collision with parked car

[luckyfish]

my partners vehicle (car a) was parked on the side of the road... where it is parked every night. tonight we were sitting watching tv and there was a HUGE bang. we looked out the window and saw that a car (car b) had collided with his car. it's pushed it forward, around 10ft, so the driver must have been going at a real speed.

although my b/f went out straight away there was so much commotion he wasn't able to get the details immediately as he was first checking everyone wa alright. there were 3 kids all very young but not in car seats - all crying and screaming cause car b was smoking. my b/f called the police BUT the driver obviously called his friend.cause within 2 mins he and all the occupants of car b jumped into his friends car and drove off. (fleeing the scene) he has left his smashed up car on the road with the lights on and the window open... i wonder if he will come back?

fortunatley there were 3 seperate sets of witnesses that all stopped and saw everything from the moment of the crash.

he nor i have ever had an accident and so have no idea what to do now?

if anyone with any experience is still awake please will you reply.

[sara3]

you need to ring the police. fleeing the scene of an accident is an offence.

and you need to report it to your insurance company.

don't be tempted to have a stiff drink in case you end up blowing into a bag!

[bednobs]

hi, sorry to have to say this - but it sounds like they weren't insured/registered. The police may try and trace them but i doubt they will fnd them. Yu will most likely have to pay on your insurance. Mr bednobs was run over by someone and he drove off, mr bdnobs got the reg but the police never found the person!

[Marijn]

Don't worry the owner of the car can be traced by the car's number plate. Tell the police immediately and take photos of your car on it's damaged side, and the other car, and a photo of both cars, so insurers can see where it is in relation to your car.

[Marijn]

Didn't see post above mine. If the money comes out of your insurance company then you will probably pay something like �50 out of your own pocket. You still need to tell police and get an incident number and they will do their best to find owner.

[luckyfish]

thanks sara.

the police have just left - they gave some info to call the ins company with.
they said that they have checked the cars details and will be going to that address now.

what an eventful sunday night!!!

[sara3]

makes me grateful for my very dull evening!

hope it works out okay for you :o)

[luckyfish]

sorry... i didn't see bednobs nor notafish replies.

thanks so much for responding :)

my first thought was also that there was something dodgy.
turns out the car has irish plates but has uk road tax - then i thought maybe uninsured driver... but as i say my b/f recons he was high or something.

didn't realise that the ins. would be open this time on a sunday but he's busy reporting it at the moment.

i'm hoping that it will all get sorted out eventually - a bit worried now.
will my b/f insurance pay out if the other guy is uninsured?

[NORMANTHEDOG]

it really depends on what cover your boyfriend has on the car,but i doubt whether the other car is even registered to the right person,or insured,but there is a fund put aside by insurance companies for this sort of thing,but you wont recoup all of your costs unless you are fully comp.

[Ethel]

Norm - MIB is only for claims that are not covered by any other insurance. So if you have fully comp insurance you cannot claim from MIB, and you have to pay the excess yourself.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

ok,but they might not be comp,thats what i meant

[luckyfish]

this all just got worse...
the police have just turned up with a recovery vehicle - turns out that the car is stolen.

the accident happened late sunday night. the driver window has been open, the car unlocked and it's been raining on and off all day yesterday and today. surely any evidence that was there would now be contaminated!

i understand that there are more important things for the police to be doing / investigating - but, does this mean that my partners insurance will have to pay, if they don't find the driver / thief ?

i assume that this would mean that he looses his 5 years no claims bonus - which is a bit unfair as it was through no fault of his own.. just bad luck to get hit by a stolen car.

for future refference, are you within the law to stop a person from fleeing the scene of an accident?

[luckyfish]

meant to mention in the first paragraph that car b is getting taken away for forensic testing.

[Ethel]

Yes you are, as long as you use reasonable force.

[luckyfish]

thanks ethel :)
it's good to know this sort of thing. problem is you don't think about it till it happens and then you can only learn from your mistake.

[Marijn]

If you had tried to restrain him he may have hit you. He isn't a nice moral person:he stole a car and ran away from an accident. If you had tried to restrain him, do you really think he'd have done the decent think and stayed til the police came? You did the right thing by not chasing after him.