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

Rabs

Wow.. Ok thanks for that info... I have a guy who lives downstairs and buys and sells cars.. Hes got some good contacts so I will certainly look in to that..

I do appreciate people taking the time to respond to this.. So thanks all..

Im still thinking about the insurance wankers...

Strat_a_tat_tat

I'm no expert... but I've got a suspicion that your insurance is likely to say you have to tell them about any incidents - even if you don't want to claim. Failure to do that may affect the validity of your insurance.

skunkwerx

Strat_a_tat_tat said:

I'm no expert... but I've got a suspicion that your insurance is likely to say you have to tell them about any incidents - even if you don't want to claim. Failure to do that may affect the validity of your insurance.

Aye all do as far as I know. 

Insurance is ridiculous though. Unless you have video evidence of the offending party, or the offending party admits liability (haha yeah right), then all the offending party need to do is disagree with your statement of what happened, and its instantly your word vs theirs and a 50/50 is usually the end result. 

Least thats what happened to me anyway.

The second most recent non fault incident I had, I ‘notified my insurance’ as per the rules. 

Said I didnt intend to claim, it was non fault, no major damage etc. 

Renewal comes and its gone up a whopping 50%.. thats huge for me, taken it back up to nigh on a grand a year with a £500 excess. 

I questioned it, and their actual fucking response to me was ‘Statistics show that non fault drivers are now more likely to have an at-fault accident’.. 

I even googled it and got similar results showing that.. absurd.

Fast forward 3 years and this December just gone I was involved in a Completely non fault hit and run. (I was among 2 cars hit).
(I’ll post a seperate thread about it actually).

Anyway, I sent my dashcam footage to the old bill..

Rabs

ICBM said:

 

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...

Well I had a look today and that looks undamaged to me..

https://i.imgur.com/6mYrIXz.jpg

ICBM

Looks you might have got away with it, at least there. What about up by the hinge where the panel in front of it is sticking out at an odd angle? That’s the bit I really meant.

Rabs

ICBM said:

Looks you might have got away with it, at least there. What about up by the hinge where the panel in front of it is sticking out at an odd angle? That’s the bit I really meant.

Ahh yes, I keep forgetting to mention that..  The front panel was damaged from the last twat who drove in to me about 5 months ago..  I just haven't had the time or funds to get it fixed right now..  And it passed its MOT in November as theres no actual sharp pointy bits sticking out..

ICBM

Rabs said:

Ahh yes, I keep forgetting to mention that..  The front panel was damaged from the last twat who drove in to me about 5 months ago..  I just haven't had the time or funds to get it fixed right now..  And it passed its MOT in November as theres no actual sharp pointy bits sticking out..

In that case I think it's OK... the MOT would have picked up any structural issue from that, and there doesn't appear to be any bodyshell damage from the new bump other than the scrape on the sill, but that's clearly not major.

Disclaimer: I'm not a motor engineering expert, just someone who has recently (reluctantly) had to learn a bit about it .

Rabs

Ok so I got a letter from the police today...   It says

"I am writing to advise you that all enquires in respect to the above incident are now complete.

As there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction, it has been decided to take no further action in respect to tis matter. The decision does not affect any civil action you may wish to initiate.

Should any additional information come to light within the statutory limit of 6 months from the date of the incident, it may be possible to re-open the investigation"

So there you go.. Totally and utterly pathetic... No one asked me for photos of the damage from which you can often work out whos fault it is or actually spoke to me to properly hear my side of things... I doubt they even contacted the woman who hit me making it all totally pointless since she got away with it once she will probably do it again and again..

It almost happened again tonight.. Someone tried to move in to my lane (a two lane road) without looking almost hit me and then started hooting and flashing his lights at me like it was my fault??  Its doing my bloody head in, what the fuck is wrong with people? The funny thing is he had who I assume was his wife in the car. I could see her shouting at him as I was driving off lol...

When we now live in a society where you can totally get away with committing these sorts of crimes with absolutely no consequence.. Wheres that going to lead us?

Foster

Rabs said:

Ok so I got a letter from the police today...   It says

"I am writing to advise you that all enquires in respect to the above incident are now complete.

As there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction, it has been decided to take no further action in respect to tis matter. The decision does not affect any civil action you may wish to initiate.

Should any additional information come to light within the statutory limit of 6 months from the date of the incident, it may be possible to re-open the investigation"

So there you go.. Totally and utterly pathetic... No one asked me for photos of the damage from which you can often work out whos fault it is or actually spoke to me to properly hear my side of things... I doubt they even contacted the woman who hit me making it all totally pointless since she got away with it once she will probably do it again and again..

It almost happened again tonight.. Someone tried to move in to my lane (a two lane road) without looking almost hit me and then started hooting and flashing his lights at me like it was my fault??  Its doing my bloody head in, what the fuck is wrong with people? The funny thing is he had who I assume was his wife in the car. I could see her shouting at him as I was driving off lol...

When we now live in a society where you can totally get away with committing these sorts of crimes with absolutely no consequence.. Wheres that going to lead us?

Should have told them she was doing 31mph in a 30 zone, you'd have had jam sandwiches with the blues n twos out in an instant

axisus

You should notify your insurance company immediately. She may have notified hers and may have details of your car, so it would look very bad if you hadn't. 

Rabs

axisus said:

You should notify your insurance company immediately. She may have notified hers and may have details of your car, so it would look very bad if you hadn't. 

Nope.. I really don't care about them and have no inclination to do so at all...  all they want to do is con me out of more money... Why should I ?  If they find out and then wan to cancel my insurance then fine. Next time im just going for the cheapest crappest insurance I can find... ...  Im so disheartened by all of this I no longer care at all.

I still haven't heard back from the last time I reported an accident and that was like four moths ago.. the last time I was involved in an accident about 10 years ago it took them over 2 years to come to any conclusion about the accident I had and I had to phone and complain for them to even do that when eventually they just said, ohh its 50/50 they did no investigation at all.  They are pathetic and useless and can kiss my arse.

Fretwired

Sorry you were hit but you must report it because if the woman who hit you reports it you'll find your self on the back foot. Her insurance company will argue you must be guilty otherwise you'd have reported it. If you can argue it's not your fault then your insurance company should be able to claim from her insurance company.

Rabs

Fretwired said:

Sorry you were hit but you must report it because if the woman who hit you reports it you'll find your self on the back foot. Her insurance company will argue you must be guilty otherwise you'd have reported it. If you can argue it's not your fault then your insurance company should be able to claim from her insurance company.

What even though she was the one that drove off without swapping details which is illegal and I have the police report too prove it?

Whats the worst thing they can do?  Cancel my insurance?  Which if happens I don't care, I will just go to another company and they will loose me as a customer (which they will do anyway when it runs out).

TTony

Rabs said:

Whats the worst thing they can do?  Cancel my insurance? 

No.

The worst thing they can do is invalidate your insurance as you have breached the terms of your contract by not reporting an accident.

You don't want them to invalidate your policy when you have to make a claim on it.  Don't forget that your policy will pay out for all sorts of events - not just damage to your car. 

Not wishing this on anyone, but, for example, if you had a heart attack at the wheel, ploughed into the proverbial queue at the bus stop and ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of your life,  you really wouldn't want your insurance company to walk away and pay nothing when you needed to claim for all the lifetime care costs arising from  your bodily injury and the people in the queue sued you for millions.

Less worse, but still rather inconvenient is that  if they invalidate your insurance and for whatever reason you miss the letter or email informing you of that - your car is then seized and crushed for being on the road illegally and the police do you for driving without insurance.

Last, but probably not least, you'll likely have a mark on your record on the claims database informing any future insurer that  you've had a policy invalidated for failing to notify an accident.  That's going to hurt your future premiums.

ICBM

TTony said:

Rabs said:

Whats the worst thing they can do?  Cancel my insurance? 

No.

The worst thing they can do is invalidate your insurance as you have breached the terms of your contract by not reporting an accident.

You don't want them to invalidate your policy when you have to make a claim on it.  Don't forget that your policy will pay out for all sorts of events - not just damage to your car. 

Not wishing this on anyone, but, for example, if you had a heart attack at the wheel, ploughed into the proverbial queue at the bus stop and ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of your life,  you really wouldn't want your insurance company to walk away and pay nothing when you needed to claim for all the lifetime care costs arising from  your bodily injury and the people in the queue sued you for millions.

Less worse, but still rather inconvenient is that  if they invalidate your insurance and for whatever reason you miss the letter or email informing you of that - your car is then seized and crushed for being on the road illegally and the police do you for driving without insurance.

Last, but probably not least, you'll likely have a mark on your record on the claims database informing any future insurer that  you've had a policy invalidated for failing to notify an accident.  That's going to hurt your future premiums.

And on top of all that, if you now try to change insurance companies, when you take out the cover you have to declare whether there are any outstanding incidents - and if you say no, you have automatically breached their conditions so you're not insured... and possibly made a false declaration, which in some cases can be a criminal offence. So you probably cannot legally change companies without reporting it to the current one.

I know it seems unfair, but to cover yourself you really *must* report this, as soon as possible. You have made it a reportable incident by going to the police, and they can find that out.

sweepy

It can be a strange old business, my old Mondeo estate got prodded in the rear bumper by someone in the local car park. The only damage was a minute split in the bumper, I suggested settling off of the insurance for £100, he said no and had to pay a £250 excess for his troubles  ! some  people are odd really

Rabs

TTony said:

Rabs said:

Whats the worst thing they can do?  Cancel my insurance? 

No.

The worst thing they can do is invalidate your insurance as you have breached the terms of your contract by not reporting an accident.

You don't want them to invalidate your policy when you have to make a claim on it.  Don't forget that your policy will pay out for all sorts of events - not just damage to your car. 

This is the whole thing.. I don't intend to claim.. I know they will just write my car off and I cant be without it at the moment..

As for the rest of it...  I still don't feel like I want to tell them, if they find out and cancel my insurance I will get it else where...  What ever happens happens.  Its already two weeks ago so if I were to tell them they will probably just charge me extra for it im sure or tell me instantly I have invalidated my insurance anyway.. So whats the point.. I will take the risk and what ever may happen cos of it.. Even though I doubt anything will.

And then what happens if I do report it and it turns out she has no insurance anyway.. ?  I loose again. What ever happens I loose.. I think id just rather do it my way.

CarpeDiem

Whilst it was 2 weeks ago, you could tell your insurance company that you were awaiting an update from the police. Whilst it is unfortunately more hassle for you, and it probably feels unjust, the advice that @ICBM and others have said regarding reporting it to your insurance company is correct. Insurers share information, and even if you change insurance company, you risk them not paying up (or reducing the payment) if you need to make a claim in the future. I can totally understand your frustration with the situation, but it would be a shame if the woman that drove into you ending up being treated better as a result of you not informing your insurance company.

Rabs

Listen. I know how im probably coming across here that im pissed off and being stubborn ....  And even though I may decide not too, I really do appreciate you guys taking the time out to let me know...

However...Right now I AM pissed off.. With everything... Im going through a real shitty time dealing with my parents who are both in bad health. Im trying to start a business and am probably more stressed than I have ever been in my life because of those things..  But in my head.. It happened two weeks ago.. If she was going to report it she probably would have done by now and I would have heard something.

Im just sick of getting penalised for doing the right thing.. Totally and utterly sick (im not even going to go in to hospital car parking charges)... I know its a slight risk doing it but I just don't care right now. I have too much else going on to be bothered if some insurance company who is only interested in my money is not happy with me...  If they do ever say anything I will just say well I reported it to the police and gave my insurance number in the report so I assumed they would get it that way. Which they probably did.

I have still heard absolutely  nothing from them since the last accident like 4 months ago. Its ok for them to do nothing even though thats what I pay them for but not me.. Im totally sick of it all.

TTony

Rabs said:

TTony said:

Rabs said:

Whats the worst thing they can do?  Cancel my insurance? 

No.

The worst thing they can do is invalidate your insurance as you have breached the terms of your contract by not reporting an accident.

You don't want them to invalidate your policy when you have to make a claim on it.  Don't forget that your policy will pay out for all sorts of events - not just damage to your car. 

This is the whole thing.. I don't intend to claim.. 

Did you not read the rest of my post, not understand it, or just chose to stick your head up your arse and ignore it?

IT'S NOT ABOUT WHETHER YOU WANT TO CLAIM FOR THIS INCIDENT.

It's about the potential consequences - in due course - if you choose to ignore the terms of your insurance policy.


I'm actually trying to help you here, but I'm done trying.