Looking for some help.

Wifey was involved in an accident this morning, a woman drove into the back of her. It seems there is no damage to the car.

All being sorted between the two women then a man jumps out of another car (her husband) and starts shouting at my missus.

All they would give her was a mobile number (rang it it is her number) and her name, missus didn't take the reg number of the car (too shook up to think straight).

First how do I trace the number to get her (re: his) address and secondly is it worth ringing the police just to wind them up a bit ?

Calming down a bit now and stopped punching the walls.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.


[Edited on 8/4/08 by fesycresy]

first thing to do is report it, you MUST do that even if you don't know the reg.

if not they may report it, make up a load of lies blaming your wife. Trust me I have been there.

take her to the station and make a proper report.

Just to give you an idea what folk are like...in the 3 years I drove busses I got hauled into the police station twice due to assh*les making up stuff, fortunately the busses are covered in camera’s.


[Edited on 8/4/08 by Mr Whippy]

Defo get the police involved. They're required by law to give name, address and insurance company in the event of an accident. if they refused that they have something to hide probably. Especially if he arrived shouting the odds - getting your missus to back down and accept what they fob her off with.....

Hope she's not too shaken up, hope it all gets sorted out....

Cheers


Vince

Inform the police and your own insurers straight away with as much info as you can provide.

In my experience, people who behave in that way usually have somethin to hide. They will also be aware that they are unavoidably at fault if they hit your wife from behind.

Hope wifey is OK and you don't get any hassle.

It is probably a good idea to talk to the old bill, for the reasons mentioned above.

If you notice more damage to the car than you initially thought and need to go through the insurance, then you could try ringing them and asking for the details. If they won't play ball then if you have a landline number im sure that you could narrow down where they live enough that a quick drive around one evening would find the address.

[Edited on 8/4/08 by Duncan_P]

Agreed as above. With my sensible head on though I would agree to the messing them about a bit on account of the guy being a c*ck, but whatever you do don't go confront them if you do find out the address. I know someone who did something similar and it went very very wrong.

try 192.com. if you have a name and phone number, you might get their address.

Another one agreeing with the above. Report it to the police along with the blokes threats - report it as a threat and give them all the information you have including the phone number. The police will surely call them up (and if they dont then make a complaint formally).

Problem is you may not see any damage but you may just find THEY end up claiming against YOUR WIFE if you dont report it in full.

Go back to the scene, and check to see if there are any video / security Cams. Even on private property ones. You can request the footage as evidence.
It may be your saving grace.

IMHO, if they hit you from behind, they were travelling too fast or too close, or a combination of both. NOT your wifeys fault, unless she reversed into them.

Definatley report to the police. They probably wont want to know, as no one was hurt. However, as everyone says, you are doing the correct thing, especially as they did not exchange details.

Should have taken the reg no, and a piccy with your phone (if she could have).

Do the right thing, as they can make up all sorts of stuff and cause you grief. Police will see you as guilty and having somethign to hide if you dont report it. (What are you hiding view). Be up front, open and honest with the police. Its the only way as if they do investigate, they will get to the truth.

Hi,
hope your wife is OK. You do have an obligation to report the matter to Police at the earliest opportunity and, in any case, within 24 hours. Both parties are also obliged to exchange name, address and insurance details at the scene and failing to do so is an offence.
I would also advise caution regards "no damage to your car". Many modern cars have very deformable bumpers which cover high energy absorbing foam. Often there appears to be no damage but the foam underneath has collapsed and will not provide the same level of protection in the future! It's definately worth getting checked out properly.
All the best, James

Sorry to be contradictory but there is no requirement to report a collision unless there is damage or injury and details have not been exchanged.
As there is no damage or injury then there is no obligation on either of you to report, or even to exchange details.

Police are now only under an obligation to record injury collisions and the way they would record a damage only would be at their discretion really, if at all.

None of this stops you complaining about the bloke's behaviour, Idiots like him make an already stressful experience much worse.

Neil

I think you should report it to the cops anyways, with descriptions of the parties involved even if you don't have their reg etc. It won't hurt, and may save a lot of trouble down the road.

An update, now I've calmed down.

Rang a Renault dealer, they said to check the fibre glass floor. I then found a split in the fibre glass, but no apparant damage to the bumper.

Rang her back and she gave me her partners number. Spoke to him and told him what's happening. They are going to text me her insurance details through.

I've rung my insurance with the details I have and they are getting their legal department to contact me. They will sort it out.

So in the mean time I'm going to get it inspected by a local garage to see if the floor is related.

With legal cover you don't have to go through your insurance company and can go directly to theirs.

It'd be interesting to see if it is a legal requirement to exchange details, I've had conflicting opinions all day.

Thanks for the advice.

I think this gives the definitive answer....

Link

No. 2 reasonable grounds.

Any by a stroke of luck the local police have just contacted me asking for a favour to take a still off our CCTV !

Told her the story and she said any problems, just give me a ring.

Nice police lady

Interesting thread when viewed in conjunction with the 'speeding' thread earlier in this section. Would the advice be the same if speeding had been involved? Do we deem it acceptable to break the law by speeding but not by not providing insurance details?

Mick

[Edited on 8/4/08 by Mix]

i had the same problem a while back when somebody ran into the back of me and wouldn't give me there details. i spoke to the police and they weren't interested as nobody was hurt and told me to sort it out with my insurance company.