Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Just had a prang - no idea what to do, help!

93 replies

CarAccidentHelp · 03/05/2019 17:50

So just driving slowly into big car park, 5mph or slower as usual, car ahead (30meters at least) is stationary on left side (is all one way obv) and stays with no signals completely stationary for whole approach and i've slowed right down. I assume he is on the phone, he's not indicating or moving - so I indicate and start going past him to the right (loads of room) almost as soon as I am level with him he swings his car right and right into me. He isn't indicating. Jumps out and shouts "I can't believe you just did that to me!", I said "I think you'll find you just drove into me!" we circle cars taking pictures. I am clearly nosed ahead of him and he is into my side front door, which I think shows I was almost past him when he pulled into me - he should have seen me/used mirrors/indicated. He was very aggressive and angry. I did ask ppl behind but they didn't see it.

Anyway we swapped phone numbers and names and I'm home. Been driving 4 years and never had an accident so not sure what I do next. Am insured etc. Help!

Sorry if rambling, am shaky.

OP posts:
SolitudeAtAltitude · 04/05/2019 08:40

Goodness, stop texting the man directly!

And claim if you need to.

I've had a prang like this with very reasonable looking people who admitted fault, witnesses too. They indicated to let me out of a junction, slowed down and signaled and waved me to go out, then hit the accelerator and drove into me.

This scenario is 100% the fault of the person pulling out (me)

Then 2 months later they changed their story, said they had whiplash and sued me for 20k. This was all dealt with by my insurance. They said it is impossible to disprove whiplash so always pay out.

The witness did not want to be a witness as he did not want to be on the police radar...

So my advice is: always tell the insurance comp, THEY deal with it. Once they establish you are at fault they may add on whiplash, very common, an easy way to get 10k!

My premium did not even go up massively despite the 20k payout btw

Life's full of scammers, sadly

PS you are allowed to change your mind about repairs.

PettyContractor · 04/05/2019 09:45

I've had one occasion where I had an an accident that was totally my fault, yet the claim went away when I queried it.

Someone in front of me started to pull away then braked hard immediately and I went into the back at them. In a turning lane in a very busy road where you had to get through any gap in oncoming traffic as quickly as possible. Well-spoken fortyish couple driving a Jaguar, lady driving and I had the impression she was a learner. (Not just because of her indecisive driving.)

All I did was mention to my insurance company that I hadn't seen any damage on the other car. And that they had mentioned they'd just had their bumper repaired. If there was no damage, why had they claimed?

I've always wondered what happened. Was it a scam my insurance company saw through, a manufactured accident so they could claim for whiplash? Was the lady maybe not insured to drive his car? (Not sure that would have invalidated his ability to claim against me if it was his car though.)

theemmadilemma · 05/05/2019 12:11

@TowandaForever My no claims weren't protected. If I remember rightly I lost them and yes my premium increased.

I was so annoyed. If I'd have grabbed the garage forecourt footage that day it wouldn't have gone that way. No one who witnessed him drive into me stopped long enough to get details. It should have been completely clear he drove straight into my passenger door and quite hard considering we were on a garage forecourt.

theemmadilemma · 05/05/2019 12:14

And I only went in to wash the car!! Grin

TowandaForever · 05/05/2019 22:43

@theemmadilemma

So you had protected no claims but lost them or you didn't have protected no claims?

Original poster
CarAccidentHelp · 05/05/2019 22:57

Thanks guys - I did have an email from the insurance company yesterday and have said that I need to change to a claim. In the morning we went out somewhere in the car and dd's door squeaks now when she opens/closes it - seems the metal inside the door frame has bumped in places meaning it's distorted a bit. Worried there will be more we can't see and said as much in the reply. I also highlighted how it seemed odd he was stationary and then suddenly swung at my side as soon as I was level plus pointed out there was CCTV which will show he was stationary and not "looking for a space" before I manouvered around him. Insurers fine with all of that and will be sending someone over for the damage quote.

Yes, I see now I shouldn't have texted him at all but I've never had an accident and he seemed very suspicious when I said I didn't have my insurance details on me in the car (made a big meal about taking my address as well as name and phone number) and I didn't want him suggesting I had done a runner. I did ask on here but unfortunately I was a bit flustered and after a wait for a reply just did what I thought was right. It doesn't seem to matter atm though as the insurers seem to be keen to find the CCTV footage.

Am a bit worried about driving the car tbh as I suspect if the door is bent a bit the side impact/safety features on dd's side are not exactly safe? Not great for a bank holiday weekend but we've managed to find local things to walk to thankfully.

OP posts:
GreenTulips · 05/05/2019 23:13

Similar accident recently and insurers advised not to drive the car as it wasn’t road worthy

Total claim came to £1600

bluebell34567 · 05/05/2019 23:15

it sounds like a scam. he was waiting for you there. get a dash cam.

Original poster
CarAccidentHelp · 05/05/2019 23:16

That's interesting Tulips! I have to get dd to school and back for Wednesday and Thursday but it's booked in for Thurs and I get a courtesy car so as long as I just do the school run hopefully I will be fine. I'm lucky I live near to town and can walk everywhere!

OP posts:
Singletomingle · 05/05/2019 23:24

From where he hit you its definitely his fault. Damage wise its unlikely to be more than cosmetic, bent metal catching where it shouldn't you could always get it checked by a garage. As for claiming yes your premium will go up and I think your insurers will go 50/50 but fight this as there is no way you are at fault.

bunnieboo91 · 05/05/2019 23:25

@CarAccidentHelp Hello

I actually work for an insurance company.

If you have no CCTV footage or witnesses its your word against theirs. What might happen is that it's joint blame (for the record I know it was the third parties fault) so if you claim and he claims you both py the excess to help fix your car. If you don't claim you don't pay excess. You don't need to get quotes that BS, if you're claiming you've paid a service so your insurance company will do all that for you.

Everyone has incidents so don’t freak out and don't let this guy trick you into thinking anything. I do hope they do have CCTV footage and other posters are right dashcams save you money on your insurance as well as when you claim.

Regardless whos at fault your insurance will go up at renewal because a claim was made.

Hope I've helped.

Original poster
CarAccidentHelp · 05/05/2019 23:34

Hi bunnieboo91 and thanks for your message. I've not personally requested CCTV, the insurance company asked if I knew who owned the CCTV but as it is an open air car park I assumed it was Council and gave them the postcode. I've just quickly checked the Council website and there is a pdf download form to fill in if I want to request CCTV images. Should I do this or will the insurance firm?

Any recommendations for dash cams? Smile

OP posts:
YesQueen · 05/05/2019 23:38

Some drivers are crazy. I came up to a mini roundabout today. Car coming from the left stopped to give way. Car coming towards me to go straight on. So I went to go across the roundabout, as I did, the car that was headed straight on, suddenly changed direction, no indicators, and cut in front of me. I did an emergency stop and he stuck his finger up and swore ConfusedConfused

If I had been any further across then I would have ploughed in the side of him, even watching his wheels there was NO sign of intent that he was doing anything other than straight on

Gibble1 · 05/05/2019 23:38

I’ve had 2 claims this year (well, this insurance year). First completely my fault, hit done bollards in world carpark. Rang insurance company and car fitness fixed with me just paying my excess. Last month lorry ripped whole side of my car apart while it was parked. Rang insurance company (mine) and explained situation. Was going away next morning so they put DH down as able to deal with it all. Garage rang me following morning to arrange getting car to them and said a courtesy car was already waiting. Both my insurers and the garage told me that it was a no fault claim so no excess to pay.
I had the other insurers ring me on the Tuesday to start the claim and I rang them after work to let them know my insurance was sorting it all and I had a courtesy car. I did ask for a larger car for the Easter weekend as this one is ridiculously small so they got me one from enterprise. This cost me £40 in extra insurance though and it shouldn’t have but they said that they take an excess payment for every area of damage and I didn’t want to get bumped and end up paying multiples of my £375 excess.
DH had to renew his insurance with me as a named driver after my first claim and the cost went up £100. My next insurance premium will also go up £100 at least. This will take 5 years to drop down to the same level again if neither of us has any other claims. This is with protected ncd.

Original poster
CarAccidentHelp · 05/05/2019 23:43

Oh no Gibble that truck one Shock thank heavens you weren't in the car!

Dd actually said to me today that I only ever swear in the car. She said it is "mainly about other people not indicating or indicating wrong" Blush Wink I do get very annoyed when people don't indicate or indicate right when they are pulling off the roundabout (to the left). I'm always amazed at how many people do this!

OP posts:
FunSizedNinja · 05/05/2019 23:48

Just want to advise to be wary with quote me happy. Someone hit my parked car outside a house 3 years ago. Photos taken, full info etc. Witnesses (4) sent statements. The bloke then changed his mind and claimed "false identity" and it wasnt him. Despite photos and statement sent. I asked them to explain how i had images, his make model and reg, insurance details and address if i were making a false claim about an unknown man. That he has to prove he didnt damage my car not the other way around. They were not interested in the slightest. The woman who was dealing with my claim left. After a year of hearing nothing i contacted them who then admitted it was "sitting to the side and had been overlooked". They cannot find trace of the photos or statements. Have never heard a word since. A few months ago I had an email from a solicitors stating they were attempting to reclaim costs. Never heard a thing since. I dont declare the accident now as its been over 3 years and never heard a peep! No idea what happened to the claim. Keep copies of everything.... for the next few years. Their cheap for a reason... their incompetent.

Gth1234 · 05/05/2019 23:51

you should have exchanged insurance details. call him and ask for his insurance details.

if he backed into you, he is at fault. 100%

bunnieboo91 · 06/05/2019 09:56

@CarAccidentHelp Insirance claims can take up to six months to be resolved so I would also do it to speed up the process of the claims.

I'm not an expert dash cam person but I'd suggest getting the dash cam that turns on when motion is picked up when the car is parked. So if another vehicle bumped into your car when it's parked up the camera will turn on and you can make a claim against that person Smile

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread