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My gorgeous, perfect 156 written off by someone pulling out of a junction

2K views 30 replies 18 participants last post by  Rachelba 
#1 ·
Hi all,

Thoroughly pi***d off after someone pulled out of a side road junction, t-boned my 156 and span me into the front of another car. And they are trying to claim it was my fault because the nose of their car was over the giveway line so I should have assumed they wanted to pull out.

The car was perfect. Everything worked. Not even a car park ding and with just 57,000 miles on the clock. It sailed through its MOT and the examiner said it was the best Alfa of its era he'd seen.

I've suffered whiplash and bashing/bruising from the various impacts. The other car I hit said he saw everything and, in no way, am I to blame. The guy who hit me wasn't looking. He was rather irate after the event which made it all the more galling.

It was only meant to be a stop-gap car after the sale of my 159 before getting a Giulietta QV which I now have. However, I fell in love with the car, knowing full well that it would be impossible to find one as nice.

I know it could have been much worse but am gutted that such a perfect example of a 156 is no more. What is it with people!?
 
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#5 ·
The front of the car is fully intact and untouched as is the driver's side. The impact was the rear passenger door which sent me spinning into another car. The back of my car hit this. Absolute nightmare.

After admitting liability, the driver of the offending vehicle has now changed his story to say I was overtaking! Absolutely ridiculous and blatantly lying. Hopefully, when the driver of the car I span into and hit tells his story, liability will be sorted and everything will get sorted in my favour. I just fear the worst at the moment. Insurance companies and lying people etc. Never been in this situation before. Heartbreaking to see the car wrecked. Sadly, it could be repaired but at far too much cost as it does still drive.

I guess I just have to keep leaning on my insurance company and his to get things sorted. Will see what transpires next week...
 
#6 ·
Would love to seek out another minter but mine had lovely shadow chrome 17-inch Collezionne alloys. Never to find another one like this again with such low mileage etc.

Can you tell how upset I am!?
 
#9 ·
Quite agree. But don't think I can be bothered with the headache and heartache of finding another and swapping parts etc. It'll be rich pickings when it is broken up for parts. :-(

Am absolutely furious that the person who hit me is trying to put the blame on me! How can that happen!? Until liability is admitted, I can't get a rental car. Still waiting to get the Giulietta back from the Bodyshop. The irony of it all. You couldn't make it up.

I am genuinely in pain as it was a heavy impact followed by another strike of a vehicle. Am hoping that the damage to the car I span into and hit will come out of the offender's insurance too as he caused the accident in the first place.

The whole thing stinks.
 
#12 ·
apart from the fact that Uncle Munckle has been unfortunate enough to encounter one of those characters who makes you wonder whether they were self taught or were sent to the school of learning to be a total d#ck-head...

the worst thing is that his 156 is a very rare car...you can't just go out and order another beauty off the shelf....even if the insurance company would give him top dollar for it...(probably less than £1000) he can't just go out and replace it...
I feel the same about my 166. Its worth about 50p...but it is non-replaceable...maybe after a year of searching another good one may just come up...big maybe...
 
#13 ·
Mate you have nothing to worry about in regards to the insurance.
Firstly you had right of way as he was pulling out of a side turning. Regardless of whether he was over the line he can't just pull out onto a main road unless he had a clear path. Secondly he hit you, not the other way around, causing you to spin into the path of the other car so the second collision was also his fault.
Thirdly the car you hit will provide a statement clearing you of any blame so it's basically 2 against 1....he has no hope of putting the blame on you. Sounds like a chancer trying his luck.

I recently had a similar accident but the difference was that the car that pulled out on me blocked my path and I couldn't stop in time so my car hit his, then bounced into a parked car. I was on a main road and he pulled out of a dead end road, and his insurance company eventually admitted liability as I had right of way plus he should have been pulling out with due care. The damage to the parked car would have been settled by his insurer too.

Insurance companies do take forever to liase with each other so it's worth chasing them up as much as possible. Also see if the driver of the car you hit will provide you with a written statement you can email direct to your insurer, along with road/accident pics and diagrams. Those will help expedite the process and hopefully get you into a courtesy car as soon as possible.

If you're going to go down the route of a personal injury claim it'd be worth getting yourself a hire car until your insurer provide you with a courtesy car as you'll be able to claim the costs back when the time comes. Take pictures of any bruising and maybe visit your GP to build evidence for your case.

Best of luck ��
 
#14 ·
Mate you have nothing to worry about in regards to the insurance.
Firstly you had right of way as he was pulling out of a side turning. Regardless of whether he was over the line he can't just pull out onto a main road unless he had a clear path. Secondly he hit you, not the other way around, causing you to spin into the path of the other car so the second collision was also his fault.
Thirdly the car you hit will provide a statement clearing you of any blame so it's basically 2 against 1....he has no hope of putting the blame on you. Sounds like a chancer trying his luck.

I recently had a similar accident but the difference was that the car that pulled out on me blocked my path and I couldn't stop in time so my car hit his, then bounced into a parked car. I was on a main road and he pulled out of a dead end road, and his insurance company eventually admitted liability as I had right of way plus he should have been pulling out with due care. The damage to the parked car would have been settled by his insurer too.

Insurance companies do take forever to liase with each other so it's worth chasing them up as much as possible. Also see if the driver of the car you hit will provide you with a written statement you can email direct to your insurer, along with road/accident pics and diagrams. Those will help expedite the process and hopefully get you into a courtesy car as soon as possible.

If you're going to go down the route of a personal injury claim it'd be worth getting yourself a hire car until your insurer provide you with a courtesy car as you'll be able to claim the costs back when the time comes. Take pictures of any bruising and maybe visit your GP to build evidence for your case.

Best of luck ��
Thanks mate, that's reassuring. I'll see what the driver of the car I hit will say/do. He's already said the bloke to blame has tried to call him and get him on side!

I went to A&E so they'll have documentation of my visit and confirmed details of my injury. The injury bods have been in touch and said it's no win, no fee and I'll be having physio too for all the pain. All FOC. Via my insurance at the moment and guess they'll try and reclaim off the other insurance company.

I just wonder what happens next. Do I send pics of the damage and drawings of the incident etc or wait until I required to do so? Never been in this awful situation before.
 
#16 ·
Been there , really feel your pain. :speechless:
Lost a beautiful Alfasud 25 years back . exctly the same scenario. There were and are no words . Your biggest problem is not blame , the guys obviously an idiot. Give way means exactly that. Overtaking? What so he intended to pull out in front of 2 cars ??.
Stick to your guns and gthe truth will out.
The worst part is replacing or the value. This is the one thing that has always bugged me about Alfa ownership. You and all the people on here know how difficult it is to find and keep an Alfa in exellent condition. Sadly the insurers only go by book price.
It maybe worth getting an independant assesor to value your car.
I was offered £525 for my sud untill i got an independant value and they said £1750 and it was no longer a write off either.
So sorry real prats out there :yikes:
 
#18 ·
As SpoiledGT has said, the insurers will see this as clear cut. It is worth calling them to ask what happens next, what would they like from you, and basically take any excuse to keep reminding them you're waiting for a resolution.

The scumbag who's tried to blame you has already dropped himself in it with his statement that he was over the line. He is not worth your anger.

Sympathy for the loss of the 156. Irreplaceable.
 
#20 ·
I really feel for your loss - we all believe, we have the best Alfa on the road, no matter the condition, but you do seem to have one of the best and they are getting harder to replace like for like. The following comments are a few observations from being in a similar situation early last year - hope to save you some grief....

First, start hunting for Alfa 156 adverts for cars of similar age/spec/condition etc. and save them to file. I had a non fault write off bump last year of what I considered a good 156. When it came to the payout they consulted their 'valuing lists' and offered a payout based on those - just happened that it was a couple of hundred quid short of the price of a replacement I had sourced with the same spec and mileage.

I argued that if my car was, say, a Focus or Astra with thousands to choose from that may be comparable and may be in the ball park on price, but for such a lesser selling car from new, the pool of cars available AND on the market to buy in the same condition as mine was such a small percentage by comparison the prices of those cars was resulting in being higher than accpted 'book price'.

It was so frustrating that the insurance company was telling me the value of my car was x, but the car in front of me that was the best equal was x+£200! As lovers of these cars, it seems we are almost in a position of the actual prices rising on the market for the better ones.

They agreed to raise their offer by meeting me half way - justified it by saying they had another database they could consult which valued the write off car to a slightly higher price. Annoyed that they did not consult this (by convenience?) in the first place a bitter pill that was sweetened by making a direct 'out of pocket expenses' claim to the insurer of the 'fault' car for the cost of fuel I could prove was in the car (a full tank of diesel), billed phone calls and postage etc. which made up the other £100. (incidentally, I received the compensation cheque for the expenses, before my insurance company agreed to pay me out, proving my insurance company was withholding my received payout, which is technical theft.)

During the process, I found that going to the 'fault' car's insurance company directly rather than through your own can save some grief with payments.

I would also advise making it clear from the start with all companies that you don't want to share your details/data or you'll be fending off the 'ambulance chasing' cold callers for years to come - may not stop them but give's clout to proof of breach of data protection.

Stand tough and get the best for you... though my head asks why the fault driver is so keen to pass on the blame - is there something hidden more than a premium increase? But then I'm naturally cynical!! Good Luck!
 
#21 ·
Just a point about dash cams - I joined the Ford Owners club for £15 a year. This gives me 15% off at Halfords. I bought a nice dashcam for £85 (£72.25 after discount) then my insurance company gave me a £50 discount for having a dash cam so it only cost me £22.25! (I've used the discount card many times so I'm not including the cost of membership!)
 
#22 ·
Sorry to hear of your misfortune, there are numerous companies out there who specalise in non fault claims and will persue your claim on your behalf in a very timley manner. I have had the misfortune to need their services in the past and they have always provided a first class service.
 
#23 ·
Liability admitted now. Will be seeking top money for the car now that it's been taken. £3,000 will replace it. I have plenty of comparable adverts, pictures and all the history.

And a claim for injuries too.

What a nightmare.
 
#24 ·
glad the scroat admitted he was at fault,side rd into main rd you would have to have been driving with your feet and conducting a phonecall whilst drinking a cappucino and ironing your trousers with all being witnessed by the local cub scout pack for that decision to go against you TBH.

still galling though, good 156's are thin on the ground these days, as a result value vs worth is a difficult argument to make...the value in monetary terms is nothing compared to the worth of owning a car you know, love and have ensured is mechanically in tip top condition.

when my previous GT was written off in my work car park I succesfully argued this point and got £4500+ £500 expenses for the car becasue i had receipts for very recent work carried out....I argued that I had no guarantees that any car i replaced it with would be in similar mechanical condition and would likely need some fettling.

although the insurance company valuer would not ''officially'' agree that mechanical works added value he privately assured me he would value it at the top end to help ensure I wasn't out of pocket based on the fact that me finding an example in equally good condition and low mileage was highly unlikely.

worth pulling any recent invoices for major works out of the history file as it all builds a picture of a well loved and maintained vehicle that will be difficult to replace, if you get a sympathetic insurance valuer he may ''unofficially'' take it into account.


good luck with it.

best


joe
 
#30 ·
Agree with all the comments re getting the best money for the car. I am very adept at this sort of thing. I have already saved advert links for 156s at £3,000 which would probably be close to the condition of mine but I doubt as good. I have also taken screengrabs of the adverts. I still have the V5 reg document, all history and MOTs from day one and pictures of the car before it got destroyed.

A good point made on this thread regarding the rarity value and being able to find a replacement. Plus, I have a rental car until settlement is made. Yes, I will have access to another car when the 75 has passed its MOT. The Giulietta is in the workshop at the moment too so I can't use that. I'll just hang on to my brand new Hyundai hire car until I get what I want for the car. They don't really know who they are dealing with - one of the fussiest, most pedantic, fastidious and (when I want to be) militant buggers they'll have the pleasure of knowing.

At the end of the day, I'm the one who's lost out on everything here so someone is going to pay for it - and it ain't me!
 
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