To say a crash HAS to go through insurance

[Chelyanne]

So on the school run and bang... a woman reversed out in to the side of our car.
She asked me if we could not involve insurance and she'd pay for the damage (passenger door, rear wing, rear bumper, side trim and alloy all have visible damage). I said no it has to go through insurance and she left in a huff leaving me with no contact details, I did get a pic of her numberplate on and we have dash cams front and rear too. No injuries to me or 5 kids in the car, she had an adult passenger and they both looked okay too.

Do you think I was being unreasonable saying no to her?

@grey12

why doesn't the UK have an incident report form like other countries??!!

www.surrey.police.uk/ro/report/asb/asb/report-antisocial-behaviour/report-a-road-traffic-incident/

Some police forces do

I reported a bump to my insurance, saying I didn't plan to claim as there was little damage and the other party was panicking about cost. They said I was right to record it anyway, as you have to legally. They pointed out that a person could be involved in a whole lot of bumps, and be a bit of a danger, and no one to be aware of it.

Always go through insurance. Not leaving details is really suspicious. She probably isn't insured to drive that car.

Report to the police as stated above.

Phone insurance, also tell them she fucked off without giving you her details.

I’d also wager that she isn’t insured, or she’s going to face a huge bump in her premiums if she is because she has form for this shit.

@grey12

why doesn't the UK have an incident report form like other countries??!!

You mean the European Accident Statement pro-forma which is standard throughout the EU to make life easier for everyone? The one the UK never adopted even when we were in the EU, because we can't possibly learn from foreigners? Pure exceptionalism.

Most EU countries mandate the display of your insurance policy details in the windscreen too.

why doesn't the UK have an incident report form like other countries??!!

Because it is really easy to inform the police anyway.

Inform the police straight away and then notify your insurance company explaining what has happened.

You are not being unreasonable unless it was very minor cosmetic damage that can be polished out. I suspect she doesn't want her partner to know!

It'll be in your terms and conditions that you need to notify your insurance company even if you don't intend to claim.

She's probably got a big excess.

@ChloeCrocodile

why doesn't the UK have an incident report form like other countries??!!

Because it is really easy to inform the police anyway.

The idea with the form is that you don't need to waste police time for every little thing!!!!!! also both parties sign it, describing the accident so no one can lie afterwards

I hit a bike totally my fault (he was ok thank God!!!) and we did the form, sent it to insurance and everything was smooth sailing

@ChloeCrocodile

why doesn't the UK have an incident report form like other countries??!!

Because it is really easy to inform the police anyway.

You don't need to notify the police unless details aren't exchanged. Just notify your insurer.

@cultkid the school run is like wacky races where I live, I've seen about 8 bumps on it and my child only started school 2 years ago. Completely bonkers.

I've had someone who wanted to settle without going through their insurance but I still told my insurance company.
You've not done anything wrong.

YANBU. I used to work in this field and the visible surface damage is often only the start of it.

nope. learnt this lesson the hard way. he asked not to go through insurance so we agreed. he then paid some money but not the full repairs and ghosted us. it was a hard learnt lesson which cost us over a couple of grand.

Report it to the insurance and report to the police for fleeing the scene

Report to your insurance because you have to. It's part of the terms of your insurance that your report any collisions whether you're at fault or not...not doing so nullifies your insurance and could lead to you having difficulty obtaining insurance in the future.

Just make sure you make a note of the date and details of the incident because you'll need to declare this on all insurance applications for the next 5 or so years. Reporting non-fault issues hasn't increased my premiums, but remembering the dates is a nuisance (first was someone driving into the back of me at a roundabout that was full of traffic, other was them ploughing into my parked car that dash cam helpfully recorded).

You have to both notify your insurers regardless of whether the claim is through them. She is entitled to pay for the cost of fixing things herself, if you think about it her insurance company would be quite happy not to have to pay out even though it was her fault.

She drove off without leaving her details so you should also go to the police about it. It is an offence not to exchange name and contact details. (It's not obligatory to give insurance details at the time of the accident - just name and contact.)

Unfortunately, your premium will probably go up if you do it through insurance
Mine went up £300 when someone scraped the side of my car, while it was parked outside my house

If that’s potentially an issue for you, I would give her 7 days to pay, and then go to insurance

With dashcam footage, she is unlikely to be able to wriggle out of it at a later date but don’t leave it too long

Leaving the scene of an accident without giving details or calling the police is an offense in itself isnt it??!

@SW1amp

Unfortunately, your premium will probably go up if you do it through insurance Mine went up £300 when someone scraped the side of my car, while it was parked outside my house

If that’s potentially an issue for you, I would give her 7 days to pay, and then go to insurance

With dashcam footage, she is unlikely to be able to wriggle out of it at a later date but don’t leave it too long

That is not a bad point. Something to consider

I'd probably agree for something minor like a wing mirror. Stupidly even when the fault is with the other person premiums go up so minor claims can be expensive for both parties. The damage you describe sounds too big though and I'm sure once a quote comes through she would try to haggle so I'd get on to your insurers pronto. They can find her insurers through a database with just her number plate.

YANBU

My car looked like it had had a minor scrape when parked on the road. Next MOT it turned out it must have been pushed against the kerb and the suspension arm had cracked, making it dangerous to drive. All you could see from outside was a small scrape.

You really have to go through insurance every single time sometimes some people are injured so won’t feel the pain for a day or so, they will struggle to claim for injuries or treatment if not reported adequately. It can be a legal minefield if you havent reported your insurance company and leave you open to all sorts of repercussions.

we did the form, sent it to insurance and everything was smooth sailing

In the U.K. you simply notify your insurance company.

I'd actually report that to the police as she has 'failed to stop and exchange details' You can do it online.