Van reversed into my car, no visible damage: need to inform insurance?

Willeh

Good evening guys, posting here for your advice:

Was parked on the side of a road with my dad, behind a van; we were both talking and on our phones, waiting to pick up my sister.

Looked up and next thing we knew, the van had reversed into us with a bang. Got out and inspected the car: could not see any visible damage, but I took some photos and got the name + phone number of the other driver (but not insurance details, as he didn't know / didn't have the docs?). He didn't ask for my details, but he kept saying sorry throughout.

What are your thoughts on:

- Getting the car properly checked out for any damage within ?
- Informing my insurance of this, to avoid anything nasty in the future?

Dad says no need for either, but I'm still learning so would like to hear other opinions too.

Thanks in advance

specialboy

Get the car checked for unseen damage, modern cars have crumple zones that can fold at the slightest knock. If no damage then you can forget it happened (you should really inform your insurance company for information purposes only) but if there is any damage then you need to get the other partys details and start a claim against them.

Richard53

You describe the impact as a bang, which suggests a degree of force, and damage is possible. Get down around the area of the impact. Fingertip search of the bumper and any panels nearby for ripples, chips etc (your fingertips are better than your eyes for this). Look along panel lines to see if anything is out of line, or if there are gaps where there shouldn't be. Get underneath (car on ramps and you in an old jacket if possible)and have a good look for any sign of damage - a torch will help. Any broken plastic lugs, any brackets that have obviously moved, any marks on components that look recent, any ripples in chassis members (unlikely but serious if there are), anything that looks out of place. The car will have a coating of road grime down there - see if it has been dislodged, scraped etc.

If it all looks OK, smile and forget about it. It might also be a courtesy to call the van driver and let him know you won't be taking it further. From your description, he sounded a decent sort, and it would be kind to let him off the hook.

If there's anything you're not happy about, get it checked out by a trusted garage or mechanic. But it sounds like a minor bump you can forget about. I suppose strictly you should inform your insurer (they like to know about any incident), but in the real world I doubt if they would be interested.

Gloomendoom

Richard53 wrote: »

I suppose strictly you should inform your insurer (they like to know about any incident), but in the real world I doubt if they would be interested.

In a similar situation, my insurance company were interested enough to up my premium at renewal.

colino

Apart from obvious, visible paint damage, all sorts of structures are either designed to fail, as in crumple zone, or are built from brittle plastic. A bump like that can easily distort bumper support bar, its mountings and the lugs on the headlights, indicators and grill.
Have it assessed by a good indy before committing to tearing up your ncd.

mattyprice4004

Whip the bumper off and check nothing is bent - there'll be a guide to bumper removal on an owner's club or similar.

InsideInsurance

Was there any damage to the van?

Most people wont inform their insurers about these types of incident but technically it is breach of contract not to and fraud not to declare it going forward. If neither party report it to insurers you'll probably get away with it. If he does claim on his insurance for his own damage then there is a chance your details would make its way onto CUE as the third party and this would cause problems in the future if that records found but you havent declared it