Other driver left scene of accident

ecoelle

Hi, I was involved in my very forst accident tonight and now don't know what i'm supposed to do.

I was stopped at a red light and the guy behind me hit me with his car. I got out and checked he was ok, then asked for his details, he refused to give them to me, just kept asking me why i had stopped. I told him i would call the police if he refused to give me his details. I'm sure i smelt alcohol coming from inside his car. I went back to my car and called the police, he moved his car up really close to mine, then got out, then got back in his car and drove off while i was on the phone to the police.

I think my car is a right off, my neck is killing me and i don't know what i'm supposed to do now.

Thanks for reading
Elle

Zazen999

What did the police say? Did you give them the reg no? Take any photos?

adamc260

Ring your insurer, make sure it's reported to the police.... and let them deal with the rest

Check in the area if there were any witnesses.. what time did this happen? was it outside any shops, houses, restaurants etc etc (basically anywhere where people would be!)

Did you get the persons reg plate or ANY details about them?

ecoelle

I got their reg and gave it to the police on the phone. The police never came to the accident site, so i didn't get a reference number. Will i need the reference number for my insurance? There are no witnesses, their were two women crossing the road, that's why the lights were on red, but i didn't think to stop them at the time and get their details. I didn't take any photos.

Will the police get back to me? The guy might not have insurance, that might bw why he drove off, or he was over the limit, or he was just an idiot. But either way he left the scene of an accident so will the police need to take a statement from me or anything?

Been driving 10 years and never had an accident before, just a bit scared is all.

mattymoo

You can check to see if he had insurance here - www.askmid.com
If you pay a fee they will also tell you who the insurer is. You then have the option to pursue the claim against them although they will not act until their policyholder has reported it.

Zazen999

You car was written off; and you called the police to an RTA and they didn't attend?

devildog

Zazen999-They don't always attend!
I was involved in an accident many years ago involving two other cars(my fault ) I phoned the police to report it, they asked if anyone was injured(which they were not) so they were not interested and didn't attend. No incident number or anything.
Ecoelle-they should have your call on record so I would get back to them pronto and ask them to investigate.

Zazen999

Interesting, a deer came lolloping out of the undergrowth on the M5 2 weeks ago and went headlong into the side of my car; I called the police and they asked if I wanted them to attend [I didn't] and I asked for an Incident Number and they gave me one for insurance purposes.

dogbot

ecoelle,

Sorry to hear about the accident and the person at fault being a **** (pick your own word!). Your insurer can get the details of the insurer from the registration number so you don't need to pay the fee, just call them to report the claim (which you need to do).

If you are Third party only/third party fire and theft only, then hopefully they should still provide the third party insurer details and you can either try to claim yourself, or use a solicitor or a legal expensies policy which will find you a solicitor.

If you are fully comp let them get on with dealing with the damage to your vehicle. If you have legal expenses with your insurance you can contact them and they will help you with your injury and other unisured losses (like your excess).

If there is no other insurer then hopefully the police may find the person or your insurer may be able to find the keeper of the vehicle. They will hopefully attempt a recovery against the person but this rarely comes to anything.

If there is no other insurer then the Motor Insurance Bureau exists and may be able to provide some compensation for injury and AD but this will only be partial. A specalits solicitor, like one you would be provided with though your legal expenses policy, would help with this.

http://www.mib.org.uk/Customer+Services/en/Making+a+claim/default.htm

As well as using your insurer, legal expenses/your own solicitor, there are also accident management companies. These organisations can be of help in these circumstances, but may leave you facing a hefty bill for car hire, storage, repairs...

sagalout1954

......and go to your GP about your neck! Even if all you get are some painkillers, at least it will be on your medical records in case it doesn't get proper better soon.

skintdragon

Did you mention to the police you suspected the other driver had been drinking?

Perhaps they would make more of an effort to pursue this incident if they had this info- worth a shot?

Good luck and hope you get the situation resolved asap.:)