Police letter after accident HELP!

[Iwa80]

Hi all,

Sorry please help.
A few weeks ago I was driving in heavy traffic, and a car infront of me didn't move forward on a green light but instead reversed and I didn't stop in time. I very lightly possibly clipped the bumper but not 100% certain. The lady in front told me to drive to a side street to assess any damage. We looked and I saw there was a hairline gap on one side of a otherwise fully detached bumper.
Anyway my English isn't very good (someone else writing this thread for me) and I told her to wait for my husband to sort it out. I just gave her my name.

Moments later my husband driving nearby came. As he's the main policyholder, was not in a particularly good mood. We both felt (my husband and I) that we were being swindled by an opportunist claimer.

My husband ordered me to leave, and since i had my small child age 5 who was desperately needing the toilet and wanted to go home I left everything in the hand of my husband. I thought he'd sort it out. I then saw both the lady and my husband were arguing and left the scene. Moments later I rang my husband to ask did he leave her my details. He said no, and then he went straight back to the scene moments later after he'd left too, about 5 mins after me, and found her and gave her our full details.

However in the midst of us leaving the scene she managed to call the police. However in front of the police who were listening on the phone while the call was still live, they heard and therefore witnessed a full exchange of details.

It was never my intention to leave without giving details and because of the pressures of my child, my husbands temper and my broken English I left it to my husband. I am annoyed that he was moronic enough to leave without giving her anything but at least he did go back.

However I have received a letter from the police investigating, and trying to apply 'driving with due care, not stopping at scene, not reporting accident'.... none of which is true because we did stop, exchange details and i reported later to my insurance that evening. With the driving, I am adamant I hardly touched her car.

Incidentally our suspicions were confirmed and the lady has claimed WHIPLASH' from my insurance. The damage to her car was so minimal at speeds of just 2-5mph and looked like it had been done somewhere else. You would have to look hard at her bumper to notice it had been damaged, and the car was a 12 year old Kia Rio, one of the smallest cheapest cars to drive.

I am petrified that despite exchanging details in the end I will still get 6 points on my licence and an extra fine I cannot afford, all because an opportunist wants to ruin our life as much as possible.

Can anyone please advise?

Did you exchange insurance details or not? If not, you should have reported the incident to the police.

I’m sorry, but you have typed in pretty clear English on this post and your child needing the toilet isn’t a reason to leave the scene.

all because an opportunist wants to ruin our life as much as possible.

I think you may have to take ownership of some of this situation yourselves though as perhaps in the heat of the moment, you didn't deal with things in the best way. Did you or your husband have a mobile phone with you when it happened and take any photos of the damage?

Advice? Don’t drive into cars and if you do don’t bugger off without leaving details. Maybe if you and your husband had been a bit more decent about it they wouldn’t now be claiming for whiplash, maybe they just think fuck you? But it makes no difference to you about the whiplash claim, your insurance company will pay. You only lose your excess which you’d do no matter what. And it doesn’t matter if she was driving a small, cheap car....if you hit her and damaged it the damage costs the same to repair. Are you suggesting she shouldn’t get the car repaired because it’s 12yo? Because that’s a shitty attitude.

I am confused though you say she reversed into you? If she reversed into you then it’s her fault?

Are there traffic cameras on the lights?

And if your dh went back and gave details I very much doubt you’ll be in trouble for not leaving your details. Just write back to the police and say you did leave details. But next time don’t piss people off by leaving without doing so and then going back.

Hi Nipersvest,

Yes we took pictures and clearly it should traces of dust on a hairline gap like its been hit somewhere before.

As for the other rude commenters, WE DID EXCHANGE FULL DETAILS AT THE SCENE. Therefore there was no intention to leave without doing so as we wouldn't go back within a space of 2 minutes.

My issue is therefore why are the police still chasing this. Also with my husband there at the scene sorting it out for me, a crying small child whose desperate for the toilet and fear of my husband I think it there it makes a strong case to leave the scene, especially when he was supposed to give her the details.

What benefit did I get for leaving that opportunistic claimant for more than 2 minutes without my details? We went back of our own accord. Honest mistakes happen, yet police concentrate on this whilst real criminals rob banks, assault and mug grannies and burgle houses.

I asked insurance too and mentioned that she reversed into me, however without eye witnesses, camera evidence the court favours the car in front.

Therefore you should all be warned, if you don't have a running camera or witnesses, a car in front of you could reveres, claim whiplash and take 3 points from your NCB away giving you another 3 years of higher insurance premiums at £100+

good that you have photo's they can be invaluable if there are any disputes over damage. As Nico says though, was it absolutely your fault though? Why was the other driver reversing if the light had gone green? Was there an obstruction in her way that you couldn't see?

If both cars are moving forwards and one is hit by the car behind, it is the fault of the car behind, but since she was reversing into the oncoming traffic (ie, you), I don't think its quite as clear cut as to whose at fault.

sorry, 'who's' at fault, not whose!

You lost any sympathy I had at the Kia Rio being one of the smallest , cheapest cars to drive . Having your child with you is no excuse for you leaving the scene and your husband being rude is also not the other drivers fault , he left the scene without giving details and in that time she called the police which is what most people would have done , as she did not know he was going to return . All of the problems are entirely of your making and it’s for your insurance to ascertain whether her whiplash claim is genuine .

Your husband DID leave the scene without swapping details and only went back after you told him to. I imagine the other party complained to the police at this point. If he hadn’t acted like this you wouldn’t be in the situation you’re in.

You said yourself your husband was in a bad mood and arguing with the other person.

No idea who’s at fault because you say she reversed but also say you didn’t stop in time which suggests you drove into her but you’re right the insurance will blame you without a witness.

But as you did swap details when your husband went back once you tell the police that I’m sure they’ll drop the charges.

Nipersvest,

absolutely I think its her fault. Unfortunately we can't prove it. I'm suspecting she was a very new driver, she looked very young, like a student, who put it in reverse instead of first gear. I did move forward slightly though. We were both stationary and the car probably moved at less than 5mph. I have a clean driving record of 11 years no points or faults whatsoever. Really I'm sad and astounded. My husband not aware of the full situation coming in the midst afterwards pleaded with her that we'll pay her full damages for the bumper as we could estimate at the most cost of repair was £50, and my husband does work part time at a body repair shop. However we knew that if she claimed then those insurance companies add a huge markup every year and ask for the last 5 years even for the smallest accidents. i live in Manchester which has very high costs for insurance so it really would make a difference. We are a low income small family.

12 year old Kia Rio, one of the smallest cheapest cars to drive.

No relevance what so ever.

Your DH did initially leave the scene as did you which is probably why the police are involved.

yet police concentrate on this whilst real criminals rob banks, assault and mug grannies and burgle houses

You missed out the line about how you pay their wages too

Seems you're keen on blaming everyone else for this. Calling the other driver an opportunist claimed is harsh too. Take responsibility for your actions ffs.

Floralnomad

I don;t care about your sympathy. My question is how can I been seen as intentionally leaving the scene when we did actually give the details?

Was I intentionally leaving without details???

No way, otherwise we wouldn't have gone back to the scene!

£50 for a repair, really?

Someone hit my car a few months ago, small scuff on the bumper and cheapest quote I got was £520.

The woman who hit me drove off and I had to chase after her, then refused to swap details apart from phone number, then blocked my phone and then lied about that and then said she had hit my car but not caused the damage and it must have been there already. Which it hadn’t been, totally infuriated me.

Luckily her insurance company were nicer than she was and repaired my car and paid me 2k for whiplash.

afterwards pleaded with her that we'll pay her full damages for the bumper as we could estimate at the most cost of repair was £50, and my husband does work part time at a body repair shop. However we knew that if she claimed then those insurance companies add a huge markup every year and ask for the last 5 years even for the smallest accidents.

They have every right to go through insurance.

she looked very young, like a student

Making assumptions about people is daft.

Redglitter,

Wow,

a miniature hairline gap on a bumper clearly does not give you whiplash at 5mph!

What other reason could she be claiming if there isn't an opportunity to make money? Are you seriously suggesting that she was hurt in her own induced collision?

People like you are the main reason we have such a dysfunctional legal system that doesn't work and catch the real criminals.

Technically you left the scene without swapping details. An offence was committed at that point.

The fact you went back and swapped details is a big mitigating factor and is why the police are very unlikely to follow it up but an offence was committed and I guess if they wanted to prosecute you for it they could. They’re very unlikely to. They didn’t even prosecute the woman who hit me even though I had to have a 60mph car chase for 2 miles to catch her!

Because of the age and value of her car it will probably also be a write off or 'total loss' by the insurance as it may not be worth fixing the damage so they just pay out market value of the car.

This happened to me recently in a similar smaller car. Someone went into the back of me as I was still waiting for a gap at a roundabout. On the surface the damage LOOKED cosmetic and not that bad. But it had actually completely ruined the chassis as small cars can't really take knocks!

My advice is to just be honest about it all.

I don't understand the bit about the police overhearing the conversation on the phone. How do ypu know this?

You can absolutely get genuine whiplash at a low speed impact.

Like I said earlier the size of the payout she gets will have no impact on you so stop focusing in that. It’s irrelevent.

People like you are the main reason we have such a dysfunctional legal system that doesn't work and catch the real criminals

People like me??? Wtf did I do that makes the legal system dysfunctional.

This thread gets more and more bizarre

Nico,

I get it now. The woman was out of order but you feel guilt at your own opportunist behaviour so try to justify it with these abrasive responses lol.

Yes I work and absolutley £520 for that is a RIP OFF! That can be painted and polished over with T-CUT it also looks like an older car, is it an older Prius?

RedGlitter,

the fact that you'd stupidly side with an opportunist and not see the wood for the trees.

Lol. I had genuine whiplash so no opportunist behaviour. Lol.

I just don’t like people who don’t take responsibility for their own actions and have a million excuses for being a douche bag.

And no it’s not an older car and nor is it a Prius.

The £520 quote I got was for a cash repair and if the woman who hit me had wanted to pay that (she initially said she would) I would have been happy with that. It wouldn’t have t-cut out, I did try....and there was actually a small dent. She was the one who then refused to pay so I had no choice but to go through insurance.