OH crashed into another car, what do we do now?

Dinah93

Yesterday my OH crashed his car into another car. He was driving on a single carriageway, when the car two ahead of him braked suddenly. The car in front of him also therefore braked, however my OH is certain that their brake lights didn't come on so it took him longer to notice than it would have otherwise, and he bumped into the back of their car at around 10 miles per hour. The driver of the first car didn't stop and kept driving so we don't know why they braked.

The car my OH hit had a visably dented and scratched bumper, and the driver said the exhaust would need replacing too (apparently these are easily damaged), and he would be getting the repairs done and sending my OH the bill. He would also be suing him for whiplash. OH's car has nothing more than a cracked numberplate covering, a 3cm crack in the bumper, and the bumper has dropped about 1.5cm below the headlight line.

We have car insurance with Diamond, and presumably the works to the other car will come to more than £150 which is our excess level. Do we contact Diamond and tell them about the accident, or wait for the guy to contact us or what? Never been in an accident that was our fault before. If he just goes and gets the repairs done and sends the bill will the car insurance company pay this as surely he could have gone to the most expensive place, or his mates garage where the price is ramped or something, woulc have thought our insurance company chose where the works were done if they are paying?

Second point is that the man said he was suing for whiplash. We do not have legal cover on that insurance policy, if he were to win would they try to claim money off us? We (only last week) paid off the last of our debts, and my OH gets paid minimum wage and works 42 hours a week just to support himself. We are not financially linked as I have a bad credit rating that I don't want him to be part of. He has £500 in savings, which is to cover car repairs, presents etc. A lady at work had a whiplash claim and she won over £5000, I don't know how we'd be expected to pay out money like this when we don't have it, could they force us to take out a loan?

Sorry for the long post, we're just really stressed. I understand my OH is at fault as he hit the other guy, but I don't want one mistake to put us hugely into debt again, and on a basic level, don't know what we do now.

Thanks for reading

beaker141

I'd give your insurers a ring and ask their advice, but I think you would be best claiming to be honest. I think legal cover is just for when you want a legal advice service, your third party liability would cover any claim he had for whiplash.

Hintza

This really revolves round the brake lights. If they did not come on it could be a scam so your husband has to decide whether he is sure or not. For someone to be saying they will claiming whiplash right at the start also adds fuel to the fire.

This is the sort of claim you need to report to your insurance company as soon as possible, becausethis is guy is going to claim for everything. Your husband should also report any misgivings he has.

This should act as warning to all others if the accident doesn't seem right get the police out straightaway and for example ask them to check the brake lights.

Good luck.

LandyAndy

You definitely need to register a claim as it is your OH's fault (he ran into the back of the other vehicle).

A whiplash claim could be £'000s. As Hintza says, it whiffs of scam.

Hintza

http://www.noclaimsdiscount.co.uk/news/art_display.php?show=200902051

maninthestreet

You insurance policy will cover your husband for 3rd party claims for personal injury and/or damage to property. That's what the insurance is for, and why you are legally required to have it when driving a vehicle on a public road. You will only have to pay the excess, but check your policy details. Expect your insurance premium to rise as a result, though.

tigzem

Your excess is normally the amount you have to pay towards the repairs on your own car, not the third party x

Quentin

maninthestreet wrote: »

You will only have to pay the excess,

This is incorrect. The OP won't have to cough up his £150 excess.

You have no excess to pay for third party claims.

(You only pay an excess when you claim for damage to your own property.)

Lemonade_Pockets

As above, i'd get onto your insurers and follow their advice about what to do next. Did your husband get the other drivers details and or insurance details? You will need these if you want to dispute who was at fault. The insurance companies will then argue between themselves. For what its worth i think it sounds suspicuous too.

Your insurance should include under british law 3rd party liability cover. This will pay out for whiplash claims etc should that arise. So don't worry about footing a bill for that.

http://www.abi.org.uk/Display/default.asp?Menu_ID=1140&Menu_All=1,946,1140&Child_ID=415

Armengar

Contact the police about the incident. Afterall car1 drove off after the scene of an accident.

Never admit liability and yes phone your insurer stating they braked suddenly with no brake lights noting your highway code for stopping distances. Car 1 should have stopped as they were part of the accident if both car 2 and your car 3 claim they were at fault. MIB will most likely sort the mess out if car 1 cannot be found.

mikey72

Car 1 wasn't part of the accident, if car 2 didn't touch him.
The brake lights will be working on car 2 now if it is a scam.
Just report it to the insurance, they'll take care of everything for you. The other party has no right to get anything fixed without the insurance companies consent, but give him a call and tell him you want to go through the insurance, and give him your details, if you haven't already to cover everything.
Forward any mail from him to your insurance.
If you are not claiming for you car you won't have to worry about the excess. Your no claims will suffer though.