Normally it can be fairly easy to tell who is at fault in a straightforward road traffic accident. However, in some cases like accidents on a roundabout or a head on collision, the damage areas on both vehicles may not clearly show who is to blame. I’d like to think people would be honest and admit if they were at fault, but we all know we don’t live in an ideal world. As such, you can end up in a situation where the other driver won’t admit liability for the accident even though they were at fault.
There are commonly two scenarios when this kind of thing happens. The first is that you instruct a quality personal injury lawyer like us to fight for your claim for compensation. As specialists in personal injury claiming, we can instruct experts and obtain all sorts of evidence to help prove your case. Make the claim as quickly as you can as there may even be CCTV covering the surrounding area that we can obtain. However, most places get rid of footage after a mere few weeks so we need to secure it as quickly as possible.
With an expert injury lawyer on your side, we’ll fight as hard as we can to make sure you get the compensation you are entitled to receive. So what’s the second scenario? This one isn’t so nice…
The burden of proof to prove that a claim for compensation is valid falls upon the Claimant. Sadly, if the other driver won’t admit liability and they are trying to suggest you are at fault, only one thing can prove your case when its one word against the other; evidence. If there isn’t enough evidence to prove either case, you may end up in as situation where a settlement can only be reached with a 50-50 split. In this situation, you would receive only 50% of your compensation claim amount.
It’s not necessarily fair; and there are certainly situations where an innocent person ends up undercompensated because the other driver has been disingenuous. But, as I say, it’s not what you know; it’s what you can prove! We will always fight to make sure we get you the best outcome, but if we can’t prove your version of events and the other driver won’t accept the blame, you face an uphill struggle.
As soon as you possibly can, call our claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75 and we will advise as to the prospects of succeeding with the case. Even if it could prove difficult to get anymore than a 50-50 split, we can still claim for you and you are still entitled to an award. It just won’t be as much as it should be.
Remember: time is of the essence!
