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OK, so Mrs A was driving yesterday, and a car pulled out from a side road and bumped our front wing. Nobody hurt, low speed (<20mph), and damage to our car is - front bumper corner heavily scuffed, hole punctured in bumper, bumper has come slightly adrift, edge of headlamp at rear heavily scuffed. The other car had a significant dent in the passenger side.
The lady in the other car jumped out, immediately apologised and said it was her fault, said she was distressed because she was having a miscarriage and was upset and not concentrating. Mrs A offered to take her to hospital but the lady said she'd be fine. And clearly stated her fault (and Mrs A assures me it was!). So they took pictures of each others number plates, and the lady gave Mrs A her mobile number. The damage to her car was significant according to Mrs A, but no pics of it.
So a day later Mrs A messaged lady to see if she was OK, and just to get details for insurance as I reckon the damage is sufficient to be off-putting to buyers (we're planning on selling the car shortly because of ULEZ) assuming it was to claim off the lady. But we're getting zero response.
The damage isn't heaps at all, but definitely a bit ugly.
So what do we do next? All we have is her number plate and possibly, phone number.
Phone your insurance company and give them the name, phone number & reg of the other driver.
Yep - phone your insurance company. That's what you are paying them for.
Are we in any danger (fearing the worst) if the lady refuses to cooperate and/or blames Mrs A to lose NCD or get into a right old mess?
What the others said
Phone your insurance company and give them the name, phone number & reg of the other driver.
The lady was having a miscarriage, she’s got other things on her mind no doubt. Report to insurance, but do it soon, many stipulate a time period for reporting accidents.
Got it, thanks and will do - just feel a bit mean doing it without checking in on her first that she's ok!
Are we in any danger (fearing the worst) if the lady refuses to cooperate and/or blames Mrs A to lose NCD or get into a right old mess?
Not really. If the reg is legit then the insurance company can track her down on the insurance database.
Keeping your no claims - that depends on your policy. And if you had protected no claims. If the other lady pulled out of a side road it should be easy to prove the other drivers fault. It may be settled 50/50 though.
Or go to a body shop and get a quote for repairs and see it it's worth claiming. The trouble with bumpers though is they now contain lots of electrics and can be £££££s to replace! There's all sorts of crash structures behind them too. Is your car steering OK?
Whatever happens it won't be a mess - your premium may rise at next renewal though.
Phone insurance and get ball rolling. Other person not likely to be wanting to contact next day given circumstances, but having been on the end of this a few times, and on the bike, people lie. Let the insurance sort.
May take a while to get fixed at this time of year. Be aware getting a hire car can add to complications if you can manage without one. I've always avoided getting one, but my son got messed about (wouldn't listen to us and had access to another car).
The lady was having a miscarriage, she’s got other things on her mind no doubt.
Well, she *SAYS* she was. People say stuff that isn't always true.
Got it, thanks and will do – just feel a bit mean doing it without checking in on her first that she’s ok!
you can do both. Your insurer will deal with her insurer, her insurer will act on her behalf. you can still check if she’s ok
Got it, thanks and will do – just feel a bit mean doing it without checking in on her first that she’s ok!
Mistake bringing empathy into an insurance matter. You'll be the only one who gets screwed
Get onto insurance
By all means then be all nice, but probably better to not be in contact
^^^ I second what flannol said. Leave it to the insurers.
Get on to the insurance.
I'm a tad cynical so I would think she's since been told not to admit fault and as there's currently no concrete evidence that she has admitted it, I'd not be surprised if she may have changed her mind on that when her insurance company asks. I hope I'm wrong.
Once she has spoken to her partner her claim that it was all her fault will disappear and the claim will turn to them fighting you over who was guilty. If your company tries to get you to accept 50/50 responsibility, fight it and state you are willing to go to court. Eventually they will give in, or you go to court which will more than likely go in your favour.
You will still have to admit to a no fault claim when renewing your insurance for the next 5 years, which will affect your premium slightly even if you have protected no claims etc. And even if you decided not to make a claim, you still have to inform your insurer that you have had an incident for which you are not making a claim and thus have to declare this for the next 5 years (I think it is 5, might be less)
Are we in any danger (fearing the worst) if the lady refuses to cooperate and/or blames Mrs A to lose NCD or get into a right old mess?
Anything is possible in these situations regardless of who was really at fault - you'll be amazed at what people will say. Just keep your fingers crossed.
Give the details to your insurer, including the fact she admitted liability at the roadside so you expect a non-fault resolution. Your insurance company will love that, it takes all the effort out of it.
That's it. Stop talking with her, there is no reason whatsoever for the two of you to be in direct contact.
Isnt it an obligation to notify your insurer anyway?
My money is on a "change of story" from the other driver and it going 50/50.
Thanks all and an update.
Mrs A received a text from lady saying she was OK, admitting liability and asking for details to inform her insurers. From advice above, Mrs A has phoned our insurers who were v pleasant, and have offered to write the car off (WHAT!) with a seemingly fair offer to us, no impact on Mrs A no-claims. Apparently, the car is sufficiently old and sufficiently high mileage to not be worth repairing. So sad really.
On the sunny side, we were having to change it v soon for a ULEZ car, so that's that I guess. (see my thread on buying an import car!).
Yesterday I was having my lunch in my van while parked in a gateway to a farmers field, literally in the middle of nowhere when a DPD driver whose sat nav had sent him the wrong way decided to do a 5 point turn and back into the sliding door on the side of my van. He spoke to his boss who told him to tell me that he would call me within the hour and they would sort the repair out.
He never called and still hasn’t. In the mean time I called my insurance company, vans going in on Tuesday for repair and curtesy vehicle is coming same day.
On top of all the people telling you to go through insurance, think about fitting a dashcam. They're invaluable for proving what actually happened (as long as its not your fault 🙂 )
He spoke to his boss who told him to tell me that he would call me within the hour and they would sort the repair out.
Whatever happened to exchanging details at the roadside. Name and address are the basics!
To the OP...if the other car is significantly damaged, I expect the front wheel/suspension of yours would have taken the brunt of the impact and there could be further hidden damage/miss-alignment, so even if it initially went in for repair there is a good chance it would subsequently be written off.
Make sure the other side are happy to pay for your car to be written off. Don't accept a hire car unless you're sure the other side are paying for it. If the other side are accepting liability, I think they should be doing the leg work and paying for everything, not your insurance company. Learnt the hard way!
The damage to her car was significant according to Mrs A, but no pics of it.
And your OH didn't take pictures of the damage to the other car, but did the number plate...
Make sure the other side are happy to pay for your car to be written off. Don’t accept a hire car unless you’re sure the other side are paying for it. If the other side are accepting liability, I think they should be doing the leg work and paying for everything, not your insurance company. Learnt the hard way!
You do keep bringing this up. You were given bad information to go down the route you did, by a company who make more profit from its CMC than if does from its insurance. It didn't work for you, and you said you weren't pursuing the complaint option any further, which I reckon you should have pushed.
But, there are different routes to follow. Having your own insurer handle it is one of them, and there's lots more protection by this route. If op goes down the own insurance route like most of the advice then the write-off is literally nothing to do with the third party. And a courtesy car might be covered under OP's policy as well. Many policies have an up-to 14 day hire car in the event of a write-off.
Or OP could do what you suggest, which has its own advantages and drawbacks.
It's probably better to point out what happened in your situation and link to the thread.
What @phil5556 and what @cougar said.
On to the insurance company. Give the information you have. Let them resolve it.
If you're feeling particularly concerned call a claim handling agency. Back in the day when someone hit my MB I called the 0800 number in the glove box. I heard nothing else but had a nice substitute car for a while and figured that everyone's premiums rose as as result.