Idiot ran into back of me and now denies it!

[carolannjo]

On 22nd August a woman ran into back of my car while I was stationary in a queue of traffic. We exchanged details( only name address telephone no) but as it was a busy junction and the woman was desperate to get to work we did not call police at the time. I was injured and had to go to casualty, on my return I went to police and reported incident. Car had £760 damage. That evening woman phoned "to find out how I had got on with car" I told her my insurance company hadn't yet picked it up and asked for her insurance, she said she hadn't had time to look it out I told her to call me back with them -she never did. Today I found out that she is disputing my version of events. She gave me the wrong reg no AND the wrong phone no. Also she did NOT tell her insurance company of the accident. Anyone got any idea of how this is gonna go there were loads of people around at the time but no-one stopped, so no witnesses. I am not happy that some one could get away with this Any ideas of what I can do would be most welcome.

[manhattan]

do you have the correct reg number?

[carolannjo]

Yes I have it now as I went to the address she gave me! She is insured with diamond (found that out through my insurance company) but had not reported it. My insurance company informed them and when they contacted her she said my version of events is substantially different from hers!!!

[rchddap1]

When someone went into the back of me I was told by my insurance company that normally it is automatically assumed to be the other person's fault and that it is rare to be found otherwise.

[BigDunc]

Presumably there's damage to the front of her car and the back of yours? I wouldn't worry too much, the evidence is in your favour. What sort of injury did you suffer? I would have thought something like whiplash would be more likely to occur to the person in the car being hit rather than the one doing the hitting. Finally, I think the fact that you reported the incident promptly to your insurance company and she didn't would also show you in a favourable light.

[Slinky]

Have you tried going round and taking photos of the damage to her car and yours?

[achtunglady]

In the event of an accident, its handy to have a disposable camera to take pictures of the damage, registration number and person driving, as they can claim it was so and so driving or the car had been stolen. If you have the photo of the driver it can be compared to the picture of the registered driver's license if they hold a photocard one.
Nowadays there are too many dodgy drivers who try and make out they were not at fault. My friend got hit in the rear at traffic lights by a woman driver who said my friends brake lights were not working, but the garage checked them and said they were fine. Surely she saw there were traffic lights ahead and should have anticipated that they might change.
And the latest scam is people "staging" accidents and putting in injury claims for more people in the car then there actually was.

[isayoldchap]

On 22nd August a woman ran into back of my car while I was stationary in a queue of traffic. We exchanged details( only name address telephone no) but as it was a busy junction and the woman was desperate to get to work we did not call police at the time. I was injured and had to go to casualty, on my return I went to police and reported incident. Car had £760 damage. That evening woman phoned "to find out how I had got on with car" I told her my insurance company hadn't yet picked it up and asked for her insurance, she said she hadn't had time to look it out I told her to call me back with them -she never did. Today I found out that she is disputing my version of events. She gave me the wrong reg no AND the wrong phone no. Also she did NOT tell her insurance company of the accident. Anyone got any idea of how this is gonna go there were loads of people around at the time but no-one stopped, so no witnesses. I am not happy that some one could get away with this Any ideas of what I can do would be most welcome.

Firstly, I hope you are feeling better and sorry to here of your misfortune.
I would be more concerned whether the person who hit you wanted to be around if the police showed up.Drink driving comes to mind....dodgy insurance
unroadworthy vehicle.......etc.You never leave an injured person especially
as it would appear they caused your injuries.
As for other passers-by.....shame on them.I really can't understand how people turn a blind eye to such an incident.
Log all activity especially the phonecalls.Try 1471 after they call.
About the incorrect reg.number-I guess you were unable to check it against hers and the details she gave.Did she have any identification on her?
Did you check her front/side damage?
Personally I would of taken photos with my mobile phone,including the person that hit my car,including surroundings.Photo of both vehicles and number plates.
Hope you get the whole thing sorted.
If you have legal cover get them to start proceedings.Otherwise check the legal side of your house insurance if you have available.Otherwise no win no fee could be another option.

[tomstickland]

The insurance companies will start by trying to come to agreement between themselves. It's highly unlikely that you tried to reverse into her, so I'd expect them to guess who's telling the truth here.

[going2die_rich]

Call the police if she is denying it and they can turn up and ask her how come her car is damaged if she wasn't involved in an accident. Do it before she gets it fixed though else she can just lie. Make sure you throw in some whiplash claims in to teach her a lesson.

Try and press charges for anything to do with denying and failing to report the accident, you might as well make her pay for trying to screw you over

[carolannjo]

Thanks guys, I went to the address she gave me and there was damage to the front of her car I got the correct reg from there. My injuries were sprain to neck(whiplash) sprain to left elbow and left knee. These will take 6 weeks to resolve. I do have legal cover and will take your suggestions to involve them. The police went to see her and she produced all documentation so from that point of view she is legit. I will be contacting the officer today to find out what she said to them. My vehicle was repaired in 3 days by my insurance company ( new bumper new towbar paint etc). Will let you all know what police say. As an aside my car that was involved in the accident was the ONLY car to be vandalised in my work car park ( key or sharp implement dragged across it several times.) and she works in the same place-anyone else suspicious

[manhattan]

any cctv in the car park? they could have been caught on camera

[carolannjo]

camera was pointing in the opposite direction!

[isayoldchap]

Thanks guys, I went to the address she gave me and there was damage to the front of her car I got the correct reg from there. My injuries were sprain to neck(whiplash) sprain to left elbow and left knee. These will take 6 weeks to resolve. I do have legal cover and will take your suggestions to involve them. The police went to see her and she produced all documentation so from that point of view she is legit. I will be contacting the officer today to find out what she said to them. My vehicle was repaired in 3 days by my insurance company ( new bumper new towbar paint etc). Will let you all know what police say. As an aside my car that was involved in the accident was the ONLY car to be vandalised in my work car park ( key or sharp implement dragged across it several times.) and she works in the same place-anyone else suspicious

See if there is any swivel type cameras instead of fixed.Also if you think that companies around might have a camera facing from their buildings.Report the damage to the police.I can't see the police rushing out to get the suspected culprit.Get the crime ref number logged it at.Take your pictures of the damage.Get a repair estimate.Try parking it within view of a camera(hoping it works)-
see if you can find out from the operators....then the 'several times person'
maybe back for more.Several times you would think someone has it in for you.
Stranger things have happened though-break in a relationship!promotion collegue revenge.....assume and get some evidence.Be on your guard as they may strike again when the iron gets cooler.Be patient.
Personally I wouldn't get it repaired just yet.I would inform my insurance company as you may want to have it repaired at a later date.

[Cumbrian Male]

As the accident resulted in injury then the police must be informed.

She could be prosecuted for failing to report an accident.

You should have phoned the police regardless of her "being late for work" at the scene. Hindsight and all that.

Have you reported your injuries to the police? If not make sure you do, and that they get you medical reports from the hospital.

Hope you make a swift recovery.

[biblejohn]

As the accident resulted in injury then the police must be informed.

She could be prosecuted for failing to report an accident.

You should have phoned the police regardless of her "being late for work" at the scene. Hindsight and all that.

Have you reported your injuries to the police? If not make sure you do, and that they get you medical reports from the hospital.

Hope you make a swift recovery.

To be honest, the police dont give a monkies these days. I was involved in a very similar but more severe accident earlier in the year. I was stationary and a boy racer piled in the back of me at about 60mph. My car was written off, the boy racer was clearly speeding (it was a 30mph limit), was driving without due care & attention and was driving recklessly.

The result... police wrote to me 6 months after the incident saying that they were not going to press any charges to either party!!!!!! I was shocked as i thought it was a clear cut case and they didnt give any reason for their decision.

My insurance company paid me the market rate for my car and I got £1400 for whiplash injuries which im still suffering from now, some 8 months after the accident. All in all, it was a horrible experience, I really struggled to find another car as good as my original one for the "market rate", and ive lost 8 months of my life not being able to persue any of my hobbies & interests.

[carolannjo]

Hi sorry to hear of your misfortune and I hope you will soon be feeling a lot better. My saga continues I have received a letter from my insurance company asking me to provide full details of the accident plus a map. Unfortunately I was then admitted to hospital on an unrelated matter and just got out last week, so as yet have not had a chance to do it. Do you think I should include the fact she said to me at the scene "well I didn't hit you very hard" in my description of events and that she had a good old pull at my towbar and said "well these can move anyway". I am just not sure how much detail to include.

[hjb123]

Include as much detail as you can! Any details that come to memory include as the more the better! Its better to include stuff that may or may not be relevant rather than not include it at all!

[Lisa.O]

As somebody who used to work in Insurance, I can offer the advice to persevere. Sometimes people will do anything to get out of losong their 'no claim bonus" - clean driving record - etc, etc. However if your insurance company or legal people are any good, the outcome will be in your favour.

Your insurance company may contact you in the future, and advise that the third party (person who hit you) would like to settle on 50/50 or other compromise basis - advise them that this is not acceptable, and that you want full settlement in your favour. It may take a while, but in all the hundreds of claims I dealt with that had the same circumstances as yours - they were all settled in the favour of the person at the front - i.e. you!

Hope this will settle your mind - as I said persevere - make sure that your Insurance company or legal counsel keep you advised of all proceedings, and offers made by Third Party.

[Bossyboots]

To be honest, the police dont give a monkies these days. I was involved in a very similar but more severe accident earlier in the year. I was stationary and a boy racer piled in the back of me at about 60mph. My car was written off, the boy racer was clearly speeding (it was a 30mph limit), was driving without due care & attention and was driving recklessly.

The result... police wrote to me 6 months after the incident saying that they were not going to press any charges to either party!!!!!! I was shocked as i thought it was a clear cut case and they didnt give any reason for their decision.

My insurance company paid me the market rate for my car and I got £1400 for whiplash injuries which im still suffering from now, some 8 months after the accident. All in all, it was a horrible experience, I really struggled to find another car as good as my original one for the "market rate", and ive lost 8 months of my life not being able to persue any of my hobbies & interests.


Why did you settle your personal injury claim while still suffering symptoms as you desribe? My PIi solicitors were pants but at least they were waiting to see how my symptoms developed or resolved before discussing settlement with me.

[carolannjo]

thanks all, I am considering chapping on peoples doors where the accident happened as I did remember seeing some one get in to their car and drive away. Also I remembered a service bus passing me so contacted them also, but the driver said he remembered the two cars but did not observe what happened. One of my sons teachers passed me as I was stationary in the queue of traffic so will add this also. I asked my insurance company what she alleges but after two months of asking the other insurer (Diamond) they have not yet received anything, they did also say they wouldn't tell me anyway until I had given them my full version of events. Fortunately my hubbie who is in Law and order! wrote everything down as I described as I was waiting for my insurers call centre to open at 9am (accident happened at 8:25. My lawyer has written to her and her insurance company also to no avail!!
Think I am in this for the long haul!

[saintjanet]

Dont give up on this.The same thing happened to my brother in law,resulting in the woman who ran into him saying she was not involved and then refusing to reply to letters from his insurance company,via her own.

He lost his no claims bonus over this but it was reinstated when his insurance company finally sorted it out,he kept ringing them until they did!!It may have helped his case that she pushed him into another vehicle, so they were involved too.

[carolannjo]

Hi everyone an update called lawyer today to find out that other insurance company had accepted liability and would be forwarding a cheque asap. That was on 24/04/07 and as yet they have not received it so they are now chasing this up. Hopefully I should get my excess back soon and will then pursue for injuries

[hjb123]

Ah well glad to hear that it is getting resolved and that the other party has admitted liability.

Its always good when people come back to threads like these to let us know how its ended up