AN INSURANCE company that chased a woman who crashed through the rail on Swansea Bridge five years ago and narrowly escaped with her life has withdrawn its $11,758.45 claim for repairs.
Deb Moroney had just started to get her life back with the support of a therapist, family and friends after she turned to alcohol to self-medicate undiagnosed post-traumatic stress, when she was served legal papers in March demanding thousands of dollars for repairs to the bridge she ploughed through on a rainy night in 2017.
For the second time in five years, she was plunged into darkness.
"It took me a long time to get over those feelings in the first place, to work through the motions and get on with it," she said.
"I feel two ways, I'm glad it's kind of all over - it was a massive kick in the guts and dredged up a lot of stuff so it's great the bill has been squashed because I don't think it was fair in the first place, but I'm still feeling deflated and gutted - the main thing I always wanted was to get the bridge fixed."
The claim came from icare, the government insurer for NSW that covers infrastructure controlled by Transport for NSW, formerly known as Roads and Maritime Services.
A spokesman said it acted on behalf of Transport for NSW, putting forth the claim in Ms Moroney's case.
"We can confirm that following consultation with that agency, a decision was taken not to further pursue the costs," he said.
"icare apologise for any concerns raised by this resolution process."
The company did not respond to questions from the Herald about why it was pursuing Ms Moroney for the money, why it had taken five years to raise the claim in the first place and whether the delay had anything to do with the statute of limitations on personal injury claims.
Ms Moroney said the legal matter was settled in a form of truce.
She said the deal was that if she agreed not to go after Transport for NSW, formerly known as RMS, with a claim - the matter would be dropped.
Her and her husband Rod had already lost money fighting the claim before it was withdrawn, after the Herald exposed the matter and the pair later told their story on A Current Affair.
The whole debacle showed a complete lack of humanity, Ms Moroney said.
"I think that I'm very lucky in my circumstances because there's a lot of people worse off than me, you know, do they take their own life? It's a very inhumane way of trying to get money," she said.
"When it comes down to business there's no humane way of doing it, it's all about the bottom line."
The horror unfolded on an otherwise unremarkable afternoon on May 31, it was a wet night and traffic was heavy as she drove home after her son Ethan's soccer practice.
It was quick-thinking that saved her from an accident that could have been fatal, unclipping her seatbelt and winding down the window before her car hit the freezing cold water below.
After the accident, all she wanted was for the bridge to be fixed, for the panels that failed to stop the crash to be replaced with the same guard rail on the southbound side, and a solution for the road surface that turns glass-like in the rain.
"The day we got the car out of the water, to have people come up to me and tell me they were sorry for what I'd been through but thanking me for showing them how to survive when they go off - for them to say, 'when we go off', it's not right," she said.
"I think I have a way to go, because everything takes time - and for this to take me back there so to speak, I'm lucky I have a supportive family around me unlike some others.
"Some days are better than others, some days I think I'm stuck with it for life."
It isn't the first time a car has crashed on Swansea Bridge. Three years earlier a vehicle's wheels were left teetering over the edge.
Transport for NSW declined to comment.
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