A woman says nobody will pay her repair bill of several hundred pounds after her car was rammed by a Royal.
Gill Walker, a 59-year-old receptionist from Birmingham, claims the 4×4 which hit her car sped off – because one of the passengers was the Countess of Wessex.
Mum-of-two Gill, at the wheel of her Peugeot 107 saloon, was switching lanes on the city centre’s Bristol Road when the right Royal rush-hour collision happened.
She pulled over to swap insurance details after indicating for the 4×4 driver to do the same – but it didn’t stop and drove off.
A second 4×4 with blue flashing lights then pulled up alongside her Peugeot.
Gill Walker, a 59-year-old receptionist from Birmingham, claims the 4×4 which hit her car sped off – because one of the passengers was the Countess of Wessex
Out spilled several police officers who told her the 4×4 was not allowed to stop because there was a ‘Royal on board’.
The crash happened on November 13th, when Sophie Wessex was in Birmingham, opening a rehabilitation centre for injured soldiers.
The Court Circular confirms she was the only royal on official business in Birmingham that day.
The Royal Family’s official Twitter account also reported on the visit.
West Midlands Police will only confirm the accident involved ‘a convoy’, adding that the 4×4 could not stop for ‘operational reasons and force protocol’.
The force said their insurers ‘are in discussions about the matter’ and said it involved a police vehicle driven by a sergeant.
Gill says she swapped insurance details with police in the second 4×4, and provided her own dashcam footage of the collision.
Gill, who’d been driving home to Bartley Green from work, said ‘I had indicated and moved over into the middle lane.
The Countess of Wessex was said to have been a passenger in a vehicle which collided with Gill Walker´s car in Birmingham last year
‘On my dashcam you see the 4×4 in the right hand lane, you can see its wheels turn and they have caught me from the back end of my bumper.
‘They stopped and I wound down my window and indicated for them to pull over.
‘But as I pulled over, the 4×4 just drove off.
‘Then another 4×4 with police blue lights pulled over and I shouted ‘he’s driven off!’
‘They said ‘No, they’re with us. Can you go round the corner?’
‘The officer then said ‘There’s a Royal on board, they’re not allowed to stop’.
‘I asked ‘Who’s on board?’ but he said ‘I’m not obliged to say’.
‘They took pictures of my car and said it was a police matter now.’
Dashcam footage (above) appears to record the moment her car is in collision with vehicle behind her
Gill was kept at the scene for two hours after being told traffic officers had been called.
She says she was warned she might have to be breathalysed – but no breath test kit could be located for an hour.
Problems began when her insurer, Tesco Bank, contacted West Midlands Police about the incident.
The Royal Twitter account publicised the Countess’s visit to the city that day in November
Gill says police are in discussions with Tesco, but the force is denying liability.
‘The police are saying it’s all my fault, but the dashcam footage shows I’ve clearly got into the lane and they have hit me.
‘It’s like they have put all the blame on me and they’ve got solicitors involved.
‘It looks like it’s going to court because the police don’t want to know.’
She says she was never given details of the driver who hit her car, just the address of the West Midlands Police HQ at Lloyd House.
‘My insurance company asked ‘Did you get the driver’s name?’
‘I said ‘They didn’t stop!’
‘The dashcam footage clearly shows I had gone into the lane and my dashcam catches their wheels turning. They hit me, I didn’t hit them.
‘To be honest, there wasn’t a huge amount of damage done to the car and it was still driveable.
‘So why are they denying they did it? ‘They clearly did.
‘Tesco has said it is going to have to take legal action against the police’s insurance company.’
Sophie Wessex at the Scar Free Foundation event at Birmingham hospital November 2018
The bill for repairs to her car is likely to be several hundred pounds because the bodywork was bashed, scratched and dented.
A West Midlands Police spokesman confirmed one of its vehicles ‘was involved in a collision with a third party vehicle during a police operation, resulting in damage to both vehicles as they travelled along a three-lane carriageway’.
The spokesman added ‘Due to operational reasons and force protocol, the vehicle did not stop, but another vehicle in convoy behind the damaged car did stop, and details were exchanged with the third party for insurance purposes.
‘A report has been completed by the driver, a police sergeant, and is with the force’s insurers for assessment.’
A Tesco Bank spokesman said ‘We know being involved in an accident can be a stressful experience, which is why we do everything possible to help our customers.
‘As is standard practice across the industry, when we are unable to reach a resolution with the insurer of the third party, we take the case to litigation, which in this case is the insurer of the police vehicle.’
A royal spokesman said the issue was ‘a matter for the police’.
The incident happened two months before the Duke of Edinburgh, Sophie’s father-in-law, was involved in his own crash.
Philip apologised for his part in an accident on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk in January when his Land Rover Freelander collided with another car carrying a baby, leaving two women needing hospital treatment.
It was subsequently announced he would face no further action after the 97-year-old duke voluntarily surrendered his driving licence.
Buckingham Palace has been approached for a comment.