Greed or incompetence? NRMA not helping

[JAJ]

Your not legally allowed to be a witness because its your own car and the driver was your sister. Its not legally admissable.

Your damage must have been less than your excess for your claim to be have been closed.

The term used for the settlement is "each bears own". Which means you both wear your own cost's because it can't be proved who was at fault. Your neighbour should be calling her insurer and demanding they cover your cost's because she was at fault. Sounds to me like she is calling them and saying she isn't and then telling you something different. She wouldn't be the first to do that. I wouldn't be pushing the fact that she sent you that email because that's a breach of her insurance and whatever company she is insured with has the legal right to cancel her claim and therefore they have no liability to you !

The NRMA can't prove your neighbour is lieing, so I suggest you take this further with her Insurer, call them yourself and demand to esclate the matter and refuse to accept and Each Bears Own situation.

Just so you know, until your vehicle is moving forward your still considered to be completing the reversing manouver, so technically they can refuse you.

[bc53]

This is just unbelievable, does it matter if she saw through her back window or not? the fact is, she hit your car, I mean she could have driven her car with her eyes close, she's still guilty.

"she didn't know what had happened because she couldn't see what had happened."

She did know exactly what happened when she heard the BANG!!

[bargainhunter]

Are both you and your neighbour insured by NRMA? If it was her fault and you are a witness to your sisters crash then you as a witness can testify that it was your neighbours fault. That is why at an accident scene you will often see the not-at-fault driver get witness details.

I don't know why you even contacted your insurance company. It is the responsibility of your neighbours insurer to fix your car. (although some insurance companies do provide assistance in recovering money).

I would get a statuary declaration statement from you (as a witness) advising it was your neighbours fault. I doubt your neighbours insurance company would want to take it further as your accident has a witness who is willing to testify that it was your neighbours fault.

Do you have comprehensive insurance?

[VincentVega]

A few months ago, my sister was reversing out of my driveway in my car. As she had come to a stop in the road, about to move forward, my neighbour reverses down her driveway, without stopping at the kerb, straight into my car.

Standing by the kitchen window I saw the incident take place. I went outside to see what had happened and my neighbour immediately started to apologise. She said that this is the third time this has happened and she couldn't see out the back of her car.

After giving me her details I reported the accident to the NRMA, thinking it would be a standard claim. However, ten days later NRMA called to say they had cancelled the claim. I was advised that my neighbour had said that both cars had been reversing at the time. I thought that a bit odd so I went to ask her about this. She told me she had only said that she didn't know what had happened because she couldn't see what had happened.

So I called the NRMA again. Initially I was told that the case was closed and that I should basically move on. After much discussion I was finally told that the only way the NRMA would reopen my claim was for my neighbour's insurance company to call the NRMA admitting responsibility. It was very hard to arrive at this information.

My neighbour did of course not get her insurance company to do anything as she had been let off the hook by the NRMA. So I sent her a letter saying; please reimburse me for my costs or I will bring a civil case against you.

This elicited an immediate reponse from her; a response that I naively though would settle this matter. Quoting verbatim from her email:

"because of the slope of my driveway I can't see your driveway until I flatten out at the bottom"

"what I said to the insurance company was that I couldn't describe what happened because I couldn't see what happened"

"I can't see the driveway or your side of the road, either in my rear vision mirror or the side mirrors, until I've reached the flat ground - which actually brings me on ot the road - and I can't see it by turning my neck either because I'd have to be able to turn it 180 degrees and that's not physically possible"

I thought would be enough to get the NRMA to sort this out as is supports what I have been saying all along (as well as admitting to breaking several road rules). Wrong!

I did get a phone call from the NRMA saying that they would speak to my neighbour again. They then called to say that she had restated that both vehicles had been reversing and that she has stopped at the kerb, had a good look around, before entering the road. I asked if they confronted her with her own words as per her email. Nah, said the NRMA officer, she said you must have misunderstood what she said.

So what have I learnt. If you cause an accident involving one of NRMA's clients, you should lie about it. Even if you later confirm the other person's events, in writing no less, no one will really care.