Ran into this morning

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tiger

Active Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2009
Messages
128
Location
Sunny Scotland
Car
2009 C220 CDI Sport Estate
Hi,

Someone ran into the back of me this mronig. We done all the usual swapping details etc. There only seems to be a few minor scratches on my car, when his bumper was dislodged and a cracked grill. Do you think its worthwhile getting anyone to have a look at, ie could them be any underlying damage? It was only 20mph. Dont want to not claim for damage to be found out at a later date.

Also would i be best to contact my insurance company?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
 
Best to advise your insurance company...how else are you going to claim for the pain in your neck?:rolleyes:
 
I may be wrong, but i think your insurance need to know, whether it was your fault or not.
 
A 20 mph collisoion would almost certainly have caused damage, there is a lot of kinetic energy to be dissapated at that speed and the rear crash structure of your car will have absorbed it and probably crumpled or distorted somewhere.

Open the tailgate and lift the carpet to check the boot floor seams etc, even if you see nothing amiss it still needs a proper inspection. If it is the car you list here (2009 C22O estate?) then it would compromise the corrosion warranty etc if you left any damage unrepaired.

You must inform your insurance company as a matter of course otherwise you are likely to be in breach of the terms and conditons of your contract with them plus if there is any damage to your car then your company needs to fight your case for you as unless you were reversing at high speed toward the other driver they are at fault as they did not maintain a safe stopping distance.
 
You need to inform your insurance company, even if you do not plan on claiming from then. Inevitably your premium will go up next year... even if it wasn't your fault...
 
If you aren't going to claim, don't bother telling the insurance company and sort it between you and the OP. If you do you're premium will go up for NO reason...
 
If you aren't going to claim, don't bother telling the insurance company and sort it between you and the OP. If you do your premium will go up because statistically, once you've been involved in an accident you represent a higher risk to them...

Fixed that for you. ;)

And, yes, you should inform your insurer - apart from anything else, it's probably stated as one of the contractual terms of your policy. If they find out about the accident from another source, your policy could be cancelled, which in turn could make it difficult to obtain motor insurance elsewhere.
 
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If the other driver is not telling his insurance, then don't bother. What constitutes a collision? If, whilst parking your car, you touch the car behind you and leave the smallest of scratches...is that a collision? A little common sense is required.
 
If the other driver is not telling his insurance, then don't bother. What constitutes a collision? If, whilst parking your car, you touch the car behind you and leave the smallest of scratches...is that a collision? A little common sense is required.
But what happens if the other driver tells the OP he isn't going to tell his insurance, then gets a quote for his car and finds the damage is more expensive than he thought, so claims anyway, without telling the OP first? OP gets dropped in the deep brown smelly stuff from a great height.:eek:
 
But what happens if the other driver tells the OP he isn't going to tell his insurance, then gets a quote for his car and finds the damage is more expensive than he thought, so claims anyway, without telling the OP first? OP gets dropped in the deep brown smelly stuff from a great height.:eek:

If someone (as has happened) ran into the back of my car leaving no damage I would ignore it. The other car, was damaged, but mine (because of the tow bar) was completely unscratched...I am not going to waste my time, either at the scene or later.
 
If someone (as has happened) ran into the back of my car leaving no damage I would ignore it. The other car, was damaged, but mine (because of the tow bar) was completely unscratched...I am not going to waste my time, either at the scene or later.

BUT they have exchanged details, the person who ran into the back of the OP's car has lost his front bumper and cracked his grill. What is to stop him going to his insurance when he finds out it's going to cost more than he expected to put right? If he goes to his insurance then they will ask for the OP's insurance company details, they will then get in touch with the OP's insurance company who will then proceed to *** **** the OP along with allother insurance companies for "non disclosure":eek::eek:
 
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Well told the insurance company hte details, and said there would be no cliam at the moment until i get the car assesed. I was in touch with MB and they have pointed me to an approved bodyshop who are going to have a look over tomorrow morning. Finger crossed its all good as its never the same once its been fixed.
 
If you are involved in an accident, no matter how small, then you must inform your insurer and exchange details with the other driver. I can't believe the posts on here telling you not to, if you don't then you are commiting an offence which is now classified as a criminal offence and if you are prosecuted will be with you for the rest of your life.

I know this because my son had just this same situation a couple of months ago, he was very lucky and following a police interview was told a few days later that, on this occasion, no further action would be taken.

Also, as snoop51 said, you will likely have your insurance cancelled for "non-disclosure" which will make getting future insurance both difficult and expensive.

David
 
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If you are involved in an accident, no matter how small, then you must inform your insurer and exchange details with the other driver.

Are you sure about this? Only my understanding is that you only need to notify your insurers if you intend to rely on insurance to resolve a claim. If there's no claim theres no need to involve the insurance companies at all.

I agree you should provide your insurance details *if asked* but choosing to involve insurers or not is none of the police's business nor is it criminal if both parties agree.

I would actually say that if the damage is less than about £3000 then it is cheaper in the long term to sort things out in cash - even in a non fault accident with the other party to blame.
 
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Are you sure about this? Only my understanding is that you only need to notify your insurers if you intend to rely on insurance to resolve a claim. If there's no claim theres no need to involve the insurance companies at all.

I agree you should provide your insurance details *if asked* but choosing to involve insurers or not is none of the police's business nor is it criminal if both parties agree.

I would actually say that if the damage is less than about £3000 then it is cheaper in the long term to sort things out in cash - even in a non fault accident with the other party to blame.

That's what I thought but my son was caught out by the other party deciding at the scene that they were happy not to inform the insurers but they did and the other parties insurance reported my son to the police who investigated him for failing to exchange insurance details.

David
 
Well refusing to supply your insurance details when asked to do so is something entirely different.

For this to be the case your son would have had to refuse to provide contact details and/or refused to provide the insurance details to the other partiy or their insurer after the event.

The other parties insurers would simply write to your son asking for his insurance details. They would not go to the police unless your son failed or refused to comply.
 
Well refusing to supply your insurance details when asked to do so is something entirely different.

For this to be the case your son would have had to refuse to provide contact details and/or refused to provide the insurance details to the other partiy or their insurer after the event.

The other parties insurers would simply write to your son asking for his insurance details. They would not go to the police unless your son failed or refused to comply.

Not the case at all.......the other party agreed not to exchange details and then informed their insurer about the accident. The insurer then contacted the police to get my son's details based on his car reg number. The police took this to mean that my son had refused to exchange details and investigated him.

Based on this experience I will always inform my insurer and let the other party have my contact details so there can be no misunderstanding.

David
 
Somethings not quite right about this story as the police refer such matters to the DVLA (they no longer get involved even with hit and runs unless there is personal injury now). The DVLA will supply the contact details to the other parties insurers. (It can take a few weeksthough)

However, If your son had agreed to deal with things outside of the insurance then the other party would already have this contact information assuming he gave them the correct info.

Neither the Police or the DVLA would be able to provide your sons insurance details to the other party if it wasnt on the insurance database and if it was on the insurance database then the insurer could have simply looked it up themselves.
 

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