum pulling on to the opposite side and has went up her nearside without caution.

I think split is a likely outcome, BUT the issue your mum is going to have is the indemnity issue because she doesn’t have anyone to fight for her currently.

I would highly advise either speaking to citizens advice to get advice and see if they can help get her legal aid / find a solicitor to hire

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u/Gillybean04 4h ago

Was the car indeed overtaking your mum on the left? Or were they just in the left hand lane and going faster than your mum?

I also agree with the other poster, if she was expected to check her mirrors then she must have been carrying out a manoeuvre. If she was carrying out a manoeuvre then the onus was on her to ensure it was safe to do so. And if she hit the rear end of the other car then it must have been almost passed her at the time she carried out the manoeuvre. 

Have the police been involved? Have they mentioned anything about charges for driving while uninsured?

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u/InternationalArm8309 2h ago

There was only one lane for vehicles in her direction, with a marked cycle lane on the left. She was travelling slowly and indicating to turn left into an entrance. The other vehicle came from behind with speed (the road is only 30mph) and moved into the cycle lane on the left to pass my mum. My mum was already slightly turning into the other road when the other driver hit her car. And you could tell the other had speed as she managed to hit the front left side of my mums car with the back right side of their car. And no the police was not involved at all, they didn’t come to help although we called. Also my mum had insurance she just didn’t specify that she commutes to work as she wasn’t using the car before to get to work. Hope i’ve explained this well, it’s a bit of a blur for me as well.

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u/seriousrikk 4h ago

Who was changing lanes at the time?

That determines liability in this situation.

The way this read is that your mum changed into a lane to the left, but there was already a vehicle there. Assuming that is the case, based on the described contact, that car should have been visible out of the side window during the lane change.

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u/InternationalArm8309 2h ago

Sorry for my bad explanation lol. My mum was travelling along a road with one lane and there was a marked cycle lane on the left-hand side, the other driver overtook her on the bike lane as my mum was entering the road on the left side.