Just got rear ended - AIBU to ask Mumsnet for advice?

[RearEnded]

Got rear ended this morning on the way to work. We bought a new, much larger car last week and this was only my third time driving it - I think I was very heavy on the breaks at the traffic lights, as I'm adjusting to the longer stopping distance and different brake pedal. The van behind me went into me, he said the sun was in his eyes.

I couldn't see any damage on my car, just some scuff marks (though my husband will take a proper look later) and his bumper was a little bent inwards. We exchanged details, I took two (not great) photos and I went straight to work as I had an important meeting.

I was in a similar crash just over a year ago (as a passenger) and a couple of hours on I can feel the shoulder and lower back pains I had then resurfacing, and wonder whether I'll experience similar whiplash symptoms over the next couple of days.

Should I report this to the insurer? If I get whiplash symptoms again should I make a claim? I'm worried because:

• I know I braked too heavily as the light went amber, though it's a bit of a blur now. The van has it all on dash cam, if it shows me to break suddenly will I be in trouble? What can happen?

• I don't know how fast the van was going when it hit me. There was a loud bang and I was shunted forwards a little. What if the dash cam footage shows he was going a lot slower than it seemed? Or what if it shows that we were both speeding before we braked (I don't tend to speed, but I can't say 100% what speed I was going)?

• I'm literally just settling the previous personal injury claim for when I was rear ended as a passenger (the accident was literally on the same bit of road as today's crash). I'm worried they're going to think I'm taking the piss/ a chancer, when that really isn't the case.

I'm quite shaken up as I've never had any kind of crash or incident before as a driver. Also gutted to have crashed our new (very expensive for us!) car within a week of buying it. Dh is not impressed

I braked too heavily

No such thing as this. If the person behind don't stop - it's on them.

I don't tend to speed, but I can't say 100% what speed I was going

Not pertinent to your accident. You didn't hit anything.

whiplash symptoms again

If you have genuine pain, seek medical advice. Be aware that insurers are cracking down on 'bash cash' claims after the glut of ambulance chasers - so there'll be more scrutiny than there used to be

My DH was rear ended at traffic lights. No obvious damage but once at the garage the damage was 66% of the value of the car. It’s not a very old car. Equally I hit a curb hard on the corner. I obviously burst two tires and wrecked the alloys but I’d also ruined the suspension, the tracking, the timing etc. Get the car checked, it could be much more badly damaged than it looks.

Van driver at fault and as he has a dash cam, there won’t be any doubt that he was

Usually the insurers have their own repair garages approved by them. You can't take it to any garage. The insurers are working for you. I would be very careful about courtesy cars. Make sure you take pictures before and after you use them. I nearly got stung by this.

1. The van driver was 100% at fault. If you break he should at all times be alert and have left sufficient stopping distance to not hit you even if you slammed in the anchors for an emergency halt.

2. You will effectively loose your no claims even if there is no claim - they'll consider the fact you had an accident a risk and bump your policy, I had this when a car side-swiped our towbar hooking out the whole front end of his car. Had police motorcyclist as witness that it was 100% his fault, but his insurance kept insisting I hadn't made a claim and needed to make a claim - they clearly wanted to settle with my insurers knock for knock. My insurers insisted on increasing my policy substantially (25%) I assume because I'd had an accident so the risk was greater, managed to shop about and got it cheaper though.

Just be factual. 'A car rear ended me at a set of traffic lights' Everything else like speed is conjecture.
Can you tell I've been in a few accidents?

You will effectively loose your no claims even if there is no claim - they'll consider the fact you had an accident a risk and bump your policy

Two different things. You premium might rise as you've had an accident, because of their rating criteria. But even if that happens, your no claim bonus will not be reduced providing the claim ends up costing your insurers nothing. Either you claim of the van's insurance directly, or you claim of yours and they get their money back from the van's insurers. So your base premium may rise, but you'll still get your ncb percentage deducted from it.

And it's lose, not loose.

The sun being in the van driver's eyes is not an excuse for the accident, it is the reason for it along with him not adjusting his driving for the conditions. The chances are he is fully responsible for the accident, as others have said.

There is a notorious bit of the A303 which is quite a sudden rise and, particularly in the low winter sun, it is an accident black spot because of the sudden sun in drivers eyes. People who use the road regularly soon learn to adjust their driving to the conditions.

The only accident I know of when the person who went into the back of someone else wasn't at fault was when my dh rear ended someone. This was because neither of their break lights were working, it was on a very busy road leading to an airport so we had to call the police to sort it out. The car in front, who we had hit, changed the driver and front passenger over and sped off. The police never found the driver even though we had the registration. Thankfully there were two witnesses in the car and another couple of cars stopped to help.

I recommend reporting it to your insurance company, regardless of whether or not you make a claim for any repairs, then you are covered if the van driver contests it. Also, get it seen at a garage authorised by your insurance company just in case you have to claim, damage can be unseen.

Thanks everyone. I phoned the insurance who are arranging for the car to be collected in a couple of weeks for repairs. On a positive note they waived the excess for a replacement hire car and said my no claims won't be affected as long as they can recoup all of the the costs from the other side. On a negative note my lower back and right hip are in agony 😫😬

Thanks for all of your advice

I’m sorry to hear this. I was rear-ended on a dual-carriageway as the idiot in front decided to make a very dangerous right turn to access an off-road sort of country residence.
Luckily, I was able to stop but the poor soul behind me wasn’t and crashed into me, and he told me later that his car went on fire on the way home!
A month later, I was involved in another non-fault accident on the same road and my car was a write-off. I had horrendous whiplash and pain for over two years.
It took several years to settle the claim because of the previous one and I wouldn’t admit any sort of liability at all. The police told me that I was not at fault.
Whiplash can kick in properly a few weeks later. DH knows an orthopaedic surgeon who conducts assessments for insurance companies and he said this is very typical.
The average payout then for whiplash was £1800. It’s definitely worth pursuing.
In my experience, you’re in for a lot of bother.
Take ibuprofen regularly as well as paracetamol. I found doing gentle stretches in the sauna and steam room helped me.
And I spent a fortune on neck massagers etc so keep receipts for everything.