Minor road collision, looking for opinions

[Tiptoptip1]

I've only been driving for a few months, and I am hearing conflicting things about insurance and how to handle these sorts of situations.

I hit the side of a van on a roundabout a couple of days ago, I do this roundabout almost daily with no issues so I'm disappointed in myself. It's got a few different lanes and one lane can be used for straight on or right. I thought I was in the correct lane, I felt the van was going too fast as they had been tailgating me prior to entering the roundabout, but regardless I hit them and I'm not blaming them.

At the scene their van was luckily unaffected (just said a small scratch) my car was damaged but I've fixed it now. They were saying I was in the wrong lane, they didn't want my details and just sort of shrugged it off in the end and left.
I've notified the police and my insurer, just paid myself for the damage as it was under £100 to repair.
They've said it has to stay on my record for 6 months, technically the van driver could claim for the scratch but unsure if they will.

I've heard people say never admit fault at the scene, even don't claim for it etc. But of course I had to notify. I feel disappointed in myself as I do that roundabout daily, it all feels like a blur. Not sure what I'm looking for really any thoughts?

When you say ‘straight ahead’ on a roundabout, presumably you mean turning off the roundabout? And when you say ‘turning right’ on a roundabout, do you mean staying on the roundabout? And when you said you were in the lane 2nd from left (out of 3 lanes), do you mean you were in the middle lane? Using clearer terms would help your case with insurers in future incidents. If the van was in the right lane to turn right/stay on the roundabout, but then swerved in front of you to try and exit the roundabout, they were in the wrong. The fact that they shrugged it off points to the suspicion that they were in the wrong. Many will try intimidation, bluffing, lying, mansplaining to try and get away with things like this.

I think the "don't admit fault" was what insurance companies used to say way back in the 80s, but isn't true any more.
The only time I've been hit, the lady leapt out of the car crying apologies!

I know exactly what OP means by 'straight ahead' and 'turning right'

Meh, I’d have told the insurance too. The accident Was probably primarily not to do with you being in the wrong or right lane but to do with you not being experienced enough and not being aware of the other drivers. Just chalk it up to one of those things and don’t let it put you off.

I was taught to drive 15 years ago and straight ahead and turning right are the terms that were used both in the test and in my lessons. Her terminology was perfectly clear

When driving it’s always best to assume everyone else is a total idiot. Check out Ashley Neal on YouTube he has some good videos on how to drive safer. In most accidents there’s usually one driver who ‘caused’ the accident, but the other driver could’ve avoided it by driving differently.
You did the right thing notifying the insurance, sounds like the van driver was being an inpatient twat.

We were almost in a similar collision too recently OP with OH driving and me navigating both with 20+ years of driving experience last week. We entered a small roundabout that had two lanes, one for straight ahead and left and one for straight ahead only (there was no right turn). We stuck to the left lane to go straight ahead and the van that had been sitting up our arse overtook us in the other lane before swinging into the same lane as us to exit the roundabout, which totally unnecessary because the exit road was dual carriageway. My OH managed to avoid a collision but beeped his horn and the van driver got really angry, stopped his van and started shouting that we'd been in the wrong lane. We definitely hadn't: we were visiting the area so were really paying attention to the lane markings. My guess was that he was familiar with the roundabout but had stopped paying attention to the lane markings years ago and was working on the basis that one lane was for left or one was for straight ahead. Or maybe being generous the markings had changed and he hadn't noticed. Either way, don't beat yourself up about this but take it as a lesson that other drivers on roundabouts don't always follow the rules so keep your wits about you and expect unexpected manoeuvres!

I’ve been driving 13 years and managed to clip a wing mirror on the school run last week. First time I’ve been involved in a crash or ding that was my fault. My little one was creating in the back, it was hammering down with rain and I miss judged the gap. Accidents happen. We settled without insurance, there was no damage to my car, but they needed a new wing mirror which I paid for.

Don’t beat yourself up about it. Chalk it down to experience and a lesson.

My insurer told me I've lost my no claims discount now which is frustrating, but there was the small chance that I hadn't reported and the other driver said I'd left the scene or tried to claim for the scratch and my insurance gets cancelled.

firstly don't beat yourself up...we're all make mistakes in life.....maybe go on a pass plus course or have a few more driving lessons to help with roudabout manouevers