Legal advice

[Brody]

Not sure this is in the right group, though anyway

Im after some basic advice from ppl that have been in this position or just know some ins and outs...

Basic summary,

Taxi cuts me off, drivers side damaged, left wheel damaged.

I call police, police come, make report etc

Taxi spins *alot* of shit, his story changed completely twice (!)

End result, police find him at fault, issues an infringment to him.

All good so far.

Taxi takes a month of hassling to goto his insurance,

Insurance bs me with "police report takes 4/5/6 weeks to come in"

I get a copy myself in 2 days (!)

Polcie report says everything how it happened, says hes at fault.

His insurance find him at fault,

Taxi now wishs to dispute his infringment in court (can u say 6months +)

I understand this is within his rights to do so,

though this is beyond a joke now and I can see hes doing it on purpose. Its a $100 fine or so for "not giving way". Not sure if there points.

Anyway,

His insurance says "we're not admitting fault until he has his court case finalised".

So my car has been off the road for 3 months & im saving to get it fixed now. EST is 5/6k.

I only have 3rd party, so my insurance doesn't want 2 help.

NRMA roadside legal said take him to court directly, as "his insurance is just using stall tatics",

Chamber magistrate said i couldn't do a great deal until he has his case.

Im planning to see a solictor asap to see what their advice is, though does any1 else have some info that could help?

Another sketchy post though im always in a rush

[Southo]

Brody,

As the Chamber Magistrate said, there is not a lot you can do. as anyone who is claiming damages as the "third party" in the claim - you are completely at the whim of the at fault person to lodge the claim or his insurance companies desire to pay you out quickly or not. They (at fault driver/insurance company) do not owe you any level of service as the third party and if he wishes to stall the matter by disputing it - he can.

regardless of the reasons for taking it to court (ie, stalling or genuinely beleives he is not at fault) there is nothing that can be done to make him, or his insurance company pay you out before the case.

Personally, what I would do is issue a small debt summons directly on him, and include your personal / consequential losses (ie, hire car costs, taxi fares, and any other extraordinary out of pocket expenses this accident has caused you) as well as the cost of repairs. That way, if he IS just tring to stuff you around (ie, the day before his court case he decides to drop the matter and just pleads guilty, chances are the magistrate will take pity of you and ream his arse for stuffing you around.

Also, under the normal contract of insurance - consequential loss or damage and demurage (car hire etc) are NOT something the insurance company HAS to pay out. But if you sue him as a civil matter - it will cost him PERSONALLY, and cost him an extra day off work. - You will have to mitigate your loss and prove that you have had some hardship as a result, but I have attended many cases where the full amount claimed has been awarded, plus full court costs.

If he WINS his case, and it is proven that he was NOT at fault, you can withdraw and cancel the summons by attending the magistrate before the court case.

[Brody]

Looks like im in for abit of wait

Just shits me that hes so far in the wrong and i get rooted.

Thanks for taking the time to reply Jason,

It does help alot in terms of knowing where I stand.

I'll be chasing down the small debt claim for sure...

Thanks again

[hippy]

****ing taxi drivers ... they are all the same man ... don't give into them .. same sorta thing happened to my friend ... and he basically went through everything u are going through ... **** them ... and u know what else is worse that happened to my friend?? the accident was not as bad as urs ... maybe about 2k damage ... the taxi driver just ran away ... can't be found ... how ****ed up is that??? .. i say ****ing get the **** ... and then get all brand new parts directly from nissan in japan so it will cost over 20k to fix!!!

[Guest INASNT]

taxi drivers usually have good insurance and u can deal with it rather quick!

4 years ago friends XD (truck) got rear ended by a new at the time taxi and he got $3500 off the taxis insurance company rather quick, he didnt fix the car and pocketed the $$ as it was an xd and had other dents and scratches on it!

[Brody]

Well his insurance was going to pay me out. 2 months after the accident, they said he was at fault and I would be paid out shortly. I then rang a week later to check for an update as I had not heard anything and was told i had been sent a letter (which i got the next day) stating that the taxi driver would be taking his infringment to court and they would not work on the case until that had been settled.

His infringment is "did not give way".

So if he goes to court and gets out of it from some technicality, where does that leave me? His insurance is sure to say "our client got out of it, hes not at fault **** off", where as if you look at the cars, it can't be my fault. So does that mean i should take out a claim now basically saying ' i dont give a fk for ure ticket, this is why ure at fault, give me money' like nrma said?

One of the times i rang him to say wtf are u doing with insurance he said 'i can't talk, im at court about a ticket bye', so perhaps he has a habit of this (does any1 know if thats available to check?).

The other thing, hes 68 (main reason i didnt murder him when it happened), what happens if he kicks it during the wait?

All of this has just continually gone downhill, all because he wont admit hes at fault. I understand that hes entitled to that, though not when he knows it. The story has gone from

1. i was turning off at street x, he speed up the inside and i collected him when turning.

2. i was driving normally, he slammed his brakes next to me, his car wobbles into mine.

3. passanger? there was no passanger signling a lift.

(that bloke took off when i got out and went skitzo)

I had 2 mates with me at the time if thats of any help?

I know i sound like a whinging bitch, but im just at the point where i have nfi what else to do...Best idea i think is 2 see a legal prac.

[R31Nismoid]

having people there will help you.

Also did you get any witness contacts or did them police talk to anyone else.

That will greatly help you out when the courst day comes.

He probably won't take it off but in the meantime GO THE CIVIL SUIT for all the costs incurred so far as Southho said.

That'll scare the F outta him as he won't be able to get out of it as easily it if you take the police report in. Civil court works differently.

[hippy]

i'm with u all the way ... get the wanker ...

[JNR24]

flog his taxi, and dismantle it for parts, and fix yours.

[Lozza150]

Keep all recipts for taxi's (sorry that word) public transport, anything to do with the loss of your car. Sue him, either before or after and seek everything you can. Your soliciter will be able to give you all teh details you need.

He'll plead guilty on the day, and the court will probably bargin with him, so make sure your represenative argue's a good case for not.!!

Took me over 3 months to get the bastard who backed in to my Commie and took off. I even had to bring my Girlfriends sister down from Home (500 k's away) to give evidence against him. (the court paid for that). But the commie's fixed, but it was a ****in pain in the ass all that time....rrrrrr

the annoying part..... it seems the law protects them. Insurance companie's are ****ed as far as im concerened.... BUT we need them and they need us.

Loz

[Roy]

Hey Brody, similar thing happened to me. Stuffed around from December to end March, luckily i was fully insured and finally ran out of patience and had my insurer repair my R32 and chase him in civil court.

That doesnt really solve your problem, but this might. I cant believe im saying this but...

Try ringing Ray Hadley on 2GB (I think thats the station) Hes on after Alan Jones of a morning.

The guys in my office listen to his talk back show of a morning, and im amazed at how scared insurance companies are of being named on air by him after a phone call from a disgruntled consumer.

Several times now i have heard, first a caller, Ray takes some details of air and follows it up with the inurance company, then a day or two later he tells how the insurer has seen the error of their ways.

Never know your luck!

[int21h]

Good luck with your case Brody.

It's really f*&^*d up when you're in the right and the other people are screwing you around.

Its great to see all the other guys helping out with information.

[Brody]

Thought id take time to say thank you to every1 that has posted with advice. As a brief update, I delivered another letter of demand outlining everything, in which he's more of less said get lost, so ive been speaking to a few lawyers this morning.

Most are going with 'its not cost effective', though I think thats because they're city based and want around 2k upfront (!).

I'm still searching now, so if any1 has contacts that deal with Motor accident claims, by all means drop down their number

Roy,

On ure post, I can understand why his insurance is not willing to have 2 much involvement as he has not made a claim. Sure the guy was a wank on the phone, but at the end of the day, their client isn't making the claim as of yet so its nothing to them. Shits me, but logical.

[PuppaDuck]

Dude, just make sure you keep a log of expenses and track all your communications and the results, eg. $20 to work via taxi, called guy and got nothing helpful, etc

this will add to the completeness of any action you take, and this is what the guys in court will appreciate...

you can even fudge it a bit in case you haven't accounted for everything so far, but don't do anything that sounds greedy...otherwise you loose merit...

I would also possibly explain the situation to his company supervisor (or someone high up) and explain the extra costs involved for them with the delays...they already pay outrageous insurance costs and would frown on anything that may influence a premium increase...

[Ryan D]

The best type of insurance is a 9 D Cell Mag Light

Nah but seriously, just keep ringing the place, and the firm and hassle them, the more u do, the quicker theyll want you to just go away, so theyll do the proceedings quicker

[Brody]

Thought its time for an update

I filled a 'claim of liquidation' a month back, for around 10k of damages to my car. That gave him 28 days to file a defence or pay, or do nothing. He did nothing. So this morning I filled a default judgement (basically puts me in the right) and a writ of execution (his possesions can be taxed and then auctioned).

So, its going to be another few months from here (Id est 4/5), and he can still file a defence provided he can show a "good" reason (in the eyes of a magistrate) for the lateness of his defence.

Shall see what happens when the sherif goes around to collect the $.

The interest rate on all of this is actually ok, 9%

*edit*

Also just requested and completed a summons for a financial examination to be conducted. PPHHOOAARRWW

[Jay95R33]

Good stuff Brody - hopefully this will get him to think twice next time he hits something.

Good luck and keep us upto date

J

[butthead]

Get yourself a lawyer & take it from there,

[WazR32GTSt]

are you also going to sue for your lawyer fees?

[Brody]

Im taking this 1 by the horns, though by all means you can drop in solictor fees, might keep that 1 up my sleeve depending on how things go.