Best way to proceed?

onedaysomeday

I had a small accident at a roundabout on Sunday evening, I approached the roundabout, slowed, checked to my right, no traffic at all on the roundabout, so continued without needing to stop. As I came onto the roundabout a bus waiting at the junction to my left decided to pull out, and even with braking as fast as I could, I still made contact with the right hand rear corner (he was driving across me, both of us going straight over from our respective junctions). Pretty much everyone has said that as I made contact with the back of him, I'm at fault even though he shouldn't have pulled out. I've made peace with that, though it feels unfair, one person even said it would have gone more in my favour if I'd made contact with the side of him instead.

Only damage I have is the bonnet is lifted a little on one side, but still opens and closes, red paint from the bus on the front right hand corner which comes of with T cut, and a hole in my bumper. No damage to lights, wheels, etc everything else looks sound. I doubt the bus has anything more than a scratched paint job.

The excess on my policy is not much less than the car is valued on comparison sites, so it has been suggested that I just tell my insurance company that I want to leave it at a reported accident but not a claim. The only repair that I would want to do in the next few months is the bonnet, not bothered about the bumper for now. So it seems the best way to go for me is to call my insurance and say I don't want to make a claim, just leave it as an accident reported, and pay for the repair myself which will work out cheaper than the excess.

I'm not really sure where things are with the insurers at the moment, last thing I heard yesterday was that they were going to get in touch with the other insurers to establish liability, does this mean they are processing it as a claim and I need to call them? Or just wait for their update and say I don't wish to claim?

Many thanks!

martinthebandit

What damage was there to the bus?

onedaysomeday

I'm unsure, I couldn't get round to where he was safely after becoming stationary on the roundabout as by this point there were cars moving around me both sides and beeping at me so I drove down to the next junction and came back up to be able to pull over at a garage at the roundabout, by then he'd gone

dogshome

Report the incident to the bus Co, stating the location, date & time - The fact the bus had scrape damage but did not stop to exchange details says something about who's fault it was

onedaysomeday

To be honest I think he probably thought I had just disappeared - I couldn't see a safe place to stop that wouldn't cause disruption or mean I would have to walk across a roundabout to get over to him, so brain said drive down to the next junction and come back up - gone a few minutes nothing more than that. He did stop on the roundabout but I couldn't see him in his mirrors to wave that I was going to come back. He did the same as I did after which was report the collision online so we have each others details for insurance companies but I guess I assumed he would pull over somewhere that wasn't the roundabout too

foxy-stoat

Find out if they are going to make a claim first - do that quickly and if they are 100% not going to then if were me I would not report it. You may of damaged the bus but that one didnt have cameras or the driver didnt see your number plate so they would treat it as a hit and run.

If you are following the letter of the law and your insurers policy wording then you need to report it to your insurers and call their claims department at renewal to see the status, if you want to change insurers so you have the correct information. Then keep calling them every year for 3 to 5 years or until they pay out.

Stoke

dogshome wrote: »

Report the incident to the bus Co, stating the location, date & time - The fact the bus had scrape damage but did not stop to exchange details says something about who's fault it was

Agreed.

Whoever told you it's your fault, in my opinion, is wrong. Give way to the right.

I suspect if you go through insurance it'll end up 50/50 as it's not entirely clear who is at fault. I would report it though, it could help you in the long run.

onedaysomeday

I was hoping they weren't thinking hit and run as in the email from the police with his details it ended with "No further action will be taken by the police unless you are injured"

How do I go about finding out if they are going to make a claim? By contacting my insurers?

I have already called about the incident so do you mean just not make a claim when you say not report it?

Sorry for all the questions first time collision

onedaysomeday

Stoke wrote: »

Whoever told you it's your fault, in my opinion, is wrong. Give way to the right.

That's what I would have thought as I had done everything observation wise that I should have done i.e. slowed and looked to the right, I remember him clear as day looking at me before pulling out too but it is just my word against his.

The general theory seems to be that I'm at fault regardless because I hit the back of the bus. I get that in collisions where you're right behind someone but I only hit the back (and thats a stretch as it was a rear corner) because I'd braked enough to avoid hitting the side of it.

foxy-stoat

Arrrr you have reported the accident to the police online - I would report it to your insurers as well in that case as your insurers may well be able to check if you have another accident.

Accidents on roundabouts without dash cam footage and or independent witness are 50/50 at best, give way to your right and watch for vehicles already entering or on the roundabout - no one is going to get a result there if 2 vehicles enter the roundabout at the same time and are driving too fast they cannot stop without hitting the other.

I would be in favour of all motorists paying £5 a year somehow to a company that installed cameras on busy or large roundabouts and where free to request footage if requested of disputed accidents - would pay for itself on the first claim....let me work out a business plan and see you on Dragons Den.

onedaysomeday

Yes reported it to the police on the Sunday evening and insurers on the Monday morning as I could not get through on the Sunday evening.

Definitely feel inclined to get a dash cam now to help if (god forbid) anything happened again like it in the future

Should I just phone my insurers up then and say I don't want to make a claim? It's likely they won't bother with a repair if the excess is nearly the value of my car isn't it? Seems like it will be more straightforward to just sort the bonnet myself rather than do it through insurance

PS .. if I had the money I would invest!