British Car Insurance is Insane

I witnessed an accident in central London while having lunch just over a year and a week ago. I only saw the aftermath, a porsche rolling slowly onto the sidewalk, and a man limping out of a pickup truck. My back was turned at the time, and I swivelled my head only on hearing the two cars smash. I did deliberately check the state of one of the traffic lights, probably very relevant to who was responsible, but which light escapes me now.

I gave one of the drivers my card, in case a witness was needed. I thought it was the civic thing to do, especially as the police didn't arrive during the 20 minutes I was at the scene.

Aside: Funny thing the police. Two minutes after the accident, a police siren came howling towards us. I remember being impressed by how quickly they arrived (especially because the Met Police are largely invisible unless George Bush is in town, when suddenly they crowd everyone else off the streets). The police car slowed into the intersection, swerved deftly around the airbag littered vehicles and continued on. Clearly they had better things to do, such as fill out paperwork (see below).

I imagine the British car insurance industry got involved shortly thereafter, and they are the insane ones. Since that accident, I've filled out one witness statement for the insurance of the Porsche, another for the insurance of the Nissan pickup. Additionally, the Met Police needed a statement. These were all required in the first month.

Four months later, an investigator came to see me at work (she was from one of the insurers, I haven't a clue which) and took a verbal version of the statement I'd already given. And now today, a year and a week after the accident, apparently the company that provided the hire (rental) car to one of the insurees, can't do their work without their very own version of a witness statement.

I don't understand why they couldn't all share one of the previous four statements.

I'm seeing this process from the other side as well. My own car had a poorly secured construction fence dent a side panel. Five months later, the claim against the company with the fence is sitting with the lead solicitor of complex cases at some nameless legal firm. I've even sent them photos.

It's no wonder negotiations in Northern Ireland need a few centuries, when a bog standard traffic accident takes several years.