First ever car accident?

[xx3221]

Hi everyone,

I crashed my car a couple of hours ago. I've had my license for two and a half years, this is my first ever accident. I have one years no claims, my car is worth about £4500. My car is damaged at the front - the bonnet is damaged, the steel around the number plate has cracked, the number plate is damaged etc. There was no damage to the other persons car to the eye, just his number plate was dented. Maybe there's damage underneath but I'm not sure. I need to check how much my excess is (I think it's around £200-300).

Can anybody advise me on what happens next please?

 

[grumpycat]

Hi everyone,

I crashed my car a couple of hours ago. I've had my license for two and a half years, this is my first ever accident. I have one years no claims, my car is worth about £4500. My car is damaged at the front - the bonnet is damaged, the steel around the number plate has cracked, the number plate is damaged etc. There was no damage to the other persons car to the eye, just his number plate was dented. Maybe there's damage underneath but I'm not sure. I need to check how much my excess is (I think it's around £200-300).

Can anybody advise me on what happens next please?

i think it depends on if you want to claim through insurance. Did you get his number incase? Then you need to take your car to a garage or get someone (if you have family) to look at your car to check it’s alright.

I don’t have much advice but do hope you’re ok, these things can shake you up a little.

 

[xx3221]

i think it depends on if you want to claim through insurance. Did you get his number incase? Then you need to take your car to a garage or get someone (if you have family) to look at your car to check it’s alright.

I don’t have much advice but do hope you’re ok, these things can shake you up a little.

Thank you very much. I'm not sure if he wants to claim through insurance, I would assume he would like to. My family did look at my car and they said the damage is a lot but they are also just going to pass the blame to me regardless so I'm not sure.

 

[grumpycat]

Thank you very much. I'm not sure if he wants to claim through insurance, I would assume he would like to. My family did look at my car and they said the damage is a lot but they are also just going to pass the blame to me regardless so I'm not sure.

If he just has a cracked number plate I would imagine he probably wouldn’t claim but settle outside. I think he’ll likely double check any damage and then perhaps maybe ask you to cover the cost of a new reg plate.
Is your car driveable? My first thought would be to take it to a garage or two to get a quote on how much it’ll cost to fix. They’ll obviously be a lot, because or labour but do get a handful of quotes.
The decision then is up to you if you claim on your insurance. You usually have a voluntary excess then a mandatory excess.
Eg 200+500= £700 is what you’d pay.

I think (don’t hold me to it!) it depends on if the damage is so high you’d need to claim on it, but if you could pay for the damage yourself then you will keep you no claims building and your insurance next year will be lower, whereas if you do claim, next years insurance will be substantially higher. It all depends on how much it costs to fix the car/if he does want to claim/if you can afford to pay our of your own pocket

 

[dancingqueen5678]

mine was years ago but if you contact the insurance company and say there's damage to your car they usually make you take it to an approved garage that they work with in your area.

Who is at fault?
Did you get the guy's number? It's a tricky one. Maybe wait to see what the other party says?

 

[xx3221]

If he just has a cracked number plate I would imagine he probably wouldn’t claim but settle outside. I think he’ll likely double check any damage and then perhaps maybe ask you to cover the cost of a new reg plate.
Is your car driveable?

Yeah, my car is driveable - I drove it home. I did ask him if he was willing to settle out of insurance and he said he wants to talk to his own insurance first and then make a decision.

mine was years ago but if you contact the insurance company and say there's damage to your car they usually make you take it to an approved garage that they work with in your area.

Who is at fault?
Did you get the guy's number? It's a tricky one. Maybe wait to see what the other party says?

yeah, I took all of his details and pics of the damage too. I would assume I have to accept immediate fault as I hit into the back of him? Truth be told I don’t really remember what happened.

 

[dancingqueen5678]

Yeah, my car is driveable - I drove it home. I did ask him if he was willing to settle out of insurance and he said he wants to talk to his own insurance first and then make a decision.



yeah, I took all of his details and pics of the damage too. I would assume I have to accept immediate fault as I hit into the back of him? Truth be told I don’t really remember what happened.

okay so going off my accident. I had to go through insurance cause my car was pushed by a car into another car. Maybe just wait until he rings and go from there? I'm so sorry I don't have any better advice

 

[Mrs Cucumber]

Yeah, my car is driveable - I drove it home. I did ask him if he was willing to settle out of insurance and he said he wants to talk to his own insurance first and then make a decision.



yeah, I took all of his details and pics of the damage too. I would assume I have to accept immediate fault as I hit into the back of him? Truth be told I don’t really remember what happened.

As far as I know its automatically your fault if you drive into the back of some one.
I've never been in a accident but had my car written off when parked, the insurance company were really helpful and advised on every step.

 

[HoGi]

If you drive into the back of someone it will be your fault. So if you claim on insurance your premium will go up next year.

As another poster has said, if you have your car repaired through the insurance you normally have to use one of their approved repairers or there will be an additional charge for using an unapproved repairer (people only tend to use unapproved if it is a special car or a classic etc)

The other car might have damage under the bumper. If he wants to go through insurance then you might as well get yours fixed through insurance too as you will have the pay your excess either way.

 

[FakeSmile]

If he wants to talk to his insurers you will have no choice but to notify yours. It’s an offence to withhold information and you’ll get found out if it’s in the system which will affect future policies and premiums anyway.

 

[standupsitdown]

You report it to your insurance company, and he reports it to his. You have to tell him your name, address and insurer but if you don’t they can find out from the Motor Insurers Bureau database anyway from your reg no. But you have an obligation to register it ASAP.

They will talk to each other and determine liability (fault). No further communication is needed from you to them.

If it’s agreed to be your fault, they will inspect his car and let him get it repaired at either their recommended repairer or a garage of his choice. He pays no excess and keeps his No Claims. They then recover this money from your insurer.

You can get your car repaired likewise, and they will pay, but you pay your excess, lose 2 years No Claims and premium goes up next year.

If it’s determined to be his fault it’s the same, but the other way round. If there are any uninsured losses (time off work, injury, hire car etc) the person not at fault can claim from the other insurance co using legal cover, or a solicitor.

All you have to do right now is ring your insurance co, register the claim, and they will take it from there.

 

[xx3221]

Thank you everybody for your help. I’ve decided to claim on my insurance regardless of what he says as I want to get my car repaired. We exchanged all details etc but I didn’t give my insurance company as I couldn’t even remember who it was (he was the same) but we exchanged names, address, numbers etc.

I only have one year no claims so I’m not too bothered about that, moreso about my premium going up.

 

[dancingqueen5678]

Thank you everybody for your help. I’ve decided to claim on my insurance regardless of what he says as I want to get my car repaired. We exchanged all details etc but I didn’t give my insurance company as I couldn’t even remember who it was (he was the same) but we exchanged names, address, numbers etc.

I only have one year no claims so I’m not too bothered about that, moreso about my premium going up.

If it helps at all, once it's been 5 years you no longer have to declare you've had an accident

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

What actually happened?

It is usually your fault if you go in the back of someone, but not always. If someone pulls out on you at a junction and you go in the back of them, that wouldn’t usually be your fault.

if someone pulls in front of you on a motorway or dual carriageway and slams on the breaks hard, then that’s not really your fault either as you have no time to react.

obviously the difficultly is in those situations is if the other driver won’t admit fault and if you don’t have any evidence.

 

[xx3221]

I just realised I made this thread - thank you to everyone that responded, I was super stressed when I made this thread lol.

My excess was £900, I did claim on my insurance in the end and my car was written off - I got paid more than I bought my car for overall but after excess and buying my car back, I had just short of £3000. I lost my no claims but I still only paid £800 for my renewal so all round it worked out in the end!