Insurance advice needed

[btbloke]

Right all you insurance officianado's and legal eagles I am in need of a little bit of advice.
I decided to venture out weekend before last and meet up with grumpyoldgit and rockoz for a cuppa and a natter and had a bit of a knock on the way to the meet.
The scenario goes like this, I come of the dual carriageway up the slip road to find a congested junction at the lights due to the traffic lights packing up. I eventually get to the front behind a car and we are crawling forward to the white line. There is a van parked on the flyover obscuring the view of the bridge over the dual carriageway and everyone is craning their necks to see round it to see if the road is clear. The car in front starts to pull away and moves off as do I moving up to the white line,a quick check right,nothing coming,and I pull away following the car in front who is about 6-8 foot away,another look right just to make sure and BANG!,the bugger in front has slammed his anchors on! I was thrown forward a bit and bent my thumb back against the handlebar and the bike stalls,the car in front not moved a bit still stopped in the middle of the moving traffic.
I start the bike and move over to my left across the two left hand lanes to the kerb edge and I motion for him to follow as he has moved forward to allow the following traffic to pass behind and around him,then he pulls over in front of me and gets out.
Now I'm in agony,my right thumb feels like it's been snapped off so I'm hopping about a bit like a lemon while he inspects the back of his car. We have a brief conversation,mainly me asking what the hell he was doing just stopping dead on a clear road and he says he thought he's seen something coming but is ok and the car looks undamaged apart from a large-ish black tyre mark on his bumper,and asks if the bike is ok? A quick inspection reveals nothing damaged, we were only travelling at walking pace and I had only travelled 6 foot from the white line after all,so he says as long as I'm all right he thinks the mark should polish out and no need to report it. I offer to give my contact details if he wishes and he says as long as I'm alright and he's alright he's happy so if we're both happy he's happy to leave it at that,and he jumps back in his car and is off. I remain for about another 10 minutes or so as I'm trying to get some mobility to my thumb and then I'm off to meet the chaps.
Now the bit I need some advice on. I got home from work today to find a letter from the police notifying me of intended prosecution. The date is the day of the incident and the time but no details of anything other than they crossed out various reasons for the prosecution leaving only driving dangerously,without due care and attention and without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road/public place. If he bothered to write my registration down why not take my contact details? It just seems wrong to me.
I rang the police and was told the driver had gone to the police a couple of days later and reported me,they couldn't give me any more details but said I should send the form back confirming who the rider was and a covering letter of what happened. I then had to ring the insurance company as he might be making a claim and the underwriters had not notified me yet.I spent over an hour on the phone to the broker,then the reporting dept, then the claims dept and finally the legal dept,what a palaver!!
What I need to know is can he do this? do I stand a chance? is the no claims now history and what action I can take to find out more details or am I just at the mercy of the insurance/police bureaucracy?
Quite frankly I'm at a loss with this one,why didn't he just take my details at the scene? why sneak off to the police the next day or two later?
There is no damage whatsoever to the bike,the wheel or tyre and he had a black mark the size of a couple of hand prints on his silver bumper there was no structural damage,no cracks or breakages at all.
Can anyone offer any advice? All welcome as long as it's not get the bus........

[AIRWOLF]

Surprised they did'nt list failing to report an accident (within 24 hour's i think) and failing to supply your details. . . . infact both parties are guilty of this.

Dont put anything in writing without consulting a solicitor. Don't forget there are no witnesses to this. so anything you say can hang you.


ps
he probably got a ridiculous price for a new rear bumper two days after.

[African Simba]

Not an insurance expert here but I'm glad that you are OK. I hope your thumb is heeling better now?

Do you have any witness statement or took any photos of what "alleged" damage to his car? - If Not, don't put any thing in writing or admitting liability until you speek to a lawyer…

(Do you think he deliberately slammed his breaks? Recently was a case of organised criminal here in the NW doing similar thing and claiming damages on Insurance, They were caught on camera eventually)

Surely some experts will advise you better soon.. and again I am glad you and the bike are OK ,,
Good Luck..

[Annette]

Might have been that he was uninsured at the time of the incident and he popped home, got online and bought some insurance.

[BobA]

There have been cases of "arranged accidents" on the M25 too.

I can't advise on the legal aspect (try Whealie or pdsquire for advice) but the one thing I would tell the police is how many people were in his vehicle.

Apparently, some of the "arranged accidents" involve two cars. They both overtake the target vehicle, usually a foreign truck, then slow down so he closes on the second car. The front car then dabs his brakes, the second car slams his on, and the truck rear-ends it. I was told that there have been cases where the car contained only a driver, yet when the claim was made, it claimed there was a whole family in the car!

Not saying this was an arranged accident, but just cover yourself. It would be a bit hard for him to claim too much damage and whiplash, being rear-ended by a bike at 5mph.



Good Luck



Bob

[AlanH]

If it turns into a claim, you rode into the back of him at a junction so 100% your fault regardless of your excuse. Having a go at him was probably not the best idea

However, non-reporting isn't an issue. It was a light impact that he told you had caused no damage to his vehicle. You offered your details and he refused them. As no damage to his vehicle had been caused (and he left without taking your details having inspected it) and none had been caused to yours, there is no requirement for you to report the collision if there is no injury or damage.
Collision Reporting - Reporting an accident :: Police, Report, Collision, Accident, How to report, Help, Assistance, Road Traffic Accidents, Legal requirements, law, police station,

Driving up the arse of something is driving without due care and attention so get legal representation now before it goes any further and maybe some good damage limitation may avoid prosecution - although a claim may be more difficult to argue against.

[SteveXRV]

A damage only accident does NOT need to be reported - so long as all parties have exchanged details (as per the road traffic act).
A mark on the bumper may be enough to be called 'damage'.
The accident is your fault, and the only details he had was your registration.
The police will only report an accident, after the fact, is if injury is received (to anyone involved), or they think any offences may have happened.

The reasons he went to the police station to report it, are:
1: When he spoke to his insurance company - they would have asked if he had reported it (which he hadn't at that point) & asked for a RTA number or the like (which he hadn't got).
2: He wants the bumper repaired/fixed/cleaned - (he wouldn't pay for it) but didn't have your full details to find you, so it could be sorted without going through the insurance company.
3: He may be saying 'now' he has received an injury/whiplash, from being hit from behind. To put a claim in, he has to report it.
4: He thought you had an injury, so he would report it anyway!!

The police now, are only acting what they have been 'TOLD' by the driver, who knows what he has said.
Fill out the 172 and send it back. Don't, at this stage attach anything to it. You will be contacted and interviewed (or what ever local procedure is where you live). Write down now what happened, in as much detail as possible, and save it for when it's needed.

This is a damage only accident, (forget your sore thumb) which should have gone no further than exhanging details. It will get sorted once the police find out from you what happened.

Bear in mind what other have said here, about arranged accidents. Stress there were no vehicles on the roundabout that would have caused him to stop, and that was the reason you were continuing into the junction.

Good Luck
Steve

[Whealie]

The law is not my areas of expertise but you should have exchanged insurance details just in case. I always write on the piece of paper I hand over the registration of the vehicle, number of people inside and detail of any damage and then ask them to write their name and insurer on that, getting it back from them.

Always best to note the registration of the car behind you too - as a witness.

If you hit the back of him, it's your fault, as I understand it.

Technically, whether or not a claim arises, you should tell your insurer of every such incident. You won't lose your no claims unless a claim is made, but if you ride into the back of people regularly you may find your premium rising (no unreasonably).

Any probs with the insurance let me know and I'll see what I can do.

[winxp-master]

Admit nothing, i wouldn't even say i was there and claim not to know anything about it. It's his word against yours as far as i can see and with no witnesses who`s to say you were even there!... let him prove it.

If he wants to dick about then give him the same i say.

I don't know the law or insurance etc so thats the best advice i can offer apart from giving him a slap

[BobA]

Originally Posted by winxp-master

Admit nothing, i wouldn't even say i was there and claim not to know anything about it. It's his word against yours as far as i can see and with no witnesses who`s to say you were even there!... let him prove it.

If he wants to dick about then give him the same i say.

I don't know the law or insurance etc so thats the best advice i can offer apart from giving him a slap

I LOVE THIS MAN!!! I think this would be what I'd do, but I'd re-visit the junction again to see if there's any CCTV, which would obviously be the only time it would be working or recording you bet your sweet life!!!!

I see all sides of what people have said, but it's your call!

1.The bloke is just doing what his insurance have told him to do.
2.He's a scammer
3.He's a **** and he's changed his story because someone down the pub told him to.


Good Luck