My worst insurance nightmare

[Jembo]

Imagine u were me, (not in the Z), on Monday, leaving home to visit your mum after she had a minor opp, turning out of your road still in the 30 mph zone outside the residential area, to suddenly see a car going too fast, loosing control into the ditch on their side, then flying out in the air as he overcorrected for a head on collision .... Fok!

I can only say the man upstairs took control... again! Managed to swerve most of the car onto the pavement & accelerated out... where he just caught the rear end.

A few cars pulled up as I walked to where he’d stopped some 50 yds down the road... THEN THE FOKKER SPED OFF

Out of the car, just managed to catch the car who was initially a fair way behind - typically he hadn’t seen the impact... but agreed to give details, phew!

What would u do next, not knowing the full reg & not quite recognising the model???? Only the colour, the first two index marks & the shape... yup, back home & started looking round every street, every parking area.

45 minutes later guess what, man upstairs led me to a car I’d seen before... oooh, nice new bash to front wing with some of my paint ... with the Fokker standing in his kitchen looking well pissed off!!! I wonder why?

So what do u think the 5” 9 scrawny Foker had to say? WTF you doing coming round MY house, I’ll do this n that to u... he was deffo either on drugs or had been drinking & u know when a scraps about to kick off as had to push him back a couple of times ... then his Mrs came out with his 3-4 year old daughter.

I thought fek it, take pictures of his car, call the police with all the details.... & walk away.

Have to say my insurers (LV) & the police were brilliant - been told they don’t need any more info from me after first phone call & today got a text to say both my no claims will not be affected & don’t even have to upfront the excess - just now have a car who’s value will be diminished when comes time to sell ;@(

Whilst he should know better, actually feel for his family as they’re the ones who’ll suffer - it’s up to 10 points & up to £5k fine for leaving the scene of an accident...

 

[ben g]

Why would the value of your car be affected? If it hasn't been cateogrised, then there'll be no record on any hpi checks of accident damage and repairs.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Nightmare scenario indeed, but at least you've tracked the Twunt down and your insurers and the Police have been brilliant - maybe the Police have been waiting for an "opportunity" with this guy!

I hope you can get a good repair done, and as "ben g" says it shouldn't affect your car's value if it doesn't get an HPI "Cat" marker.

 

[buzyg]

Sounds like you did all the right things in the right order. Great you got a break and found the DH. As long as the work s minor and not categorised by your insurance, then the only record will be your receipts for the repair. Should not affected the value of the car much. Hope you get it back on the road soon.

 

[Z4Sparky]

Although I am sure it was frustrating at the time, might be a good thing he left the scene as it makes it very obvious he was in the wrong - especially if the police were involved.

If he had stuck around you could easily see the insurers saying "well, it was 50:50" as this seems to be reported more and more, especially when there are no witnesses - that is assuming he even had insurance?!

 

[Jembo]

Cheers gents, he has insurance

I have no idea what classification the insurers will do... I think I will ask the repairs if they will not CAT classify ... because then as u say will not affect the value, just concerned they will

 

[Jembo]

Cheers gents, he has insurance

I have no idea what classification the insurers will do... I think I will ask the repairs if they will not CAT classify ... because then as u say will not affect the value, just concerned they will

They have just confirmed no CAT status will be recorded against it.. another result!

 

[Z4Sparky]

 

[srhutch]

Cheers gents, he has insurance

I have no idea what classification the insurers will do... I think I will ask the repairs if they will not CAT classify ... because then as u say will not affect the value, just concerned they will

They have just confirmed no CAT status will be recorded against it.. another result!

Jem, if they wrote it off they would buy you out of the car, they wouldn't repair.

 

[Thrustyjust]

I wouldnt feel sorry for his family. Usually that trait passes down to them anyway. Hope his insurance gets big and dont forget he left the scene hoping you wouldnt find him.
As for insurance. Glad it worked out for you. We had a driver reverse into the back of our parked car and drive off. Wife was sitting in our car ! She chased the other driver and she admitted she drove off as did 'no damage'. Well £2k later :roll: it got fixed, by her insurance as she wanted to pay cash. She drove off , so wasnt trusting her to do a runner from the paint shop too. Didnt affect our renewal that following year, so all good.

 

[Jembo]

Cheers gents, he has insurance

I have no idea what classification the insurers will do... I think I will ask the repairs if they will not CAT classify ... because then as u say will not affect the value, just concerned they will

They have just confirmed no CAT status will be recorded against it.. another result!

Jem, if they wrote it off they would buy you out of the car, they wouldn't repair.

Not had much experience here, as thought all repairs were subject to one CAT status or another... some of which were not classified as a write off. From what everyone’s now said, understand it’ll just be a rear quarter panel repair & respray which is a big relief... although lots of the car checks are getting more sophisticated, we’ll see

 

[PerryGunn]

If he had stuck around you could easily see the insurers saying "well, it was 50:50" as this seems to be reported more and more, especially when there are no witnesses - that is assuming he even had insurance?!

It seems to be getting more and more important to have a dashcam fitted - even a cheap one will help cut through the bullshit...

 

[BeeEmm]

Imagine u were me, (not in the Z), on Monday, leaving home to visit your mum after she had a minor opp, turning out of your road still in the 30 mph zone outside the residential area, to suddenly see a car going too fast, loosing control into the ditch on their side, then flying out in the air as he overcorrected for a head on collision .... Fok!

Jembo, please don't be offended by the following question. I have a genuine interest in driver psychology, peoples perceptions of what happened and what causes road traffic incidents. From your intro. I am presuming that you emerged onto a major road into the path of a fast approaching car causing the driver to lose control. Am I wrong? If I am, I really would like clarification as it would help me. Stay calm.

 

[Jembo]

of

I should explain some more, where I believe you should already be able to deduce I can stay calm, so do not worry

The road I turned into was a 30mph limit in a built up area, which continues @ 30mph into a reasonably wide rural kerbed road with a wide path on my side & a drainage ditch for oncoming traffic. There is plenty of room for two lorries to pass without slowing down, though there are no central dividing white lines.

I had not just turned, but had been driving on it for at least 500-800 metres.

I was approaching a sweeping left hand bend that is obscured by fencing / bushes & matey boy comes flying round the corner @ speed, so fast his front tyres were sliding, mounted the kerb, into the ditch... the rest u know

I suggest you should also consider I managed to get about 90% of my vehicle onto the pavement, attempting to swing it round & accelerate when he caught the rear end, where he was well out of control - if the guy behind in the Volvo had been directly following, he’d wiped him out, totally

I don’t believe I’m a Stig, just very lucky & have had many many similar experiences such as this in the past where I’ve escaped by taking extreme evasive action, not braking & survived - some will know, especially my family but most laugh & don’t believe I managed a 100mph Elk test on the German autobhan @ 3am in the morning coming back from Berlin, where on dipper beam I found a car with front & rear lights smashed in the fast lane. How I went round it between two lorries I still do not know, wife thought I was rolling the car & we were about to die as I slid it sideways & somehow the Merc came back.

I now only drive @ 80mph max at night in Germany, obviously more where permitted during good daytime conditions.

So tell me, what does your psychology tell you about me?

 

[BeeEmm]

You sound like a top man who drives under control and plans well in extreme situations. Thank you for your reply, it is appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

By the sounds of the accident and the way the other car flew through the air, he did well to drive away from the scene.
Glad you were not hurt anyway.