Bumped into back of another car

katies_mum

Good morning,

My daughter has just rung to say on the way to work she went into the back of the car in front.  A bin lorry was parked on the opposite side of the road (their side of the road was clear) and as the car in front of her and her were starting to pass the bin lorry a car coming towards them pulled out from behind the bin lorry, it did not stop.  The car in front braked and my daughter braked but not fast enough.

She has an little Aygo and has said its quite scratched around the bonnet and where the Toyota badge is, the car she bumped is a bit bigger than a Corsa and electric (she has taken photo`s of both cars).  The bin men said they do have a dash cam if needed.  The 2 girls swapped phone numbers and registration numbers neither had insurance details on them.  She said is ok but as you can imagine she  shaken and upset.

Not had to deal with anything like this before, please can anyone offer any advice as to what we have to do first, she won`t be home from work until about 5.30.

Thank you for any help anyone can offer.

Mildly_Miffed

"We" don't do anything. She does. Her insurance should not talk to you, even if you're a named driver on her policy. Your only possible involvement here is moral support.

She needs to phone her insurance, tell them it's her fault, and give them the other party's details. Then she sits back and lets them deal with everything. The sooner the better.

It unequivocally IS her fault. The car in front of her stopped - she couldn't, because she was too close.

It's always a good idea to have insurance details to hand - save them as a contact in your address book, have the policy doc in your online documents.

swingaloo

She needs to inform her insurance company as soon as possible and pass on the other drivers details. Unfortunately she will be at fault for bumping the car in front of her.

FlorayG

Its fairly simple for the other party's claim - she just informs the insurers, gives the other party's details and that's the last of it ( until her renewal premium goes up!). If she wants to claim for the damage to her own car then she will need to submit photographs and take it to a garage that the insurance company approves, then see if the cost of repairs are better claimed for or paid for herself

Exodi

Mildly_Miffed said:

It unequivocally IS her fault. The car in front of her stopped - she couldn't, because she was too close.

swingaloo said:

Unfortunately she will be at fault for bumping the car in front of her.

Is she? I'm not saying it's not but I think it's hard to arrive at that unequivocal conclusion without the detail. For example, as the obstruction was on the other parties side of the road (meaning the other party had to pull out in front of the OP), they naturally would have been travelling at a lower speed, thus it being easier to stop. Is it right to pull out in front of oncoming traffic, brake and suggest they are at fault for not slamming on their brakes quickly enough? The defense I guess would be that the other party should have exercised more care and attention when pulling out from behind an obstruction in their lane into oncoming traffic.

Of course, if in reality there was a big gap behind the OP and the car that they were following, and they sped up to try and get past the bin lorry (and the other party perhaps believed they had enough time to pull out), then it's certainly different and I'd be minded to agree with you.

I think regardless, it's generally sensible to let the insurers decide who's at fault. The dash cam footage would certainly be useful to acquire, even if it's later decided to not use it.

ButterCheese

Exodi said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

It unequivocally IS her fault. The car in front of her stopped - she couldn't, because she was too close.

swingaloo said:

Unfortunately she will be at fault for bumping the car in front of her.

Is she?

Doesn't really matter about the specifics - the car in front was there from the start and did not suddenly appear with no warning.  Thus the driver behind could not stop in time either due to following too close or not paying attention or both.  It would only be grounds for argument if the car in front suddenly pulled out from a side road for example, but that didn't happen

Exodi

ButterCheese said:

Exodi said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

It unequivocally IS her fault. The car in front of her stopped - she couldn't, because she was too close.

swingaloo said:

Unfortunately she will be at fault for bumping the car in front of her.

Is she?

Doesn't really matter about the specifics - the car in front was there from the start and did not suddenly appear with no warning.  Thus the driver behind could not stop in time either due to following too close or not paying attention or both.  It would only be grounds for argument if the car in front suddenly pulled out from a side road for example, but that didn't happen

EDIT: doh I'm so sorry @Mildly_Miffed @swingaloo, I've just realised she went into the back of the car in front of her, not into the front of the car waiting behind the bin lorry (that I thought had pulled out).

My bad, yep totally at fault.

katies_mum

Thank you all, she is not denying she is not at fault.  We just wanted a bit of advice as to what she had to do next and to make sure she didn`t miss anything important out.  She will ring insurance as soon as she gets home.  

LightFlare

She needs to contact the other party with her insurance details as well

DullGreyGuy

katies_mum said:

Thank you all, she is not denying she is not at fault.  We just wanted a bit of advice as to what she had to do next and to make sure she didn`t miss anything important out.  She will ring insurance as soon as she gets home.  

Certainly her fault, just needs to inform her insurers as soon as is practicably possible. Over time she may receive letters etc in relation to the incident, these just need forwarding unanswered to her insurers. 

The only other Q is if she wants to claim for her own damages or not. Excess is only payable if she claims for her damage, and not if only the third party claims. It will have the same impact on her future premiums if the third party and her claim or just the third party. 

Her insurers will deal with the rest of the matters for her. If she hasn't already she needs to make sure she's shared her personal and insurance details with the third party.

m0bov

LightFlare said:

She needs to contact the other party with her insurance details as well

No she doesn't.