Rear-Ended; Police Involved!

[ernieh]

Here's one for the experts...

While parked in a lay-bye today (in my absence) an elderly lady bumped into the rear of my car. When I returned to the car, the police were already there. There was no apparent damage to my car as the tow bar had taken the hit. Her car will need a bumper and grille as a minimum. However, I feel it necessary to have the tow bar checked out as a potential safety issue so that would be chargeable to me as I have a £500 insurance excess.

It turns out from the police that this lady had let her insurance lapse, so she is uninsured. As the Police were there, I was unable to get her details, and they can only give me her name and car Reg No due to GDPR, so I am unable to contact her to try and recover any costs. The point of all this is that had the police not been there, I would probably have obtained sufficient detail (as required by law) to enable me to have a conversation with her about recovering any costs I may incur.

Is this one of these situations where one pays the bill and moves on?

Ernie

 

[s5tuart]

Here's one for the experts...

While parked in a lay-bye today (in my absence) an elderly lady bumped into the rear of my car. When I returned to the car, the police were already there. There was no apparent damage to my car as the tow bar had taken the hit. Her car will need a bumper and grille as a minimum. However, I feel it necessary to have the tow bar checked out as a potential safety issue so that would be chargeable to me as I have a £500 insurance excess.

It turns out from the police that this lady had let her insurance lapse, so she is uninsured. As the Police were there, I was unable to get her details, and they can only give me her name and car Reg No due to GDPR, so I am unable to contact her to try and recover any costs. The point of all this is that had the police not been there, I would probably have obtained sufficient detail (as required by law) to enable me to have a conversation with her about recovering any costs I may incur.

Is this one of these situations where one pays the bill and moves on?

Ernie

That's odd they won't give you the details.
Perhaps you can get her details from DVLA? Or some other source?

Step One. Get it checked out for damage. Maybe there is none ( fingers crossed)
If there is damage find out the cost. If less than £500 I'd be inclined to suck it up after exhaustive searching for her address. Tried the name on Facebook?

btw...I'm not an expert!

 

[curious]

As the Police were there, I was unable to get her details,

What was stopping you from asking her directly?
I thought details were supposed to be exchanged in the event of an accident to enable incidents such a s this to be sorted out?

DVLA will provide the details, eventually, but it's a real balls-ache dealing with them. They only accept enquiries by post (FFS) and take months not to answer. You'll have to provide evidence (usually photographs) of the offending vehicle and a paragraph or two why you want their details.

 

[Wighty]

Here's one for the experts...

While parked in a lay-bye today (in my absence) an elderly lady bumped into the rear of my car. When I returned to the car, the police were already there. There was no apparent damage to my car as the tow bar had taken the hit. Her car will need a bumper and grille as a minimum. However, I feel it necessary to have the tow bar checked out as a potential safety issue so that would be chargeable to me as I have a £500 insurance excess.

It turns out from the police that this lady had let her insurance lapse, so she is uninsured. As the Police were there, I was unable to get her details, and they can only give me her name and car Reg No due to GDPR, so I am unable to contact her to try and recover any costs. The point of all this is that had the police not been there, I would probably have obtained sufficient detail (as required by law) to enable me to have a conversation with her about recovering any costs I may incur.

Is this one of these situations where one pays the bill and moves on?

Ernie

Have a read of this

What to do if you're hit by an uninsured driver | RAC Drive

If you’ve been hit by an uninsured driver, you’re probably wondering what to do next. Here are the answers to your most commonly asked questions.

www.rac.co.uk

 

[ernieh]

What was stopping you from asking her directly?
I thought details were supposed to be exchanged in the event of an accident to enable incidents such a s this to be sorted out?

DVLA will provide the details, eventually, but it's a real balls-ache dealing with them. They only accept enquiries by post (FFS) and take months not to answer. You'll have to provide evidence (usually photographs) of the offending vehicle and a paragraph or two why you want their details.

Thanks for the reply. By the time I had arrived, the police were already dealing with her and getting her details; the other guy then took mine. When the insurance issue was discovered, she was escorted to their car and I was told to go.

Ernie

 

[LostKiwi]

I would have asked them politely if I could have a word and ask her details. There wouldn't be any reasonable grounds for them to refuse that I can think of.

 

[Axcontrols]

I can understand the privacy issue. But on the other hand you are the victim of an offence commited by that person. There must be some way you can press charges.

Or are the police now telling victims of crime to go away because they're not allowed to give any details to victims meaning victims can't take any legal action bwcause they don't know who the perp was?

Wierd.

 

[ernieh]

@LOST Kiwi: Further to my comment in #5, I should have said that early on I mentioned that I would need her details, but they said they would let me have them; they even asked for my email, so I didn't push any further.

Hopefully, if the check comes back OK, I won't need them!

As I said earlier, she was elderly, probably mid-80s and my feeling was that it was a genuine lapse, but when everything is considered, a very costly one, vis £200 fine, points, car towing and recovery, car repair (possibly £2000 from recent experience)

Thanks for your input.

Ernei

 

[ernieh]

They'te allowed to giv

I can understand the privacy issue. But on the other hand you are the victim of an offence commited by that person. There must be some way you can press charges.

Or are the police now telling victims of crime to go away because they're not allowed to give any details to victims meaning victims can't take any legal action bwcause they don't know who the perp was?

Wierd.

They're allowed to give me her name and car reg no. Not much good really but better than nothing!

Ernie

 

[Plezier]

I can understand the privacy issue. But on the other hand you are the victim of an offence commited by that person. There must be some way you can press charges.

Or are the police now telling victims of crime to go away because they're not allowed to give any details to victims meaning victims can't take any legal action bwcause they don't know who the perp was?

Wierd.

Several things come to mind:-

1) She is known to the Police and has their favor thus being protected.

2) They are keeping recorded crimes down by not allowing them to be reported, less crime looks like they are doing their jobs, and making it look good on their forces annual review.

3) They don't want to do their jobs and are avoiding the paperwork.

4) Remember they are "The Police" and can do just as they like! Or at least that is what they are taught in their training and what they seem to actually believe.

 

[Blobcat]

Several things come to mind:-

1) She is known to the Police and has their favor thus being protected.

2) They are keeping recorded crimes down by not allowing them to be reported, less crime looks like they are doing their jobs, and making it look good on their forces annual review.

3) They don't want to do their jobs and are avoiding the paperwork.

4) Remember they are "The Police" and can do just as they like! Or at least that is what they are taught in their training and what they seem to actually believe.

Might be over with you, definitely not here...

The crime of no insurance and accident will definitely have been reported - the police did an insurance check and discovered "not covered", therefore she will have been reported and will no doubt receive a lovely IN10 endorsement on her driving licence. OP doesn't say however her car will also have been recovered and she'll have storage and release fees. The police won't allow anyone without insurance to continue their journey, no matter how short in case they have another accident and the police then become liable.

 

[00slk]

I can understand the privacy issue. But on the other hand you are the victim of an offence commited by that person. There must be some way you can press charges.

Or are the police now telling victims of crime to go away because they're not allowed to give any details to victims meaning victims can't take any legal action bwcause they don't know who the perp was?

Wierd.

You hit the nail on the head there.

Protection for the offenders, nothing for the victims. Been there experienced that.

Once the police are in attendance it becomes a police matter. The gist of it, is you should have insurance against accidents, end of!!

I'm speaking from having a very similar situation after a vehicle crashed through our fence.
It took 6 months of back and forth throwing before we finally got a positive result from a freedom of information request so we could pursue the claim against their insurance company. If the police hadn't have been driving by at this critical moment we would have had the drivers insurance details, but the police intervened and stopped me talking to the driver.

Good luck With this Ernieh

 

[EmilysDad]

I understood that you just needed to leave your name & reg number. When a girl rear ended me a few years back (oooer!) I didn't take her insurance details ... just her name & reg & gave them to my insurer, they did the rest & I got my car repaired.
My insurer then took more than a year to recover their losses from her insurers .....

 

[EmilysDad]

An Informative Guide For What To Do After A Car Accident

Know what to do after a car accident. Take a moment to collect your thoughts. Ensure you and your passengers are safe. Switch off the car's engine.

www.autoclaimsassist.co.uk

it says .... ''it's wise to give insurance details''

 

[JBell]

The point of all this is that had the police not been there, I would probably have obtained sufficient detail (as required by law) to enable me to have a conversation with her about recovering any costs I may incur.

Is this one of these situations where one pays the bill and moves on?

Ernie

The only detail you really need is the Reg No. and a Name, you give that to your insurance company and let them deal with it, that is what you pay them for.

It is not your job to recover any costs, it is your insurance companies job.

She hit you so therefore you have NO excess to pay.

Have your car inspected by a dealer or indy (via your insurance company as they will have assessors) then take it from there.

She will have been taken away as she has committed a criminal offence, I would think if she "is known" to the police this is not the first time so she will be booked, fined and probably have her license revoked by the DVLA.

 

[Axcontrols]

Ignoring cars and car insurance. If some yob punches me in the street breaking my teeth and but the police turn up at that moment and arrest said yob.

Yob doesn't have any special yob-policy so my claim for new teeth would be a private claim through the courts. But, it seems, these privacy laws mean I'm not allowed to know who the yob is.

At what point would I or my solicitor know who to send the bill to?

 

[sonic]

As a retired police officer admittedly 22 years ago but I dont think the Road Traffic Act has changed.
She is required to give her name & address plus registration number to the other party, damage only RTC.
If the other party is not there report it to the police as soon as practicable, the police will then inform the other party.
I would now ring/email the police for her details, & if not supplied make a formal complaint.

 

[sonic]

Several things come to mind:-

1) She is known to the Police and has their favor thus being protected.

2) They are keeping recorded crimes down by not allowing them to be reported, less crime looks like they are doing their jobs, and making it look good on their forces annual review.

3) They don't want to do their jobs and are avoiding the paperwork.

4) Remember they are "The Police" and can do just as they like! Or at least that is what they are taught in their training and what they seem to actually believe.

Not in my case when I was a police officer.

 

[Wighty]

Several things come to mind:-

1) She is known to the Police and has their favor thus being protected.

2) They are keeping recorded crimes down by not allowing them to be reported, less crime looks like they are doing their jobs, and making it look good on their forces annual review.

3) They don't want to do their jobs and are avoiding the paperwork.

4) Remember they are "The Police" and can do just as they like! Or at least that is what they are taught in their training and what they seem to actually believe.

1) Not unless she is Nicola Sturgeon
2) They can’t avoid reporting it
3) Possibly
4) That finished in the 1980’s

 

[Wighty]

As a retired police officer admittedly 22 years ago but I dont think the Road Traffic Act has changed.
She is required to give her name & address plus registration number to the other party, damage only RTC.
If the other party is not there report it to the police as soon as practicable, the police will then inform the other party.
I would now ring/email the police for her details, & if not supplied make a formal complaint.

Might differ in Scotland slightly??
(that’s where the op‘s location shows )