Absolutely panicking - please help (car accident and police)

[Unsure72]

I hired a car yesterday and while reversing into a space in a car park, I accidentally hit a metal post/bollard. I couldn’t see any damage to the post, but the car door has a dent in it. I told the car hire company that I put a dent in the car (I’ve given them no further details of how this happened at this stage) and they’ve asked me to fill out an incident form describing what happened for insurance purposes.

However, having had a bit of a google, I’m now absolutely panicking that I should have reported the incident to the police, because I hit a piece of street furniture. It didn’t cross my mind at the time because the post appeared to have no damage, but obviously it was hit.

I’ve had a sleepless night worrying about it and am so scared I’ve screwed up.

Does this also mean I could get points on my licence or have to pay more for my insurance in future? I’ve been driving for about 15 years and have never had an accident before - I feel so incredibly stupid

I wouldn't worry. I've done this before and just had to fix my car

No, my DH hit a bollard and took out a wing mirror in a car park (both in rental cars) and while he had to pay the insurance excess (and they won't hire out to him anymore!) there was no further issues.

Don't worry about it.

Oh and DH never had to declare it on his own car insurance because it wasn't HIS insurance policy that covered it, it was the rental place's.

When you inspect the bollard please don't worry if there are scratches on it, they will be most likely from other cars, bollards in car parks are often bumped, they are often there to protect pedestrians and peoples cars. As long as is not really bent, unstable or wrecked it will be fine. It will probably look the same as all the others.

Please don't waste you time inspecting a bollard.

Another thing to consider OP is the purpose of a bollard. In a car park it's generally to prevent you from hitting something else. It's served its purpose. Don't waste anymore of your time and certainly do not call the police over this.

I doubt anyone at the council or the police would care unless you hit a railway bridge or something like that, that needs to be inspected.

Hi OP, I had an accident last year where i couldnt prove it was the other parties fault (they drove off after hitting me) and caused £6,000 worth of damage to my car. My premium only went up by £200 from £600 pa to £800 pa so it might not be as bad as you think.

Try not to panic.

If the bollard looks fine (as in not bent or cracked) then it's fine. It's designed to be there to stop cars from driving somewhere they shouldn't. If it is bent/cracked and the car park is run by the council, then email the council and let them know.

You answer the insurance questions honestly when you're next asked. If you're honest, then it's not a problem. I doubt a minor reversing-into-a-bollard accident is going to raise your insurance by much.

Yes your premium might increase next renewal but you don't actually have a policy do you can't say from what to what.

Also, the cost to repair the dent is rarely reflected in the premium increase. e.g £500 damage. Premium goes up by £150, then next year down by £50 (so technically still up by £100) then the third year down again by £50 (so technically still up by £50). That's only £300 vs £500 claim. Once it's off the 'accident in the last 3 years' time limit you'll be back to normal and unlikely to have cost you as much as paying the claim out of your own pocket. Especially with the zero excess cover.

Now I know those are fake numbers in a hypothetical situation but that's in essence what happens. I had a house insurance claim for £40k and my premiums were back to normal within 3 years.

It's a bollard. It's there to be crashed into, and designed to take a pounding, in order to protect what's on the other side. That's why the hire car is visibly damaged, and the bollard wasn't!

It didn't look damaged, so don't panic. Even if it had a slight chip on it, how would you know it was your car that had done it? Do you think the county council rush out to replace bollards as soon as they get slightly chipped?

They only replace bollards after someone goes into them at enough speed to actually smash them!

I had a tiny scratch on the wheel arch of a 3 year old Fiesta and they charged me 600 quid. I had bought independent insurance for 13 pounds and they gave me back the whole amount within 2 days! They were awesome. I tried to buy insurance for this year's trip and unsurprisingly, they have gone bust.

I wouldn't go back and inspect the bollard as how do you know if there was damage done between you hitting it and your second inspection.

My ex very recently returned a hire car damaged hire company didn’t give two shits.
He recently got a new car there were NO records held on him regarding hire car .
This type of thing happens all the time. What happened to you was a non accident I’ve never reported any prangs when either a post or wall has jumped out at my car
Don’t worry about it

@Celticrose

I wouldn't go back and inspect the bollard as how do you know if there was damage done between you hitting it and your second inspection

Very good point.

I went back to check the bollard and am happy to say there was no visible damage (other than a few minor scuffs that could have been caused by anyone). So that’s a huge relief. It seems like the car took the entire brunt of the impact

For future reference, will the insurance claim come under my personal name/licence on the insurance database, or is it the car hire company that makes the claim? From what @QuizzlyBear said it sounds like the latter, but I just wanted to double-check.

Op if they ask if you have had to claim on insurance youd answer no, because you haven't claimed. The hire company has.

From another pp - I guess that answers my question! Depressing that I’ll have to mention what happened every time I hire a car though

Try not to worry too much ,Im sure many of us have been in a similar position TBH. You are driving an unfamiliar car, and are probably nervous!.As long as you have reported this issue to car hire people thats fine .As far as the post goes, by all means report it but it probably happens all the time!.In our local Waitrose underground Car Park, there is a pretty rainbow of different colour paints produced by people scraping their cars on the way out!

Hi all. Hit a bollard 11 months ago. Scuff marks on tyre. Made me jump! But parked up and went back to bollard. It was completely down.... but absolutely no problems with car. Had it garage checked.
Googled. It said report. Phoned 111. Had to go to police station. So I did. Filled out forms. 6 months later got a letter with a form. Filled out. Sent back. Today my insurance company rang as I should have reported to them. Heard nothing back from local council.

So anyone had this. What should I expect to happen