Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

Learner Driver has crashed our car

77 replies

WombatChocolate · 08/01/2023 16:05

Hi there. Unfortunately DS has crashed the car whilst out doing driving practice with his Dad. There is damage to the wing, he has knocked down the fence of a residential property and the car won’t now drive.

I have collected DS and taken home (very shaken) and left DH to wait for the recovery truck.

Has anyone else had something like this happen? We have fully comp Learner Insurance with Collingwood as a separate policy to our own, so own no-claims won’t be impacted, but what does it mean for DS and car insurance after he passes? I’m finding it difficult to find out. Do learner accidents need to be declared in the same way as standard accidents?

Such a shame - he was doing really well and besides all the inconvenience and no-doubt costs involved (despite insurance and a low excess) this will clearly be a big hit to his confidence.

Any similar experiences or advice very welcome.

OP posts:

Cookerhood · 08/01/2023 16:08

We had exactly the same (DD had been insured for about 10 minutes). It will affect his insurance premiums for the next 5 years unfortunately, and yes, you have to declare it.

CalloohCallayFrabjousDay · 08/01/2023 16:09

Don't be surprised if your own insurance goes up too! Also, maybe best if you pay for the repairs to the property separately, so they don't push up the claim even further.
I had to claim for a broken window and a window screen chip in a year and my insurance almost tripled.

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 08/01/2023 16:10

Can't you say your husband did it ? I mean if no-one was hurt and Dad was in the car anyway? Where's the harm ?

I suspect I will need my tin hat on from here onwards🙂

Cookerhood · 08/01/2023 16:12

Their insurance shouldn't go up, that's the point of having additional learner insurance. You'll need the hard hat, it's fraud (& would affect their insurance for 5 years too).

Pinkmagic1 · 08/01/2023 16:12

Might be worth looking at getting the car and fence repaired yourselves if you can afford to do so. The price of insurance for new drivers is astronomical, without factoring in an at fault insurance claim that he will have to declare for 5 years.

clarepetal · 08/01/2023 16:13

I've had loads of prangs. Tell him chin up, and to get behind the wheel ASAP. Much hugs to you all

Pinkmagic1 · 08/01/2023 16:14

Not making a claim through the insurance company that is.

Cookerhood · 08/01/2023 16:16

Even if you don't make a claim, strictly speaking it invalidates any future insurance if you don't tell them about the accident (not sure how they would find out though).

Scalottia · 08/01/2023 16:20

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 08/01/2023 16:10

Can't you say your husband did it ? I mean if no-one was hurt and Dad was in the car anyway? Where's the harm ?

I suspect I will need my tin hat on from here onwards🙂

Where's the harm? What does this teach the child, that they should lie their way out of trouble?

HelpMeGetThrough · 08/01/2023 16:21

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 08/01/2023 16:10

Can't you say your husband did it ? I mean if no-one was hurt and Dad was in the car anyway? Where's the harm ?

I suspect I will need my tin hat on from here onwards🙂

Have a good think about that, what could possibly be wrong with it.

megletthesecond · 08/01/2023 16:21

Don't be a law breaking dick changed.

MeinKraft · 08/01/2023 16:22

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 08/01/2023 16:10

Can't you say your husband did it ? I mean if no-one was hurt and Dad was in the car anyway? Where's the harm ?

I suspect I will need my tin hat on from here onwards🙂

Having a ding would probably affect his future premiums less than insurance fraud I imagine.

Feelallright · 08/01/2023 16:22

clarepetal · 08/01/2023 16:13

I've had loads of prangs. Tell him chin up, and to get behind the wheel ASAP. Much hugs to you all

Perhaps you shouldn’t be driving, then.

HelpMeGetThrough · 08/01/2023 16:24

Pinkmagic1 · 08/01/2023 16:12

Surely the third party has asked for insurance details, I know I would have. Next thing would be to inform my buildings insurers what had happened and pass on the drivers insurance details.

GCAcademic · 08/01/2023 16:24

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 08/01/2023 16:10

Can't you say your husband did it ? I mean if no-one was hurt and Dad was in the car anyway? Where's the harm ?

I suspect I will need my tin hat on from here onwards🙂

One would hope that a fully licensed driver who crashed into a fence would end up with points on their license for driving without due care and attention.

LavenderLewis · 08/01/2023 16:25

What is wrong with people on this thread!
Hope he can get behind the wheel again to rebuild his confidence. Maybe keep to just the driving instructor for a while - he/she have more control over the practice car making accidents like this more unlikely.

Original poster

WombatChocolate · 08/01/2023 16:42

Thanks.
It is a huge shame. We will let the driving instructor know tomorrow, so they can take it extra-easy and bear it in mind. No doubt it will set DS back with his learning. I don’t know if DH and him will be able to go out again (after car mended) as a learner. It is such a shame as he has been going out with his Dad for the last 5 weeks or so and it was making a big difference….but one slip is all it takes!

I am worried about the insurance. We wouldn’t dream of trying to say DH was driving or lying and I know it will massively hike up DS’s premiums when he does pass. I haven’t mentioned that aspect to him yet….no need at the moment as he’s upset enough, and think I will keep quiet about that until we are looking at full insurance for him, which could be a long way off now! But I know it is likely to add thousands to his insurance for many years.

I think the whole claim will need to go on the insurance - the fence damage was to a very nice fence that looked pretty new. Who knows what our car will cost to fix and might even be a write-off! The one thing is that our own insurance shouldn’t be impacted as it’s just ours and this accident won’t be declared when we come to renewal and dealt with via this separate policy.

Such a nuisance in so many ways….but I guess I must remember that no other drivers were involved and no-one hurt and that is by far the most important thing.

OP posts:

Silvers11 · 08/01/2023 16:48

That is a shame, but yes it will effect the cost of his own policy after he passes his test and there is no real way round that. He MUST report it to the Insurance company underwriting the Learner Driver Policy as it is illegal not to do so.

And ignore the PP who suggested your OH pretends it was him driving. Not only is that illegal but it could lead to all sorts of negative implications for your OH. For one thing, if he says he was driving the car, he will then have to claim on your OWN Insurance and not your son's policy which will impact on the cost of your own insurance for the next 5 years

Accidents do happen sadly ( I learned to drive in my early 40's and found myself ON a roundabout surround, while learning and to this day I still do not know how it happened). Fortunately no damage to the car, me or the Instructor

jevoudrais · 08/01/2023 16:55

I don't have experience of a crash as a learner driver BUT I just wanted to say OP, that this could be really helpful for your son in terms of seeing how scary a crash is, and why it's important to drive as safely as possible and take as little risk as possible. He'll also appreciate the hassle of getting repairs done etc.

Whilst most young people don't intend to crash and I'm sure 99% of parents think their DC will drive like angels, I genuinely think this could be a really valuable experience to him at this age.

And it's so normal to have a prang early on after passing so I'm sure it's not that common before either. I battered the side of my car by panic reversing into a post when someone didn't give way to me and aggressively insisted I move out of their's. We live and we learn.

Destiny123 · 08/01/2023 16:58

Sorry to hear
Is it just his own car? - as you can't doubly insure a car (unless it's his personal car it should be him as a named driver on your policy).

You may have issues if you've got 2 policies on the same car you may come into trouble as it's against t&c and they both may try to get out of paying out

Yes his insurance will be quite raised for the next 5y unfortunately

SaintLoy · 08/01/2023 17:04

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 08/01/2023 16:10

Can't you say your husband did it ? I mean if no-one was hurt and Dad was in the car anyway? Where's the harm ?

I suspect I will need my tin hat on from here onwards🙂

Sounds like that came from the Constance Briscoe legal advice agency. Insurance fraud harms everybody who pays premiums, and the fraudsters if they are caught. Little tip to help you remember 1. RIGHT 2. WRONG. Can you see a difference?

AngelinaFibres · 08/01/2023 17:04

I know you wouldn't dream of committing fraud. A woman I worked with was in your position. They did lie. The insurance company didn't believe that a middle aged male accountant would be driving a cute blue Fiat 500. They sent an assessor out to ' check the damage'. The car had dangly stuff on the mirror and all sorts of teenage girl crap in the back and door pockets. They threw the book at them. Her husband couldn't get insurance for years.

Silvers11 · 08/01/2023 17:09

Oops - pressed send too soon.

Is your DS getting lessons from a qualified Instructor as well as practice with you or his Dad? If he's not, can I suggest that he has at least some with someone qualified, before you or OH take him out again? Learning with family who are not trained to teach can be very difficult, no matter how good the driver is who is supervising.

If he does also have an Instructor, it might be a good idea to have a few more lessons with the Instructor before OH takes DS son out again? I asked mine to tell me when he thought it would be ok for my OH to supervise me and it was a wee while before he gave me the go ahead

Also, something to be aware of, Driving Instructors are graded. A Grade A instructor will have shown a higher standard of instruction than a Grade B Instructor. In my day there were 6 grades I think. I took 4 lessons with a low graded Instructor - and the man was an absolute ae. I had never driven a car but was old enough to have some awareness of things. Took me on a very busy road the very first time we went out and told me to take a right hand turn across the oncoming traffic. Nearly got us both killed.

I sacked him after the 4th lesson when we were doing junctions and he was insisting I cross straight over. I refused as there was a very large dog, running free down the middle of the road I was supposed to be going into - and the Instructor didn't even see it! My new Instructor was a grade 5 and a member of IAM and he was fabulous.

I hope your car is fixable if it isn't driveable

MissOldCadburys · 08/01/2023 17:20

My dh crashed his dad's car after the first couple of sessions with him.
Right after that they scheduled driving lessons with an instructor lol.
Dh passed his driving test 1st time with flying colours and the theory and hazard perception, don't let it put your son off too much.
Fortunately there wasn't too much damage when they crashed so his dad didn't declare it.

Original poster

WombatChocolate · 08/01/2023 17:26

Yes, we have an instructor and DS has had about 18 lessons. He was having weekly lessons, plus has been out with DH lots over Christmas.

Yes, we asked the instructor when it would be safe to take DS out. he only said it would be okay about 5 weeks ago. Things were going well, but he wasn’t at the stage to do his test and still on fairly quiet roads. This shows how easily something can go wrong.

Yes, we will be telling instructor exactly what has happened. DS’s confidence will have dropped a lot and he will need extra help now. No idea if it will be possible for him to go out with DH again or if that’s finished with. Certainly, will take some time for car to be repaired and no doubt we will all be a bit anxious about it. Will certainly be instructor only for a while!

The learner insurance policy was an add-on specifically to cover the learner. Lots of them exist. It means the parent owners can drive as usual under their own insurance. Their own insurance is only impacted by any incidents they might have. The add-on insurance with another company runs alongside and covers the child for accidents like this one today. We found this insurer by reading MN threads and lots of people recommended it. So far, as it’s a Sunday, the insurance broker firm has sent the recovery vehicle to take the car away. We will then see tomorrow how good the insurance is, in terms of repairs, courtesy car etc.

OP posts:

Flip

1 2 3 4

Swipe left for the next trending thread