car accident - do i call my insurance?

[ecocat]

hi,

i was recently involved in a car accident where it wasn't my fault even though the other driver doesn't think they were to blame either. He was speeding on dual carriage way & i was joining via a slip road. after getting home & acessing the damage to my car i found that it t cutted out. What should i do - call him with my insurance details call my insurance or leave it. i don't want to lose my no claims.

[fo3nix]

That's up to you.

If you can assess that the cost of repair will be small enough to not warrant losing your no claims, then call the other party, agree to not go through the insurers and each pay individually.

If one of you decides to go through the insurers, it's best for both of you to (I would think); likewise if you're unsure of cost of damage, then it's probably also best to go through the insurers.

[andy-hughes]

I'd be careful here.

If you were entering the carriageway and the other car was already on it, and you collided, then that is legally your fault.

The responsibility for judging the speed of existing traffic and assessing a safe point to join the carriageway is down to the joining driver, so even if the other car was speeding, that probably cannot be proved, but the impct points on both vehicles will prove that you were legally at fault.

Approach the other driver, and tell him you are prepared to accept a 'knockl for knock' solution to avoid involving insurance companies, and hope he doesn't press the issue, because it may well be that he has the rightful damage claim, and not you.

[ecocat]

Hi, thanks for your advice.
There really is minimal damage to my vehicle & i would have to point out at very close range where we collided. it has been five days now & the other driver has not contacted me; if he thought the fault was mine then i would have expected him to have called by now ( he doesn't have my insurance details). At the time he had to make alot of phone calls to find our who's name the car was insured in & after some deliberation he admitted that the car wasn't his but his father's. i'm suspect that he wasn't insured -otherwise he would have contacted me by now wouldn't he?

[Rollo]

You need to be careful here.

It is a legal requirement for all those involved to provide names and current addresses, and insurance details. You have not done that.

[ecocat]

yes i understand that, i did provide him with my full contact details, address etc. it's the other driver that i don't think is within the law! thanks for help anyhow & i certainly take this on board. I have his number so i'll contact him - even though it seemed quite shady & don't want to get stitched up.

[ecocat]

thanks for your help on this everyone! i've justed contacted the other driver & he says that he would prefer cash in had for the work & is going to get me a quote. I just wanted to make sure that this was the cheaper option for me. Does anyone know how much my premium would go up buy? i have a 3 door toyota yaris '03 reg T3 model - i'm 32 & have never made a claim during my 12 years of driving.

[fredsie]

When you next renew your insurance you premium will be based on the condition that no material changes have occurred in the last year. If you don't mention an accident and the insurance company finds out, they may refuse to pay any claims you make in future.