Welcome to Car Accident Advice

Here’s the place you will find information relating to road accidents and almost anything relating to the use of roads in England and Wales.

As this is both a website and a blog,  some posts are intended for the clients or prospective clients of Kaslers Solicitors LLP and not  for general browsing and thus are protected by a password available to authorised users only.

This blog is intended to provide information not legal advice – please see the disclaimer page.  No two road accidents are identical and no reliance should be placed on comments in these pages.  We are always happy to assist clients wherever possible.

Chris Lodge – Road Traffic Accident Department

Kaslers Solicitors LLP

See also :-

The Road Users Forums on Ecademy, UK Business Labs, Smarta & BT Tradespace

and you can follow me on Twitter as @CarAccidentAid

Kaslers Solicitors LLP 

Kaslers Solicitors LLP is a limited liability partnership (England, LLP No. OC310653) and has its registered office at Suite 3, 10 Churchill Square, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4YU and is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (reg. no.408936).  The LLP Members are Michael Breeze (SRA reg. no. 110184) and Simon McCree Scott (SRA reg. no. 298202)

Tel: +44 (0) 845 270 2511    Fax: +44 (0) 845 270 2513

DX 92863 West Malling

Motor Insurer Database

All insurers, the Police and most other organisations involved in representing the victims of road accidents (including specialist road traffic accident solicitors) will have access to this central database – known as the MID, which provides the insurer name and policy number of every vehicle registered in the UK along with limited contact details or telephone number of the insurer.

The authorised user types in the registration number on line and in most cases within a matter of seconds the information is to hand.

There are strict rules relating to the use of the site and the user may be required to justify why an enquiry was made.  For example solicitors can only enquire in relation to an alleged at fault vehicle and must site the accident date and their reference number.

Non subscribers can normally pay a one-off fee of £3.50 on line for the same information.

What happens if an at fault  driver does not want to involve his or her insurers?

As the Third Party representative will most like have access to the MID, the at fault will probably have little choice in the matter, as the insurers of the vehicle will be obliged to pay any court judgment made against the at fault driver, so long as the relevant notice has been served on them at the time of issuing the proceedings.

Consequently, many Third Party representatives will correspond only with the insurers of the at fault driver.

Other consequences

If no insurer details are disclosed, the person making the enquiry immediately becomes aware that the at-vault vehicle may be uninsured and an application to the Motor Insurers Bureau, as well as notfication to the police may follow.

For more information, see the askMID website – www.askmid.com

Accidents caused by animals

A claim is regarded as a fault claim if the Claimant’s insurers cannot recover the amount they have paid in repairs or a total loss from any other person.

Consequently if a wild animal like a fox causes an accident by running out into the road, there is nobody against whom a claim can be brought, so the claim will be treated as a fault accident even though the driver was not negligent.

However, where a pet such as a dog or horse is the cause, the pet owner may be liable IF he has been negligent in allowing the animal to behave in such a way as to cause the accident.

Having said that if the negligent owner has neither pet insurance nor a house contents policy which covers damage caused by pets, it is normally very hard to recover whatever compensation is awarded.

Potholes

Liability for damage or injury caused by potholes will depend on whether the property is privately or publicly owned.

Publicly owned property

Generally, councils will have a defence to damage caused by potholes so long as they can demonstrate that they maintain a regular inspection and repair schedule of every road, pavement or other land under their control. 

Quite understandably, they are unable to repair every pothole or damage to surfaces as soon as they materialise but the liability position may change if it can be established that they made fully aware of the defect prior to the incident where the damage or injury was caused.

Privately owned property

Here the situation is quite different as normally the proprty will be occupied or managed on a day to day basis so the facts of each case must be considered carefully and on their own merits

Etyres

When one gets good service, it’s nice to be able to recommend.

I needed two rear tyres and was told that Etyres offered competitive prices and would fit them and my workplace or home – and indeed they did with no call out cost!

Whilst they are not an emergency service, they operate as a local franchise with a central operations centre.

They were very efficient, quick and helpful and above all very reasonably priced.

I was very impressed.

Who can be a witness?

Effectively anyone who saw the accident or was involved can give witness evidence.

Consequently, if you are the driver but not the owner of the vehicle damaged in an accident you will be the Claimant’s (or Defendant’s) main witness.

Independent Witnesses

The best witness is someone completely independent of either driver and preferably not a passenger in any of the vehicle involved.  However, a fare paying passenger in a taxi or bus may be regarded as independent if he or she did not know the driver before the journey was commenced.

Other motorists whose vehicle were not involved are good independent witnesses if they actually saw the accident rather than just the aftermath of it.

Where there has been a three (or more) car shunt – see Rear End Shunts – the driver of Car One may eitness how many impacts were felt.

Non-independent witnesses

Passengers in a vehicle can give evidence at trial as they are “competent and compellable” but their evidence will carry less weight than a witness who is fully independent.

If however, the passenger is injured and liability is disputed, then the driver of their vehicle is potentially a party in any action they may bring.  Consequently, they cannot give witness evidence until their claim has been settled or an agreement reached as who pays their claim (nor can they be represented by the same solicitor as the driver).

Witnesses who did not actually see the accident

Sometimes, a witnesses may arrive upon the scene seconds after the accident or have heard the impact rather than seen it or can comment on the reckless driving or speed of the negligent driver immediately before the accident took place.

Their evidence may be of more limited value but nevertheless they can give evidence if desired.

Whose witness?

Whilst a witness may be called by any driver involved, “there is no property in a witness” which means that he or she  can contacted and compelled to give evidence by either party – and this can apply to passengers in the opponent’s vehicle.

Police reports

In more serious accidents, the Police may have taken statements from witnesses and there may be statements from the officers attending.  However, one should be wary of reying on any comments attributed in the police report to either party or any independent witness unless part of a Witness Statement actually signed by that person.

Expert witnesses

An expert witness is a person who did not witness the accident but has been asked in a professional capacity to give evidence.

Thus an independent GP or consultant may be the medical expert or a consulting engineer may be called upon to provide evidence of the value of the vehicle.

Whilst they may have been instructed by one of the parties, they owe a duty to the Court not to the person responsible for paying their fees.

Rear end shunts

The most common type of road traffic accident is the rear end shunt but is Car Two – the driver of the vehicle who collides with the back of the vehicle in front- Car One – always to blame?

Nearly always yes – but there can be exceptions

First to establish that that Car One is wholly or partially to blame, independent witness evidence is almost always vital.

The usual arguments are that Car One has “cut up” Car Two by suddenly changing lanes into his pathor has pulled out of a side road leaving no braking distance.  Photographs of the damage to both vehicles can be helpful to resolve the dispute.

However, if the brake lights on Car One are not working or it has performed an emergency halt at speed for no good reason or the vehicle has been left abandoned at night in a dark unlit road, there may be grounds to hold Car One at least partly to blame.

Reversing accidents

Another common allegation is that the accident was not a rear end shunt at all but that Car One reversed Car Two or rolled backwards into it.  Again independent evidence is usually vital

Three or more vehicles involved

Where a three car shunt, the situation can be more complicated and will depend on the number of impacts felt by the driver of Car One (who normally cannot lose).

If he felt only one impact then Car Three will generally have pushed Car Two into Car One.

However where the driver of  Car One remembers two impacts, then in most cases Car Two hit Car One before Car Three hit Car Two.

The situation become all the more complex if four or more vehicles are involved.

Whiplash

Rear end shunts frequently cause whiplash injuries whereas the occupants of Car Two less frequently suffer from whiplash (unless there is a Car Three involved).

Injured passengers cannot lose on the matter of liability but where it is suggested that the driver of Car Two hit Car One before the impact from Car Three, the passengers in Car Two will a conflict of interest with the driver of Car Two and should be represented by a different solicitor than their driver.

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Free courtesy cars may not be so free as you think!

Many insurers will provide a free courtesy vehicle whilst yours is repaired.  However, the vehicle you are using may be transferred temporarily to your insurance.

Consider this scenario recently related to me.  The hirer’s hired vehicle was slightly chipped by a hit-and-run vehicle. As the damage was minimal, the hirer offered to the rental company to pay for it to be rectified by a “SMART” repairer or so-called dent doctor at a maximum cost of around £100.00.  SMART repairs are highly effective for minor scrapes and dents.

Unfortunately the hire company would have none of it and insisted that the hirer either paid for a new bumper at a cost of over £300.00 or otherwise they would require the hirer’s insurers to pay for it, resulting in the hirer’s claims experience (or no claims discount) being further prejudiced.

Thus the hirer was left with little option other than a robust complaint to his insurers.