Driver accelerated as I overtook
I have received a letter from solicitors claiming compensation for a client’s injuries in his car accident and telling me to send the letter to my insurer. They claim their car driver had injuries from his airbags going off/whiplash.
I was following a Mercedes on my Suzuki GSX and as I went to overtake when it was clear ahead, the driver accelerated hard. This meant that the gap between me and the oncoming car was not as much as I thought. I just managed to get back onto my side of the road but the oncoming car swerved to avoid me and went into a lamp post.
I stopped but the Mercedes driver did not. Do they have a claim against me?
Scott, Pontypridd
Answer
You do need to notify your insurer that you have received the letter of claim.
The actions of the Mercedes driver seem to have contributed to this and could easily be regarded as dangerous driving if he deliberately accelerated to prevent your overtake. Witnesses or CCTV may be able to identity him. If so the claimant’s solicitors could be redirected to his insurer. However they are still likely to go for you, leaving you to bring in the Mercedes driver as another Defendant.
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau will not compensate the injured driver if you were partly to blame for the accident and will leave your insurer to do so, the MIB being a fund of last resort.
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