Car crash, what happens now ?

[Aschdaibach]

Have name changed for this. DH was in a very frightening crash a few days ago, he could see a car on the opposite side starting to drive slightly oddly and weaving. Then suddenly it swerved straight towards him and although he tried to steer away there was no time to escape so he was hit head on, it is a fast A road. The other car was then hit by the car behind DH, and shunted again into the back of our car. Our car is obviously totally wrecked. Thankfully DH has escaped serious injury as amazingly have the other drivers involved, who were both in smaller vehicles.
All seemed straightforward.
However, the driver who hit him has still not spoken to her insurers, in spite of them repeatedly calling. The insurers have said we need to move our car from the garage it was taken to, as WE are incurring charges, and we need to keep it somewhere free...??? Um where ? We don’t even know why ! We are now carless in a rural area, we will have to hire a car, and buy another asap. I assume the third driver involved is in the same position as us.
We live in a very small place, and have been told the other driver is waiting for the police report. The police have asked for more info from DH and have said the report could take six months. Will we have to wait six months or more to be compensated ? This is the first time DH has been in an accident so we are not sure what happens .

[GymSloth]

Gosh, that's awful.
Thank goodness no one was hurt.
Have you contacted your insurers? You need to report an accident, even if it wasn't your dh's fault. You might find that they will sort a courtesy car for you.

[GymSloth]

Sorry, I just realise you mention insurers - presumably yours. They sound spectacularly unhelpful then.

[GiveHerHellFromUs]

Is his insurance fully comp? If so the insurance need to collect and sort and deal with the financials later.

[HelloYouTwo]

Your insurers (or a claims handling company that they use) should be sorting this for you. You need a hire car and your car to be stored wherever is necessary for there to be an assessment. All these costs are then claimed back from the at fault party.

Did you DH get her name, address and car details and does he know she is insured?

[NickMyLipple]

You very possibly will find that if the car is written off, unless you've paid an additional premium, you'll not be entitled to a courtesy car.

What has your insurance company said??

[Aschdaibach]

He is not fully comp, annoyingly. It is her insurers who are being unhelpful, they apparently can’t act until she gives them a statement, and we hear on the grapevine that she is waiting for the police report.
I assume he will have also contacted his insurers but will double check.

[Aschdaibach]

Yes he has all her details and the police have said she is insured. Her insurers have said that they have repeatedly telephoned her and left messages but she has not spoken to them .

[beminetonight]

Thank Goodness no one was hurt. Were the police at the scene? They would have gotten the other driver's insurance details. It shouldn't take too long assuming she was insured - unless she is disputing acting like a crazed lunatic.
Was she arrested?

[Aschdaibach]

The car will definitely be a write off, it is completely wrecked. DH is bashed about and sore but nothing broken.

[Aschdaibach]

She is possibly disputing acting like a loon . I wonder if she was on the phone or going much too fast to control the car. She was taken to hospital, and they wanted to take DH but he wanted to come home so saw our GP instead. The police and ambulances all at the scene fairly quickly, as it was a big crash that closed the road for some hours.

[PuppyMonkey]

My car was written off when someone hit me, but my insurance just sorted everything like dealing with the broken car and sorting out out a courtesy car for me and chasing the other owner’s insurance.

I’m not sure how it works if you’re only third party, but I’d get back in touch with your insurers and tell them you’re unsure and you need them to help?

[Aschdaibach]

It has been very frightening and stressful, DH is very shaken, and this is adding another layer of stress.

[Aschdaibach]

I will tell him to get back to our insurers. I don’t know why he doesn’t have fully comp, I assume it seemed very expensive when we had an older (very reliable and well maintained but older model) car.

[GiveHerHellFromUs]

He can get a privately rented car and claim back the costs from her side once it's all underway if that helps too, OP

[Passthecherrycoke]

I’ve always been told never to speak to the other sides insurers after an accident. Only your own insurance company.


I guess they’re saying if the driver disputes liability they won’t be paying for your vehicle storage. But your insurance company need to deal with this or explain it properly. The replacement car depends on your cover

Good luck and I’m glad your H is ok

[Pollaidh]

• He'll need to show the police his driving licence if he didn't have it on him on the day.
  
• Assuming the police and insurers agree it was her fault, the compensation for the car will come through within a couple of weeks. They'll make an offer, look at Parkers etc to see if it's reasonable for the model, mileage and condition. Make sure you claim for child car seats too if needed.
  
• Bear in mind that the full extent of any injury can take a couple of weeks to develop. I had a minor crash and felt sore at the time but didn't even want to go to the hospital, though I did eventually. Was in more and more pain and stiffness over the following 2 weeks and still signed off work weeks later now. Keep receipts for any expenses incurred, such as physio bills, taxis, hire car if you can't arrange one. Unfortunately soft tissue injuries can take longer to recover from than a simple break sometimes. Any additional compensation for extra costs and injuries can take a few years to come through. If you're short of money in the meantime I think sometimes the other party's insurer can pay for the private physio directly, otherwise do what you need to do and keep receipts and reports.
  

Not sure about 3rd party insurance (did you know it can often be cheaper to get fully comp these days?). Does you insurance cover legal bills?

Your DH must contact his insurers, usually within 48 hours or something, it's in their terms and conditions. They will then chase the other party, especially if either she is held liable or you've a good case.

[Aschdaibach]

He may have had his licence with him, I will ask. The police were great, as were the ambulance people. He was very shaken as he thought he might die when she drove towards him.
Police at the time felt it was straightforward as she had swerved into him and then into the car behind somehow.

[Aschdaibach]

Yes he did contact his insurers on the day of the accident
The other driver has not contacted hers.

[Aschdaibach]

Accident was on Tuesday.

[HelloYouTwo]

It shouldn’t matter that she hasn’t contacted her insurers. Your DHs insurers will start a claim based on his evidence. What about the driver of the car behind? Does your DH have their details?

The police report will be massively useful as would be any witnesses. But your DH insurers need to pull their finger out - and he should check what his policy documents say.

[Beveren]

Are the police considering prosecuting the other driver?

[pumpkinpie01]

As you do not have comprehensive cover your insurers are not interested in the damage to your vehicle or any storage costs or recovery charges. Have you got any legal cover ?

[Aschdaibach]

We don’t know re prosecution of the other driver. We have the details of the third car involved. There should be witnesses hopefully as the road was reasonably busy.

[AnchorDownDeepBreath]

As you do not have comprehensive cover your insurers are not interested in the damage to your vehicle or any storage costs or recovery charges.

This. I believe you can make a claim back from the other side for your costs, but you'd likely have to pay them first. Accidents are a nightmare with third party insurance, it seems a lot slower and more stressful. If you've got any legal cover; that would be very useful.

[Namechanger23455]

Recovery costs are normally around £150 flat fee for recovery and then you are charged everyday there after......... I’d imagine the insurance company doesn’t want to pay the fee. I’d ask their suggestion as to where to put the vehicle.

The claim shouldn’t take that long once they’ve spoken to the other party.... you should not need to wait for the police investigation (possibly looking at careless / dangerous driving for the other driver I’d imagine?)

Did anyone have a dash cam?