Insurance advice
Discussion
My son was on a roundabout a few days ago and a car has hit his car on rear corner bumper. They have pulled out too soon by the looks of it, he was already half way around the roundabout. They pulled over further up sped off so a hit and run.
They managed to get a picture and have part of the cars plastics in his boot as he retrieved it from roundabout.
He called the police straight away and they callled back for more detailed information but no progress as yet. We think 2 off duty police were in another car as they stopped to see if he was ok and made a note of the other car but I don't know anything else as son was in shock.
The other car is showing as insured, taxed and mot, surprised as automatically presumed it would be uninsured.
The damage is not too bad so we have a dilemma. Do we pay to have it repaired as he is just about to get 2 years no claims discount which he will lose if it doesn't go favourable, also he has £450 excess and he will then have increased premiums.
He tried to call insurance but closed for bank holiday.
I am unsure whether police will bother to investigate and then I feel he will be shafted as a new driver with all the increased costs for 5 years. The car is less than a year old and he is only 19, has a black box fitted if that makes a difference which he always has a great score.
Many thanks
They managed to get a picture and have part of the cars plastics in his boot as he retrieved it from roundabout.
He called the police straight away and they callled back for more detailed information but no progress as yet. We think 2 off duty police were in another car as they stopped to see if he was ok and made a note of the other car but I don't know anything else as son was in shock.
The other car is showing as insured, taxed and mot, surprised as automatically presumed it would be uninsured.
The damage is not too bad so we have a dilemma. Do we pay to have it repaired as he is just about to get 2 years no claims discount which he will lose if it doesn't go favourable, also he has £450 excess and he will then have increased premiums.
He tried to call insurance but closed for bank holiday.
I am unsure whether police will bother to investigate and then I feel he will be shafted as a new driver with all the increased costs for 5 years. The car is less than a year old and he is only 19, has a black box fitted if that makes a difference which he always has a great score.
Many thanks
Report it to your insurers. Enough people are involved at this point that you cannot reasonably expect insurers not to find out and the age old question of "have you been involved in any accidents or made any claims" will catch them; then it's non-disclosure, potentially cancelled insurance, and a whole heap of pain.
If you are adamant you do not wish to progress with his own insurers due to the excess, pay the MIB fee to get another person's insurers details. Pass on details of witnesses, the accident itself and of course then they will have to get in touch with their insured driver. That will then go one of two ways, presumably, as they've driven off - they'll deny it even happening, that won't be part of their car that you have or it'll be ignored in the hope it will go away. Insurers are wise to both of these, it'll take time but it'll get sorted.
Avoid engaging an AMC too early on; it'll get the third party insurer's backs up if massive hire costs are incurred from the get-go. If his car is driveable and safe then continue to use it as is until it can be repaired. I appreciate and have experience of how depressing it is to see your pride and joy's damage every day but it will be fixed.
If you are adamant you do not wish to progress with his own insurers due to the excess, pay the MIB fee to get another person's insurers details. Pass on details of witnesses, the accident itself and of course then they will have to get in touch with their insured driver. That will then go one of two ways, presumably, as they've driven off - they'll deny it even happening, that won't be part of their car that you have or it'll be ignored in the hope it will go away. Insurers are wise to both of these, it'll take time but it'll get sorted.
Avoid engaging an AMC too early on; it'll get the third party insurer's backs up if massive hire costs are incurred from the get-go. If his car is driveable and safe then continue to use it as is until it can be repaired. I appreciate and have experience of how depressing it is to see your pride and joy's damage every day but it will be fixed.
Ladym0939 said:
I just do not have much faith that things will go the right way.
I don't hold a lot of faith in the system either, but it is there and it is what it is - and it is inescapable once you've insured a motorvehicle and even more so if you've been involved in an accident. Unfortunately one of the many lessons in motoring in life is that you can always be on the receiving end of the sitty side of the deal.Also, it is obviously way too late now - but dashcams!
Pegscratch said:
Report it to your insurers. Enough people are involved at this point that you cannot reasonably expect insurers not to find out and the age old question of "have you been involved in any accidents or made any claims" will catch them; then it's non-disclosure, potentially cancelled insurance, and a whole heap of pain.
If you are adamant you do not wish to progress with his own insurers due to the excess, pay the MIB fee to get another person's insurers details. Pass on details of witnesses, the accident itself and of course then they will have to get in touch with their insured driver. That will then go one of two ways, presumably, as they've driven off - they'll deny it even happening, that won't be part of their car that you have or it'll be ignored in the hope it will go away. Insurers are wise to both of these, it'll take time but it'll get sorted.
Avoid engaging an AMC too early on; it'll get the third party insurer's backs up if massive hire costs are incurred from the get-go. If his car is driveable and safe then continue to use it as is until it can be repaired. I appreciate and have experience of how depressing it is to see your pride and joy's damage every day but it will be fixed.
Shouldn't the police be dealing with this instead of the OP? It's a fail to stop RTC which needs investigating. Just because a database shows the vehicle as legitimate doesn't mean the driver was and it's an offence which has fairly serious repercussions at court.If you are adamant you do not wish to progress with his own insurers due to the excess, pay the MIB fee to get another person's insurers details. Pass on details of witnesses, the accident itself and of course then they will have to get in touch with their insured driver. That will then go one of two ways, presumably, as they've driven off - they'll deny it even happening, that won't be part of their car that you have or it'll be ignored in the hope it will go away. Insurers are wise to both of these, it'll take time but it'll get sorted.
Avoid engaging an AMC too early on; it'll get the third party insurer's backs up if massive hire costs are incurred from the get-go. If his car is driveable and safe then continue to use it as is until it can be repaired. I appreciate and have experience of how depressing it is to see your pride and joy's damage every day but it will be fixed.
I don't know where you live but our force very rarely investigate anything like this, it is much easier to give out a crime number. They don't attend house burglaries here and wasn't interested when 4 cars of blokes tried to car jack me to get my car off me at traffic lights outside a police station!
The accident was in a different area which just happens to be number one spot in the country for uninsured drivers and hit and runs. I really do not hold out much hope for an investigation to be honest...but I stand to be corrected.
The accident was in a different area which just happens to be number one spot in the country for uninsured drivers and hit and runs. I really do not hold out much hope for an investigation to be honest...but I stand to be corrected.
Ladym0939 said:
I don't know where you live but our force very rarely investigate anything like this, it is much easier to give out a crime number. They don't attend house burglaries here and wasn't interested when 4 cars of blokes tried to car jack me to get my car off me at traffic lights outside a police station!
The accident was in a different area which just happens to be number one spot in the country for uninsured drivers and hit and runs. I really do not hold out much hope for an investigation to be honest...but I stand to be corrected.
I know it can be difficult to get all the information into a post on here but are you certain the collision has been recorded? Not just your son's initial call to them, but a full report - including statements re the identification of the offending vehicle etc. The police have a duty to investigate, especially when there is a positive line of enquiry. I would call them to ascertain what is happening at the very least.The accident was in a different area which just happens to be number one spot in the country for uninsured drivers and hit and runs. I really do not hold out much hope for an investigation to be honest...but I stand to be corrected.
Yes, he reported it at the roadside, they called him back the following day to ask for more information- his licence number and his policy details he said. He has since contacted 101 twice with the crime number for any update and they just said no further action has yet been taken and no more notes on the system. They will contact him if they need him and best to just deal with insurance. In other words leave us alone.
Hence why I am not confident they will follow anything up at all.
Hence why I am not confident they will follow anything up at all.
Ladym0939 said:
Yes, he reported it at the roadside, they called him back the following day to ask for more information- his licence number and his policy details he said. He has since contacted 101 twice with the crime number for any update and they just said no further action has yet been taken and no more notes on the system. They will contact him if they need him and best to just deal with insurance. In other words leave us alone.
Hence why I am not confident they will follow anything up at all.
It's obviously up to you and your son but I wouldn't let this go. Have you got details of the officer dealing with it? Have you agreed any time scale for updates? You need to know these things or they might just fob you off. Clearly the officer dealing doesn't work 24/7 and it may take time but they cannot simply ignore the offence because 'they can't be bothered with it.' Yes the insurance company will (hopefully) deal with it at the end of the day, but a fairly serious road traffic offence has been committed by failing to stop/report - starting at a minimum of 5 points if prosecuted.Hence why I am not confident they will follow anything up at all.
I will give it a few more days then chase it again with him. The police station locally to the accident does not answer the phone so it is 101 unfortunately.
He has a picture of the vehicle with clear registration and obvious features - it was an old people carrier but had a pop top such as on a vw t5 camper so unusual, I'm sure it had wheelchair do not park close signs too. My son has the plastic light surround from the vehicle too as he thought it was debris from his own car. The picture was taken on an iPhone which takes slight moving footage, the car sort of pretended to stop but crawled the floored it when my sons partner ran across the roundabout to it. That is when the 2 psco or police officers (not sure) pulled up as he was in the roundabout to ask what was going on, they took the reg and went so we hoped they might have followed or at least took note.
He has requested cctv from tesco petrol station which is a small chance but shows they have tried everything.
His car was his pride and joy, he is absolutely gutted, he does believe in doing the right thing hence contacting the insurance and has rose tinted specs that everybody else is the same. As I said, a very different 19 year old driver than the stereotype and has been very sheltered due to years and years in hospital.
Hopefully I will be proven wrong and the police will investigate?
He has a picture of the vehicle with clear registration and obvious features - it was an old people carrier but had a pop top such as on a vw t5 camper so unusual, I'm sure it had wheelchair do not park close signs too. My son has the plastic light surround from the vehicle too as he thought it was debris from his own car. The picture was taken on an iPhone which takes slight moving footage, the car sort of pretended to stop but crawled the floored it when my sons partner ran across the roundabout to it. That is when the 2 psco or police officers (not sure) pulled up as he was in the roundabout to ask what was going on, they took the reg and went so we hoped they might have followed or at least took note.
He has requested cctv from tesco petrol station which is a small chance but shows they have tried everything.
His car was his pride and joy, he is absolutely gutted, he does believe in doing the right thing hence contacting the insurance and has rose tinted specs that everybody else is the same. As I said, a very different 19 year old driver than the stereotype and has been very sheltered due to years and years in hospital.
Hopefully I will be proven wrong and the police will investigate?
Do you have any pictures that show the damage to the other vehicle? your best bet is to let your insurers deal with it, they will pass it to the other parties insurers, and they will chase the other driver, they will request an engineer visit if they dispute, and if they dont respond, then the insurers will accept liability.
Your probably gonna wait 6 - 12 months if you wait for the police report, you pay for insurance and this is where it comes in handy.
Your probably gonna wait 6 - 12 months if you wait for the police report, you pay for insurance and this is where it comes in handy.
No picture of the damage on the other car unfortunately, just the plastic bit that flew off. They drove off really quickly, they knew what they were doing as they waited for his partner to get close. There is paint transfer from the car though.
Insurance are collecting his car next week and providing a hire car (he's not impressed as his is electric so he will have a manual and a higher running cost as he gets his electric via us!)
Life lessons for him 😄
Insurance are collecting his car next week and providing a hire car (he's not impressed as his is electric so he will have a manual and a higher running cost as he gets his electric via us!)
Life lessons for him 😄
I would go straight to insurance on this.
You have the registration, and the bit of plastic that fell off the other vehicle is at least some ammunition if they claim to their insurer that they weren't involved.
There is no need for the other driver to have stopped in order for you to start a claim against them.
If you think about it it's not really much of a different position than if the driver had stopped and exchanged the same details you already have.
They could still claim your son was at fault if they had stopped. In fact, they're shooting themselves in the foot by driving off because now they'll have to say 'wasn't me' rather than 'other driver's fault', otherwise why drive off?
You have the registration, and the bit of plastic that fell off the other vehicle is at least some ammunition if they claim to their insurer that they weren't involved.
There is no need for the other driver to have stopped in order for you to start a claim against them.
If you think about it it's not really much of a different position than if the driver had stopped and exchanged the same details you already have.
They could still claim your son was at fault if they had stopped. In fact, they're shooting themselves in the foot by driving off because now they'll have to say 'wasn't me' rather than 'other driver's fault', otherwise why drive off?
My son has just called all excited that he had received a call from Diirect Line saying the other insurance company had accepted liability.
He then said the guy mentioned that the other party had said they had suffered some discomort in the accident and is he sure that he or his partner not had any injuries no matter how small. This rang alarm bells with me and I told him to ring Direct Line as this sounds like ambulance chasers. He said they had his policy details and said they were from Direct Line.
He has called them and surprise surprise they have not heard anything from the other insurance yet and no record of calls.
Surely this is a breach of GDPR, somebody has obtained all his information!
He is back again to waiting as no update from police or insurance.
He then said the guy mentioned that the other party had said they had suffered some discomort in the accident and is he sure that he or his partner not had any injuries no matter how small. This rang alarm bells with me and I told him to ring Direct Line as this sounds like ambulance chasers. He said they had his policy details and said they were from Direct Line.
He has called them and surprise surprise they have not heard anything from the other insurance yet and no record of calls.
Surely this is a breach of GDPR, somebody has obtained all his information!
He is back again to waiting as no update from police or insurance.
Edited by Ladym0939 on Friday 9th April 13:09
Ladym0939 said:
My son has just called all excited that he had received a call from Diirect Line saying the other insurance company had accepted liability.
He then said the guy mentioned that the other party had said they had suffered some discomort in the accident and is he sure that he or his partner not had any injuries no matter how small. This rang alarm bells with me and I told him to ring Direct Line as this sounds like ambulance chasers. He said they had his policy details and said they were from Direct Line.
He has called them and surprise surprise they have not heard anything from the other insurance yet and no record of calls.
Surely this is a breach of GDPR, somebody has obtained all his information!
He is back again to waiting as no update from police or insurance.
If the 3rd party's ins co have admitted liability for the accident, then they have no claim against your son's insurance for anything. What you have said above does not really make sense, unless I have misunderstood what you are sayingHe then said the guy mentioned that the other party had said they had suffered some discomort in the accident and is he sure that he or his partner not had any injuries no matter how small. This rang alarm bells with me and I told him to ring Direct Line as this sounds like ambulance chasers. He said they had his policy details and said they were from Direct Line.
He has called them and surprise surprise they have not heard anything from the other insurance yet and no record of calls.
Surely this is a breach of GDPR, somebody has obtained all his information!
He is back again to waiting as no update from police or insurance.
Edited by Ladym0939 on Friday 9th April 13:09
martinbiz said:
Ladym0939 said:
My son has just called all excited that he had received a call from Diirect Line saying the other insurance company had accepted liability.
He then said the guy mentioned that the other party had said they had suffered some discomort in the accident and is he sure that he or his partner not had any injuries no matter how small. This rang alarm bells with me and I told him to ring Direct Line as this sounds like ambulance chasers. He said they had his policy details and said they were from Direct Line.
He has called them and surprise surprise they have not heard anything from the other insurance yet and no record of calls.
Surely this is a breach of GDPR, somebody has obtained all his information!
He is back again to waiting as no update from police or insurance.
If the 3rd party's ins co have admitted liability for the accident, then they have no claim against your son's insurance for anything. What you have said above does not really make sense, unless I have misunderstood what you are sayingHe then said the guy mentioned that the other party had said they had suffered some discomort in the accident and is he sure that he or his partner not had any injuries no matter how small. This rang alarm bells with me and I told him to ring Direct Line as this sounds like ambulance chasers. He said they had his policy details and said they were from Direct Line.
He has called them and surprise surprise they have not heard anything from the other insurance yet and no record of calls.
Surely this is a breach of GDPR, somebody has obtained all his information!
He is back again to waiting as no update from police or insurance.
Edited by Ladym0939 on Friday 9th April 13:09
He received a call stating they were calling from Direct Line and that the other insurance company had admitted liability, then the call started to try and persuade him to make a claim for injury as "the other party had started a claim so are you sure you were not injured"
On him calling Direct Line, no progress on their system, no liability has been admitted, in fact the other insurance company have not even replied yet!
So somebody has sold my sons details on to an ambulance chaser as they had all his details and info on accident. The call introduced themselves as being from Direct Line!!
Hence why I am not happy.
On him calling Direct Line, no progress on their system, no liability has been admitted, in fact the other insurance company have not even replied yet!
So somebody has sold my sons details on to an ambulance chaser as they had all his details and info on accident. The call introduced themselves as being from Direct Line!!
Hence why I am not happy.
Similar thing happened to me - and the other party's insurance also agreed full liability. You should get a courtesy car and a free repair.
In my case I felt really sorry for the lad who ran into me. He was a new driver who had literally picked up his first car, that day. My car only needed a new rear bumper but his was pretty badly damaged. What a way to start your driving career.
In my case I felt really sorry for the lad who ran into me. He was a new driver who had literally picked up his first car, that day. My car only needed a new rear bumper but his was pretty badly damaged. What a way to start your driving career.
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