Sketch

Right, a friend of mine had a small accident in a 1 car sized country lane, coming round a corner he met another car, both jumped on the brakes and they skidded but didnt quite stop in time and the two cars hit on the drivers side wings.

The 2 drivers did the usual blaming each other stuff, but basically came to the conclusion that they'd never prove who was in the wrong, so said it'd be a knock for knock incident.

Now, the other driver still wanted to swap details etc and was gonna talk to his insurance company, as he had a newer, higher valued car (X reg Nissan Primera) whereas my mates car is a £1500 L plate car which he isnt too concerned about. My mate has 5 years No Claims which he certainly doesnt want to lose!!

Whats the best way to handle the situation - my mate is concerned the other driver is going to try it on and start claim proceedings or something.... so what should i tell him to do?

Phone his insurance company and explain what happened (making it clear he DOESNT want to claim for anything) and explain that the other guy might be trying to make a claim even though its knock for knock....

or does he not do anything and wait and see whether his insurance company get in contact saying that Mr X has started to make a claim?

Im not really sure as I've never been in any situation like it

tonyk

Well as there was no 3rd party witness and nobody was hurt, just wait until he hears something, obviously the cars have moved now so road position etc will be hard to prove.

All your friend has to do is deny liability and if the other people persist it will be a long drawn out affair which they probably wont bother to pursue.

Sketch

Ah right, sounds good!

The main thing he doesnt want is to lose his no claims

PhilM

Dunno what I'd do really mate, firstly id ring the local cop shop and just let them know so they have it on file.

Write down all the details he has on paper so if it happens in a while he still has all the details.

Then id just sit tight....

tonyk

The police dont need to be involved as nobody was hurt nor would they most likely want to become involved in this sort of dispute.

If this other persons insurance writes to him, write back stating that his car was hit on his side of the road, obviously saying this is dependant on the corner angle cause a car drives straight on when the brakes lock up.

PhilM

Thought you had to report all incidents these days? Else you can get fined or something? May be mistaken!

Andy-R

If they have swaped details and they have agreed on Knock for Knock basis and the driver of the other car contacts his insurance company then unfortunatly your M8 is going to loose his NCB assuming the driver of the oher car was fully comp then his Insurance company will see to repai of his car then persue your M8s Insurance company for costs!

2 Options!

1 contact the Insurance company and let them know the situ!

2 Ignore it hope it go's away and then have a little explaining to do when he is contacted by his Insurance company.....If this route is chosen then it may end up difficult recouping any costs involved in the repair of his car, and his Insurance company will not look to kindly on it as technicaly your M8 should have informed his Insurance company where a claim may result.

HTH
Best of Luck Nige!

Sketch

Agree about the Police bit!

Regarding the second bit of qwhat you say.... Its a single track road (or say 1 1/2 cars width... my mate ended up up the hedge / bank trying to get out of the way of the other car which was actually in the middle of the 1 1/2 cars width bit. The accident actually happened on the straight bit a few yards after the corner....

But anyway - nothing could be proven now, so all my mates concerned about is how to avoid the other guy making a claim for something which was 50 50....

Thanks for the help / advice so far guys!! Any more for any more ?

saff_cossie

Always inform your insurance company if you swap details. You never know what someone will do. I have been in this situation twice and was glad I did the first time and did it instinctively the second time.

It is not worth the risk incase there is any come back. Informed the Police on one of my occasions and they were very good as well and didnt want to get involved nor did in the end. Both were silly knocks and neither my fault which is why I was keen to let the insurance company know.

HTH

Sketch

saff_cossie,

What sort of accidents did you have? Were they knock for knocks?

If so, what is the outcome? Does the other person claim from you and you claim from them? Or did the other people not pursue it?

Cheers

Billabong

My mate had a similar claim, eventually they agreed knock for knock - 60/40 in my mates favour. But the insurance co's decided this after some to'ing and fro'ing. Both of them were fully comp.

Your mate really has no idea what the other guy's going to report as what happened - will look bad if his insurance asks him about the accident and he hasn't mentioned it to them, imo.

Sketch

Well, from what I've been told, the other guy is still going to phone up his insurance and try and blame my mate for the accident... even though it was agreed knock for knock at the time

Billabong,

Think i agree about the fact he should phone up and mention it to his own insurance though!

What happend with your mate Bill? Did he claim off the other guy and the other guy claim from him?

tonyk

Call his insurance company up and lodge a claim against the other driver, carefully stating the other car was using excessive speed for the conditions, driving without due care & attention in the middle of the road and as a result his car was pushed into the hedge, if he aint worried about the car maybe run a few hedge scraped down the side of it and take pictures.

Was there any witnessess and was the other driver alone.

Sketch

Right, both cars had 2 people in them. The other car was a (40ish) year old man and a 14ish yr old boy. My mate is 24 and had his 20yr old girlfriend with him.

There were no other witnesses.

tonyk,

If i say all that, isnt he just gonna come back with the same or worse??

tonyk

Probably but if you are sure this going to the insurance company then i would strike first so to speak. Remember you always claim for more, cause it never goes up only down.

If you have the details of the other guy it may be worth ringing him and talking about it.

saff_cossie

They were both accidents that were so trivial and caused such little damage that we agreed to sort it out ourselves. One guy wanted my insurance details (which I didnt know as it was in my dads name).

The first one a guy rammed me a roundabout (road rage!) He didnt ram me intentionally but was trying to make sure I didnt get into a gap that he couldnt! He offered to pay for my smashed rear bumper as it was his fault. Went to get his details and he would only give his company name and mobile. I called him later on when I had my details and he decided to start suggesting I stopped half way on the roundabout which caused him to drive into me! Informed the insurance company and he had tried to tell them the same but it didnt wash. Was glad I did this time.

One, the guy stopped in the middle of the road (spot of road rage again!) and I stopped very close behind him as he had dived on the brakes. He had cut me off so I "gestured" to him which he didnt like!

I decided to drive off after he got out and may have clipped the corner of his shite BMW. I dont think I did but he did. I went to the police straight away as he was shouting I did. He had already reported me for driving off from the scene of an accident (wasnt even a bloody scratch on his car or mine! ) Police exchanged numbers and we agreed to sort it ourselves. He wanted my insurance details so gave them to him but informed mine straight away. Nothing came of it. This was the one we agreed knock for knock on.

HTH