Been involved in an accident today, need your advice please

[R3ch]

As i was travelling around 10mph today, just heard a loud bang from behind, somebobdy hit me. The impact was so strong that it pushed me forward and unluckily hit the car in front causing a big dent on his rear bumper. The car who hit me (ford Ka) was badly damaged while mine had a big dent on the rear bumper and maybe some clips came off for the front bumper, glad I drive a merc.

I've never made a claim before and just worried that I might be at fault for hitting the car in front although it was the car behind who hit me first. How do I explain this to the insurance company (Halifax)? There was no witness as nobody on the seen would like to be one. I've got fully comp. insurance with no claims bonus protection. Just don't wanna pay the excess as it was not my fault.

Thanks in advance.

Richard

 

[pammy]

the fact you were hit from behind means your rear end damage should be covered by the Ka's insurance. However, your forward shunt might not be so straightforward. It depends on so many things which will boil down to why were you so close to the car in the front that a rear end shunt for you caused you to rear end shunt the car in front.(poet didn't know it )

Only a claim to your insurers will tell and you giving the full detail of what happened. The car you hit will claim off of their insurers who will claim against you. Your insurers will then try and claim against the person that hit you.

Chances are you will have to pay your excess - just the once though - until it is all resolved. You may then get it back if it all proved to be the car behind's fault and they have insurance to cover Otherwise you might not

Sorry to hear of your bump m8 - they can be a nightmare to sort out.

 

[Dieselman]

Richard
Don't worry, insurers are used to this kind of accident.
Just tell them you were hit from behind and that pushed you into the car in front. It happens all the time..I've even done it myself once..oops.

The rear driver will eventually get all the claims against them.

 

[Benzowner]

Not sure about the excess, may have to pay it and claim back from KA's insurance, but that should all be dealt with by your insurance company, especially if you have legal cover.

 

[glojo]

Something worth considering that has not been mentioned.

Main Dealers and Mobilo

Most Mercedes-Benz dealerships offer an accident repair type service. They should quite literally deal with all the accident damage side i
of this issue.

If you are still covered by Mobilo then the car MUST be repaired by an authorised agent or main dealer. This should not be a problem with insurance companies as it is a requirement under the terms and conditions of Mobilo. On this last issue I can only talk from experience with Directline though.

Good luck with the claim
John

 

[SilverSaloon]

you will claim from the guy who hit u from the rear.

the guy you were pushed into, will claim from you.

you (your insurers) will then claim this from the guy who hit u from rear.


all YOU have to do is tell your insurers u were hit by KA and pushed into the car in front, blaming the KA for it all. insurers should tackle the rest.

 

[PJH]

..why were you so close to the car in the front ...

Always stop so that you can see Tyres and Tarmac

 

[timskemp]

As you were not at fault in the accident I'd recommend using an accident management company - they'll make everyone elses life hell but you'll appreciate it in the long run.

My MB dealer has a deal with Accident Exchange, when my E270CDi was hit from behind (not going into detail as yet as still outstanding) I was loaned another E and did not have to claim against my own insurance (other than notifying them of the incident) as AE sorted everything. The car was repaired by an MB approved bodyshop using original parts and is back to me perfect.

Your own insurer is more likely to replace your car with a corsa and push (though cannot insist) to the cheapest bodyshop. And you may lose your no-claims until the outstanding claim is settled.

Check with your dealer see if they have any arrangements, otherwise try people like accident exchange and help hire - not sure if AE deal with the public direct though.

 

[pammy]

As you were not at fault in the accident

You can't say that unfortunately - for the shunt from behind then probably yes - not at fault - but for hitting the one in front - it might not be clear cut. Only going 10pmh yet hit the one in front - could be a dodgy one. There but for the grace of god granted, but without full facts etc

 

[SG CL500]

Always stop so that you can see Tyres and Tarmac

This is true but if you're hit hard enough then there's not much you can do, and the OP said that he was still travelling so not stopped (raises the same question re gap I know)

I tend to follow this rule and it has saved me once when I was rear ended by a bus (pre-CL I might add!) - I managed to stop, again, before hitting the car in front.

As the previous posters have correctly pointed out, you claim from the Ka and the car you hit claims from you. You then pursue a claim against the Ka for the car in front's claim, if you're still following this. When I worked in the industry these claims were pretty common - your biggest issues are going to arise from:
1. it not being sorted prior to your renewal (will show as a FD claim until sorted)
2. you were still moving => you may be held partially responsible for failing to leave an adequate gap and your position is weaker than if you were stationary

I'd get on top of it ASAP!

 

[Carrotchomper]

Always stop so that you can see Tyres and Tarmac

Took the words right out of my mouth! No time for smug advanced driver platitudes now though

 

[Dieselman]

As you were not at fault in the accident I'd recommend using an accident management company - they'll make everyone elses life hell but you'll appreciate it in the long run.

Not always. We use them at work and generally they take the pain away, but it took them 3 years to sort out my claim and I had to stand the loss of NCD when insuring my own car.
I did better at recovering the funds in one month than they had in three years. I then claimed back my excess premiums from my own insurers. NU Direct were great and just refunded instantly whereas the original broker took six months of hard work. I got back about £1600 so the pain was worth it.

When someone ran into my Wifes car I phoned the 3rd party's insurer (Admiral) discussed the damage with the assessor and obtained authorisation to have it fixed and a loan car within two weeks of the accident.

Your own insurer is more likely to replace your car with a corsa and push (though cannot insist) to the cheapest bodyshop. And you may lose your no-claims until the outstanding claim is settled.

True.

 

[Dryce]

When someone ran into my Wifes car I phoned the 3rd party's insurer (Admiral) discussed the damage with the assessor and obtained authorisation to have it fixed and a loan car within two weeks of the accident.

The insurers are getting wise to the fact that if they deal with you direct and avoid the intermediary accident management co they save money.

 

[glojo]

When someone ran into my Wifes car I phoned the 3rd party's insurer (Admiral) discussed the damage with the assessor and obtained authorisation to have it fixed and a loan car within two weeks of the accident.

I think this is a major point worthy of further discussion.

If we are involved in an incident that is clearly not our fault and the other party agrees with the circumstances..... (No one should admit liability) and you have their unsurance details, in my experience there insurance company is usually approachable.

I am totally against these cheap and cheerful 'Quick Fix' bodyshops that some insurance companies use. When someone drove into the rear of my son's car we liased with the other parties insurer and stipulated what bodyshop we wanted the car repaired at. The only stipulation the insurance company made was that we submit the estimate and they then sent an assessor to examine the car, no further hassle, no paying out any excess. The only benefit of using these 'No win, No fee' companies, is they are familiar with injury compensation procedures.

John

 

[Dryce]

The only benefit of using these 'No win, No fee' companies, is they are familiar with injury compensation procedures.

Depends.

After three no-fault run-ins that were less than fun with the insurers we handed the fourth one to an accident management company. It was a lot less hassle for us.

Now from what I hear anecdotally some insurers are now intervening proactively in clear cut no-faults to try and get in before the victim goes to an accident management co.

 

[Dieselman]

Now from what I hear anecdotally some insurers are now intervening proactively in clear cut no-faults to try and get in before the victim goes to an accident management co.

Well that's probably a good thing because they used to be really bad at dealing with 3rd party claims..obviously they've had a bit of a wake up call.

 

[glojo]

It would be so very wrong to generalise over any incident, and we can all only speak from our own experiences. Regarding my son's incident. We liaised with the other drivers insurance company to get his car repaired where we wanted it done. My son was injured and even though he is not with the RAC the Police gave him the telephone number for them to deal with this aspect of the incident. My wife has had two incidents when we had our previous 210, both occasions were caused by the other party, and on both occasions I went through the other drivers insurance company, but..... the Mercedes dealership handled our damaged car.

Great service
John

 

[Dieselman]

My son was injured and even though he is not with the RAC the Police gave him the telephone number for them to deal with this aspect of the incident.

Hmm..I'm not sure about the Police giving out numbers for claimants in road accidents. One of my drivers was given a leaflet with a no win-no fee agency, so was the other party who was the 3rd party. Amazing how his neck started to hurt just after that..

I'm not saying he didn't have whiplash, but only a few minutes before he had said he had no pain at all.. By the time he was finished he went off in an ambulance complete with neck brace.

 

[nick mercedes]

Hmm..I'm not sure about the Police giving out numbers for claimants in road accidents. One of my drivers was given a leaflet with a no win-no fee agency, so was the other party who was the 3rd party. Amazing how his neck started to hurt just after that..

I'm not saying he didn't have whiplash, but only a few minutes before he had said he had no pain at all.. By the time he was finished he went off in an ambulance complete with neck brace.

Which is why everyones insurance keeps going up...

 

[R3ch]

Good evening. Thanks very much for all your advices. Phoned Halifax this morning and was told that they will claim from the insurer of the person who hit me and the vehicle in front should claim from my insurance. I was told that I have to pay my excess after the completion of the repair and will be refunded only if proven not at fault once the case is settled (how can they prove that). I've got no claims discount protection and legal protection on my policy. They gave me details of their chosen garage and booked it on Monday.

I'll be using their chosen garage, so how can I make sure that they use only genuine parts for my car? Also, my front bumper only suffered few scratches and probably missing few clips inside from the force of the impact. Should I demand for a new front bumper or is it the garage that decides wether it needs changing or not. Thanks again.

Richard