Reversed into Lorry, 2 months later got a letter?

vincentford118

Hi guys.

Very stupidly, 2 months ago I was leaving the gym, A lorry was parked down the centre are the carpark. I reversed out and backed towards the lorry, but stupidly I took it out of gear, and put it back into reverse instead of 1st (Both are top left of the gearbox).

I bumped into the edge of the tail lift, and broke my rear window, wasn't any damage to the Lorry at all as it was metal tail lift vs glass. I thought no damage to the lorry, just my rear glass out of being my fault.

Fast forward 2 months to today. Got a police later referencing back to that date and time, asking for the details of the driver. Need to fill the form out and send it back.

How screwed am I?
Gone into bit of a panic as just getting by with an IVA and being so close to Xmas.

George333

Google fail to stop, fail to report and accident and careless driving. That's your worst case scenario.

Car_54

As no-one was injured, if you provide your details the police will probably pass them to the other party, and then leave it to the insurers to sort out.
If you don't provide them, you're looking at six points and a big fine!
You should also tell your insurers ASAP.

AdrianC

George333 wrote: »

Google fail to stop, fail to report and accident and careless driving. That's your worst case scenario.

And I suspect his insurer may also wish to know why they didn't get informed... Worst case - cancelled policy.

But that's all worst case.

Did you actually check that the tail-lift wasn't damaged? Or just assume? If it really was just the window, and not the edge of the tailgate or bodywork that hit the edge, then it's unlikely. Was there any damage to your metalwork as well as the glass?

George333

Car_54 wrote: »

As no-one was injured, if you provide your details the police will probably pass them to the other party, and then leave it to the insurers to sort out.
If you don't provide them, you're looking at six points and a big fine!
You should also tell your insurers ASAP.

What do you base that assumption on? The police could do that without contacting the OP.

neilmcl

George333 wrote: »

What do you base that assumption on? The police could do that without contacting the OP.

Because it's generally what they do in this scenario to avoid having to prosecute and all the extra expense that incurs, I speak from experience having been hit by driver who failed to leave their details too.

Sometimes, for various legitimate reasons details cannot always be exchanged at the time and this gives the driver a second opportunity to comply with the law before taking things further.

nickcc

Lorry driver probably reported it as he didn't want to be held to blame as you could have reported that he hit your vehicle.

George333

neilmcl wrote: »

Because it's generally what they do in this scenario to avoid having to prosecute and all the extra expense that incurs, I speak from experience having been hit by driver who failed to leave their details too.

Sometimes, for various legitimate reasons details cannot always be exchanged at the time and this gives the driver a second opportunity to comply with the law before taking things further.

I've seen more prosecuted for the offence than your one off.

Maybe you could enlighten us with a legitimate reason for not reporting.

neilmcl

George333 wrote: »

I've seen more prosecuted for the offence than your one off.

Maybe you could enlighten us with a legitimate reason for not reporting.

Not in this case but the police allow for the fact that a driver might legitimately be unaware they hit something. In the OP's case they may simply be giving the benefit of the doubt for not being able to get hold of the driver of the lorry. As I said the cost to send out a letter far outweighs the cost to immediately go for prosecution of an offence.

shaun_from_Africa

Car_54 wrote: »

if you provide your details the police will probably pass them to the other party, and then leave it to the insurers to sort out.

George333 wrote: »

What do you base that assumption on? The police could do that without contacting the OP.

How could the police pass on details of who was driving the car when they don't have this information themselves?

Mistral001

I would just fill out the form, inform your insurance company and not try to second guess what will happen. The Police will have to go through a procedure to check up on things like whether the car was insured or whether the driver had a licence at the time of the incident.

You are unlikely to ever find out why it took two months for the Police to contact you. Backlog in paperwork possibly - hardly considered top of their priorities as far as fighting crime goes. As has been said, if no damage was done ot the other property or nobody was injured, there is no requirement to report the incident to the Police.

It is very important that you should report it to your insurance company even at this late stage. If you do not, it could affect any claims in the future should you have another accident.