So, on way to the funeral of my girlfriend's Gran, waiting to turn right into MiL's drive when I hear that terrible sound of tyre sliding on wet tarmac and get a massive kick in the arse!!!

Some dozy git in a Fiesta had slid straight into the back of me! Bear in mind it's a straight bit of road, 2pm and I've got my lights on, in correct position beside centre line and am indicating!
This was all clearly witnessed by a neighbour. Driver jumps out (as do I) and immeadiately admits he's at fault.

Immeadiately I took a load of photos of the incident and the front of his car, his nearly bald front tyres and the back of mine!

We exchange details (I couldn't remember my insurance company) and was beginning to feel a bit weird at this time! He's in a P reg Fiesta and I'm in a S reg Punto so not wanting to involve Police/insurance if possible I said to him that I'd take the car to my mechanic mate down the road for a look and if it was just the bumper/boot he could just pay the repair. He agreed.

Didn't want to worry/upset MiL so got funeral etc. done and then a meal.
I've always been really dubious about the whole whiplash thing but by neck hurt as soon as I was out of the car and was bloody killing me during the service! Took car to mate and he tells me it's a write-off and I couldn't even turn my head enough to get under the car at this point so I guess I should involve insurance over the car.

Anyway, had to get to meal and tell an uncle (who's a Surgeon) who tells me to get up to hospital as it's still hurting and I cant turn my head after 600mg of Ibuprofen and a pear cider or 2.

So afer 4.5hr wait actually got an X-ray which I was a bit surprised about and apparently I'm not going to die... it's just "a whiplash injury" to quote the Consultant. Atleast I managed to take a photo of my neck X-ray

So, what next. Do I go straight to my insurance? Or do I go to the Police first and get a referance number of some sort (A&E Consultant said Police will contact them for my medical records???) and I then supply the reference to my insurance?


I believe if I go this route I'm going to get a load of hassle from ambulance chasers? I'm pissed off as the Punto was mechancially really good and I've spent a fair bit on servicing recently but I guess I'll get f'ck all value for it and can only buy a badly maintained PoS to replace it for the money the insurance will give me.

Also, it's 3 weeks until the Savate European Championships in Italy, and I may have to miss some training as neck hurts like hell, I cant turn my head and can't afford to miss training at this stage!!!
The Consultant at A&E says it'll really start to hurt in 2-3 days!

So, Police (does it have to be local or can I go to the station 12 miles away near work?) and then insurance co. Is this right?

Or am I being a prick, accidents just happen and a S reg Punto with a concave bumper and rear end is hardly something to get worried about!

Cheers,
James


[Edited on 24/8/11 by James]

Claim. He was in the wrong and you can prove that. Plus the bald tyres etc and the whiplash. Don't f*ck about, you'll regret it.

When I got wiped out in my gtm libra I did the whole whiplash claim and I'm still pissed off because my neck cracks and is stiff EVERY FUCKING DAY at 21 yrs old and that's after a payout. Think how pissed off you're gonna be years down the line of it starts playing up and you didn't even bother to claim.

My insurance company had a accident company contact me, they dealt with injury and other expenses etc.

[Edited on 24/8/11 by Yazza54]

Claim, he hit you, he had bald tyres (this in itself is cause to have the book thrown at him, police wise)

Claim for car and whiplash! Whatever money you get from it will go towards a better car.

Just inform insurance they'll do the rest and tell you what they need you to do. I doubt the police would be very interested now the 'scene' has been cleared and evidence of his bald tyres has gone.

Just playing deils advocate but would bald tyres be enough to invalidate his insurance Just a thought but always worth thinking for a moment before talking to insurance company's, not suggesting you lie but surely you didint measure the tread depth....

I would suggest sticking to the basics, he hit you while stationary. Don't comment on the condition of his vehicle. Do you know if he is actually insured?

quote:

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Originally posted by snakebelly
Just playing deils advocate but would bald tyres be enough to invalidate his insurance Just a thought but always worth thinking for a moment before talking to insurance company's, not suggesting you lie but surely you didint measure the tread depth....

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Sorry to hear of your mishap James.


If injuries are sustained then the accident should be reported to the Police.

Even if you have agreed not to claim then still report it to your insurance.
What happens if the other driver goes home and thinks about it and reports
to his insurance a different story. (e.g. you reversed into him) It then looks bad on you.


I had a little bump years ago. The other driver (young girl just passed her test) stopped,
then drove off. She went home , told her dad, then reported to the Police that I didn't stop.
Luckily loads of people came out of their houses when they heard the bang and I spoke to all of them.

Cheers
Paul G

Definitely contact your insurance company, and his if possible. Not sure you have to inform the police, they were not interested when I got hit.
Yes you will get the personal claims people contacting you (your insurance company will get a kickback from them!!) but choose wisely, the whiplash injury should be treated seriously and considered to be potentially (though hopefully not) long term. That claim will make the cars value look insignificant. Keep a careful record of what treatment you have, times, places and so on. Don't be afraid to make a fuss, though it seems doctors do take these injuries seriously.
As to whether he is insured look on the MID database (just tick to confirm you own his car, its their getout!) and no matter waht, his insurance will pay out on the third party claim. They may take issue with him though.

Good luck and I hope a speedy recovery. the boxing stuff looks amazing!

Sorry to hear about your accident / injury, James.

I was pretty sure that you had - by law - to report any accident involving personal injury to the police (even if they do appear not to be interested!). To check, I accessed the 'Direct gov' website's copy of the Highway Code and this is the actual wording:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Documentation
286

If you are involved in a collision which causes damage or injury to any other person, vehicle, animal or property, you MUST

stop
give your own and the vehicle owner’s name and address, and the registration number of the vehicle, to anyone having reasonable grounds for requiring them
if you do not give your name and address at the time of the collision, report it to the police as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any case within 24 hours

[Law RTA 1988 sect 170]

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I would also concur with all the other replies above - a whiplash injury could cost you very dearly - In extreme cases, whiplash could put a sufferer in a wheelchair permanently - or worse!

Do yourself a favour - put it through your insurers and go and see a solicitor. Good luck and hope your neck heals up and you get back to doing what you enjoy doing - enjoying life!

Inform the insurance,

Inform the police.


Hopefully they will go and check the other car. If it is un-roadworthy the guy should be fined and the car taken off the road. Luckily (not for you ) - he hit a car this time, next time it could be a pedestrian.

[Edited on 24/8/11 by karlak]

1. Report accident to police as injuries were sustained.
2. Report to your Inusrance CO.
3. Give your Insurance CO ALL the info you have INCLUDING ALL the Photos. Its up to them to decide what to do and what to use.
After all the bloke may have gone and put 4 new tyres on his car on the way home.

DONT mess about. Back an neck injuries can last a lifetime, get it sorted now.

You were not at fault. Dont waste time, the vehicle may not be wroth much, but a back / neck injury will be a different issue.

Get in touch with your insurance co today, and give them ALL the photos, it strengthend their caser against his insurer. After all this will be insurance co sorting with insurance co, NOT individual against individual.

At the end of the day, you pay your insurance co to take the strain and stress out of this sort of thing.
I have had three shunts up the rear in the last 40 years, didnt lose my NCB on any of them. As long as its as clear as you say, then it shouldnt be a problem.

Hope your neck recovers and you are OK. The car is just a bit to metal, and can be easily replaced. You neck is a different matter.

As above, do it now.

It's has to be done,

Good luck and i hope you feel better soon.

First off all, it is (or was) an offence to fail to report a notifiable (where injury is sustained by anyone involved in the accident or where serious damage has occured to property of street furniture) road traffic accident within 24hrs. If I remember correctly, occasionally poeple have been prosecuted even for failing to report an accident at the time that it happened.

THEN contact the insurance company with details and an incident number.

Then hope and pray that his details were correct and that there was nothing dubious about his details or insurance.

I hope your neck feels better soon, go and see a physiotherapist as soon as possible.

[Edited on 24/8/11 by jollygreengiant]

As everyone has said, report to all involved especially as you have neckache!
Re the invalidating of insurance, as far as third party having bald tyres, it will only invalidate first party (ie his his own car) claims. His insurer cannot stop a payout to you because of the state of their insureds car.

To a speedy recovery, and er a decent bit on comp for the neck!

ATB

Simon

You must tell your insurance Co straight away, youve done everything right so far visiting hospital etc.
They will get someone to call you re the neck injury they did in my case anyway when a truck sideswiped me knocking me over into the oncoming lane which thank god was empty.
Within a few days they arranged a visit to a neck injury specialist and course of treatment in saying that at the time I didnt think it was that bad but sitting here it still bothers me and when moving my neck I can feel a crunching sort of sensation and Ive had other problems elsewhere in my back since which Ive never had before.
The law wont be interested injury or not and regards his tyres you may just be complicating matters.
I disagree with the compensation culture at the moment but take it from me the injury will not go away youve got it for life, compo is circa 3-4 grand for whiplash the most annoying bit is the vultures who claim it on your behalf get about £6000 although I'd rather not have had the money and not had the accident.
Let us all know how you get on, sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings I know your a very fit lad so it may not be as bad ongoing for you as it was an old relic like me.
Cheers,
Bob

Wow! What a lot of help already!

Thankyou muchly!

I wrote far more last night than I intended, decided I'd log in this morning and edit it all down to something succinct that people'd actually read... and found all this!

Locostbuilders to the rescue again!

Will call the insurance co' at lunchtime... once I remember who I'm insured with!

Thanks again!

James

So, the Police go and check his car and say its un-roadworthy (if they can be bothered!!!). BUT thats at the time they check it and he can claim that has nothing to do with the accident as it happened days before. Whos to say it was unroadworthy at the time of the accident? You may have photos but he could argue that they can be doctored. Sorry to be negative but you should have involved the Police at the time in my opinion. By all means persue it, and I think you should, but dont expect to get a total result in your favour.

Quick question...

do I have to go to the Police nearest the accident? Or can I go to the one near me at work?

And, just theoretically, if one hadn't updated driving licence yet since moving house... how much of bearing would this have on involving the Police?

cheers,
James

quote:

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Originally posted by James
Quick question...

do I have to go to the Police nearest the accident? Or can I go to the one near me at work?

And, just theoretically, if one hadn't updated driving licence yet since moving house... how much of bearing would this have on involving the Police?

cheers,
James

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quote:

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Originally posted by James
Quick question...

do I have to go to the Police nearest the accident? Or can I go to the one near me at work?

And, just theoretically, if one hadn't updated driving licence yet since moving house... how much of bearing would this have on involving the Police?

cheers,
James

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