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22-07-2013, 10:37 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: perth
Posts: 599
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Drunk driver demolished my car!
On Saturday night I visited friend and parked my car just behind his on his driveway. I should point out I was completely off the street for about half a meter. Next to his car there were another 2 cars that belong to his sons and another car parked on the street. About 10.30 PM we heard big explosion and we thought someone dropped a bomb in front of his house. We all run out to see whats going on and I couldn't see my car any more? I thought someone stole it. Then when we went further I saw my car completely demolished and turned sideways against his sons cars. Further down there was Toyota Celica completely smashed, we rushed to the car and opened the door to help a driver. She was crying and saying she is sorry for what just happened. It was obvious she was very drunk! Amazingly she was able to walk and talk to us like nothing happened. But then when she saw the damage she caused she almost collapsed so we called ambulance and police. Ambulance arrived first and they couldn't believe she is in one piece when they saw what happened. Police arrived and they couldn't test her for breath test because she was hysterical at this point and they had to take her to hospital where they confirmed she was very drunk. Police put yellow stickers on all damaged cars. She damaged 5 cars including hers but my was the worst damaged and according to police its write off. Her car is write off as well. Why she suddenly turned right into my friends driveway and crushed all those cars is unknown. Police said she probably fell asleep.
Now, I have third party insurance only. She is insured but police said insurance wont pay because she was drunk? I called my insurance (Budget Direct) and they said I have to do it myself because she has insurance? They said if she didn't have insurance they would help me with her paying me for my car? This doesn't make sense to me? We called her insurance and they said she didn't lodge her claim yet even tho we have police reference number and report. They said they have to wait for her to lodge the claim. Everyone is saying her insurance wont pay because she was drunk? And that we have to sue her to pay for damage? We have all her details, including her insurance (AAMI) policy number, driving license number and police report reference number.
What can I do in this situation? How can I get at least some money for my car? It looks to me that as long as you are drunk no one can do anything about it. Drunk people have more rights than we do.
BTW she visited my friend yesterday afternoon and said she is sorry. He told her she has to pay for all the damages and all that, she said she will be in contact, but when he tried to call her today as soon as he said who is calling she hang up!
This is so frustrating. And I need new car as well.
bob
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22-07-2013, 10:46 PM
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PI popular people's front
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: perth australia
Posts: 1,291
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I went through a similar experience years ago. You will have to write a letter of demand to her, I'd also send it to her insurer, but ultimately you may end up in the small claims court. I'm pretty sure the following link should get you pointed in the right direction.
http://www.legalaid.wa.gov.au/Inform...Insurance.aspx
Sadly, even though the probability is that she will be ordered to pay, it's likely that she will suddenly have no assets, no income, and the court will do nothing.
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23-07-2013, 08:08 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: south east QLD,Australia
Posts: 2,869
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Really awful stuff,hope you get it sorted,and a vehicle back.
Its something like this that can really set a person back,a family around here years ago,had something happen to one of their cars-he could not get to work,it strained their relationship,it generally appeared that from that car they had not been usable-it sent a downward spiral through their whole lives.
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23-07-2013, 08:38 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Port Macquarie
Posts: 30
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Sorry to here you have had this happen to you.
It will depend on the insurance company and how they view it. In past. Some will pay out on all damage to OTHER property caused by one party. In this instance they will payout on your vehicle and the others and not HERS, and then sue her for damages. This will cause her issues for the rest of her life if they do.
In more recent years they have stoped this practice for a couple of reasons, they never get their money and under some world laws its not good practice to destroy lives.
Your best bet is to take legal action against her and try and recover money. This will be costly to you, and if you win and the court awards you cost, which means she pays repairs, replacement and all court cost and legal fees, she can walk out of court and claim bankruptcy.
No one will win at this stage. Depending on the value of your property I would consider moving on and putting it down to a bad experience. Considering the fact you only have 3rd party, was the vehicle worth much, and also would say there was probably no hire purchase on the car (loan). they asked it to be fully insured if it did.
In practice I totally empathise with you and she should get what is coming to her and should have to pay. Don't let it consume you, it will take years for you to get a payday if you get one at all. Min 10K for legals an you could use that for a new car.
Please don't think I am having a go at you, but way up options before you decide.
In the grand scheme of things no one was hurt and you are all breathing. I have scrapped to many people of the roads that have been killed by bloody idiot drunk drivers.
Move forward and be stronger for it.
Andrew
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23-07-2013, 08:39 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: ACT/NSW
Posts: 786
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Third party , depends on what you paid for, normally it only covers you if you hit someone else. So consider yourself uninsured for this incident. If she was over the limit she won't be covered by insurance. You can take her to court but for now I'd look onto making a claim on her insurance till she is proved to be guilty of DUI. You will have to visit her insurance company and demand to claim on her policy. This probably won't end well for you.
Roger
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23-07-2013, 08:44 AM
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ze frogginator
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sydney
Posts: 22,079
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Wow that sucks Bob...  Yeah third party may not cover you for this. I'm with Budget Direct too but full comprehensive. The kid rear ended a 4x4 recently and they were very good about it. Same month some dude took me sideway in a round about from the left and again no drama. My cars are over 10yrs old. So border line write-off. They fixed them both and stayed under the street value which is bugger all. TBH I don't know how they've pulled it off so they're pretty accommodating. In your case I'm not sure if your policy covers you for this unfortunately. As Roger said if you go to small claims you're going to feed a lot of solicitors and go nowhere. You'll be worse off. Your best bet is to talk to her directly and try to work something out or go through some compensation lawyer but not via the insurance channel because by the book and fine prints you maybe out of it.
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23-07-2013, 09:03 AM
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DeepSkySlacker
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: hobart, tasmania
Posts: 2,241
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drunk drivers
Mate, I just went through the small claims civil court in WA (PERTH) for a missing mount and it was pretty painless. Cost $81 to lodge the affidavit and the initial claim, did a couple of listing conferences by phone and have been awarded the value of the mount. As others have said though, actually getting it back is another thing entirely.
When I spoke to the legal guys down here in Tas, they didn't have a high opinion of court appointed bailiffs to get your money back.
However you can apply and put a means enquiry on the lady if you have a name and address and and also apply to block further credit applications from her and also put a salary block on her if she is employed to get your money back.
It is all in the WA paperwork on line.
There are ways and means but also she has lots of wriggle room to avoid paying.
Depends if you want to pursue on principle. Most council officials can sign your affidavit and get the ball rolling.
Good luck
Graham
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23-07-2013, 09:21 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Tungkillo, South Australia
Posts: 599
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Going to hospital after a vehicle accident means a compulsory blood test for her. You won't get any help from AAMI until the results are in. I rolled my car off the road in April, not drunk, just a moment's lack of attention but the blood test result took 5 weeks to arrive!!! AAMI took a further 4 weeks to pay me for the write-off!!!  I live in a place with no shops, services etc and the nearest bust stop is 10Km away,so it was a bit of a difficult time for me. Hope you get better service..
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23-07-2013, 09:24 AM
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ze frogginator
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sydney
Posts: 22,079
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cfranks
Going to hospital after a vehicle accident means a compulsory blood test for her. You won't get any help from AAMI until the results are in. I rolled my car off the road in April, not drunk, just a moment's lack of attention but the blood test result took 5 weeks to arrive!!! AAMI took a further 4 weeks to pay me for the write-off!!!  I live in a place with no shops, services etc and the nearest bust stop is 10Km away,so it was a bit of a difficult time for me. Hope you get better service..
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Some policies allow you to have a rental/courtesy car as a replacement for the period you're without one. It's optional but worth your while if you're in a remote area.
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23-07-2013, 11:01 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Monto
Posts: 16,741
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If the insurance companies give you no joy, get your solicitor to write up a letter, asking for payment, giving her the option to pay off her debt.
While you won't get your money all at once, you will get it back eventually. Set up a separate bank account and get her to automatically direct debit $20 a week into it. (or what ever amount she can reasonably afford)
This is how my son is paying off a debt he owes over a rearender he was involved in.
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23-07-2013, 12:35 PM
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ze frogginator
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sydney
Posts: 22,079
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deanm
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+ hit and run + drug charges. Priceless.
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23-07-2013, 06:29 PM
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pro lumen
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: ballina
Posts: 3,265
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Good luck with this Bob and thank goodness you weren't just leaving or about to get into the car when she lost it .!
went through this many years ago , and the at fault driver paid up on the damage and moved on with a pain in wallet.
If this person is employed , had a reasonable income , and the car had some finance attached , she may not want to or be able to just run
away from her actions .
A work colleague of my wife went through a fence and wiped out a new 30K car, and got done for resisting arrest to (idiot ) , but still chose to refinance the loan and pay the damage out over many years .
Which as JJJ mentions is an option for some closure of this in time .
I'd definitely ring her insurer, and bump the call up to a superviser or three to as well to get an idea what they will likely do with a claim .
again
good luck
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23-07-2013, 09:26 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Hunter NSW
Posts: 324
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Have been wondering what happened about the mount problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by graham.hobart
Mate, I just went through the small claims civil court in WA (PERTH) for a missing mount and it was pretty painless. Cost $81 to lodge the affidavit and the initial claim, did a couple of listing conferences by phone and have been awarded the value of the mount. As others have said though, actually getting it back is another thing entirely.
When I spoke to the legal guys down here in Tas, they didn't have a high opinion of court appointed bailiffs to get your money back.
However you can apply and put a means enquiry on the lady if you have a name and address and and also apply to block further credit applications from her and also put a salary block on her if she is employed to get your money back.
It is all in the WA paperwork on line.
There are ways and means but also she has lots of wriggle room to avoid paying.
Depends if you want to pursue on principle. Most council officials can sign your affidavit and get the ball rolling.
Good luck
Graham
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23-07-2013, 11:11 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: perth
Posts: 599
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Thanks everyone for your response and support. A lot of ideas and suggestions.
My cars market value is probably around $1500. But that was my transport to work.
There is also moral issue here. If I don't do anything about it and she gets back on the road and kills someone then I would feel guilty because I could've done something to prevent it.
As Graham said, if I was in the car at the time of accident I probably wouldn't be around or maybe in hospital with broken bones.
I hope police will also press criminal charges against her and suspend her license. One drunk idiot on the road affected 4 innocent people.
I don't even know how am I going to get those quotes for damage when I have to load the car on truck and get it to at least two panel beaters. That will cost me half of the cars value.
But if I want to do anything about it I need those quotes first.
I understand I have third party insurance only but insurance would have much more chance of getting her to pay than we do.
As I mentioned before, it would have been better for me if she didn't have insurance at all, in that case my insurance would recover at least part of the cost of damage to my car:
Quote:
Third Party Property Damage is the narrowest level of cover we offer; it covers only your liability for damage caused by the car to other people's property, plus a limited amount of cover for the car if damaged in a no fault accident with an uninsured vehicle.
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This way I most likely can't do anything, insurance wont do anything, her insurance wont do anything because she was drunk. It looks like everything is on her side and against us the victims. This is why we have repeat offenders until someone gets hurt or killed.
cheers
bob
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23-07-2013, 11:31 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Sydney
Posts: 1,883
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If your car was only worth $1500 then you need to just get on and get another vehicle. Its worth trying to get some compensation from her - but you wont be able to go far as solicitors are $400 plus an hour .
Years ago my first car got written off by a rear end collision from an unmarked police car . NRMA valued the car at $1500 before and 6 months later the GIO via police dept paid me $500 ..hope you do better !
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24-07-2013, 01:17 AM
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There is no substitute
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Sydney
Posts: 1,964
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Sorry you're going through all these dramas Bob. Just a stab in the dark I'm no expert in these matters but could your car be covered under your mates home/contents insurance seeing as it was sitting on his driveway?
I'm pretty sure had you personally been run over whilst standing on his driveway his home (personal liability) insurance would pay, but I could be wrong
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24-07-2013, 07:05 AM
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pro lumen
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: ballina
Posts: 3,265
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talk to the wreckers and the tow truck driver if that's where the car is going ,they should be able to organize something regarding repair quotes .
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24-07-2013, 08:47 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Sydney
Posts: 1,883
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Just an additional point here about insurance claims- the car at $1500 value is a write off - its not going to get repaired - a minor ding on a door would cost that these days. All you can do is get another vehicle and if you get anything back down the track you are ahead.
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24-07-2013, 09:03 AM
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ze frogginator
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sydney
Posts: 22,079
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Satchmo
Just an additional point here about insurance claims- the car at $1500 value is a write off - its not going to get repaired - a minor ding on a door would cost that these days. All you can do is get another vehicle and if you get anything back down the track you are ahead.
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You'd be surprised. My kid's with budget direct. He rear ended a big 4x4. New bonnet (folded in 2) , sides x2, front x1, optics x1 and all the bending bit work. 97 model excel. They managed to fix it under $1.5k and they did a good job too. Although I think he got bloody lucky and learned his lesson.
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