Leaving the scene of an accident.

Phatmouse

I really would love some advice, I hope I'm in the right place, I though asking here might be best.

On Friday I was going to pick up my partner from college. I was sitting at the lights when a Nixonxs big flatbed lorry with a load on crashed into the back of me!

The lights had just turned green and I had taken my handbrake off, so I was pushed about 5 ft down the road.

The truck pulled round me and drove off:eek:
I took the company name and the reg plate but it was a really funny part of town and couldn't see any obvious witnesses.

When I got home half an hour later I called the company who sounded shocked the manager called me back and said he would speak to the driver when he came in and call me back about 6.30.

I strated getting pains in my tummy and whet to get a check up as I am 7 months pregnant, I was at the hospital for a couple of hours, everything was okay, I dialled 1471 when I got back but the manager had not called me back.

On Saturday I called him to ask for the insurance details he said he had not had a chance to speak to the driver and asked me to fax him some details about the crash, a diagram of where it was a a description of what happened. I called my insurance company who said that as I was third party I would need to claim myself but not to send him anything just to get his insurance details and sort it out with them. I called him back to advise and he said he would get the transport manager to call me back on Monday with them.

Now I have a feeling that a man who drives a truck into a car and then just drives off will not own up to what he has done and I think the manager is being funny not giving me the details, I have a feeling he wants to see if the driver denies it on Monday and will just go with what he says.

I did go to the police after hospital on Friday night but had to force them to take a record of the crash, they seemed to think that as I had taken down the reg plate there was nothing they could do, they could only help if it was an unknown driver, which it was, there is nothing to say he will admit to it on Monday, they gave me a crime number and said to come back if he doesn't own up, but they really were not interested in the fact he left the scene of an accident, he didn't just nudge me, if my baby was not still inside of me she would have been injured.

My friend suggested I call claims direct as she said they will deal with it all for me, fix the car and sort out the insurance side of things, but I'm not sure I want to do that, I just want my car repaired.

As far as I can see he has dinted my boot door, scratched off the paintwork and smashed in the lock, the back light have come off its mounting although it is still intact and the wing which bends round the back is pushed in. It also now squeeks when going over a speed bump so I think there may be more damage than can be seen. I am taking it to a garage Monday. Its due for an MOT in November and I cannot afford to repair it myself as I am on maternity leave, even if its not dangerous I can't get my boot open to get my pushchair in.

I'm really worried about where I stand. To top it all off I'm in agony, my neck hurst my back hurts and my leg as my instict was to break as hard as I could when he was pushing me forward, I had to get help washing my hair yesterday as I can't lift my arms above my head.

What a weekend:eek:

can anyone offer any advice on what I should/could do about it.

Thanks in advance

Phatmouse

I am looking for some advice please.

On Friday I was going to pick up my partner from college. I was sitting at the lights when a Nixonxs big flatbed lorry with a load on crashed into the back of me!

The lights had just turned green and I had taken my handbrake off, so I was pushed about 5 ft down the road.

The truck pulled round me and drove off
I took the company name and the reg plate but it was a really funny part of town and couldn't see any obvious witnesses.

When I got home half an hour later I called the company who sounded shocked the manager called me back and said he would speak to the driver when he came in and call me back about 6.30.

I strated getting pains in my tummy and whet to get a check up as I am 7 months pregnant, I was at the hospital for a couple of hours, everything was okay, I dialled 1471 when I got back but the manager had not called me back.

On Saturday I called him to ask for the insurance details he said he had not had a chance to speak to the driver and asked me to fax him some details about the crash, a diagram of where it was a a description of what happened. I called my insurance company who said that as I was third party I would need to claim myself but not to send him anything just to get his insurance details and sort it out with them. I called him back to advise and he said he would get the transport manager to call me back on Monday with them.

Now I have a feeling that a man who drives a truck into a car and then just drives off will not own up to what he has done and I think the manager is being funny not giving me the details, I have a feeling he wants to see if the driver denies it on Monday and will just go with what he says.

I did go to the police after hospital on Friday night but had to force them to take a record of the crash, they seemed to think that as I had taken down the reg plate there was nothing they could do, they could only help if it was an unknown driver, which it was, there is nothing to say he will admit to it on Monday, they gave me a crime number and said to come back if he doesn't own up, but they really were not interested in the fact he left the scene of an accident, he didn't just nudge me, if my baby was not still inside of me she would have been injured.

My friend suggested I call claims direct as she said they will deal with it all for me, fix the car and sort out the insurance side of things, but I'm not sure I want to do that, I just want my car repaired.

As far as I can see he has dinted my boot door, scratched off the paintwork and smashed in the lock, the back light have come off its mounting although it is still intact and the wing which bends round the back is pushed in. It also now squeeks when going over a speed bump so I think there may be more damage than can be seen. I am taking it to a garage Monday. Its due for an MOT in November and I cannot afford to repair it myself as I am on maternity leave, even if its not dangerous I can't get my boot open to get my pushchair in.

I'm really worried about where I stand. To top it all off I'm in agony, my neck hurst my back hurts and my leg as my instict was to break as hard as I could when he was pushing me forward, I had to get help washing my hair yesterday as I can't lift my arms above my head.

What a weekend

can anyone offer any advice on what I should/could do about it.

Thanks in advance

Gingham_Ribbon

What a terrifying ordeal. I'm so sorry you're going through this, especially while pregnant. It's something that really frightens me and I'm constantly looking in my rear mirror at lights at the moment.

The guy is a lowlife to drive off after something like that and the manager is not taking it seriously enough. Go back to the doctor and get a further check up now you have extra pains. It's important that it's all logged. Well done for insisting on a crime number.

I think the best thing you can do as far as the site is concerned is ask Glad to move this to the insurance board for you as you'll get a lot of advice on there.

I am afraid I don't know about what you should do but hopefully you'll get good advice soon and have this dealt with properly and with as little stress as possible as you certainly don't need it at the moment. x

MarkyMarkD

We had exactly the same thing happen around 6 years ago, in a car which was less than 5 weeks old with my wife driving.

The lorry overtook us on a piece of road which was narrowing from 2 lanes to 1, and was forced to pull over to the left by an approaching truck. The only problem was that we were still there so he pushed our car off the road and did quite a lot of damage.

I knew that we'd have NO chance of recovering anything without the lorry's details, so I made my (very upset and crying) wife follow the lorry.

He drove along like a mad thing to try to escape, but we got his details before he managed to lose us (by driving through a housing estate at 60mph).

There was NO way he didn't know what he'd done.

This accident was on a Friday at 5pm - and the lorry belonged to a firm of local builders. I'm pretty convinced that he'd been on the "pop" after ending work for the week and hence didn't want to get stopped and breathalysed.

We reported our incident to the police. Although they took the details, they didn't do anything about it. The third party's driver denied being there and we reached an impasse.

Clearly we didn't make up the registration details, so he was guilty as hell, but we ended up getting nothing done about it.

As it was a company car, I didn't have to worry about the insurance situation but I suspect we would have lost our no claims discount etc. if it had been our own policy.

I'm sorry it happened to you, and sorry that I don't have any more positive advice.

On the other hand, if you know WHERE the vehicle is based you could go and find it SOON and photograph any damage to it, as it will support your claim.

Astaroth

The police are generally not interested in accidents unless there is either someone injured that requires an ambulance or if the highway is obstructed by debris. The reality is they are highly unlikely to pursue a prosecution and the actual damage to your vehicle/ the insurance claims are all civil matters which the police arent involved in.

Do you not have legal expenses insurance with your policy? If you do then your insurers should be appointing a solicitor or claims management company to handle the case for you.

If not then you could try phoning your insurers, say that the TP is being akward and not giving you their insurance details and ask that your insurers do a MID check on the vehicle reg to get the insurance company and policy number for you to enable you to write to their insurers directly.

Claims Direct are a ambulance chasing firm and therefore are only interested in cases which involve personal injury as if there is no injury they are not entitled to claim their fees from the other side. There are however Credit Hire car companies that will deal with both the repairs and providing a replacement vehicle on a credit bases (details of such companies can be found... http://www.abi.org.uk/TPHire/firsttier/default.asp) Make sure you read the terms and conditions on what happens if you do not win the case (eg the TP denies involvement) as with some you pay a small daily insurance (about £1) to cover it others mean that you have to pay for the hire/ repairs in full and there are some that simply dont charge you at all.

sali_mali

Hello, I'm really sorry to hear about this, it's awful. I'm sorry I don't have anything to add, I think you've done everything you can until the manager bloke gets back to you. You've been to the hospital and the police so there's a record of your accident, you have his registration number and a battered car... I don't think he'll find it very easy to wiggle out of it.

Good luck with it x

skintchick

I think if the guy says he wasn;t driving/didn;t do it, you get the police to deal with it. It's an offence to fail to stop after an accident, he has also caued you actual bodily harm, which is another offence. Make the police deal with it properly. THe manager will soon find out who was driving and hand the name over if it becomes a criminal matter.

Tell your GP you may need to use your medical notes in court, so they are aware of the situation.

Don;t let them OR the police get away with it.

mrbadexample

Forget the manager, he's obviously a waste of space if he hasn't spoken to the driver by now. We have telephones.

Go straight for the Director, explain the situation and ask for the name and address of the driver. If they don't play ball, tell them that you'll be reporting the matter to the Traffic Commissioner in the area, as she can take action against the company operator's licence, and the driver's vocational (HGV) licence. She probably won't, but it might make them nervous. Tell him that you require details of the company's insurers, and don't be put off.

There must have been some (however slight) damage to the truck.

I'm a little concerned that the police aren't interested, as he left the scene of the accident and there were injuries.

mrbadexample

skintchick wrote:

I think if the guy says he wasn;t driving

Not an option...there'll be a tachograph record.

dounome

mrbadexample wrote:

Forget the manager, he's obviously a waste of space if he hasn't spoken to the driver by now. We have telephones.

Go straight for the Director, explain the situation and ask for the name and address of the driver. If they don't play ball, tell them that you'll be reporting the matter to the Traffic Commissioner in the area, as she can take action against the company operator's licence, and the driver's vocational (HGV) licence. She probably won't, but it might make them nervous. Tell him that you require details of the company's insurers, and don't be put off.

There must have been some (however slight) damage to the truck.

I'm a little concerned that the police aren't interested, as he left the scene of the accident and there were injuries.

I agree with mrbadexample, go above the manager to his superior and threaten to take it to the papers as they are not being co-operative, they will not want any bad publicity as they are a big company

steve_cov

dounome wrote:

I agree with mrbadexample, go above the manager to his superior and threaten to take it to the papers as they are not being co-operative, they will not want any bad publicity as they are a big company

If the police are involved, DON'T go to the papers. The paper will not publish your story as it will possibly find itself in contempt of court. You would be wasting your energy.