First of I admit it was my fault, I bumped into a parked car when doing a reverse around the corner. The car I hit was parked round the corner on white lines.
I turned into a road so I could turn round (I missed my turning) but as I drove into it was chaos. Lots of people were stuck there was a car in front of me, a car behind me and a car coming the other way at this point. All were looking for parking spaces for nearby restaurants and bars and realising there weren't any. I beeped at the car in front who had been reversing towards me but had stopped to try and get them to move forward so I could straighten up but I don't think they understood the problem.
I should have got out and asked this driver to move forward to give me time to straighten up so I could do the reverse around the corner but as people were getting more inpatient I decided I just need do get out reverse now so the other cars could also get out of the way. As I did this I heard the sound of crunching metal. I had miss judged how close this Renault Clio was to my front wing and clipped it.
His car is mostly scratched, mine is dented (front wing) I left a note on his windscreen and took several pictures of the car to show the damage was minor, a local resident also came out and said they don't know who the car belongs to but will act as a witness to say the car was stationary and empty at the time and that the damage was minor.
I have also taken lots of pictures of the scene.
I think I am going to inform the insurance company as this is a legal requirement and there were lots of witnesses and people around even if I don't make a claim.
My question is does the fact the car I hit was parked illegally causing an obstruction make any difference or is this simply black and white that I hit a stationary car?
In terms of damage I reckon its £300-£400 on my car (panel beating and respray of that wing) and upto £200 damage on the Clio (respray).
I just feel very stupid and shook up about it :(.
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At least it wasn't a 7 yr old at the kerbside fixing his bike.
You'll be fine, just don't do it again ;-)
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Nope, your fault I'm afraid. My wife has clipped cars obstructing our drive and its always been seen as her fault.
Two examples that would make me mad....
A friend hit a bus, the bus driver was done for dangerous driving by the police however he lost his no-claims and held responsible by the insurance company.
The MIL was turning right at a t junction and as she turned hit a car that had decided to overtake her but was found at fault.
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That is what I thought, I hit it so my fault. Really do feel like giving up driving for a bit, it might be just the shock I need to do something different.
If this puts my premiums up by a silly amount I will simply have no choice. Just still a bit shook up because of the what if scenario, I simply got frustured.
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>> If this puts my premiums up by a silly amount I will simply have no choice. Just still a bit shook up because of the what if scenario, I simply got frustured.
Frustured eh? Do stop panicking Sheikha. If the other driver and or his repairer are reasonable, and Ted can point you to a decent backyard bodyshop, it is often better to pay for the damage yourself than involve greedy thieving insurance companies. And with luck no one will lean on you much for anything. Look on the bright side.
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Bad luck Rattie, thats the time things go wrong when you get flustered, just stop and sort yourself out when confusion reigns, sod 'em all they'll just have to wait a minute.
I had only been driving lorries about 2 years when i got stuck at a junction i couldn't get my trailer round, got all flustered, strange place heavy town traffic and horns beeping all around etc.
Bloke about my age now sauntered casually up to the cab and in a fatherly way...''calm down lad, they'll just have to wait a minute, just back it up a bit and if you drive straight on theres an easier turning round the corner''...his calm measured tone and friendly unperturbed by anything old lorry driver (he was) advice of how to deal with such situations has stayed with me for the 35 years since.
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Bad luck Sheikha. Most of us have been there lots of times.
If you're lucky the other owner won't care.
What's wrong with a little dent in your wing for heaven's sake? Why the rush to make all good?
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The problem is there were a lot of witnesses, and I worry at the best of times, at the end of the day I have damaged somebody elses is property and although I have left a note, I still need to tell my insurance company.
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Rattle you may well feel a bit down about it but we all make mistakes, it's how you go about it afterwards that helps.
You've made an error but you've done all you can to put it right, I just wish you'd been the driver of the car that hit mine a fortnight ago. I came home from work to notice a nice crease and dent in my front offside wing that SWMBO had collected while she was safely in Asda doing the week's shopping. Was there a nice polite note left to say sorry and a number to ring, of course not!
What annoyed me even more is that I'm getting a new car next week and all the PX values had all been agreed so I've had no choice but to bite the bullet and get everything sorted pronto. I'm now £160 lighter.....
At least you have done the honourable thing unlike the so and so who hit mine; you I'd shake by the hand for your honesty, the guy who hit me I'd like to punch on the nose for being a {insert appropriate four letter term}.
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Most of us have been there lots of times.
If you're lucky the other owner won't care.
I remember the time about 15 years ago I was turning a rented Transit van in a quiet cul de sac in Edinburgh and managed to hit a rather nice BMW that was parked there. My wife rang a few doorbells and found the owners. They came out, inspected the damage - some slight scratching - and though we gave our names and contact details, they never followed us up. Come to think of it, I probably didn't bother informing my insurers.
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It happened to me before a couple of years ago, got back to my car to find a big dent in it, cost me £350.00 but I always hoped the guy who did that to me crashed into a double decker bus for his dishonesty.
I do think I still need to at least inform my insurance company even if I don't put in a claim because if he informs his insurance company first I could get into trouble.
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By the letter of the law Rats you are supposed to report (in person) to the Police within as soon as reasonably practicable or within 24hrs if you could not provide your name and address(driver), ownership details (presume same as driver) and reg number to any person having reasonable grounds to have that information. Just to cheer you up :S
But you did the right thing at the time :)
Last edited by: Fullchat on Thu 19 Sep 13 at 20:27
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I wouldn't mind reporting to the police on the grounds he was illegally parked and I have picture evidence of him causing an obstruction. I admit I was in the wrong for crashing into it so got nothing to hide. The problem is if I do that are likely to want to do me for careless driving?
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Very much doubt that Rats. Minor damage = NFI (No flippin interest). Wont be interested in the other parties indiscretion either. Frustrating as it is Rats just deal with it and move on - happens to the best of us, believe me.
You are just bottom covering because 'Fail to stop/report' (either or) is deemed a little bit more serious and who says the note remained on the vehicle, and who says the other party did not find the note make some inquiries - say CCTV, and got your number and then reported to Police. Gets messy.
The'll just take details and give you an incident number. Oh and take your docs with you.
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Sitting at the lights in an extremely knackered Bedford hire ven some years back I managed to get reverse instead of first before I pulled away. Back I went and heard a nice little crunch as I connected with a Mk 3 Cortina behind me. My heart in my boots I got out to be confronted by the driver of the Ford. "Sorry mate, I thought you'd moved off and I was chatting to my mate and didn't notice you hadn't", he offered. No damage to the big steel bumper on the Bedford, but a bit of reworked metal on the front of his car.
Well what can a poor boy do? "Don't worry about it mate, we all make mistakes..."
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>> What's wrong with a little dent in your wing for heaven's sake? Why the rush
>> to make all good?
I agree. Get it done when you sell the car if it bothers you. Otherwise you'll just be disappointed if it happens again. If there's already a dent another one won't make a lot of difference, if you see what I mean. And it won't look so open to vandalism.
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Worse things have happened! Try not to worry about it.
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Well still no phone call from the driver of the other car.
I do want to play this by the book if he doesn't contact me, because these things do end up in court. My question is if I have left a note on his car, do I still need to inform the place? There are no desks anyway anymore in Greater Manchester, it is just a phone number where a clueless civvy answers.
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You looked on AskMID to see if the car's insured?
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If you took reasonable steps to pass on your details (which you did) and no one was injured, you have no need to inform the police. The illegally parked bit doesn't come into it in the UK.
Last edited by: Fursty Ferret on Thu 19 Sep 13 at 21:22
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I have a witness to the fact I did leave a piece of paper on the car too. Well if he doesn't contact me I am just going to contact my insurance company and tell them what happened just to cover my back even if I don't put in a claim.
I am seriously considering getting rid of the car now anyway and getting a new job as discussed on here before.
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I'd give it a few days before telling your insurance company, see if he wants to settle for cash.
If I found a dent and a note on my car at 8pm I'd be able to think of about a million better things to do than exchange insurance details. Wait until Monday. Pointless loading your premium for the sake of a few days.
Bear in mind that both insurance premiums will sky-rocket if reported. If it was my car you'd whacked, I'd ask you to cough up to get it fixed but it would be your choice whether or not to go through your insurer.
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That would be the logical thing to do, but the law states I need to inform my insurance company within 24 hours, and I suffering from anxiety enough, possibly to point of it causing this bump so I don't want to be worrying about anything that might come back to haunt me.
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>> but the law states I need to inform my insurance company within 24 hours
Does it really?
That's a new one for me.
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That was the impression I was always under, well if not law, at least a requirement under the insurance T&Cs.
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>> Bear in mind that both insurance premiums will sky-rocket if reported.
Can't speak for the bloke who ran into me, but my premium went down the following year. Also whenever I've shopped around online for car insurance since then its made diddly squat difference whether I put in the no fault claim info or left it out. Obviously I informed them though that there was a no fault claim before taking out a new policy.
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"If you took reasonable steps to pass on your details (which you did) and no one was injured, you have no need to inform the police."
I think you will find you do. Leaving a note does not fulfill requirements of the legislation. Pedantic? - Yes.
Sec 170 RTA 1988 : www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/170
Last edited by: Fullchat on Thu 19 Sep 13 at 22:14
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Well sort of coming to the conclusion of swear word it now. I can find a job which doesn't require a car, get rid of my car, get rid of the loan, get my insurance to pay for the minor damage, inform the police etc.
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Last year I reversed out out of my driveway and hit a parked car that was parked opposite my driveway. I felt so bad about it as my car is equipped with sensors and a camera but I still managed to smash into it.
I waited for the owner to come back to see her pride and joy damaged and she was great about it. We exchanged details and she gave me her card and I discovered she was an insurance loss adjuster!
To cut a long story short the insurance paid out about £3K on the car I hit and around £1.2K on my car. At insurance renewal it made a difference of approx.£46 to my premium.
These things happen and nobody was hurt so don't beat yourself up too much
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Now sensors that is a good idea :). It is not the first time I have done damage when reversing but this is the first time I have hit a car or caused damage to anything.
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I know it makes me different, but I don't think I made clear on my original post, that the car was parked on the corner of a road, half on the pavement, half on the road on the white lines.
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You're making a big thing of this - it's not a big deal. Yes you should have seen it but you didn't and nobody was hurt. Parking sensors might have helped... and then you might want a reversing camera..... and then why not a full 360 degree aerial view from cameras. All are options on some cars ;-)
Some other options in the future will include monitoring the rear of the car for imminent collision. Obviously we already have front sensors which can autobrake. And cars that will keep you in lane. And soon ones that sensing you might be in difficulty will safely stop the car (keeping it in lane before it stops). Or how about a car that will apply the brakes to bring a car to a stop if it's been in an accident. Some BMWs will call 999 automatically if there's been an accident.
I'd keep the Panda, maybe get it fixed, and move on.
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Rattle,
Stuff happens! I've been driving for nearly 50 years and been very lucky so far, scraped my wife's car once but that's about all.........until, a few weeks ago!!! Gave into my bosses pleading that he needed someone to drive the truck and trailer to deliver cars.
Now, I've driven that combination many thousands of miles, delivered hundreds of cars including all sorts of expensive stuff (Ferraris, Lambos etc) and never had a problem.
But, I then went to pick up a C Max with all the gubbins and loaded it, but not quite straight on trailer so decided to unload it and reload straight. Got 90% down ramp and right slipped into gutter. C Max dropped a few inches, front bumper caught ramp and popped off. (only held by plastic clips). No damage to bumper except all plastic clips broken which made it impossible to clip back on (and a lot of gubbins also popped off) - cost me £1000!!!
Two days later, manoeuvring through a housing estate with two parked cars on left 30 yards apart and one on right in middle. Lined up truck, saw there was enough space and drove through and then zig-zagged left to right to clear the second car on left. Oh dear, back of truck swings out, front of trailer swings out and catches front door of Ford Ka, removes front wing and front bumper of KA. Disentangled trailer, parked up and knocked on doors. Found owner, exchanged details etc., confessed it was all my fault, asked him to get quote for repair and I would transfer money to him. Only £1359.56p!!!!
Felt really depressed, felt like giving up job but as Mrs W said "Look, it's a bit of metal you damaged, no-one was injured, no-one died, you made a mistake. OK, it's cost a bit of money, just pay it and forget about it and get on with a job you enjoy"
So I did - still feel very ashamed that I let my self down by making the mistakes - but 2 mistakes in 50 years or 2 in a week??? And only a bit of bent metal. I think I have been lucky!
And so have you - a very minor and inconsequential mistake!
Good luck in the future - and keep driving!!
P
P.S Sorry for long post!!
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>> cost me £1000!!!
It cost you?!?!? If they charge you for damage, what if you wrote off a Ferrari?
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£1000!!
Excess on company insurance is £1000!
Perhaps I should make a proper job of it and write off a real car rather than a Ford!
Cue Mondeo TDCi thread!
P
P.S One of our drivers damaged a Ferrari wheel and tyre when delivering it - cost him £1000! Ooops!
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>> Excess on company insurance is £1000!
>> P.S One of our drivers damaged a Ferrari wheel and tyre when delivering it - cost him £1000! Ooops!
The employer ought to cover it IMO - but clearly don't. Accidents happen.
I might risk the same if I got to drive some exotic cars though.
My company car scheme ultimately has an 'excesss' but only if you keep having accidents.
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"The employer ought to cover it IMO - but clearly don't. Accidents happen.
I might risk the same if I got to drive some exotic cars though."
We are self-employed and paid by the job. If you are prepared to put in the hours you can earn good money though there are carp days and really good days.
I took on the job (actually, my wife took out the job for me!!) when I retired. Thought I would be bored silly shelf stacking at minimum wage but wanted something totally different from my previous employment.
I really enjoy it - been all over this week - Northants, Glasgow, Bucks, Cambridge, Norwich, Leics and Grimethorpe!
As for the exotic cars - yes, it's nice to have driven a brand new Ferrari 458 but also a bit worrying. They are very wide, with poor visibility! And it gets annoying when every boy racer at every set of traffic lights is challenging you to race their Saxo!! And where do you get the chance to really see what that car can do? Not on British roads!!
Mind you lovely drive through Southern Uplands of Scotland on A68 the other day on a brand new Pug 208 GTi (Number 26 of the 29 imported and 200 bhp according to dealer - I used about 50 of those 200!)
Other cars this week - new 3 series, 5 series, RR Sport, and Hilux. Boxster, CLK, Citigo and Mini Cooper S.
It's good fun (and I've driven some real nails as well!)
P
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>>P.S One of our drivers damaged a Ferrari wheel and tyre when delivering it - cost him
>>£1000! Ooops!
Wow. I'm not sure that's even remotely reasonable. I hope they pay you a darn sight more than the minimum wage if you have to cover risks like that. And I bet they don't. They keep their insurance costs down by having a 1k excess, and pass the risk onto the delivery bods. This is annoying me greatly. The Victorians put Acts through Parliament to improve the rights of employees.
A reasonable company would limit the cost to you to £250. And just write it off for 50 years' good behaviour.
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It's frequently the case at Haulage companies where the excess is £1000 and hidden deep in the contract of employment the employee is responsible for it.
Pat
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Do employees buy themselves excess insurance?
I'm struggling to think of other jobs where mistakes have to be made up financially. Generally any loss through an employee's mistake just gets lost as there's no financial payment to a third party.
Last edited by: Mapmaker on Fri 20 Sep 13 at 11:14
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I was talking to an Autoglass fitter today while he was replacing a windscreen on a something or other. I asked if he'd ever dropped one and he said once only, a screen for a Daimler which had been especially imported from the US with a two week wait for it to arrive. Ouch!
I don't know whether Autoglass fitters are employed or have a franchise and I didn't think to ask if he had to pay for it himself.
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I once had a replacement windscreen fitted and having driven approximately one mile from the Autoglass depot the new screen got hit by a stone thrown up by an oncoming truck. Swung round the next roundabout and went back to have another one fitted. Sort of Hamlet cigar moment really.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Fri 20 Sep 13 at 19:32
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If only my record was anything like that, I have had a lot more incidents in my 5 years of driving than you have in your 50! And is what makes me really question if I should be driving.
Most of them were just very silly thing like clipping the side of a drive gate (but still causing a lot of damage) and two incidents were not my fault. Even so it is getting to be a pattern and sooner or later I think the only bit of original paint left on my car will be the roof.
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Calm down. And carry on driving!
I don't know what your loan situation is for the car but by now if you sold it and paid it off you'd have thrown away money - or so I'd assume.
You've had a few bumps - so what. Nobody has been injured. Just inconvenienced. Mostly you.
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"You've had a few bumps - so what. Nobody has been injured. Just inconvenienced. Mostly you."
Quite right rtj. Hells bells (as my Dad used to say) if a couple of dings on a car is all you have to worry about in life then you ain't lived.
Bloomin' heck - when I think back, car dinging doesn't even come into reckoning when life's regrets are counted.
But who cares?? I don't any longer.
Happy days - just make the most of every one - and a dent on a car? Who gives a thingamabob?
P
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So what. Its a minor ding. No one injured.
I rented a super large Sprinter a few years ago to use as a mobile warehouse. As it contained £20k+ of stock I took it up my steep narrow drive home rather than leave it on the road. Next morning, mid Dec, snow & ice , and stupid decision to drive down a steep drive, caused me to open the side like a can opener on a 90yo protruding gate post. Cost me a small fortune in excess from the rental company. Stuff happens in life. Not all of it good.
Learn from your mistakes. Hey ho.
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Yeah, it's worse when it's your fault but it's not the end of the world.
Speaking from experience here as I caused over £600 of damage to a brand new mountain bike when a screw-driver slipped during a routine service.
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You it a stationary vehicle, so regardless of where it was parked, it is your fault.
But was it parked illegally? You said it was "parked on white lines". I thought white lines didn't have authority, only yellow or red. White lines are often advisory, but not mandatory?
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White lines only mark the edge of the road when there is no pavement, they have no legal meaning. Rattle's prang appears to have been an urban one, perhaps he meant a yellow line?
Re blame, if you're moving and the other vehicle wasn't it's pretty much cut and dried as to who has to carry the can.
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It was parked half on the pavement, half on the road on the corner of a bend on a very narrow street on which was a white line.
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Gizza streetview image, Rattle.
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I just phoned Directline to make them aware of the incident they were very helpful. It was left that they are going to try and contact the third party and see what he wants to do. If he puts in an claim then I will do, but if he doesn't put in a claim then I won't.
They said it won't make any difference to my renewal if neither us claim even though they are away of the incident. They said there was no need to inform the police as I have informed the insurance company and they will contact the third party and the fact there was no injuries.
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>> They said it won't make any difference to my renewal if neither us
>> claim even though they are away of the incident.
Go and have a play with the quote generator on their website and see if you still believe them after 10 minutes.
Last edited by: Fursty Ferret on Fri 20 Sep 13 at 12:53
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Well I did, I put as if it was a claim though, and it might not be yet, I can get still get cheap insurance but the main thing is I seem to have less options now. My insurance has come down quite a lot anyway so at worse it might cost me an extra couple of hundred quid.
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>> My insurance has come down quite a lot
>> anyway so at worse it might cost me an extra couple of hundred quid.
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I suspect that that couple of hundred might mean a lot to you, it would me!
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It does, BUT sometimes it is worth being honest for the piece of mind, rather than worrying what might happen if my insurance company think I have choose not to report it etc. One thing with money is if you worry too much about a £200 quid being spent all the time then you will put yourself into an early grave. At the end of the day it is cost of a service.
I made £50 on the job too.
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>> Go and have a play with the quote generator on their website and see if
>> you still believe them after 10 minutes.
When I shopped around back in June, it didn't make any difference to the quote whether I entered the no fault claim that occured a couple of years ago or I left it out on the DL website.
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It sounds like you've done all the right stuff so I wouldn't worry. I'm reading this on a phone at the beach, so its difficult to cover it all and read all the details.
If you still have a doubt, worry, dodgy letter or some other problem, then feel free to email me and I'll help if I can.
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If my car ever gets damaged in a collision then I'll do what I've always done in the past which is to claim on my insurance and let them sort it out. It's what I pay them for. The last thing I would want would be to get into a discussion with the other party as to who was going to pay for the repair of the damage to their car. And I certainly wouldn't try and do my own estimate of what the repairs might cost. Accident damage repairs invariably cost a lot more than what the owner expects.
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I finally spoke to the bloke today, he didn't seem to think there was much damage but he said he will give it a T cut and then if it still looks a mess he will let me know. I do think the scratches were far too deep to polish out though.
He seemed genuine anyway but no point on worrying about it now it might hurt me financially but it is not the end of the world.
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Sounds as if he's being very reasonable Sheikha. It may not cost you much at all.
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Sounds like a reasonable bloke. If its just a minor scratch then a £80 Chipsaway job would see him right probably.
Did you report it? Now you have made contact and relations are good then that minimises the requirement really.
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Just crashed into an illegaly parked car - advice - Lygonos
