Cyclist Incident and an unreliable witness!

ps124

Hi All,

This will probably sound like a script from a really bad thriller movie, but I'm seeking advice on how to handle this situation.

What happened:

• My wife was pulling out of a parking area, traveling between 5-10mph, and had a very small collision with a cyclist. I say a collision but she had pretty much stopped but the cyclist continued and hit into her car. Not damage to the car or the cycle.
• After checking the cyclist was OK, my wife called me immediately. When I arrived, my wife was in discussion with with the cyclist and a man. The man claimed to have witnessed it and stated that the cyclist was at fault for not seeing our car and breaking. He agreed to be a witness and exchanged numbers with my wife. My wife also took the cyclist's number, but the cyclist didn't give her number. 
• In terms of injuries, the cyclist literally had a 5cm scratch on her ankle and she claimed her ankle was twisted. So we again asked what we can do to help - offered to call an ambulance if required, or even arrange for her to go to A&E. She said she wanted to go home and can we drop her off. I offered to call her an Uber as it would be against lockdown regulations but she insisted we drop her off. The cycle wouldn't fit into our car so she decided to walk home which was close, with the witness offering to walk her home (which we found strange)
• Later the same day, the witness, messages my wife to say he had walked her all the way home and she was OK. He then goes on to ask my wife if he could 'stay in touch and chat'! We replied to say thank you but ignored the sleazy bit by keeping the conversation focused on the incident.
• We decided to call the cyclist later to check on her. The cyclist didn't pick up, but sent a message back saying she was in hospital? What we found weird was that she didn't take my wife's number, so how did she now it was her? I can only think that the witness man gave it to her.
  

The situation now is that we received a message from the cyclist to say that 'someone' will call us later. Not sure what she means as her English is not great, but we're not sure what we should do. Do we report this to the police, the insurance company? The other issue is the witness has since been trying to play the role of 'mediator' between my wife and the cyclist, continuing to message my wife with updates from the cyclist when we haven't asked for it. We're ignoring him, but clearly he's not reliable or trustworthy.

What would be the best course of action here?

Belenus

Inform the police immediately, perhaps via 101.

Or via https://www.police.uk/pu/contact-the-police/report-a-crime-incident/

Also advise your insurance company.

Then do nothing until or unless the cyclist or an insurance company or ambulance chaser contacts you.

Or unless the Police advise otherwise.

Do you have legal cover on your home or car insurance?

KimJongUn88

Inform the Police and then advise your insurer for information purposes only. 

Don’t enter into any contact with the witness. If the cyclist contacts you, tell her to contact your insurer. That’s what you pay them for.

Belenus

Some people may advise against telling your insurance company as that usually means higher premiums in future even if there is no claim.

In this situation, which could be a deliberate set up, or could develop into a claim, you should immediately tell your insurance company and take the risk of increased insurance premiums.

Jenni_D

If your wife pulled out in front of the cyclist then she was the party at fault - even if the cyclist ran into her car. (The cyclist probably won't have insurance so her insurance would become liable for any future claim. In theory your wife could sue the cyclist personally for contributory negligence but this would be a very difficult claim to prove so probably not worth it).

Sorry to be the bearer of (potential) bad news. It might be a "scam" in the making but your wife's position is not very good as she caused it by pulling out

Car_54

Belenus said:

Inform the police immediately, perhaps via 101.

101 isn't good enough. OP's wife needs to produce her insurance cerificate to the police ASAP, and in any case within 24 hours of the accident.

Belenus

Car_54 said:

Belenus said:

Inform the police immediately, perhaps via 101.

101 isn't good enough. OP's wife needs to produce her insurance cerificate to the police ASAP, and in any case within 24 hours of the accident.

What law or rule is that?

As far as I am aware, the police should be informed within 24 hours. It is then presumably up to the police to request insurance details if they wish. 

The driver should inform the police in case this incident gets messy and the cyclist claims injury.

However I doubt if the police will be in the slightest interested in following up this incident.

If they requested insurance details after every minor incident they would be overwhelmed in paper work and checking insurance. Although these days perhaps they can check insurance details online.

All road traffic accidents are to be reported to the police within 24 hours of the incident taking place. You can call 101, the non-emergency police number to do this.

[Deleted User]

I went for a trip over the bonnet of a car that pulled out in front of me once. There was about £200-300 of damage, and minor cuts and bruises, but the police couldn't have been less interested, even after the motorist moved house without paying. I managed to get the motorists insurance details from the police eventually, but only with a bit of persistence.

williamgriffin

Belenus said:

Car_54 said:

Belenus said:

Inform the police immediately, perhaps via 101.

101 isn't good enough. OP's wife needs to produce her insurance cerificate to the police ASAP, and in any case within 24 hours of the accident.

What law or rule is that?

As far as I am aware, the police should be informed within 24 hours. It is then presumably up to the police to request insurance details if they wish. 

The driver should inform the police in case this incident gets messy and the cyclist claims injury.

However I doubt if the police will be in the slightest interested in following up this incident.

If they requested insurance details after every minor incident they would be overwhelmed in paper work and checking insurance. Although these days perhaps they can check insurance details online.

All road traffic accidents are to be reported to the police within 24 hours of the incident taking place. You can call 101, the non-emergency police number to do this.

The Road Traffic Act states that as their is an injury and no insurance certificate was produced the accident should be reported to the police as soon as is practicable and any case within 24 hours. 

Belenus

williamgriffin said:

Belenus said:

Car_54 said:

Belenus said:

Inform the police immediately, perhaps via 101.

101 isn't good enough. OP's wife needs to produce her insurance cerificate to the police ASAP, and in any case within 24 hours of the accident.

What law or rule is that?

As far as I am aware, the police should be informed within 24 hours. It is then presumably up to the police to request insurance details if they wish. 

The driver should inform the police in case this incident gets messy and the cyclist claims injury.

However I doubt if the police will be in the slightest interested in following up this incident.

If they requested insurance details after every minor incident they would be overwhelmed in paper work and checking insurance. Although these days perhaps they can check insurance details online.

All road traffic accidents are to be reported to the police within 24 hours of the incident taking place. You can call 101, the non-emergency police number to do this.

The Road Traffic Act states that as their is an injury and no insurance certificate was produced the accident should be reported to the police as soon as is practicable and any case within 24 hours. 

Calling 101 within 24 hours fulfils that requirement.

There is no requirement to provide insurance details to the police unless requested. 

OP, are you still within 24 hours of the incident? If not then do it now.

I doubt if the police will care even if you are days late. They have far more serious matters to deal with.

ps124

Hi guys, I appreciate all the responses.

So the consensus seems to be a report into 101, and log it with the insurance company?

With 101, it has been more then 24hours as this happened on Sunday so will this be a problem? We honestly didn't think or feel at the time the cyclist would make any further issue about this, especially with the witness situation.

with insurance, the incident happened on Sunday, and we switched to the new insurers yesterday, so I assume I would inform the old insurance company? Both policies had legal protection.