BULLYING 3RD PARTY CLAIMS

I recently hit a car who was pulling across 3 lanes of traffic, to enter the opposite road direction. He was given access to the road by two stationary SUVs in the first 2 lanes who had not seen me in the 3rd. A very nice guy, the driver instantly admitted liability, we swapped insurance details, ensured each other was not hurt and helped our vehicles get back on the road safely.

Thankfully, it wasn't a big accident and I saw him enter my lane in time to perform an emergency stop. Unfortunately, I was in a small urban run-around (Peugout 107) and he had a large old bakkie. Still, the damage was minor where he has made no claim (I am told) and I need a new bonnet and some panel beating.

After taking another vehicle to my meeting, my wife, who is literally my carer when it comes to all things 'personal admin', called our insurance company - Outsurance - after we processed the accident form with the police. She was told that they will no longer handle 3rd party claims with other insurers, saying it's against the law. Insisting that we must handle all the administration ourselves. What was even more amazing was that we then had to sign a form for Outsurance that said we would not claim against the accident as we were claiming against the 3rd party.

As the driver was a very nice guy he was happy to help. He answered the phone whenever I called, called his insurance company - Budget Insurance - whenever I asked (Budget constantly claimed they could not get hold of him!). I feel certain that without him making several phone calls to them and admitting it was his fault and to process the claim we would still be waiting.

After 8 weeks we received an email from them that told us to sign and return the attached document... which was a settlement claim for R8,492.71. They didn't even tell us what the quote for repair was. So over the last couple of weeks we have taken it around to various places and received various amounts from R17,000 to R26,000.

Having read their accompanying references entitled 'DUTY OF DRIVER ON PRINCIPAL ROAD WHEN TRAFFIC ON SIDE STREET', I realised that they are claiming that I was also in the wrong. This is ignoring the fact that the driver was exiting a private entrance and not a side street and also that the claim suggested I should take more care when approaching an intersection.

We wrote back to them telling them that they have misread and that the driver claims responsibility and just received an email from Budget Insurance that stated they will not alter their decision and will to go to court. I was amazed!

Now I am stuck with having to either suck it up, shout about it in the press or fight them in court. This really is not how things should be.