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Been in first car accident tonight - what do I need to do

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Comments

  • anewman
    anewman Posts: 9,200 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    bestpud wrote: »
    No it is coming out of the insurance we all pay!

    It will no doubt increase the cost of the insurance of the woman who did the rear ending. It's not like the poster hasn't been injured. There are loads of to$$ers who go around disconnecting their brake lights to get people to rear end them, and surprise surprise all 5 people in the car are claiming for whiplash they don't even have. If you want to have something against people making insurance claims I suggest you direct your energies towards those, and not people who have suffered genuine injuries they otherwise wouldn't have :beer:
  • lexilex
    lexilex Posts: 1,953 Forumite
    Anewman, thanks, I feel guilty enough without people telling me I shouldn't be claiming.

    People actually disconnect their brake lights? How desperate can somebody be. I hope they really do end up with whiplash!

    What a time for it to happen, hope it's eased off a bit by xmas, and then I go on holiday in three weeks time, the thought of four hours stuck in one position on a plane in pain really makes me not want to go at the moment.
  • anewman
    anewman Posts: 9,200 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    lexilex wrote: »
    People actually disconnect their brake lights? How desperate can somebody be. I hope they really do end up with whiplash!
    http://www.safefromscams.co.uk/StagedAccidentScam.html

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6248515.stm
  • bestpud
    bestpud Posts: 11,048 Forumite
    anewman wrote: »
    It will no doubt increase the cost of the insurance of the woman who did the rear ending. It's not like the poster hasn't been injured. There are loads of to$$ers who go around disconnecting their brake lights to get people to rear end them, and surprise surprise all 5 people in the car are claiming for whiplash they don't even have. If you want to have something against people making insurance claims I suggest you direct your energies towards those, and not people who have suffered genuine injuries they otherwise wouldn't have :beer:

    A genuine injury that will, in all likelihood be better very quickly!

    Anyone who claims for something they don't really need is equally as bad imo. What difference does it make whether it is large or small scale - it is still fraud if it is not necessary?

    If the OP does turn yout to have longer lasting damage the yes, of course they should claim, but it is a bit early to be speculating about that, don't you think?

    Insurance claims bump up the cost for all of us. Compensation claims more so as they can be very expensive.
  • bestpud
    bestpud Posts: 11,048 Forumite
    lexilex wrote: »
    I do feel bad about claiming, infact I feel bad about the whole thing. I feel sorry for them having to find the 400 excess 5 days before christmas. I know I shouldn't, it was her fault, but I know if it was the other way round I'd be so worried. Then I think, well it was there choice to have such a high excess, I made sure mine was low when I was shopping round.

    I so aren't part of the compensation culture. I don't agree with people claiming unneccessarily at all. I never intended last night when this happened to claim, I just wanted to be diagnosed so I could get some stronger painkillers which aren't available over the counter, which the dr last night didn't give me. It's only after different people have been saying how bad whiplash can be that I thought I better tell my insurers and they've told me to claim.

    You don't need to claim at this stage; you only need to inform them you have the injury. You can wait a few days and see if you recover, which you very likely will.

    I know someone who had whiplash and she could barely sit up for several days but it did go and she is now fine. Going on what she said afterwards, I'm amazed you are able to use a computer. She was literally immobilised for about three days!

    She was asked by several ambulance chasers if she wanted to make a claim but refused... She actually became very upset with the vultures ringing her as she found it so painful to get up and answer the telephone and in the end her OH disconnected the phone while he was at work so she could rest properly.

    But like I said, if you want to claim, wait until they ring you as they will tell you exactly how to act and what to say, and what various things you can claim for. They did with her and she was disgusted by it.

    Oh and they will tell you you are disabled for life too - be warned!
  • lexilex wrote: »
    Was on my way out tonight with my boyfriend, going for a meal, and someone went into the back of my car.

    She's took total responsibility, admitted it was her fault, she saw me slowing down but for some reason it didn't click that she should brake too. We got all her details, not who she's insured with though she couldn't remember. Luckily a Police Community Support Officer was going past at the time and he rang up and checked for us that she was insured. She said she will be able to give us the nameonce we ring her at home and she's had time to get paper work out.

    I had neck and back pain so went to a+e, waited 3 hours for an xray, only to be told my the dr I didn't need one, apparently it's bruising and just to go home, so now I'm in agony.

    What do I need to do next? I've only been driving literally a year and have no idea what I need to do. Do I need to ring there insurers, do I ring mine and do they sort it all out? I've no idea. The damage doesn't look that bad to my car (from the sound of the crash I though I had lost the back end of my car) but who knows what it's going to come to when it gets checked over. So basically whats my next move?

    Oh, and I never did get any dinner, just waiting for a takeaway to come now!

    Option 1.

    Get some accident management co on the case and try to pretend that you're injured and try get £10k.

    Get a "hire" car that costs £300 a day too.

    When you notice that insurance has trebbled, link !!!!!!!!!!s trying it on for compo and the increase.

    Option 2.

    Report accident to your insurance company.

    Let them deal with it.

    Don't try to screw compo out of everyone.

    Be a proper person.

    HTH
    "Love you Dave Brooker! x"

    "i sent a letter headded sales of god act 1979"
  • anewman wrote: »
    Don't feel bad about claiming, it's your right to do so, and it's not like it's coming directly out of her purse.

    Indeed it comes out of all our purses, which is why motor insurance for us all has gone up so much.
    "Love you Dave Brooker! x"

    "i sent a letter headded sales of god act 1979"
  • sarahg1969
    sarahg1969 Posts: 6,694 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    If you feel bad about it, OP, why don't you wait a few weeks or months to see if you really are badly injured? If not, then you won't need to claim and your conscience is clear. You don't have to start a claim immediately. You have 3 years from the date of injury to issue court proceedings.
  • lexilex
    lexilex Posts: 1,953 Forumite
    I'm going to see how long the doctors think it's going to take to get back to normal and go on that.

    I aren't going to dictate myself to anyone on here. People obviously have strong opinions on the topic and I'm not up for an argument I'm afraid.

    Some of the people on here who just assume we're all the same and out to get what we can have upset me, I'm currently laid up in bed, wedged upon a v shaped pillow, unable to do very much at all and been accused of been a fraud.

    I came on here, genuine and asking for advice, not to be talked down to by others who think they know best.
  • anewman
    anewman Posts: 9,200 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Indeed it comes out of all our purses, which is why motor insurance for us all has gone up so much.

    The major contributing factors to higher insurance costs are....
    • Uninsured drivers (aka scum)
    • Policy fronting (aka mummy and daddy insuring kid's car cause they can't afford the insurance)
    • Completely bogus insurance claims/staged accident scams
    This individual has a genuine injury. They're not putting it on for a larf and a couple of quid, and it has negatively impacted their daily activities. Just because this does not equal days off work which can be calculated at £x per hour off work does not mean there's no loss. If we take your attitude the max payments for compo should only ever be the equivalent of minimum wage (whatever the person earns/ed) for the amount of hours off work and nothing else.
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