Unsure what to do after minor accident.

co734

Hi everyone. I could do with some advice as I am not too sure what is going to happen now and what I should do.

I had a minor accident in the car park at Tesco. A woman reversed out of a disabled parking space and went into the drivers side front wing of my car. I was driving along at the time I also had my 3-year old son in the car.

As soon as it happened I got out of my car and had a look at the damage to my car. There is now a biggish dent and big scratch. I was then unsure what I was meant to do at that point as I have only been driving 4 years and have never had anything like that happen so I just took her details.
The driver of the was quite rude. She didn't apolgise at all and tried to blame me for it, I had to threaten that I would call the police when she wouldn't give me her details.

I later got some quotes from 3 local garages on what it would cost to fix the car (it is still drivable). When I later phoned the phone she choose to go through the insurance copany rather then sort it out as she believes it was my fault as she was 'coming out of a disabled space'.

I reported it to my insurance and wondered what is the liklihood of my car getting fixed without me having to pay for it? I am really quite worried as we are on a low income.

Any advice would be welcome (iam sorry if this situation has already been discussed on here, I did have a quick look)

Thanks

pulliptears

So she reversed straight into the side of your car, but it was your fault because she was 'coming out of a disabled space'.

Thats brilliant. Hilarious. NOT your fault obviously.

Lum

I am assuming that you were driving down the main "road" section of the car park and that you didn't think to get a witness. The woman most definitely did not have right of way due to the fact that she was coming out of a parking space, disabled or otherwise, but don't argue with her on this, let her go on believing it and hopefully she'll say the same thing on the claim form.

I would contact Tesco and see if they can help you out with access to the CCTV. They probably wont but it's worth a shot.

You should contact your insurance company and advise of the situation as otherwise the first they will hear about it is when she puts in her claim. It is up to you if you want to try to claim from her but even if you don't you are still obliged to inform your insurers.

If you do decide to claim you have 3 options

1) Claim through your own insurers.

Personally I would advise against this as your no claims bonus will go away until the claim is resolved in your favour, which can take a long time

2) Claim through the other party's insurers

I have not personally tried this, though a few people on this and other forums have reported good results from doing so

3) Claim through an independent "accident management" service.

This is the route I personally chose to go down having been messed about by my own insurers too many times in the past, and not quite trusting the other party's insurers to put my interests first. The company I usually use is HelpHire, haven't had the need to use them for a few years, though my partner has. In my experience their service isn't as good as it once was, but it's still better than the hassle of dealing with my own insurance and my NCB is not at risk which makes things a lot nicer should my renewal roll over before the claim is settled. There are plenty of other companies that offer a similar service, usually free of charge, your breakdown cover probably also provides one for you.

For future reference, always carry a camera in your car, bonus points for a wet film type (cheapo disposable cameras with a flash are good for this) and get some photographs before anyone gets a chance to move. Also try to get any witness details and statements. A bit late now though.


Out of interest, and irrelevant to your claim, did she actually appear to be disabled and/or have a blue badge. I'm guessing from the attitude you describe that the answer to both these questions is no. Also what car was she driving.
(I'd put money on it being a BMW X5, Hyundai Santa Fe or something of that ilk)

Lirin

The disposable's are a good point Lum- I keep a couple in the cars, they're very handy. Digital shouldn't be used, as it's too easy to manipulate the images, plus if the cars broken into, losing a £2 camera is much more preferable to losing a £200 digital!

Strider590

Lirin wrote: »

Digital shouldn't be used, as it's too easy to manipulate the images,

Not necessarily...... It's also the easiest to spot.

Lirin

May be a NI thing- police advise against it over here in general. May also be null and void anyway, since a film scanner is pennies to buy!

Know I found the disposable's the handiest to keep in the car, easily replaced when the little one gets ideas of being a pro photographer!

Coveredinbees!!!!

I obviously don't know the full circumstances of what happened but as the driver of a van I find it particularly annoy when trying to reverse out of car parking spaces and people drive (or walk past) the back of the van when I'm trying to do it. I go very slowly when backing out as you have to pretty much hope nothing is coming as you can't see. If you see a car that was backing out you should stop and let them go, particularly if it's a disabled space as the drive may have limited mobility and might not be able to see very well behind them.

Barneysmom

A good point Coveredinbees!!!!
That's why I always reverse park, then cuss myself as I can't get the trolley round to the back of the car to unload it

Op just get in touch with your insurers and explain what's happened, you pay them to help you.

sarahg1969

Coveredinbees!!!! wrote: »

I obviously don't know the full circumstances of what happened but as the driver of a van I find it particularly annoy when trying to reverse out of car parking spaces and people drive (or walk past) the back of the van when I'm trying to do it. I go very slowly when backing out as you have to pretty much hope nothing is coming as you can't see. If you see a car that was backing out you should stop and let them go, particularly if it's a disabled space as the drive may have limited mobility and might not be able to see very well behind them.

So, reverse in, and don't inconvenience everyone else.

mcjordi

very easy to end up 50/50 unless you have a witness.. parking in a "disabled" bay does not give you priority on any manoeuvre. As i was always told the reversing car is at fault.

Lum

Coveredinbees!!!! wrote: »

I obviously don't know the full circumstances of what happened but as the driver of a van I find it particularly annoy when trying to reverse out of car parking spaces and people drive (or walk past) the back of the van when I'm trying to do it. I go very slowly when backing out as you have to pretty much hope nothing is coming as you can't see. If you see a car that was backing out you should stop and let them go, particularly if it's a disabled space as the drive may have limited mobility and might not be able to see very well behind them.

Whilst this is indeed true and what you describe would be courteous behaviour, you have no right to expect this and you would still be in the wrong were you to reverse into someone, as I'm sure you are aware.

Also, disabled spaces are so heavily misused in supermarkets that I seriously doubt anyone takes any notice or gives special attention to the people trying to use them, especially if the car in question happens to be some blinged up SUV.

If you're driving a van you probably have a sliding door in which to load your shopping so as sarahg above said, just reverse in!

Personally I reverse my car in and just throw the shopping in the passenger footwell. The boot in the Mondeo is so big that any shopping in there ends up strewn all over the place anyway*.


*and before anyone responds with a comment about my driving standard. The most economical route to my nearest Tesco involves a two very steep 1st gear hills, one of which has an uphill blind hairpin left on the return journey.