Help !!! Car accident and dont know what to do

BenSirAmos

Rabs said:

CarpeDiem said:

I've suffered my car being damaged whilst parked by a hit-and-run driver so I can sympathise with you. As others have said, report it to the police and get them to log it and, if possible, to give you a reference number. You should also report it to your insurance company, regardless of whether you are making a claim - they should also be able to tell you if she is insured. They should note her details, and if she doesn't notify her insurer of the collision (if she has one), she would be guilty of non disclosure if she is involved in a future claim. You should be able to get her address from DVLA under the circumstances. Sorry that you have to go through so much hassle as a result of people not abiding by the law and not having a sense of decency. Perhaps she was drunk or simply too scared to stop, neither of which are valid excuses in my view.

Yeah theres a problem with that though..

The last time this happened and I did inform the insurance company they told me that even if I don't make a claim my insurance WILL go up just for being involved in an accident regardless of whos fault it is... So why should I bother telling them anything when all they will do is use it as an excuse to charge me more money even if im the one whos been wronged. if I report it to the police at least im then legally covered and  they wont charge me for the privilege (I don't think).

I got rear ended but didn't tell the insurance company because there was very little damage to my vehicle.

Six months later, they made a claim against me and said I had swerved in front of them. Because I hadn't told the insurance company at the time I got a load of hassle that has never really been resolved (it was witnessed by police but they weren't really interested as no-one was hurt).

But my insurance hasn't gone up (or not so much that I noticed) even though I have to disclose it every year

Rabs

BenSirAmos said:

 

I got rear ended but didn't tell the insurance company because there was very little damage to my vehicle.

Six months later, they made a claim against me and said I had swerved in front of them. Because I hadn't told the insurance company at the time I got a load of hassle that has never really been resolved (it was witnessed by police but they weren't really interested as no-one was hurt).

But my insurance hasn't gone up (or not so much that I noticed) even though I have to disclose it every year

Well that's what they told me the last time it happened.  I said I didn't want to claim so I asked if my insurance would go up and his response was "Yes, just by being involved in an accident they will put it up"...   This is Aviva.. They are crap, I keep meaning to change....

Ohh and I reported it online so that's done now.. Not that I expect it to matter.

CarpeDiem

BenSirAmos said:

Rabs said:

CarpeDiem said:

I've suffered my car being damaged whilst parked by a hit-and-run driver so I can sympathise with you. As others have said, report it to the police and get them to log it and, if possible, to give you a reference number. You should also report it to your insurance company, regardless of whether you are making a claim - they should also be able to tell you if she is insured. They should note her details, and if she doesn't notify her insurer of the collision (if she has one), she would be guilty of non disclosure if she is involved in a future claim. You should be able to get her address from DVLA under the circumstances. Sorry that you have to go through so much hassle as a result of people not abiding by the law and not having a sense of decency. Perhaps she was drunk or simply too scared to stop, neither of which are valid excuses in my view.

Yeah theres a problem with that though..

The last time this happened and I did inform the insurance company they told me that even if I don't make a claim my insurance WILL go up just for being involved in an accident regardless of whos fault it is... So why should I bother telling them anything when all they will do is use it as an excuse to charge me more money even if im the one whos been wronged. if I report it to the police at least im then legally covered and  they wont charge me for the privilege (I don't think).

I got rear ended but didn't tell the insurance company because there was very little damage to my vehicle.

Six months later, they made a claim against me and said I had swerved in front of them. Because I hadn't told the insurance company at the time I got a load of hassle that has never really been resolved (it was witnessed by police but they weren't really interested as no-one was hurt).

But my insurance hasn't gone up (or not so much that I noticed) even though I have to disclose it every year

I'm sorry that you suffered the hassle, especially as you were hit from behind. If you notify your insurer then you are complying with the terms and conditions of your policy. If you aren't making a claim, then it is worth stating 'no fault and no claim'. Whilst not certain, this may help in not increasing your premium at the next renewal.

Rabs

jrc2806 said:

Sorry to hear you have been involved in an accident. To be honest it sounds as if she did not have insurance (or some other reason why she should not have been driving.....). If it was me I would report it just in case. Last thing you want is for her to be insured and she reports it but you don't (if that makes sense?). 

Was there any damage to her car that could link your report to her vehicle (if she is located and denies It?).

Hope you get it sorted.

Im just calming down now... So I didn't answer all questions asked cos I just missed them..

I honestly didn't see what damage she had, didn't have the chance..  My car has had the driver door dented so now my window wont roll down (I can probably kick that out).. She hit my mirror too but that doesn't seem damaged... I need to check it in daylight to be sure.

All such a huge pain in the arse.. Nearly every time I go out these days something happens like people cutting you up and driving like they own the road. its sad so few people seem to actually care or take any responsibility at all.

MattBanshee

Yes, definitely report it. 50% chance she wasn't insured, which is why she fucked off. You report it to the police who should at least be able to confirm whether or not she was insured, possibly banned/no licence etc, then your insurers can obtain her details from DVLA and take her to court for civil prosecution if this is the case.

Rabs

MattBanshee said:

Yes, definitely report it. 50% chance she wasn't insured, which is why she fucked off. You report it to the police who should at least be able to confirm whether or not she was insured, possibly banned/no licence etc, then your insurers can obtain her details from DVLA and take her to court for civil prosecution if this is the case.

Yeah cheers I have now, did it online....  Im not sure why someone would drive off like that either apart from those reasons.. My poor car. Its always performed so well for me, the only ever new car I had and its had a beating the last few months all due to idiots who cant drive properly and worse don't even care...

skunkwerx

All such a huge pain in the arse.. Nearly every time I go out these days something happens like people cutting you up and driving like they own the road. its sad so few people seem to actually care or take any responsibility at all.

Aye, fully agree and fully relate.

I used to love driving and really take pride in my car, not that its anything expensive or sporty, but it was clean and damage free.

I’ve become sick of how bad its getting these days. When I first started driving 12 years ago it really was rare around here to have issues. 

Now though its a guarantee that a near miss will happen to AND from work daily. Either crazy, and I mean highly illegal type driving or simply people cutting you up or barging in. 

I’ve tried to not react lately because more often than not when I’ve beeped or flashed the idiots got out and threatened me, even trying to get my door open. 
Sick of it. 

Saying that, I’ve got a running compilation of dashcam footage which I keep meaning to put up in a thread! 

Rabs

skunkwerx said:

All such a huge pain in the arse.. Nearly every time I go out these days something happens like people cutting you up and driving like they own the road. its sad so few people seem to actually care or take any responsibility at all.

Aye, fully agree and fully relate.

I used to love driving and really take pride in my car, not that its anything expensive or sporty, but it was clean and damage free.

I’ve become sick of how bad its getting these days. When I first started driving 12 years ago it really was rare around here to have issues. 

Now though its a guarantee that a near miss will happen to AND from work daily. Either crazy, and I mean highly illegal type driving or simply people cutting you up or barging in. 

I’ve tried to not react lately because more often than not when I’ve beeped or flashed the idiots got out and threatened me, even trying to get my door open. 
Sick of it. 

Saying that, I’ve got a running compilation of dashcam footage which I keep meaning to put up in a thread! 

Yup.. I have been driving for like 25 years now...  And like you ive never had a sporty car or anything like that.. In fact all my cars up to my current were old second hand cars..  As I said this is my first (and  only ever) car I bought from new.. I love that little thing and its never let me down.  Ive only ever caused 2 accidents in my whole driving life and until six months ago I hadn't even been involved in an accident in like a decade (despite the arseholes).. And I was proud of my now 15 year old car.. I don't even feel its worth spending the money to fix it at the moment...

Sad..  I also used to love driving..  When I started driving I could drive up to Carnaby St on a Sunday and park on a single yellow line.. Ohh how times have changed..

Alvin

What skunkwerx said .  She may not have hung around but a lot of people have dashcams now so she could still have your reg .   You will look guilty by not reporting it , report it to the police asap , even if they do nothing you are covering yourself  .   If it's a case of no insurance/mot/road tax then they should throw the book at her (and everyone else) .
   More than likely she will get away with it , without witnesses or footage the police do not want to know , whatever the incident motoring or not  .  
   They are largely (the police) useless , little more than reporters now as they do no more than record crimes unless they deem an incident high profile enough . But do report it as the criminals always seem to get away with things and the law protects them over the lawfull most of the time .  

Alvin

Double post , strange as i posted this about 20.00 last night ? 

TheBigDipper

We feel your pain, @Rabs and life isn't fair. These people shouldn’t be on the road, but they are and we all have to pay for it. Report it to the police and your insurers - but make sure they understand it is for info purposes only and not a claim by you. (You feared they'd write off your car, they can't if you don't claim for your damage). 

Just a word on 50-50. This is what it means. If you have £100 damage and the Merc you were involved with has £1000 damage after they've been to the dealer, 50-50 means their insurers pay £50 of your damages and your insurer pays £500 of theirs. Your claim is logged as £550 against you. It is not “we just pay our own costs”.

Good luck, fella. 

ICBM

While it doesn't excuse it, it's possible that she drove off because she panicked when she realised the owner of the car she had just hit might be angry with her. Something like that happened to me many years ago.

In the event there was no real damage to either car, but I still reported the incident to the police in my own defence, in case she did - they told me that was the right thing to do and wrote it all down. Nothing ever came of it.

Dominic

Stavros said:

hywelg said:

Police. Now. 

Offence to drive away from the scene of an accident without exchanging details.

Deffo this.

The Police will do absolutely nothing other than give you ab incident ref
-insurer will follow up
Police only attend/get involved with traffic accidents if there is serious personal injury.......Traffic Cop told me that 4 weeks ago

LuttiS

Drunk driver wrote off my parked car in Dec '16. He drove off (leaving number plate) police were called and they arrested him. 
He tried to claim it wasn't his fault, and have spent the last year getting the fault removed from my file, even with conviction as he was a lieing tit. 
It's now a no fault claim on my record, and as such will no longer affect my renewal or NCD. 

Personally I'd report it to insurance. It's in your policy and as long as they haven't reported should go through as third party fault. 

It's all a complete hassle but you just can't trust people these days and reporting to insurance is best way to hedge your bets

Wolfetone

I would always declare an accident of any type. People are slimy twats that will say one thing at the time and later change their minds.  Also tell the police within 24 hours. I know it's after the fact but take photos and plenty of them. Never admit liability or get into a discussion. Just log the facts.

What sort of a car have you got? If it's a popular one, I bet if  you go to your local dismantler, they'll have one and it may even be the right colour.

With regards to the police, get a reference number and don't expect too much else. Plod  is too busy looking at the internet in search of people with hurt feelings.

Rabs

Wolfetone said:

I would always declare an accident of any type. People are slimy twats that will say one thing at the time and later change their minds.  Also tell the police within 24 hours. I know it's after the fact but take photos and plenty of them. Never admit liability or get into a discussion. Just log the facts.

What sort of a car have you got? If it's a popular one, I bet if  you go to your local dismantler, they'll have one and it may even be the right colour.

With regards to the police, get a reference number and don't expect too much else. Plod  is too busy looking at the internet in search of people with hurt feelings.

Its a Peugeot 206... The damage isn't that bad, but that's not really the point here (and its dented enough that the window wont go all the way down)..   And yes I reported it to the police online last night.  I still don't want to say anything too the insurance company though really, any excuse for them to charge more and they will.

https://i.imgur.com/Eab2nkQ.jpg

MattBanshee

Also; bear in mind that some insurers will use any excuse to not process a claim, and one of those excuses may be a failure to report illegal actions of the other driver (such as driving off) to the police. Even if all you get is a reference number, it's one less thing the insurers can fuck you over with.

Rabs

MattBanshee said:

Also; bear in mind that some insurers will use any excuse to not process a claim, and one of those excuses may be a failure to report illegal actions of the other driver (such as driving off) to the police. Even if all you get is a reference number, it's one less thing the insurers can fuck you over with.

That's ok.. I don't want to claim.. Ive got an excess of £350.. Its really not worth it.. So I don't care what they think.. Ive reported it to the police and done whats required..  I do wonder though if the police may inform my insurance company since they did take my policy number.

CarpeDiem

Rabs said:

MattBanshee said:

Also; bear in mind that some insurers will use any excuse to not process a claim, and one of those excuses may be a failure to report illegal actions of the other driver (such as driving off) to the police. Even if all you get is a reference number, it's one less thing the insurers can fuck you over with.

That's ok.. I don't want to claim.. Ive got an excess of £350.. Its really not worth it.. So I don't care what they think.. Ive reported it to the police and done whats required..  I do wonder though if the police may inform my insurance company since they did take my policy number.

I would report it to your insurance company, even if you are not going to claim (and if so report it as 'no fault and no claim'). I appreciate that it is more hassle for you, but if you don't do so, it could count against you if you do need to make a claim in the future.

ICBM

Rabs said:

Its a Peugeot 206... The damage isn't that bad, but that's not really the point here (and its dented enough that the window wont go all the way down)..   And yes I reported it to the police online last night.  I still don't want to say anything too the insurance company though really, any excuse for them to charge more and they will.

https://i.imgur.com/Eab2nkQ.jpg

I would report that and get it looked at. It looks like the door frame has been pushed in slightly as well and sprung the panel in front of the door out. That means the frame strength may have been compromised too, meaning that the side impact protection in a subsequent accident may not perform as intended, and either you may be injured, or the insurance will not pay out because you were driving a car with unreported structural damage. If so, take a deep breath and have the car written off.

I know this because I have just had a similar experience with my 12-year-old Renault. The damage didn't look worse than two damaged doors at first, but on more careful inspection there was a crease in the door frame. This made the car a definite write-off because the insurance company would not re-insure it without a full structural inspection and repair, which was going to cost more than the car was worth.

In the end I didn't do too badly - I got probably more than the market value of the car, and although I've had to pay more on top to get a replacement which I could have done without right now, I would have had to do that within a year or two anyway probably. And I'm now driving a car which is definitely safe.

This was the damage to the Renault...



And this is why it was a write-off...



Just that - but that's all it takes to substantially weaken the frame in the event of a further impact.