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Any dash cam advice most welcome


Slowlycatchymonkey
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After my recent insurance company experience I’ve decided it’s dash cam time but after looking at dozens, reading about them and the reviews it’s not any clearer.

I need 5 so I don’t want to spend crazy money per unit and that is where the process of choosing falls down owing to the wildly varying prices and features.

I’d like to have the feature that monitors the vehicle whilst parked plus decent night vision on it and I’m thinking front and rear view. I’m not keen on the dangly wire look but if needs must so be it.


Is the rear facing camera important?

Any experiences or suggestions?

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Morning, pardon my ignorance, I've never driven a car , but five separate cameras on one vehicle ? Is that common then ? What's the purpose please ? Also where do you mount them without fear of them being nicked ? Or have I misunderstood ?

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Sorry I wasn’t clear.

5 cams for 5 different vehicles. They are usually mounted in the centre of the dash or under the mirror and some folk also have one at the rear.


Purpose- so when people lie to the insurance and say they didn’t do it or it was you that hit them it clears things up sharpish rather than you possibly getting stiffed for something that wasn’t your fault.

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I'm also interested in people's opinion since a lorry driver took the side off wife's car and tried to deny it. Luckily she had a quality witness who saw the whole thing but if he hadn't had seen it or stopped to give his details then it would have probably ended up 50:50.

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I pulled up behind a car yesterday that had a rear view camera in the centre of the rear window, putting aside the problem of it partially obscuring the view, I got the feeling that I was being spied on and resented it, is there any thing that could be done apart from driving around in a balaclava? (Although some might say hiding my ugly mug would be a good thing)

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I've got a Mio and it's fine, but I guess from above not everyone has the same experience.


It paid for itself when a taxi swapped lanes without looking or signalling - when he started protesting I just pointed to the dash cam and he suggested he settle up there and then in cash.

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My experience with insurance companies leads me to believe that a cam is of use for talking to mates about what happened and for uploading to utube but not in any way useful for sending to an insurer in support of a claim. I don't think they want cam or any other evidence at all. However it might help when your case comes to court if you are prosecuted.


This is what I have experienced, when an insurance company is advised of an accident and the details of the other driver are provided they make contact with the other insurer. The two companies enter negotiation and then a deal is struck which is then settled. Then the inured drivers details are amended and the drivers are advised of the new premiums for their insurance.


It does not matter what the driver says and what evidence he or she has, the insurance company has no interest at all in saving money and arguing whos fault the accident was, such details are totally irrelevant for insurance purposes.


Insurance companies know they cannot possibly lose a penny so they just pay out whatever will satisfy the other insurance company so that the case can be closed as quickly as possible. It costs the insurance company nothing to pay out a fortune so they have no interest whatsoever in either protecting the driver who insures through them or for contesting anything. If they have a shortfall in funds due a to a huge payout then they simply lift the premiums for all their clients until the losses are regained.


I believe their philosophy is pay anything to close the case and move on as quickly as possible.


If it is convenient to agree a million pounds damages payment to close a case quickly I have no doubt the insurer will agree to that settlement and pay it with alacrity, knowing that it has no impact whatsoever on the finances of the insurance company, even if it makes the driver uninsurable.


This is why insurance claims over the last 30 years are littered with ridiculous compensation pay-outs for non existent injuries like whiplash. The insurance companies have created this situation with their policy of payout regardless and move on.


A protracted fight with another insurer whose client was totally in the wrong and responsible for an accident will cost an insurer an obscene amount of money and they get no benefit from the fight whatsoever when they win it, But to instantly agree to anything the other side states saves any ongoing costs and in comparison to contestation makes a huge profit.


I believe they will either ignore cam evidence or do their best to avoid having to even look at it as it makes no difference for the insurer whatsoever in the outcome of a claim. In fact it costs the insurer money to look at it and assess it.


I would go so far as to say that staff who do divert resources by looking at the cam evidence before settling the claim may well find themselves disciplined for wasting time and not hitting their targets for the month.


An example of this pay out anything uncontested policy is I once touched a car with mine, it was not even a bump and the contact almost passed unnoticed, driving over a stone or a rumble striop was more noticeable than this, the lady driver assured me she was ok and immediately examined her vehicle, there was no evidence of even a touch, no dent no scratch no damaged paint even the dirt covering the car was undisturbed. After 10 minutes of trying to find anything that suggested there had been contact she gave up.


Some months later I was advised that my insurer had paid out 8000 pounds for a whiplash claim, it was too late to do anything to contest her fabricated claim. There is no way a doctor would have diagnosed a whiplash injury where there was no damage whatsoever to the vehicle. I am forced to believe that the insurance company had no interest whatsoever in validating or confirming the claims of the other party but was only interested in closing the case as quickly as possible and agreeing to anything that would achieve that end.

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I've got a Nextbase GPS one in the car.....but this is only forward facing. I went for a GPS one primarily because of the potential "well, he was speeding" argument. It also adjusts the date and time automatically. Some of the mega cheap ones are a right faff to adjust.

Anyway, I feel a benefit for having it in the car.....even if others are sceptical.

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I've got a Nextbase GPS one in the car.....but this is only forward facing. I went for a GPS one primarily because of the potential "well, he was speeding" argument. It also adjusts the date and time automatically. Some of the mega cheap ones are a right faff to adjust.

Anyway, I feel a benefit for having it in the car.....even if others are sceptical.

 

Halfords had the nextbase 412gw on special offer so I bought on the other day. No time to install it yet though.

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IME, insurance quotes specifically refer to Nextbase dash cams. I suspect that is a picture quality issue. I fitted one to my car, hard wired it myself, which was OK once I had figured out how to remove the A pillar cover.


Halfords do a fitting service, I bet buying 5 would attract a hefty discount.

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Loads on ebay but make sure you get one with IP standard connectors.....there are quite a few with just micro-USB and mini jack sockets and they are not remotely weatherproof. The camera heads may be waterproof (or may not.....only 1 way to find out though.....). If you mount the control head out of the way (e.g. under the seat), you might get away with it.....

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We have a Nextbase one that works well in the car. For something like this, I define "works well" as "just works".


It is one of the ones with a magnetic clip that works well, though I leave it attached all the time.


You can set it up to start recording if it detects a bump when stationary, although we don't use that feature.


Fitting it was easy enough, just dedicate a bit of time to working out how you'll tuck the cable away, I assume some cars are easier than others.


I'm not an electrician by any stretch but found plugging it in to the fuse box so it didn't need to take up a charging socket easy peasy.

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My experience with insurance companies leads me to believe that a cam is of use for talking to mates about what happened and for uploading to utube but not in any way useful for sending to an insurer in support of a claim. I don't think they want cam or any other evidence at all. However it might help when your case comes to court if you are prosecuted.


This is what I have experienced, when an insurance company is advised of an accident and the details of the other driver are provided they make contact with the other insurer. The two companies enter negotiation and then a deal is struck which is then settled. Then the inured drivers details are amended and the drivers are advised of the new premiums for their insurance.


It does not matter what the driver says and what evidence he or she has, the insurance company has no interest at all in saving money and arguing whos fault the accident was, such details are totally irrelevant for insurance purposes.


Insurance companies know they cannot possibly lose a penny so they just pay out whatever will satisfy the other insurance company so that the case can be closed as quickly as possible. It costs the insurance company nothing to pay out a fortune so they have no interest whatsoever in either protecting the driver who insures through them or for contesting anything. If they have a shortfall in funds due a to a huge payout then they simply lift the premiums for all their clients until the losses are regained.


I believe their philosophy is pay anything to close the case and move on as quickly as possible.


If it is convenient to agree a million pounds damages payment to close a case quickly I have no doubt the insurer will agree to that settlement and pay it with alacrity, knowing that it has no impact whatsoever on the finances of the insurance company, even if it makes the driver uninsurable.


This is why insurance claims over the last 30 years are littered with ridiculous compensation pay-outs for non existent injuries like whiplash. The insurance companies have created this situation with their policy of payout regardless and move on.


A protracted fight with another insurer whose client was totally in the wrong and responsible for an accident will cost an insurer an obscene amount of money and they get no benefit from the fight whatsoever when they win it, But to instantly agree to anything the other side states saves any ongoing costs and in comparison to contestation makes a huge profit.


I believe they will either ignore cam evidence or do their best to avoid having to even look at it as it makes no difference for the insurer whatsoever in the outcome of a claim. In fact it costs the insurer money to look at it and assess it.


I would go so far as to say that staff who do divert resources by looking at the cam evidence before settling the claim may well find themselves disciplined for wasting time and not hitting their targets for the month.


An example of this pay out anything uncontested policy is I once touched a car with mine, it was not even a bump and the contact almost passed unnoticed, driving over a stone or a rumble striop was more noticeable than this, the lady driver assured me she was ok and immediately examined her vehicle, there was no evidence of even a touch, no dent no scratch no damaged paint even the dirt covering the car was undisturbed. After 10 minutes of trying to find anything that suggested there had been contact she gave up.


Some months later I was advised that my insurer had paid out 8000 pounds for a whiplash claim, it was too late to do anything to contest her fabricated claim. There is no way a doctor would have diagnosed a whiplash injury where there was no damage whatsoever to the vehicle. I am forced to believe that the insurance company had no interest whatsoever in validating or confirming the claims of the other party but was only interested in closing the case as quickly as possible and agreeing to anything that would achieve that end.

 

Insurance company's just pay out and don't ask or check ???????? ..


The only things insurance company's want to know ... is have you paid ...can they get out of paying out .... was it your fault..how much can we screw you out off over the next 5 years .. And the small drawing on the back of the insurance form ... the claims person don't have all day to read the form they look at the drawing front send.smash your fault ..rear end smash not your fault so on then they they go to different ppl who then read what happend ... if it's your fault THEY WILL CONTACT YOU if it's not your fault THEY WILL CONTACT YOU.. as insurance company's WANT TO MAKE MONEY they don't pay out very easy if they can help it .....


If your insurance company paid out and didnt contact you then I suggest they did you did not reply so they paid out .. also you have 3 years to challenge any claim or make a claim ...

Insurance company's just paying out with out checking .. ha ha .. you couldn't make that joke on April's 1st ...

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One point.. don't tell your insurance company.you have dash cam .. because they will demand the footage off you if your in a bump if it's your fault..


Then they will find a.way out NOT paying out the claim (as it cost them money and no garrenteed you will stay with them over the next.5.years to get there money back off you )


Once they refuse to pay out the other drivers insurance.company will sue you

And it could mean them reposesing your house.. if its not your fault then you can use it to your advantage .. but if you don't give them the footage and its your fault then they could cancelle the pay out..

So dash cams mmm good or bad ..

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Insurance refusing to pay out if it's your fault? The only time that they may try to wriggle out of it is if you were driving not in accordance with your license......otherwise they are obliged to pay out......that's why it's mandatory to have a minimum of 3rd party insurance in this country.


As for insurance companies demanding the footage from your dashcam, again, legally they can't demand anything......However, the police can demand to footage if they believe an offence has been committed and they are looking for a prosecution.

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Thanks for all the replies.


[mention]TimR[/mention] Good tip, annoyingly its 5 vehicles and 5 drivers ££££ :cry:


[mention]SometimesSansEngine[/mention] You don’t use the parking function? Won’t that be a bit frustrating if a car park prang occurs that you have the gear there in the car to catch the culprit and didn’t have it set up?

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@SometimesSansEngine You don’t use the parking function? Won’t that be a bit frustrating if a car park prang occurs that you have the gear there in the car to catch the culprit and didn’t have it set up?

 

We have a 14 year old Berlingo that has been dented more times than the moon. Whether that's a lucky thing or not I'll let the crowd decide

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