Hi All,

Would be very grateful for your opinions on this.

On the way to work this morning (in the tin top) I was involved in a minor RTC. I won't go into full details but essentially someone cut accross the front of me on a dual carriageway and clipped the front left corner of my car. When I saw the other car approaching I braked and sounded the horn (very long press and hold!) but they continued accross. Fortunately the incident occurred soon after joining the road from a roundabout so speeds were low.

The other person did stop albeit once I had pointed out to them that there had been a collision. At the roadside they would not accept any liability and even went as far as implying I was at fault. They were essesntially very arrogant and said that if they were going to pay for the damafe to my car I should do the same for theirs. No formal exchange of details took place, I just noted the other car's VRM.

I have logged the incident with my insurance company as a premtive measure to a claim being made from the other side.

The problem is what do i do now? The damage is fairly minor but there is no doubt in my mind that the other party is at fault. That, compounded by the manner of driving and their roadside manner makes me want the other party to pay to repair my car. Is it worth persuing?

Bit of info: My insurance does cover me for commuting. I have had confirmation that the other party is insured. I am TPFT only so my insurance company won't approach the other side on my behalf.

Thanks in advance

Rich

[Edited on 13/6/11 by jamesbond007ltk]

The first thing you should have done is reported it to the police, they turn up take a statement from both sides. Other wise its now your word against theirs unless you have a witness. Call the police anyway to report, and if they refused to give you there details report that. get the police involved, as if you had right of way then it could be proved who is to blame.

Did they refuse to exchange details? If so you need to ring the police to obtain a ref number and then pass this to your insurer IIRC. Even though they have access to MIDS I think they need 'permission' to progress a claim - Might have changed a bit since the last time I had a problem...

If its minor I would chalk to experience and forget..... sorry not the answer you may want to here.

I have had a car with significant damage and fully comp, if person who hit you will do not accept responsibility or in my case lie you just wage a losing war.

Reporting to the police does nothing, no-one hurt "civil matter".

Also beware, the moment you complete the form your insurance company may penalise you for having 'made a claim' even if its at someone else, if you cost them by doing anything they will want it back in spades.... Just making a claim is enough!

In all honesty the police are unlikely to be helpful. When a similar thing happened to me I called the police, they were not interested unless there was an injury. Likewise if you turn up asking them to investigate they will tell you to claim off your insurance.
You really should have got their details. IIRC they HAVE to give you their name plus who the insurer is. Otherwise I guess call the police saying you suspect you have been hit by an uninsured driver? or maybe a drunk driver, that may have got their attention!
However I reckon you are now stuffed. Move on, have a beer and try to forget about it. My dad was hit in very much the same way in a queue of traffic a year ago, he just got a letter from the other parties solicitor asking for payment of £1300 damages or be taken to court. She drove into the side of his stationary car, he told his ins. co but hasn't claimed. More hassle than it is worth.

I has a similar issue during december when snowy. I was driving down a country lane when the oncoming car suddely whent sideways and broadsided my rear drivers side wing.

Detsils were exchanged.

When I rung my insurer (RAC) who I had bought a comprehensive + policy from they said there were no witnesses everybody in my car would be classed as not independnat and they couldnt persue the claim as it was my word against theirs so much for buying a fancy insurance policy from the RAC.

In the end I had the damaged repaired by a company called shine who came to my house and repaired the scratches there and then on the drive-did a good job actually and it cost me £75 per repair per panel so all up £150.00 in the end worked out less than my excess so put it down to experience - think you will need to do the same.

If the damage to his car is at the back I suspect you will get the blame because thats just how it is, unless you have independant witnesses and signed statements

There's two parts to this, IMHO. The guy shouldn't have left without leaving his details. A car clipped my mirror and drove on. The mirror was busted and it had dinged the top of my door. I reported it to the police and they went after him for failing to stop and give his details. He claimed he did stop so they did him for not giving his details. He got a big fine and his name in the papers. It didn't fix my car though.
The other part is the grief of having to make a claim and jumping through the hoops that the insurance company will want you to do. As said up there ^^^, if the damage is superficial, just roll with it.

[Edited on 13/6/11 by owelly]

You really should have got their details. IIRC they HAVE to give you their name plus who the insurer is. Otherwise I guess call the police saying you suspect you have been hit by an uninsured driver? or maybe a drunk driver, that may have got their attention!

Tried that, also tried reporting that they had no insurance, to be told by the police that only insurance companies can advise them of no insurance... No injury and the police will not help at all is my experience

Dont just forget it and hope it will go away, these things have a nasty habit of coming back and biting you. You never know in a few weeks you could get faced with a bill for damages to there car, or even a knock on the door saying you didnt report an accident and refused to give details. They could try and throw it all back at you, so protect your self, even if the police dont help much at least its reported and you have done your bit.

Remember the people who tell you to just forget it, wont be the ones who get the call asking to you to explain.

there is a dude on here who has a video camera, GPS and motion detector thingy in his car.

Has saved him a fortune.

Perfect in this sort of scenario I'd say.

I personally commute 70 odd miles per day and probably should invest, but my car is only worth about £300 so barely seems worth it!

Report them for fleeing the scene of an accident before they decide to do it to you. It's a serious crime in the eyes of the law and I know of one person who went to prison for it after they flipped there car and went to find a phone (And that was with no other parties involved.

Being hit in the back doesn't make it automatically the other persons fault, thats a complete myth. My father was crashed into in the back whilst he was doing 70 on a single carriage way (So the other person was going considerably faster than the speed limit and it still was apparantly his fault, basically because the knob that hit him was some sort of Rep which makes you imune to traffic laws.

It's probably not worth getting your insurance company involved. In this situation your likly to lose as the other person is likely to lie and the very best that could come from that is both of you being at fault.

even though you have third party did you tick the option for legal cover when you purchased insurance? if you did call them and they will peruse the case through the small claims court on your behalf.


edit.

forgot to add its a very easy process. it may take a while but the most you will have to do is give a statement and turn up to the hearing if the other side doesnt fold and pay up.


[Edited on 13/6/2011 by ashg]

quote:

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Originally posted by morcus
Report them for fleeing the scene of an accident before they decide to do it to you. It's a serious crime in the eyes of the law and I know of one person who went to prison for it after they flipped there car and went to find a phone (And that was with no other parties involved).

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Contact your local police station and have it recorded under an incident number.

What is the actual damage?

Thank you all for your helpful replies,

Having just written a long reply to all your various posts I foolishly pressed the "topic review" option under the post reply box and lost it all :-(

So I'll summarise this time around:

Police: When I phone them they told me I had to go to a station to fill out and sign a form. Then spoke to insurers who said I would need to report it before I could approach the other insurers. When I spoke to my local station they said they would only be interested if injuries occurred or the road was closed etc.

Exchanging details: I wouldn't say they refused to exchange because I never directly asked the question. They did not offer details but the conversation was brief and along the lines of them not acknowledging fault, blaming me and culminated with them saying "we could stand here arguing the toss all day what do you want to do?". So I said I would rather discuss and sort things out at the roadside but if they wouldn't I would report it. Given they choice they invited me to report it and we parted company. I therefore don't think I can claim refusal or fleeing.

Doing nothing: Not wanting to be on the receiving end of a claim from the other side I thought it best to be proactive from my end which was why I told my insurance company and tried to inform the police.

So what have I done? Well (and thank you to ashg for this) it turns out I did tick the box for legal expenses cover so my insurance company are treating it as a non-fault incident and have instructed a solicitor to start a claim.

Will keep you posted.

Thanks again

Rich

quote:

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Originally posted by scootz
What is the actual damage?

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Sorry in advance for a long post.
This post may be totally worthless to you guys in UK, but here I come.
1- Read the "Reglamento de Tránsito" Transit Reglament or whatever that is.
2- Learn the rules to the letter.
3- Make sure that you are on the right side of the rule.
4- First thing we do when placed in a close call, is try to avoid, which puts you in a situation where liability may not be easy to discern and the OP scenario comes at play. I try not to do this. This will end in more aggravation. If speed is slow enough, is better to take a little (or a lot) more damage keeping your car in a position/path where liability can be easily determined.
As per injuries, you can say you have whiplash, that will bring cops to the scene.
All above will turn on your back if 1, 2 and 3 are not well executed.

Just to convey my point Ill describe something that happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

Driving over an Avenue, i got to a crossing where the cars coming from the right (Please take wrong side of the road driving into account) are not allowed to cross the avenue, but cars on the avenue are allowed to turn left. The "Reglamento de T´ránsito" states that I must use my right hand side of the road to make a left turn, so I did.
A car coming from my right, tried to cross the avenue, but as I was using the above rule, i left no chance for him to pass cleanly, but nevertheless I did an evasive maneuver not to collide with him.
A few seconds later this pr*ck in an blatant case of road rage passes me on a two way street (with incoming cars on the other side) and clips in front of me. Then he says he will deny it was his fault.
Here he is not aware that I have witness as I have a friend driving a good 40 or 50 mt behind.
to make a long story short, Insurance people come and they point to him he is in fault.
Few minutes later, coppers come and tell him the same thing.
Then I got a pass to take my car to the shop with no penalty or else from the cops or Insurance Co.
In the menan time, this guy gets the fine for reckless driving and to top it off his insurance is Due and he has to pay for damages.

Going back a little bit, Should I have taken him when he continued across the aenue, the damage would have been more, but the fault would have been clear and easier to claim.
Please take this post with a pinch of salt as here in Mexico we are a couple of years(Decades) behind the more developed countries.