Quick insurance/crash advice.

[Torquey]

Yesterday my wife was hit from behind by another car paying little attention. She was stopped at traffic lights (pedestrian crossing) when the car behind didn't see her and crashed into her at a full ~20mph. Maybe distracted by a phone, who knows. There were people on the crossing in front of my wife so if she hadn't been there then the other driver could possibly have hit a pedestrian.

There is very little damage to both cars but my wife and her mother (passenger) were jolted forward with some force.

They say they feel no need for treatment and I'm happy not to claim for damage to the car but should I still inform my insurance company??

My concern is if I don't inform them then my hypercondriact mother in law could at any point develop back pain and she'd remind us for the rest of time.

[outnumbered]

20mph won’t result in “little damage”. Either there’s more damage than you can see, or the speed was much less (hence less chance of whiplash).

[anonymous-user]

Torquey said:

Yesterday my wife was hit from behind by another car paying little attention. She was stopped at traffic lights (pedestrian crossing) when the car behind didn't see her and crashed into her at a full ~20mph. Maybe distracted by a phone, who knows. There were people on the crossing in front of my wife so if she hadn't been there then the other driver could possibly have hit a pedestrian.

There is very little damage to both cars but my wife and her mother (passenger) were jolted forward with some force.

They say they feel no need for treatment and I'm happy not to claim for damage to the car but should I still inform my insurance company??

My concern is if I don't inform them then my hypercondriact mother in law could at any point develop back pain and she'd remind us for the rest of time.

I believe a claim can be made upto 3 years after the accident but sometimes injuries don't show immediately.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/p...

You should get the car checked as there can be hidden damage despite it looking okay from the outside, my sister was in a similar situation and seeing how that gone I would not hesitate to make a formal claim on the insurance as it becomes a hook to put any future personal injury if necessary on to.

By not claiming then it will be hard to prove the accident even happened which undermines any further medical claim if made.

[Torquey]

OK. Must have been under 20mph then as a bodyshop has said there is no underlying damage.

Thanks. Just for clarity - I dont care about the damage to the car. I'm concerned about the people in the car needing to claim at a later date and me being responsible if the insurance co turn a blind eye. And do I need to take action now?

Edited by Torquey on Wednesday 2nd February 09:17

Edited by Torquey on Wednesday 2nd February 09:20

[KungFuPanda]

You’ll be claiming from the insurers of the vehicle that hit you, not your own insurers. So in light of that, not reporting the accident to your own insurer won’t prejudice the position of the two injured parties if they at a later date decide to present a claim.

[Torquey]

KungFuPanda said:

You’ll be claiming from the insurers of the vehicle that hit you, not your own insurers. So in light of that, not reporting the accident to your own insurer won’t prejudice the position of the two injured parties if they at a later date decide to present a claim.

Perfect - Thank you very much indeed.

[anonymous-user]

Was it reported to police? That might help if there is no contact with insurance company until further down the line.

[Mr Tidy]

Torquey said:

OK. Must have been under 20mph then as a bodyshop has said there is no underlying damage.

Thanks. Just for clarity - I dont care about the damage to the car. I'm concerned about the people in the car needing to claim at a later date and me being responsible if the insurance co turn a blind eye. And do I need to take action now?

Edited by Torquey on Wednesday 2nd February 09:17

Edited by Torquey on Wednesday 2nd February 09:20

In those circumstances I'd be claiming directly from the insurer of the car that hit them rather than from my own insurer.

And it may be worth getting them both checked over by a GP at least (if that is even possible these days) just in case. Sometimes all can seem well at the time but symptoms may arise later.

But I hope they are both OK.

[carl_w]

Whiplash in a sub-20mph incident that results in no damage to the car?

[strain]

My dad was rear ended at a roundabout, driver claimed to be doing 2-3mph my dad said it was more 15mph, it ended up in court.

Car looked ok on the surface but had £1800 worth of damage.

Get it checked before you make a decision