Insurance Claim advice - Rear ended somebody

[Easty-5]

Well this morning I was coming home from the girlfriend's house. I was following a learner driver. We came to a T junction, The learner started to pull away, so I was looking at oncoming traffic and pulled out aswell. Well unfortunatley for me, the learner driver had stalled just as she got her nose out onto the road, I was too busy looking at oncoming traffic that I never noticed and I hit her.

I think that it is obvious that I am the driver at fault here, but somebody has mentioned to me that joint responsibility should be investigated as she stalled in a "dangerous" situation, I had no warning she was going to stop, there were no brake lights etc. Personally I think it is clutching at straws a bit?

Also, how much does the typical insurance premium go up by for a claim against you like this? Will the insurance premium go up straight away?

Cheers,
Jamie

[MrCippo]

oh boy, this near happened to me so many times. got away with it by slamming on the brakes.

its going to be hard to prove the L drive stole the car..

[robinh20mrv]

It may get ugly if the driving instructor goes for loss of earnings due to shunted car, ie place of work, and you can also bet he has just become fully booked, and he may well have severe whiplash..

And sorry to say it will be marked as your fault as you ran it to him, And as its a learner car perhaps they may say you should have taken more care.....

IF it get ugly, and i hope it does not.

[Easty-5]

Thanks for the replies.

It was a woman instructor and she was really nice about the whole thing. We ended up having a laugh about it. I very much doubt she will claim for whiplash as her, and her student were both fine. She will claim for loss of earnings for today though. She should get a new car tomorrow so it should just be for today.

Will my insurance premium go up right away or will I not see an increase untill my renewal?

Cheers,
Jamie

[robinh20mrv]

not until your renewal i think mate.

[Easty-5]

robinh20mrv said:

not until your renewal i think mate.

Well hopefully the claim won't go through before the 27th. I doubt I will be able to afford to insure the car if the premium rises. It has just come dowm from £1500 to £1000, I fully expect the premium to go back up, and in excess of £1500

[Allandwf]

I did the same a while back, just settled it without insurance, few hundred for the damage to the back of her car and a box of chocolates for inconvenience, sorted.
No insurance Co. involvement.

[Easty-5]

Allandwf said:

I did the same a while back, just settled it without insurance, few hundred for the damage to the back of her car and a box of chocolates for inconvenience, sorted.
No insurance Co. involvement.

I wish I could do it this way. I would have to pay for her loss of earnings, temporary instructor car, her car would have to go to BMW and they are stupidly expensive and the boot floor had a slight crease where the rear cross member had bent into it so it isn't going to be a cheap fix. On the other hand, my car require a new bumper. I have temporarily sorted it with tie-wraps for now

[S2red]

Bent the crossmember/creased floor I assume its a Mini so just how hard did you hit it?

Edited by S2red on Saturday 24th April 18:01

[Craigie]

Easty-5 said:

robinh20mrv said:

not until your renewal i think mate.

Well hopefully the claim won't go through before the 27th. I doubt I will be able to afford to insure the car if the premium rises. It has just come dowm from £1500 to £1000, I fully expect the premium to go back up, and in excess of £1500

Easty, even if claim hasn't started by 27th, you will need to declare it so your insurance will most likely go up straight away I am afraid.

[Andyuk911]

buy a volvo ..

http://www.volvocars.com/za/top/about/news-events/...

[Allandwf]

Andyuk911 said:

buy a volvo ..

http://www.volvocars.com/za/top/about/news-events/...

It was a volvo I used to punt the car in front ! Broken No. plate for me.

[Andyuk911]

ok, buy the one with the radar that activates auto brake !

[ALY77]

Its an expensive lesson to learn but if you drive in to someone, you were too close and not paying enough attention to what they were up to. Its harsh but thats the insurance companies stand on it.

In twenty years time (or probably from now on after this) you'll follow a learner, or anyone else away from a junction expecting them to stall and hanging back a bit as a result.

[Easty-5]

S2red said:

Bent the crossmember/creased floor I assume its a Mini so just how hard did you hit it?

It was BMW 1 series 118D. I hit it at about 10mph max. We had both stopped at the junction, the learner car pulled away, as they did I looked for oncoming traffic and pulled away too, I had only just come off the clutch and I hit the learner. I have been observing other drivers yesterday and almost every single driver I watched pulls away from a junction whilst looking in the direction of oncoming traffic.

[OlberJ]

Ach, that's ste news mate.

Insurance will go up from your next payment if you're doing it monthly, unfortunately they add to it straight away like an extra modification or the likes.

If you'd paid it in one go then i think you'd get till the renewal to have to pay more.

Just a new bumper you're needing?

[Easty-5]

Yea I pay monthly mate, will just have to wait and see what the premium goes up to. It has just come down from £1500 to £1000 so it's a bit of a kick in the teeth. I got a quote from elephant for £1350 with 0 NCB and declaring the accident, so hopefully, whatever happens, my policy should still be cheaper than last years - I hope.

Yea I think so mate. The front cross member has a taken a ding, but I seriously doubt that was me, I reckon it's had another front end bump at some point in it's life. I also noticed the passenger side droplink is bent, again I doubt that is from the bump.