I was hit by a lorry last night - what should I do next?

Chocsaway_2

Last night travelling back home from N Yorkshire I was hit by a lorry on the motorway. My husband and 2 small children were in the car and thankfully we were all ok. The car I'm assuming is a write off as it has damage everywhere with the exception of the roof and the passenger side - we were spun round and hit by the lorry twice and we also hit the central reservation so I am really thankful we are all still here.
The accident happened on the motorway in a 50mph limit (which we were within) when the lorry apparently didn't see us and pulled into our lane as we were alonside - we were in the slow lane and the lorry was overtaking. We were picked up by a pick up truck and the car was taken to a yard. We had no breakdown cover so we were taken with the car to the yard and were really looked after until a friend managed to get us home at 2am.

What I would really like to know is what I need to do about my car now (will be ringing insurance company very soon) as my car is still at the yard and about 60 miles from where I live.


Here are my questions - thank you for any advice given

Do the insurance company collect it or do I need to arrange collection?

Where will my car need to get taken to, will the insurance company specify this?

Sorry if I am asking silly questions, but this is my first car accident in 15 years of driving and I am still very shaken.

dacouch

Was it a UK registered truck or a foreign registered truck

Chocsaway_2

It was Uk registered, as the address on the accident sheet is UK based (or at least I am assuming that is the case)

dacouch

Who are you insure with and do you know how much your excess is ?

SailorSam

Did the lorry stop, your insurance will want all his details.
I think the car should stay where it is, the insurance will go there to inspect it.
Go to your local hospital, if you're going to make a claim for personal injury you'll need medical evidence.

Chocsaway_2

The lorry did stop, the driver was quite shaken too. We are all fine - don't think we need to go to hospital or anything. We have all the driver's details and the police ( not sure if it was the police, think they were to do with the motorway) were there - although the first thing he said to us was 'what did you hit?' and he was generally unhelpful - the tow truck was there in 6 minutes whereas he took over 20 minutes to get to us.

dacouch

You have two options.

Use your own Insurers.

They will come and collect the vehicle and instigate repairs or write the car off.

Advantages

They have to abide by the Ombudsman so you generally get a larger pay out.

They will start on the claim asap

Disadvantages

You will need to pay your excess

If you're with a cheap and cheerful company they may cancel the policy after the have written it off.

Use other Insurer / a Claims management company

Advantages

No Excess to pay

Your policy won't be cancelled (Assuming your with a cheap and cheerful Insurer)

Disadvantages

They will nor always start on the claim until the other Insurer has accepted they were at fault (Lorry drivers don't always report claims until they return to base which can be a few days).

They're not bound by the Ombudsman

If you use a claims company, they will put you in a very expensive hire car which can often influence them to delay the claim so they make more on the car hire.

[Deleted User]

Are you Comprehensive or TP?

dacouch

How old is your car

slyracoon

Speak to your insurance company.

Chocsaway wrote: »

We have all the driver's details and the police ( not sure if it was the police, think they were to do with the motorway) were there - although the first thing he said to us was 'what did you hit?' and he was generally unhelpful - the tow truck was there in 6 minutes whereas he took over 20 minutes to get to us.

Probably a Highways Agency Traffic Officer (HATO), he will have wanted to know what was hit to ensure the road was safe for other users and to arrange repairs if anything was damaged.

If you hit the central reservation the Highways Agency will lodge a claim with your insurer for the damage, hopefully the lorry driver will admit liability and his insurance will cover everything.

Mikey_Moos

Sounds like a nasty accident, glad to hear everyone is safe! You're better off ringing your insurance company; they'll sort everything out for you from my experiences!