Car accident

[OilSheikh]

Hexites, my mate was involved in a car accident today and as I have never been involved in one, perhaps you guys can assist.

So, he was stationary in a queue due to red lights. Car comes behind him and remains stationary. All of a sudden, he hears a yell and then got hit. Offender asks him to pull into a side road and my mate refuses. My mate asks him to park in front of him. He asked the muppet for his insurance docs and the guy said he doesn't have any. My mate told him that he is calling the coppers and got back in his car. Offender then comes and tries to open the door and starts knocking saying that he does have insurance. By then, the 999 operator is on the phone and tells him to take down the other guy's name , address and car reg. They exchange details. While on loudspaker, the muppet yells that it was he who got hit from the back instead and then proceeds to take photos of the font of my mate's car and the back of his car.The muppet says that he will repair his car but my mate refuses and tells him that he doesn't believe him.
Mate then realizes that the guy smells of alcohol. He gets back in his car and calls the coppers to report this and provides the direction they are heading. The muppet then drives off. Mate's gf who was seated at the front then tells him that the muppet's front seat passenger looked drunk and was staggering.

I have checked the car reg and it is taxed and has valid MOT. I have also checked the MID site and can see that the car is insured. However, the postcode does not match the address.

Mate has reported it online to the force website in detail. He has also reported it to his insurance company online ( Offices are closed today ) Hours later, mate's gf is complaining of neck pain and a migraine. She has used Vicks and taken a paracetamol.

Mate is also worried about protecting his NCD. His front dashcam recorded the whole thing.
Damage is to the bumper - crack and a number of scratches.

What should he do now ?

[peterb]

I assume the damage is to the rear of the car?

Wait until the police contact him for further details. Probably contact insurance company in detail. If he has photos of any damage, keep them safe together with the dash cam footage. In terms of the accident, he has done all he needs - he has stopped and exchanged insurance details. It is now up to the insurance companies to sort it out. If he was stationary and hit from behind, that should be a no-fault accident and provided the other insurers pay up, he shoud not lose his NCB.

The suspicion of drunk driving is a criminal matter the police will deal with. It may be material in the insurance case if the other party is charged and convicted.

(Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer - I am only suggesting what I would do in similar circumstances)

[watercooled]

I'm far from an expert, but my understanding is that getting rear-ended is close to never the front driver's fault - even if both cars are moving, it's the responsibility of the rear driver to maintain a safe distance.

Also, from what you've said, he's done everything correctly, and the actions of the other driver could possibly be taken as threatening behaviour. He's done the right thing reporting it to the police as they'd need to get breath/blood samples as soon as possible if drink driving was a factor, I'd imagine.

Get the dashcam footage, and take backups, as it will prove the other driver's accusations (about him being in front) are false. It's surprising what some idiots on the road will come out with e.g. as a result of road rage (or alcohol, or both), but the condition of both cars will also prove what happened, so I agree with peterb about photos, timestamped if possible and the sooner after the incident the better (again I've no idea if that matters but it makes sense IMO).

[Bagnaj97]

If he was stationary and hit from behind, that should be a no-fault accident and provided the other insurers pay up, he shoud not lose his NCB.

However a no-fault accident still needs to be declared at renewal time, and may increase premiums even with NCB still in place.

[peterb]

However a no-fault accident still needs to be declared at renewal time, and may increase premiums even with NCB still in place.

Certainly needs to be disclosed (particularly if changing insurers) but if it’s no fault and no loss to the insurer, it shouldn’t affect the premium adversely.

[OilSheikh]

Guys, the situation has become worse.
Mate was about to drive to work this morning and noticed a number of scratches at the front, most likely using a knife or a key. He reckons that these were made last night.
As he doesn't have CCTV, he doesn't know who did it but surely this isn't a coincidence. I think he should have lied about his address as well as this has now become a security risk for his family.

[Jonj1611]

If his front dashcam recorded everything why would scratches on the front make a difference whether they were added afterwards or not?

Personally would leave it in the hands of the police/insurer's

He had someone with him and video evidence.

[virtuo]

Guys, the situation has become worse.
Mate was about to drive to work this morning and noticed a number of scratches at the front, most likely using a knife or a key. He reckons that these were made last night.
As he doesn't have CCTV, he doesn't know who did it but surely this isn't a coincidence. I think he should have lied about his address as well as this has now become a security risk for his family.

If his front dashcam recorded everything why would scratches on the front make a difference whether they were added afterwards or not?

Personally would leave it in the hands of the police/insurer's

He had someone with him and video evidence.

With the incident already recorded you can prove the scratches aren't related. If they are new I'd definitely report that to the police, get a reference for it. Probably won't amount to anything but at least it's recorded - and it's a heck of a coincidence if the other guy isn't anything to do with it.

[oolon]

I have been envolved with 2 accidents, that may give you some insight as to what can happen. I got hit by someone while stationary, because I refused to yield to his agressive driving to push into my lane. Was taking pictures of me and sounding his horn... Just had a momentary touch, he got out threated to assult me tried to pulling my car door open, so in this case I drove off when the traffic cleared. He reported me to his insurance, and my insurance got in touch with me. So what you can take from this is if you have the registration they will find the person. Only do this if your looking to claim to get damage fixed, otherwise there is not much point. (In my case the insurance decided it was "pay own losses" as i did not wish to claim).

The second accident, some just rear ended me in a line of traffic (broke the parking sensor or I would have let it slide), I just took details from them, everything sorted by the insurance no problem.

Both times I did not lose my NCB, you only loose it if you make a claim or have to pay a claim.

[Bagnaj97]

Certainly needs to be disclosed (particularly if changing insurers) but if it’s no fault and no loss to the insurer, it shouldn’t affect the premium adversely.

Not only can a non-fault claim affect your premium but, having double checked, it can also affect your NCD in some situations. https://www.admiral.com/magazine/gui...s-myths-busted

Both times I did not lose my NCB, you only loose it if you make a claim or have to pay a claim.

If the other party is uninsured, or the insurer can't recover their losses for some other reason, then you can lose your NCD through no fault of your own. See the above link.

[peterb]

Not only can a non-fault claim affect your premium but, having double checked, it can also affect your NCD in some situations. https://www.admiral.com/magazine/gui...s-myths-busted


If the other party is uninsured, or the insurer can't recover their losses for some other reason, then you can lose your NCD through no fault of your own. See the above link.

Certainly needs to be disclosed (particularly if changing insurers) but if it’s no fault and no loss to the insurer, it shouldn’t affect the premium adversely.

Indeed, which is why I added the no loss to the insurer proviso. . Its a no claim discount, not a no-fault discount - but if the others party insurance pays up in full, there is no financial claim on your own insurer - even though you submit an accident report. That link sums it up very well

[oolon]

If the other party is uninsured, or the insurer can't recover their losses for some other reason, then you can lose your NCD through no fault of your own. See the above link.

Yes, but your insurance will only have losses if you claim for damages (paperwork time does not count). Well I as with Admiral despite the other person wanting to claim against me, I refused to accept responsibility. Admiral decide it was bare own losses not 50/50, and as I did not wish to claim my NCB not affected, and the other person eventually just gave up. (I think they deliberately hit me) In some cases you do get a say with how the claim is processed, and Admiral backed me up, as in their words "We don't want to pay up on this one". Don't forget, they want to minimise the money they pay out, not just put up your prices.

[OilSheikh]

The old bill are now investigating the new scratches as criminal damage.
I guess you live and learn. I, for one, will never give my address or Mobile no. if I was ever in an accident, no matter what the Old bill says! I'll just give my Driving license no. and Insurer name and policy no.

[watercooled]

I have been envolved with 2 accidents, that may give you some insight as to what can happen. I got hit by someone while stationary, because I refused to yield to his agressive driving to push into my lane. Was taking pictures of me and sounding his horn... Just had a momentary touch, he got out threated to assult me tried to pulling my car door open, so in this case I drove off when the traffic cleared. He reported me to his insurance, and my insurance got in touch with me. So what you can take from this is if you have the registration they will find the person. Only do this if your looking to claim to get damage fixed, otherwise there is not much point. (In my case the insurance decided it was "pay own losses" as i did not wish to claim).

What's been covered in this thread are exactly the sort of reasons I think the 'hand over address, etc, etc' is an utterly stupid requirement given some of the raving idiots on the road. I can't think of a single valid reason a driver should need to personally know the address of another driver! I'm definitely no expert but I think the other driver acting aggressively is reasonable grounds to not stop and chat, rather go report it to the police ASAP yourself - if nothing else, it's displaying road rage which is an offence in itself. There's two often contrary things - you shouldn't ever stop for road rage, but should stop and chat after a bump.

However it's also worth mentioning that insurers claim you should tell them about any accident to forewarn them, even if neither side wants to claim, as failing to report one can lead to cover being invalid in some cases (check T+Cs). However, even incidents which are not claimed on, can apparently still affect future quotes as it alters their statistical image of you. NCD is applied after the quote; even if NCD is untouced, the base quote can still change.

I've even heard of people having insurance policies cancelled shortly after applying for 'manipulating' the quotes by changing minor details on comparison websites. Not sure how true that is, but be careful nonetheless. Seems very stupid if true - I don't see the harm in ballparking how much you'd be paying with a different job title, a few more years NCD, etc - you're not making a declaration until you sign on the dotted line!

The old bill are now investigating the new scratches as criminal damage.
I guess you live and learn. I, for one, will never give my address or Mobile no. if I was ever in an accident, no matter what the Old bill says! I'll just give my Driving license no. and Insurer name and policy no.

I was just about to say that. I agree with others that the dashcam footage is invaluable here and will prove nothing of the sort happened. If the other driver has indeed been paying malicious visits then that's definitely a criminal matter.

Did your friend get any photos of the car before the scratches appeared? They would be yet more valuable evidence!

[Lucio]

Thing about NCD is, the "fault" of the accident depends on who has to pay for it. So if your mate's insurer has to pay out due to the other driver not being located, then he can lose his NCD.

I faced something similar a few years back. Car parked on the street, woke up to find it'd been hit so hard, it not only forced the boot open, but it'd moved 1.5m forward and done a similar amount of damage to my partner's car (we'd only been seeing each other a few weeks at the time!)

My insurance company initially made me pay the excess and took away my NCD, though come renewal time, the claim had switched from a Fault to No-Fault claim so assume that they were able to locate the other driver or claim through the uninsured drivers scheme.

[OilSheikh]

Police won't investigate the new scratches as there's no evidence.
Insurance company swiftly passed him to car rental company and repairs company. Mate wants the investigation done first so that it's not an uninsured driver case like Lucio mentioned.
His wife has been diagnosed with whiplash injury by the Doc