Had An Accident :(

[pritchardavid]

Hi there

Sorry for long post and no pictures before I begin

Can I get a bit of advice here please?

I had an accident Saturday Afternoon. Was going round a corner at a decent speed. I was turning the wheel to the left, however the car turned right, so I went on the wrong side of the road and went into a bank (Mud/Small Bushes/Really small thin trees)

Damage is

Front grill came off

Bumper damaged cracked so basically the whole front

Maybe a bit of damage on the bonnet

One of the fog lights gone and housing broke

Skirting Damage

I think 2 of the alloys are damaged, maybe tire too, not sure.

Think the rad is leaking too

Wing mirror - Casing is broken, mirror actually not smashed

Some other random plastics that fell off, that I don't know where they were they came from.

Maybe some other small stuff, not sure, only seen the damage at night conditions.

Should of took some pictures, didn’t think.

When some nice helped me, he got his mate to the road with his 4x4 and pulled it out. One wheel was straight and one was at a angle!!!! Most of the tire was of the alloy, such a small bit was off, problery would have come off if it wasn't for the alloy being in the way, has it came off the other way. The steering wheel will on control the left wheel. The AA guy said he has known the motors of the electric steering have gone wrong, but never when driving before.

AA had to get the on a transporter, the steering rack is broken they told me. Annoying I got AA to take it to a car park that's near to a bodyshop my insurers used before when some decide to crash into in my old Fiesta. Plus it was also near a Ford Dealer (Auto Essex) Car was sitting the for like 2 days before being moved, was worried that place was not secure, then again I suppose no one can drive it with the steering knackerd.

Just reading on the net that I could of choose the place of repair is that true?

Yesterday (Monday) it was again transported to the garage Admiral want FixAutos. Took the transporter guy a heck of a long time to get it on. Garage was closed by the time he got to me, so it had to go the transporters base overnight. Hopefully it should be at the garage now, will check in the morning,

Now my main question is there a good way to prove that the steering fault causing me to have this accident.

Which means if its fault with the car (Which I believe it is) Ford should pay for the repair cost, which means I wouldn’t have to lose my 2 years no claim and pay insurance exass. DOes the repair garage need to write a reported and send it to Ford/Insurance or something. Or is this the sort of things, that's not goanna go my way, and I’ll have to pay?

Thanks for advice in advance

[stef123]

Sorry to hear about your accident, I do hope you are ok and unhurt.

To cut a long story short, the car will need to be examined to prove that the accident was not your fault.

It sounds to me like you may have lost control of the steering due to a fault with the steering rack or components attached to it - tie rod or tie rod end. So effectively you are steering one wheel and the other is free to do as it likes and consequently pulling you off the road

[DieselPig]

Given the extent of the damage the loss adjuster may just see damaged components as the result of the crash not the cause.

When you turned the wheel did the car jerk, make a noise like something snapping or did it just glide across the road into the bank and what do you call a decent speed?

[pritchardavid]

Hi Guys... I don't remember any noise, so I'll say the second thing you said (or did it just glide across the road into the bank) I wasn't going fast I would say, I know some of this corners on this country road can be dangerous, I always slow down before every corner to be on the safe side. I ok, lucky this wasn't on a main road, would have been much worse. So who needs to exam it, so it the garage who as hopefully received the car now, I have informed Admiral I believe this accident to have been caused by the fault of the car. Have I got to get a report from them and give it to ford to claim? Or will the garage give the report to Admiral and Admiral sorts it with ford, or will the garage just give the report to Ford? Will be ringing the garage soon to make sure they have instructions to check this out so we can claim against Ford.. Does all this sound right?..... Also thanks for your repies

[stef123]

I'm just thinking from my past experience of a claim with the council, you should have phoned the police out as it would be treated as a traffic accident - that way they would have examined the road, conditions etc and may have given you evidence that it wasn't your fault

[pritchardavid]

Sorry forgot to say that, the person that was helping me out, did phone the police. In fact I think police came from two different stations because we were between time in the middle of both of them, think that what the person said to me. So we ended up with the police cars at the place They checked my Drivers Photo ID and done a search on my car.

[Stoney871]

Unless they already gave it to you, contact your local Police for the incident log number and they should also have a collision reference number available through their road collision unit.

Give both numbers if available to your insurance company.

If your insurance contacts the Police concerning the collision then they usually have to pay for the recorded data (usually £60 i believe) but they'll know that and the procedures to follow.

Did the attending Police not hand you a collision care pack booklet?

This is what we give out-

[pritchardavid]

Nope no booklet, guessing cause I didn't hit a car?.... Garr what a mess around all this is. Had to go to the garage to sign their paperwork to agree damage. Problems is they also said to me they will only quote and repair the car after I asked about getting Ford to foot the bill instead of Admiral. Now have managed to get Admiral to move it to Allen Ford, not a bad thing I brought it from there. Hopefully they will be able to exam it and hopefully sort it in warranty.