19 replies to this topic

[Rubber]

I've seen few stories about pepole being rear ended etc on the forum. I myself have not been involved in an accident before (I've proabably just jinxed myself now!).

Anyway I'm just wondering what exactly you should do?
1) Name and address of driver
2) Insurance plate
3) Insurance company

Now what if they are not co-operative? What if they deny blame after the incident? I suppose there is no excuse not to take photos since most people have a camera phone these days.

Any other words of wisdom from people who have been in this situation before?

[Paul_S]

I've never been caught up in anything like this either but other things that spring to mind are:

1. Names and details of any witnesses
2. Draw a diagram of the accident ASAP (you'll probably need to do this for the claim anyway)
3. Take notice of the place it happened - road names, etc. (it's easy to 'know' the road but not the exact location)
4. Call the cops if you think the other party may have been drinking or under the influence of something
5. Don't say anything to imply you accept any blame
6. Take note of the time / driving conditions / if you and the other party had any lights on, etc.
7. Take a sneaky look at their TAX disc?!

That's all I can think of right now....

I heard once that someone had been given a false name and address but it had been written on an envelope with the correct details on!

[3FIDDYZ]

And any contact numbers and if the car is a company car...

Yep, those are the things you should say. Keep calm, dont get angry even though your pride and joy has been damaged.

Also, police should be involved if there is a discussion as to who is at fault or public or private property if damaged!
Also, never admit it was your fault unless it clearly is...

[PaulW]

Unless they can prove they have insurance call the police and ask them to attend on the basis you don't think they have isurance. Learnt from bitter experience.

[dj350z]

I was always advised not to give out too much information following an accident, otherwise it can make it more difficult for the insurance company to recover costs etc.
However, my current insurer (First Alternative) supply some neat credit card size cards to record information:
What to do after an accident.
1. Stay calm. Don't admit fault.
2. Record other drivers details on the card. Give them the card enclosed with your details.
3. Get the names, addresses and phone numbers of any passengers and pedestrians involved and any witnesses.
4. Call the police if anyone is hurt or if the other driver leaves without stopping or does not give their details.
5. Report the accident to us.

Don't know if any other insurers do this.

[WoREoD]

And take pictures! Not jjust of damage but wider shots such as road positioning, skid marks, etc.....

[Rubber]

Nice one! Some extra things there I hadn't thought about. I think I'll make a small list and leave it in the car. After seeing other posts I was thinking what info I would need to collect in the event of a crash. However, I suspect I would be so angry that I would forget half the stuff. A quick checklist is the way to go!

One extra piece - what difference does it make if they have a tax disc? If they are not taxed will this invalidate their warranty?

If a driver isn't insured and they are at fault for damage to your car is that tough luck on your part? Are you permitted to take a baseball bat to their head?

Cheers,
Chris

[PaulW]

Rubber, on 22 Oct 2008, 12:25, said:

One extra piece - what difference does it make if they have a tax disc? If they are not taxed will this invalidate their warranty?

You need insurance to get a tax disc and you need a tax disc to legally drive on the road. Out of date tax or wrong reg on tax disc or a fake disc call the police.

[dal]

If you're able to get out the car and take a pic before you even get details or anything. Because a lot of people will say the accident was at a different address. For example at a roundabout they've pulled out and whacked you. They are completely in the wrong and if they have a brain they will say the accident occurred a mile down the road, under different circumstances. Wrong obviously, but these are the sort of w****rs out there.
Just come off my motorbike couple of weeks ago, one of my nuts went up into my stomach lol (No fun I tell you). Bloke pulled right across my path. Now he's saying I was trying to get past a bus. There was no bus nowhere lol. He's clutching at straws, because at the end of the day he is 100% wrong. 1st rule of driving, you check where you're going to go is clear, and main roads have priority.

[Dr Zoidberg]

If your mobile phone has a camera, use it liberally. Anything that might be relevant - position of cars, where on the road any debris has fallen, skid marks, etc etc etc. My wife was hit by someone on a narrow road who claimed she had wandered across the middle of the road; a set of pictures showing his skid-marks and a heap of broken headlamp debris resulted in a rapid retraction!

[Jez]

Agree with all of the above. Also one thing that is worth doing, any phone numbers you get from them, especially a mobile, ring them whilst you are there at the scene - and get them to call you.

Not only does it test the number is live (and theirs in the case of a mobile), but you will then have an electronic record that is retrievable identifying both of you made calls at a certain time to each others numbers (technically the cell location can also be retrieved if needs be as well..........More difficult to prove at their end if they have a pay as you go..but at least you have a record (especially if you can get a home number as well) and can demonstrate contact, so them denying it completely becomes much more difficult (more likely to happen in a small rear end/light damage shunt.

Also, bizarrely, write down a detailed description of the person, hair colour/style, what they are wearing, noticeable jewellery....trust me.

If you can provide very detailed descriptions of the people and their passengers, then if they have insurance but later deny they were involved, their insurance company will respond really well to that level of personal info being provided to them, as unless you are a stalker or have a vendetta, they will tend to believe you and remind their client that they may be making fraudulent statements to them, which they do not look too kindly on .

This happened to me in July. The lady concerned then denied she was anywhere near the scene, even thought the phone number was genuine

I have Uninsured Loss Recovery on my policy, which means the repair gets done, no excess, no impact on your NCB....and providing the recovery Co can recover (either from the insurer or by taking the individual to court) then you are sorted, but no waiting around or arguing the toss before the car gets sorted. If they can't successfully recover within a year, you owe them the money..but they have taken out another insurance policy that pays out on your behalf...sweet!! And only added about £25-30 a year to the cost of the insurance

Jez

[Kwakkers]

Jez, on 25 Oct 2008, 17:11, said:

Also, bizarrely, write down a detailed description of the person, hair colour/style, what they are wearing, noticeable jewellery....trust me.

This is a very good point - in my Z I was rear ended by someone who reacted to the lights moving and went into the back of me whilst I was waiting for the car in front to move...

The guy in the drivers seat looked about 17 (it might be just because he was Asian he looked younger than he was?).. the guy in the passenger seat was probably his Dad or Grandfather or Uncle or something and immediately started talking at me to try and distract me whilst the driver jumped into the back of the car.

fortunately it was only the cover to the rear tow hook that was scratched, but photos would have been very useful then if it had gone any further

[Septic]

I've only had one crash and I immediately whipped out my phone and made a video of the aftermath crash and took pics of the damage. Although the claim was pretty straightforward, the woman who smacked into me came from a sideroad without looking properly, she wouldn't admit it. She even had a witness supporting her claim which was preposertous! She said I was going too fast....yeah erm that's why only the indicator was smashed and a bit of the bumper slightly caved in.

I called the police immediately and although, for obvious reasons, they couldn't testify as witnesses to the actual crash, I asked them to be witnesses of the fact that I hadn't moved any of the debris left over from the crash (e.g broken indicator residue etc).

I won the claim but from that experience I've learned that:

1) Take pics of the crash asap
2) Don't move your car if possible (esp if you're not at fault- for e.g on the main road)
3) Get all details as is obvious
4) And stay calm and don't get mad- I'm guilty of this

Edited by Septic, 15 December 2008 - 12:12 AM.

[Paul_S]

Another one - make a note of the exact time and try to get some evidence to back it up (following Matt's advice)

[Teatowel]

Paul_S, on 6 Jul 2010, 20:58, said:

Another one - make a note of the exact time and try to get some evidence to back it up (following Matt's advice)

What happened! Bringing up an old thread

[Stuart_J]

Witnesses , Witnesses, Witnesses !!!!


I had a knock in a car park a couple of years ago, I was sat in the car at the time & she cut the corner of the bay in a Mini bus, only about £300 to fix. She admitted liability there & then but it transpired when the company (her employer) was approached by her insurance co they were reluctant to admit liability. It took 3 months to get them to fill in the form. Had they not done so & it went to court it would have been my word against theirs & odds are the lady driver who was Polish may have gone home by then. With an independant witness it would have been so much easier to prove

[eXceed]

Stuart_J, on 7 Jul 2010, 05:21, said:

Witnesses , Witnesses, Witnesses !!!!


I had a knock in a car park a couple of years ago, I was sat in the car at the time & she cut the corner of the bay in a Mini bus, only about £300 to fix. She admitted liability there & then but it transpired when the company (her employer) was approached by her insurance co they were reluctant to admit liability. It took 3 months to get them to fill in the form. Had they not done so & it went to court it would have been my word against theirs & odds are the lady driver who was Polish may have gone home by then. With an independant witness it would have been so much easier to prove

Had an absolute nightmare in this respect, was driving through a bus lane (allowed to drive there as it was a Saturday). All along the bus route there are signs saying you can drive there between certain times each day and all day during weekends. So I'm driving along in my astra taking my friend to university. When this dopey women (driving a Golf) who's been driving pretty much along side me the whole time then decides to turn into my literally without looking or indicating. Leaves massive scratch marks all the way alongside my car, she was actively continuing to turn into me as the accident was occurring. So much so I thought she did it on purpose. She then gets out of her car after we've both safely pulled over and immediately asks me how old I am. Now this REALLY p****d me off, for a start i was 20 at the time (last year... came across as if it was aages ago ) and absolutely hate the argument that all young people are mindless halfwits. But anyway I digress, she then goes on saying I was speeding and that she would have seen me if I hadn't zoomed up to her. So lets add up the number of things that up until this point p****d me off:
- She scratched my car, which I had just detailed - taking me roughly 2 full days.
- She accused me of speeding, when I wasn't
- And she was trying to take the high ground of I'm older, therefore more intelligent and experienced. Now i can't speak for the experience part but at this point I'm surprised I didn't explode, I'm 99% sure that my friend being there made me a little more focused. So I said as calmly as possible exactly what happened, to which my friend agreed and I took pictures of the damage to my car and her car (hers was a lot worst off - 18 layers of wax must have protected mine). I reckon the damage for hers was about £3-400 as it needed a respray and potentially a new front bumper. And then I took all of her details to find it was a company car. I then called the company's insurer direct and reported it telling them my story with the affirmation of my passenger. In the end I heard nothing from them and the damage to my car was a clay bar and a minor buffing. But I guess moral of the story is just try to remain calm and think other the situation as logically and purposefully as is possible. I laugh thinking that she probably either lost her NCB or had to pay for the repairs herself. Even my friend was impressed how I handled the situation as he knew how much I loved my car, only for some bint to crash into it and behave like that (think I should have asked her how old she was ).

[Chilli Red]

eXceed, on 15 Oct 2010, 18:04, said:

for a start i was 20 at the time (last year... came across as if it was aages ago )

eXceed, on 15 Oct 2010, 18:04, said:

(think I should have asked her how old she was ).

I just love these two parts of your post!

[eXceed]

Chilli Red, on 15 Oct 2010, 18:14, said:

I just love these two parts of your post!

shh you! It was a VERY traumatic event for me ... I really hate it when people get snooty about things as well, absolutely no need to behave like she did. Five year old! HPMH

[Kev T]

A few years ago i was riding my motorcycle along a straight stretch of road, dry clear sunny day in January, at around the speed limit and approaching a set of traffic lights when a guy in a vauxhall turned instantly right, across my path from the opposite direction obviously neither looking or indicating, i hit his rear wing which wrote the bike off and banged myself up with impact with road surface.

To cut a long story short, because of injury to myself the police came and took statement in which the driver of the car admitted liabiliy but as the claim progressed it turned out he was driving a company car and they took dim view of poor driving so the guy changed his story and tried to claim i jumped a red light, fortunately the police statement proved otherwise. So moral of story is always call police even if you only pretend to be hurt and try to get witness if possible, although if you are hurt or shocked it will be last thing on your mind.

This particular incident made me wild in retrospect 'cos if it had occured one second later i would either be in wheelchair or deceased as he would have T boned me not the other way around and the guy obviously felt no remorse whatsoever !!