Where I am up to [Accident Procedure Rant]

[goo857]

Hi all,

Well, it's been a few weeks since my car got cleaned up by the P Plater from hell. Apart from giving you all an update, I'd like to take this opportunity to also advise everybody on how useless it is to get Police to attend the scene of an accident unless somebody is hurt.

It took a few days of contacting the RACV and the other party before a claim was made. The RACV didn't want to speak to me until the other party had made a claim and the other party always seemed to not be at home. Once the claim was finally made, the RACV would speak to me. I was asked to contact some local smash repairers and was suggested a few that the RACV like to work with. One of the repairers is notorious for "over-evaluating", one wouldn't see the car unless it was trailered to them, and the other said that he'd be happy to go to where the vehicle was stored to evaluate it, but didn't. The trailer companies wouldn't touch me either.

The RACV informed me that they had not determined liability for the accident at that stage and from the questions they asked me such as, "Did you indicate before turning right?", "How long were you indicating for?", "Did you brake?", and "How long were you braking for?", seemed to all imply that the driver had changed his story and was trying to imply that I either didn't brake or indicate, or didn't for long enough.

I asked the RACV if a Police report would help them and they informed me that it would, but not if I gave my statement to the Police days later. I informed the RACV that the Police had attended the scene and had taken statements. The RACV was happy for me to chase up the Police Report. Well, initially I was told by the Police that it was up to the RACV to chase up the Police Report, but if I liked, they would give me an incident number to give to them. At this stage, the Accident Report had not been filed so the Police took my contact details down and offered to contact me as soon as the report had been filed.

A week went by and I still hadn't heard from the Police. I went back and was informed that they couldn't give me the incident number and that the Accident Reports are sent to the Accident Records Office and that I would have to speak to them. I then contacted the Accident Records Office (ARO) who informed me that due to the Privacy Act, they could not give me the Accident Report. I could, however, pay $40 to apply for the Report, but only if it was OK'd would I get my statement. I asked if the RACV could obtain the full Report and I was informed that perhaps if I sent them a letter of authority, then they might be able to, but that wasn't guaranteed.

I then contacted the RACV and they informed me that since September 1st, 2004, their cheques to the ARO had been rejected as, once again, the Privacy Act denied them access to the Accident Reports. So I was back to square one. The RACV asked me again for my statement and a quote from a smash repairer. The only smash repairer that would see my car, now wouldn't see it unless I spoke to a solicitor that he had referred me to. As I believe I am fully in the right and was sick of the run-around I was getting, I figured it couldn't hurt. I contacted the Solicitor and after some messing around, I'm finally being represented. Since then, a letter of demand has been sent (probably to the RACV), an Assessor has seen the car (I believe and before a quote from the smash repairer, mind you), and the smash repairer has seen the car (I believe). I haven't been contacted yet with results, but it finally seems to be happening, albeit, over 3 weeks after the accident.

So the lesson of the story is, regardless of who is at fault, it's always handy to ensure that you are insured, by all means contact the Police at the time of the accident, but don't expect any results thanks to the Privacy Act, and Solicitors can certainly help in getting things on the way.

Also, I'd like to apologise to all those who have offered me panels and chassis for my delays in having answers for you as to whether or not I need anything. I hope that I'll have answers within the next day or so.

Thanks to all those who bother to read this rant and I apologise for venting, but I needed to.

Cheers all,

[Glenjo]

One two three.. and breathe two three..

You'll be right, hang in there :)

Before you know it you'll be back on the road boosting parts all types of VN Commodores.

:beer

[ProZac]

[Intelligent post follows]

Red-tape sucks diddley balls.