First crash...advice!

KierNet

McKneff wrote: »

I wouldnt worry too much anyway, if they are damaged at the front and you are damaged at the side, they cant really say that you drove sideways into them. lol

Dunno...could have been drifting xD.

MX5huggy

KierNet wrote: »

Insurance company is contacted, turns out they are insured with the same company, which should help.

Not a good thing at all because the insurance company will have no benefit from working out who is to blame as they payout the same whatever.

You car will be a write off start looking at prices for the same car as you will need to reject their first offer probably.

Crabman

I often read of cases in Honest John's column where insurers of the at fault party cause an unnecessary delay. He advises suing via the small claims court.

Do you have legal cover with your car insurance? If you have home insurance they usually provide a legal advice helpline (even if you don't take out legal cover) so it may be worth getting in touch with them to find out what sort of evidence you need to write a letter of claim to the other party and then successfully file a strong court claim.

Your premiums will rise in subsequent years as a result of this so you should try to get an amount in settlement to cover these costs. I've seen posts from others on here where offers have been made by the other party's insurers to cover the increased expense of higher premiums. Not sure whether it's standard but perhaps others can advise.

EDIT: Link to HJ's advice: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/blameless-crashes/

McKneff

Like I said in my earlier post, I have had 2 no fault incidents in the past 18 months and have not had any impact on my premiums.

Im with the CIS (cooperative insurance society)

If your car is written off, dont accept their first offer,

waynedance

Use Google earth and print off the junction in both satellite and street view and mark on there where the cars were, job done.

benrashton

I love the way one member can tell you your car is written off without seeing it. Brilliant.

Basically, you have several choices.

1.call your own insurance and log a claim. Give them his details and they will chase him for the cost. This will be the quickest way of getting it sorted but you will have to pay your excess and be reimbursed in the future.

2. call his insurance company if you had those details. Inform them that he has collided with you and the circumstances. they will tell you if he has logged the incident/admit liability although maybe not straight away. When he does they will arrange the repairs and replacement car for you. This will take a bit longer as you are relying on him to co-operate with his insurance promptly.

3. call his (boss) company and tell them about the incident. Which, they obviously will know about. Liase with them and that way you know they have informed their insurance company, get the incident number from them and then call their insurance company directly to make repair arrangements. Personally I would do this.

Yes grab pictures if you like. Mostly of your car damage. But not really necessary. I dare say the collision scene is "contaminated" now given the traffic so there is little evidence. Even if you went back and took pictures of skid marks, without the at fault driver being there and it being some time after the incident they could argue they related to different vehicles.

If you are driving along the main road and he has driven into the side of you having exited a T junction you haven't got anything to worry about. Insurance companies although wanting to minimise costs aren't stupid and it's evident that he drove into the side of you. He has front damage (however little) and you have side damage. Simples.

Obukit

benrashton wrote: »

I love the way one member can tell you your car is written off without seeing it. Brilliant.

Unfortunately cars are very quickly written off by insurance companies now because of the amount of stuff that crumples when hit - my 2002 Corsa was almost written off due to a car park shunt that scratched the bumper, other persons insurance had £1,200 repair bill + car hire as the car had crumpled behind the OS headlight. Was borderline whether it was worth doing or not.

It's partially why premiums are so bloody high nowadays.

mattyprice4004

benrashton wrote: »

I love the way one member can tell you your car is written off without seeing it. Brilliant.

The car will either need new doors or filling, primer, paint and laquer. Add a hire car to that, and also any costs incurred for processing the repair and it's definitely a write off.

Oh, and without seeing it? I suggest you read the thread, there is a link to a picture of the damage.

KierNet

Any ideas how long I should wait until I phone my insurance company up and ask for updates?

benrashton

Give them a buzz later and see if they have spoken to the at fault side. That way you will have a better time scale and better picture of whats happening.

Thanks for pointing to the link. I missed it earlier. I'd agree more than likely a write off. However, open to surprises!