Insurers consider me at fault!!

[ramesh046]

I was driving on main round round the bend at about 20 mph. 20 meters ahead I saw the Traffic light turn fom amber to green. So I kept going. At the lights I saw a pedetrian started to walk across and there was a clash(3 ft away from the curb). My passenger side wing bringer came off , but the man fell and hurt his head. He is Ok now per the hospital. Now my insurers say they will take me at fault and that I should have taken more care. I just dont understand. I have fully protected NCD and have Legal cover. They said any driver clashes with a pedestrian, the driver will be held at fault. They said even at red light and if a person is crossing and there is an accident, the DRIVER will be fault!!!

Any advice please ?

[chrissa1]

The sequence is: Red, Red Amber, Green, Amber, Red.

[Old_Geezer]

In my limited experience, no matter how careful you are, no matter what the incident, as a driver it is your fault and you pay for any expenses.

[dotty.]

so is the bloke that hit is head claiming against you for personal injury or are you trying to claim for the side wing bringer? whatever that might be, or the clash that was 3ft away from the curb, is that the whole band or just one member?

[sherrardk]

You saw him and continued to drive towards him (and hit him) - it is your fault.

[cathfromsaron]

they are uninsured so your insurer will be paying, hence your loss of 'no claims'!

same as if you had hit an inanimate object!

[bednobs]

ubder the highway code, pedestrians have right of way when crossing the road. That's why your ins company have said it;s your fault

[dotty.]

still not clear what the claim is for though.

[bednobs]

presumably for personal injury

[dotty.]

it says he's ok now though per the hospital, whatever that means.

[ramesh046]

Som Many replies. Thanks
The light had turned from flashing amber to Green. I was almost neat the lights when out of the blue the man started walking> The collision happened when he 2 FEET away on to the road. Did not give me chance to react fast enough. The collision happened when the man my left hand side wing mirror clashed. There was NO other damage to my car. He fell down right next to the pavement and was bleeding slightly on the forehead. There were 8 police cars and 11 officers at the scene!! Only my wing mirror was damaged
Once I saw him I braked. Thats how close I was to the light when this happened. How could I have stopped? There were no skid marked suggesting going at speed and thus having to brake hard.
I am just surprised that the Insurance co. straight away decided(not final yet)that the driver is at fault. It sucks

[ramesh046]

Please excuse my spelling mistakes

[joko]

given that he only hit your wing mirror, it does sound like he has stepped out while you were close - or hed have been more in the middle of the road, not the edge.

i dont know any legal side to help but i would fight that

[MoonRocker]

Ok the traffic lights are irrelevant here, imagine they where not there. Now If you see a pedestrian in the road you must stop/avoid. It is not true that it's always the motorists fault, if someone suddently steps out and you cannot avoid then that's their fault. In this case though it seems that you saw the pedestrian and failed to stop. QED your fault, your insurers are correct.

[factor-fiction]

I'm not sure what the implications are here, ramesh. Are you saying your NCD will be affected? Are they refusing to pay for the wing mirror or is the pedestrian suing you (your insurer) for compensation?

[joko]

he says he saw the traffic lights change from 20m - not the pedestrian.

if the ped started to cross while he was 20m away theyd possibly have been on the other side by the time he reached them at 20mph

the fact that he only clipped the mirror implies the ped was only just stepping out , just as he was passing

[shoota]

People relate incidents from their point of view. As this is a personal injury accident the Police will speak to both parties, get both sides of the story, consider the physical evidence (damage to the car, distance from kerb etc) and will determine where fault lies if any.
It is impossible to apportion blame on this one sided story.