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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To call the police?

62 replies

happystarfish · 01/08/2018 10:36

First post on here! (Its going to be a long one)

A bit of back story...
A few months ago, I was in a car accident outside my house, down my cul-de-sac, on my way home.

The gent that hit me was reversing off of his driveway, to park on the opposite side of the road. He was going reasonably fast, not looking, fag in hand, music blaring and went straight into my drivers side door (where i was obviously sat).
He got out of the car screaming that he was reversing and that it was all my fault, Quite shaken up i didn't really know what to say, But advised that i would park my car in my drive and come back over to exchange details.
When I went back over to his home, his mother came out (Not sure whether he lives with her fully or not), and she admitted that he was in the wrong. He was reversing onto the road that i was already on, therefore my right of way (and obviously because he didn't check his bloody mirrors!!!!). He accepted that he was at fault and mutually decided that we would look into having the work done privately. We exchanged details, Telephone number, Number plates, Address etc (although not insurance companies which i regret!!) and got on with the rest of our days.

A week later i took the damages to quoted and was told a price of £1300, I passed this information over to the gent and he was not happy. He told me he would be able to get a much better price from a garage that hes been to before. So following his advice i took it to this garage, only to be quoted a price of £1200. I told him the price and sent the quote document to him, and this is when things went down hill.

I was coming to the end of my tether and phoned him explaining i was due to go on holiday and that if he hadn't sorted the situation out or made a decision about what to do, that after my holiday i would be contacting his insurance company and going through them.
This is when he disclosed to me that he didn't know if he had renewed his insurance!!! This obviously made me furious and i had to go on holiday with the thought in my mind that i had been massively screwed over.
When i came back from holiday i still hadn't heard a word from him and i decided to contact his insurance. I called the company that i believed he was with (from comments that he had made). I called them and got everything rolling, they confirmed there was a policy and that they would give me a few months to get in contact and they would be able to sort it for me.

So.. Now these few months have passed and i called them a couple of days ago, They advised they had spoken to the policy holder and that they have not been in any accidents.
I was so confused and explained that he admitted liability when the accident happened. The insurance explained that i could send in any photos or proof to try and help. I then questioned the name of the policy holder as i hadnt actually done that yet... and it turns out ITS NOT THE GUY THAT HIT ME!
I explain this to the insurance and they advise they will see if there are any named drivers on the policy and they will contact me soon.

The reg is correct, the make and model of the car is correct...
I dont know what to do, should i call the police? Should i go to his house?
I currently have over £1000s worth of damage to my car and i cant fix it...

OP posts:

SilverHairedCat · 01/08/2018 12:32

You have to claim on your insurance, it's basically 50% of the point of your policy.

Either that or you're going to have to bite it.
Boy this guy saw you coming, didn't he?

As soon as you agreed to go cash and outside insurance companies, you'd been had.

PotteringAlong · 01/08/2018 12:36

Just claim on your insurance. That’s the point of the policy.

aquamarine2 · 01/08/2018 12:39

I work for an insurance company and if you report an 'incident', it is recorded on your policy, regardless of whether you pursue the claim or not. Many people do not realise this and are surprised when they find it to be so.

The only people who should be contacting his insurer, is your insurer. This is what you pay your premiums for.

TheQueef · 01/08/2018 12:41

Surely if the other car is insured then the OP claims from the insurers of that car because she is the third party?

AllTheNameChanges · 01/08/2018 12:46

In all cases of accidents you report everything to your insurance company ASAP. Take photos, record the details and report. They then take care of everything. A no fault accident won't affect your no claims.

BifsWif · 01/08/2018 12:49

You need to call your insurance company, however it is a clause in every policy that you notify them as soon as possible after the event.

They may well reject your claim because of the time lapsed, and that you got quotes from other places to do the repairs first. I don’t mean to be the barer of bad news, I worked in insurance for a long time and wanted to be honest.

BifsWif · 01/08/2018 12:52

That’s not how it works, she needs to claim on her own insurance. They will then recover the cost from the other persons insurance.

As the OP is not at fault there will be no impact on her, but like I said the claim could well be declined by either party because she didn’t notify them when the accident happened.

LuluJakey1 · 01/08/2018 13:00

I have been in a similar position twice and on neither occasion were the police interested.

The first time I hit a parked car near my mum's flat. My car was not damaged, the other car had a dent in the door. I left a not u der the windscreen with my contact details. No one got in touch. Next time I went to my mum's the car was there but the note had go e. I put another note and blu-tacked it, asked the caretaker if he knew whose it was and he said it belonged to a man nearby house and pointed out the house. Two notes through the door later, still no reply. I to.d my insurance who said the car was probably not insured and I muts report the incident to the police as it was an RTA. I did. Police not interested. Said it was for the insurance conoany to deal with. They wrote to him but he never got in touch.

Second time a woman reversed into my car. Admitted she was to blame, apologised and gave me a phone number, a name and said if I rang she would give me her insurance details and address. I rang and she did- I felt there was something just not quite right but didn't know what. Reported it to my insurance who then got back to me to say the address and insurer were not right. I rang and a teenager answered-who had been in the car with her-about 16 I'd say. Her mum was out. I explained I had not written the info down correctly and she gave me a different address, said she knew where the policies were and came back to the phone and told me the insurance company. The mother rang later on to say she could not understand she had given me the wrong address and insurance company. The car was insured under that name at that address and the claim proceeded. Insurers again told me I should tell the police as it was an RTA and fraud. Again police not interested.

I think they have bigger things to deal with. It will be left to your insurance company to sort out.

LuluJakey1 · 01/08/2018 13:01

Sorry for all the typos, sleeping 15month old on my shoulder.

Original poster

happystarfish · 01/08/2018 13:12

When i contacted my insurer when it happened they advised me to go through his insurance as thats how they deal with it. They said if they wanted themselves to deal with it, i would need to put in a claim, therefore effecting my premium and excess

OP posts:

Nicknacky · 01/08/2018 13:14

You need to put a claim in, if it’s not too late.

Sugarhunnyicedtea · 01/08/2018 13:15

You need to report this to your insurers. However they may reject any claim now as there will be a clause in your policy that you must report any accident as soon as reasonably practical to do so. I have no idea why his insurers discussed anything with you at all, that is a huge data protection breach.
Any accident will be noted on your policy and, although a no fault claim won't affect your no claims discount, your premium will probably increase.

Original poster

happystarfish · 01/08/2018 13:15

^^ (following on) because he is at fault

OP posts:

Sugarhunnyicedtea · 01/08/2018 13:16

Just seen your update. Your insurer was wrong, you speak to your insurer, he speaks to his. You have no right to any information from a third party insurer.

Nicknacky · 01/08/2018 13:17

So are you going to put a claim in if you can?!

Original poster

happystarfish · 01/08/2018 13:18

I guess i will be calling my insurer to discuss what they can do

OP posts:

SilverHairedCat · 01/08/2018 13:20

Yes, it might affect your insurance, but until they investigate it they can't say it won't affect it as they can't say whether you were at fault if if they will have to accept any liability on your behalf.

Just put the claim in or accept you're out of pocket.

Unfortunately, however, because you called them and told them about the incident, they'll have noted it on the account anyway. When it comes to renewal, you'll still have to declare it even though you haven't made a claim - check the details on the websites these days.

pudcat · 01/08/2018 13:20

Your insurer is wrong. You should have reported the accident to them the day it happened. They should be chasing up his insurers etc not you. This is what you pay them for.

Strawberry2017 · 01/08/2018 13:25

Have you tried speaking to his mother? If she lives on your street and was the one who made him see sense to start with she might not be aware of the issues you are still having. X

Ifeelshit · 01/08/2018 13:34

Those saying she should put it to her insurance, her only legal responsibility is to inform her insurance company of the accident. She does not legally have to claim, either off her own or the other parties insurance.

OP - call the police. And also clarify with the insurer what details are incorrect. If the car is insured then they have a legal duty to repair.

Ifeelshit · 01/08/2018 13:35

You should have reported the accident to them the day it happened

RTFT - she did this!

pumpkinpie01 · 01/08/2018 13:40

If you put a claim in under your policy yes it will affect your policy, you will lose your excess and your bonus until your insurer recovers what they have paid out from the other insurer. By the sound of it there are issues with his policy. You can claim direct off another policy yes but if there are problems with his cover this could be a long battle and you could struggle without much insurance know how. Go on to ownvehicle.askmid.com/ and see if the vehicle in insured.

Nicknacky · 01/08/2018 13:42

ifeelshit Phoning the police will not get her car fixed. They will deal with any offences but not have any involvement in repairs.

That's up to her insurance company any why posters are telling her to put a claim in if she can.

Ifeelshit · 01/08/2018 15:05

Nicknacky there are two separate issues here - 1) that potential crime has been committed. This is for the police. 2) that her car needs repairing. It is perfectly legitimate for a person to make a claim directly with the other parties insurer. If the OP makes a claim with her insurer, and he insurer are unable to recoop the costs from the other parties insurer then the claim WILL impact on the OPs no claims bonus - if the cost of the claim is paid for by the other party, the OPs no claims bonus will not be affected.

The no claims bonus is impacted by which company pays for the claim, regardless of fault (unless you are with one of those companies who say it won't be affected by an uninsured driver).

By claiming directly from the other parties insurance the OP is removing the possibility of her no claims being affected and is perfectly entitled to do this. It's slightly more faff short term for the claimant but can have long term benefits.

Different insurance companies put different amounts of effort in to reclaiming money off the driver at fault. It sounds like, from the conversations the OP is having with her insurance company that she is with one which will put in minimal effort. This would concern me and would make me not want to claim through them.

If the OP cannot get the claim sorted through the other insurer, she has 2 choices, pay for the repairs out of her own pocket, or claim on her own insurance. Personally for £1300 of damage I would pay it myself, as the likelihood is that 3 years of increased insurance premiums would cost that much any way, but that obviously depends on whether the OP can foot that bill up front, it's personal choice.

So no, the OP does not have to go through her insurer to get her car fixed, and I can totally understand why she is choosing not to.

Nicknacky · 01/08/2018 15:11

She has tried to go through the other persons insurance and that approach hasn't worked. She needs to now involve her own insurance company or suck up the cost herself.

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