Car accident please help

[benje1982]

Ok on Monday I was involved in a very minor car crash. I was at a junction turning right, there was a car turning left into the juntion, I pulled out and was clipped right at the rear right hand side of my car.
My bumper was snapped in half and the rear got a smallish dent. His car suffered a smashed headlight, broken wing and slightly bent bonnet.

Having never had a car crash before, we swapped details etc and that was that. I didnt ring the police as I thought the crash was that minor it didnt warrent reporting. My first question is, Can I still report this as I believe something very dodgy to be going on.....

The guy took his car to a bodyshop who said its going to be £1200, so were going through the insurance.

Anyway I contacted my insurance company and got the forms through yesterday. So I've started to fill them in etc. I'm only insured 3rd party so I was assuming if I get the blame, my car wont be repaired, which is fair enough.

Thing is though today I recieved a missed call on my mobile phone, they left a voicemail message which went along the lines of:

"This is a message for Ben J. Wanting to get in touch with you regarding Mr XXX XXXX (Vehicle owner) Please could you contact us on 0XXX XXXXXX," Now it sounds like they say its "so and so SOLICTERS"

Anyway hearing this I rang back about 10 minutes after.

It turns out this so called Solicters was in fact this guys house and it was his brother I was speaking to. Anyway the guy who I had the crash with comes onto the phone and goes along the lines of" Yeah I put my brother on because he sounds more serious........."

"I was wondering why you havent been in touch with the body shop" I explained that it was in the hands of the Insurance, and I could not do anything to hurry the process up.

Please can someone give me some advice on what to do, I'm quite worried now. What is this bloke playing at?!?
His message is still on my voicemail, should I record it? I'm really tempted to go to the police this afternoon but I'm worried they may just tell me to go.

Let me know

Ben

[thub]

Ben, you've correctly put this into the hands of your insurance and this guy now needs to contact them. Is there a general number for your company you can give him?

[SGirl]

Don't take any calls from this bloke, and don't call him. Now it's in the hands of the insurers leave it at that. Let them sort it - it's what you pay them for. Not only that, but if you enter into direct negotiation with the other party you could prejudice your claim.

His insurer's solicitors will be in touch with you in writing. Forward all this stuff to your insurers - don't reply to it yourself.

Can't help you re. the police, but I can't imagine they'd want anything to do with the matter as it's minor damage to the two vehicles involved, and no injuries.

TBH, it all sounds to me like the other party is trying to speed things up and get his car repaired quickly. If he has comprehensive insurance, I think (but don't quote me on this) he can get his insurers to foot the bill and claim the cost back from your insurers if it's your fault. But that's his problem, not yours.

The point is, you've acted correctly by informing your insurers of the accident. Now all you have to do is reply to any letters they send you, and forward any correspondence from the other party to your insurers with a covering letter.

[leosayer]

I would keep that message just in case, you never know if you might need it.

[tegriffic]

The advice to leave it to insurers is good. Also, you are obliged by your policy to report (to your insurers) all developments including contact from the third party - verbal or otherwise. With regard contacting the police, I doubt they will be interested unless an offence has been comitted. Insurance recovery is generally governed by civil law, not criminal law, and the two are very different.



>> Edited by tegriffic on Friday 5th March 18:18

[icamm]

I agree with tegriffic. Tell your insurance company about this message and subsequent conversation. It covers you arse.

As everyone else has said you have done everything else as you should. If they haven't already your insurance company will tell you to pass all correspondence on to them unanswered.

[Kinky]

And remember to make a documented note of all calls, messages and conversations - dates, times, who called who, what was said, etc, etc ....

Also - if you are going to reply on your voicemail message - check that it's not automatically deleted after 30 days (or some such period of time).

K

[pbrettle]

All sounds a little dodgy to me - in the case of a minor smash, you both report the accident to the respective insurers and thats the last you ever have contact with each other..... the insurance companies deal with everything themselves and sort out who's going to pay and where the cars will be repaired..... nothing needs to be done directly with the individuals involved and if there is any confirmation etc, this is done by the insurance company (or nominated specialist company).

Sounds like this bloke is trying a fast one! At the end of the day you have paid for insurance - let them do the leg work (you paid for this) and they will sort it all out. Doesnt matter if you are insured third party only. Oh, and the information from any insurer these days says something like:

1) Hand over details and get the others
2) Never admit anything
3) Inform the insurers
4) Sit back and wait for information / contact

Thats it....

[benje1982]

Thanks all for the advice.

I sent my forms off yesterday and included a transcript of the recorded message. The more I think about this the more dodgy it seems. I do honestly think he wasnt insured.

Out of interest what would happen if he wasnt? Does my insurance company contact his? Would they check if he's insured?

Last thing I want is for my insurance company to find me responsible and repair his car, without him being insured.

Cheers

Ben

[PetrolTed]

As far as I know the insurance company would only deal with another insurance company. The way it works is that he should claim on his insurance and they recover the money from your insurance company. If he's not insured, I doubt that a legitimate claim could be made on your insurance.

[Muncher]

I don't think he needs insurance to claim off yours, if you were at fault your insurers will arrange an inspection of and repairs to his vehicle.

Let your insurers deal with it.

[icamm]

It doesn't matter if he is not insured (unfortunately). He can still claim off your insurance if you were at fault. We have no legal basis to say "you weren't insured, therefore you shouldn't have been on the road, therefore the accident was your fault" as some other countries seem to have (not sure but I have heard stories etc).

However, if this turns out to be the case then report him to the Police. It won't help your insurance claim but might get him prosecuted.

[dj_rog]

icamm said:

We have no legal basis to say "you weren't insured, therefore you shouldn't have been on the road, therefore the accident was your fault" as some other countries seem to have (not sure but I have heard stories etc).

I thought we did...?

[Muncher]

dj_rog said:

icamm said: We have no legal basis to say "you weren't insured, therefore you shouldn't have been on the road, therefore the accident was your fault" as some other countries seem to have (not sure but I have heard stories etc). I thought we did...?

Nope.

[zcacogp]

I'm sorry to say this, but if he isn't insured and you are only 3rd party insured, you are in a sticky position. There are more uninsured drivers on the roads these days than anyone would honestly admit to, and no-one is doing anything about it.

DON'T admit being at fault. Insist to your insurance company that you are in the right, and fight it all the way. If he doesn't have insurance, he has the right to settle the case with you (or your insurance company) BUT if you stick to your guns then ultimately it will go to court (unless it is clearly a cut-and-dried case - eg you go into the back of him at lights.) He is highly unlikely to stand up on his hind legs in court and argue the toss when he doesn't have insurance - he will probably back down beforehand.

Also report it to the police. Tell them the truth and ask that the other driver is investigated, or given a producer. Take your documents with you when you go to the cop shop, and be polite and genuine.

The fact that the other guy got his brother to lie to you sounds very fishy. And may be an offence in itself. Where did the accident happen, and what sort of chap was this other guy? What sort of car was he driving?

Chase this all the way. You are on a hiding to nothing if he is uninsured, and will gain nothing from it - you will end up paying for the damage yourself. But if you get one uninsured motorist off the road it will be worth doing. People who drive without correct insurance cover are amongst the lowest forms of life in my opinion, and deserve absolutely everything that they get.


Oli.

[pbrettle]

zcacogp said:

Also report it to the police. Tell them the truth and ask that the other driver is investigated, or given a producer. Take your documents with you when you go to the cop shop, and be polite and genuine.

Absolutely - get down the police station and tell them the story. At the very least they will do some simple database look-ups to check out. If this gets to a producer then he's stuffed!!!

zcacogp said:

People who drive without correct insurance cover are amongst the lowest forms of life in my opinion, and deserve absolutely everything that they get.

Couldnt agree more - scum the lot of them (assuming that this chap was uninsured of course). Alternatively he might just be trying it on - insurance crime is rampant at the moment and he might just be cashing in on it..... an ex-girlfriend of my wifes brother (dodgy link I know) used to top up her £20,000 a year teaching income by resorting to insurance fraud. Now ex-girlfriend was shopped to the insurance company in the end and as far as I know they have demanded thousands back!!!

[Nightmare]

without wanting to sound dull.....I suspect it could also be that he has been in a minor accident before with someone who then just did the off and didnt pay.

The conversation could read

"I put my brother on the phone so it sounded official so you'd ring me, and the bodyshop havent heard anything at all and I'm worried you're about to do toes without paying up" - this has happend to two friends of mine in the not too distant past.....

or he could be an uninsured scam-meister!

[Flat in Fifth]

benje1982 said:

Ok on Monday I was involved in a very minor car crash. I was at a junction turning right, there was a car turning left into the juntion, I pulled out and was clipped right at the rear right hand side of my car.

Having slight difficulty visualising this.

Just wondering.......

If you hadn't pulled out where would he have hit you? Presumably forward of where he did hit you.

Or is it a case that you thought he was turning left, pulled out but it turned out he was actually going straight on.

Or is it a case that he was turning left, made a pills of it and is now claiming he wasn't signalling and intended to go straight on.

Makes a difference, not trying to be confrontational but the devil is in the detail, as they say.

Regardless which of above situations is correct the advice you have been given is spot on; i.e. put it into the insurance co hands, plus refuse to enter into any communications with the other party and report all such to the insurers.

Sorry you've had a collision, only trying to help.

FiF