Accident help...

wafmoo

My wife had a minor accident this morning and just after some advice.

She was approaching a roundabout, and as there was another car already on it, she braked normally and stopped. The car behind her didn't stop in time and hit her, pushing her forward slightly.
The other car only has a cracked number plate, and my wifes car has a small dent in the boot and a crack in the bumper.
The other driver said ' you braked too hard ', but am I right in thinking that, even if that was correct ( it isn't ), the other driver would be at fault for hitting a stationary vehicle and driving too close?

Not sure yet whether to involve insurance co, as excess on wifes policy is £300, and not sure how much the damage will cost to repair. If other driver is at fault, and my wife claims against her, does that mean excess can be claimed back from other drivers policy?

McKneff

Your wife is not to blame at all. She should get the othe parties details and deal directly with their insurance company. Full Stop.

She should ring her own insurance company and tell them of the incident and make sure that they know it is for information only.

It is much easier to deal directly. The other party cannot argue with the fact that they hit your wifes stationary vehicle.

She can also, because she is not at fault choose to take her car to any garage of her choosing.

No excess is involved if she does it this

The Ins. should instruct her to take it to a garage for a quote. Garage and Ins. company liase with each other.

The car goes to a garage, the garage mends it, the insurance pays the garage direct.

Ive been through it twice in the last 2 years. My car must be a magnet for other people hitting it lol

InsideInsurance

wafmoo wrote: »

Not sure yet whether to involve insurance co, as excess on wifes policy is £300, and not sure how much the damage will cost to repair. If other driver is at fault, and my wife claims against her, does that mean excess can be claimed back from other drivers policy?

Whether you use them or not you must inform your insurers. If you claim from your insurers first then technically the excess is payable and recoverable from the third party/ third party insurer but some insurers do waive the excess at their discretion if liability is clear and TP/ TPI are fully identified.

What is normally better to do is to claim directly from their insurance company and most are more than happy to assist once their client has informed them of the incident and if they believe their client is liable.

Based on the circumstances as you describe them, the TP is 100% at fault. Safe braking distances must be maintained so you can stop in an emergency, they failed to do this

Strider590

This is an insurance scammers favourite situation. 90% of people see the car in front moving off, and then look right for traffic, but if the driver in front suddenly changes their mind during that split second, then the 2nd car has no chance and goes straight into them.

Bravehearted_2

Strider590 wrote: »

This is an insurance scammers favourite situation. 90% of people see the car in front moving off, and then look right for traffic, but if the driver in front suddenly changes their mind during that split second, then the 2nd car has no chance and goes straight into them.

Just cos the car in front has moved off doesn't mean it's safe for others behind to go. Anyone caught by this "scam" is just incompetent really.

You should move off only after looking forward and right - not really rocket science.

Lol at "you braked too hard". So what if I did. Not really an excuse as that doesn't affect her own stopping.

Lum

Two options

1) Let the insurance deal with it. The repair will be done at no cost to you, you wont lose your NCB, but you will have to declare the accident for the next 5 years and they'll put your premium up anyway, even though it's non fault

2) Settle privately with the person who hit you, get a quote for the repairs in advance and have them pay you before the work is done. Do not tell the insurance, ensure that the person who hit you doesn't either, then you won't have to declare it for the next five years and wont have the increased premiums.

If you tell the insurance, even "for information only" your premiums are going up.

The second one is the most cost effective option, but not entirely risk free, at the first sign that the guy who hit you isn't going to play along, bail and go down the insurance route.

Strider590

Bravehearted wrote: »

Just cos the car in front has moved off doesn't mean it's safe for others behind to go. Anyone caught by this "scam" is just incompetent really.

You should move off only after looking forward and right - not really rocket science.

.

It'll happen to you one day and ten you'll realise..... Nobody ever drives up to the line and comes to a complete stop before looking right. It's that split second when you look right, the car in front drops the anchors and your screwed.

Mankysteve

Strider590 wrote: »

It'll happen to you one day and ten you'll realise..... Nobody ever drives up to the line and comes to a complete stop before looking right. It's that split second when you look right, the car in front drops the anchors and your screwed.

You should always presume the person in front is going to stop suddenly.

You never know what that can in front is doing ie distracted, tired, kids mess around in the back of car, just plain thick. Also it could be that they have missed a car all ready on the roundabout or someone giving the wrong signal.

They're so many reasons a car will come to a sudden stop at around about without it being scam. Brave is right you should never get caught out by those kind of scams.

wba31

Strider590 wrote: »

It'll happen to you one day and ten you'll realise..... Nobody ever drives up to the line and comes to a complete stop before looking right. It's that split second when you look right, the car in front drops the anchors and your screwed.

Personally, I dont even look at the roundabout until the car in front has gone, different people have different confidence levels in whether to pull out or not, i know that most will be less confiden than me, so i dont think about looking to go unless i am comfortable that the way is clear

Chopper_Read

wba31 wrote: »

Personally, I dont even look at the roundabout until the car in front has gone, different people have different confidence levels in whether to pull out or not, i know that most will be less confiden than me, so i dont think about looking to go unless i am comfortable that the way is clear

It's all well and good being confident but who says you have greater ability?

Bravehearted_2

I know it can happen to anyone including the most alert drivers for any number of reasons. It just just exacerbated in the case of those not paying attention or assuming that just because the car in front has moved, then it's safe for me to as well.

When I was learning to drive, I had to put a lot of work onto roundabouts because that was what I found the hardest. As a result, I've come to the realisation that there is no need to hurry or rush at them. I can take my time and go as slow as I required. I even promised myself to literally treat it as a junction and stop completely before proceeding even if there was nothing approach.

Of course I no longer do that as practice made me get the hang it, but behind that is still the knowledge that I don't need to hurry at the roundabout. Anyone getting antsy behind me can just suck it.