My wife confessed to me today that she had been in prang last Thursday,

our insurance company have emailed saying:

“We’ve been told that your vehicle was involved in an incident on 13 December 2018.

At the moment we have the following information about the incident:

Location Description: xxxxx.

Your Vehicle: xxxx.

We have tried to call you to clarify these allegations but we have been unable to reach you.

We need you to call us on xxxxx.

It is important that we speak to you urgently.

If we don’t hear from you within the next 5 days and the information provided to us by the third party suggests the involvement of your vehicle, we will accept responsibility for the incident and settle any third party claim.”

She says they both stopped and checked their cars.

His door was caved in but she had no damaged, and since he admitted it was his fault, she went on her way.

Whilst she is sticking to her story, I have the tiniest nagging doubt, because we have been arguing a lot over our lack of money and I wonder if she’s defending from the huge cash impact of going from 20 years no claims bonus to zero.

I therefore wonder if it was more 50-50, or indeed her fault completely, and she just drove off hoping he wouldn’t have time to take our registration number.

Questions:

If we contact the insurance company to say ‘yes, she was involved, but it was the other guy’s fault’, what happens next – do they just decide it’s his word against hers and leave it at that, or is there a massive instigation?

Suppose there is cctv that goes in his favour, does that mean she will be fined by the courts if her story is wildly different?

If the case goes in his favour, which is cheapest/best method of paying for his damage: taking out a loan or doing it through the insurance and losing your no claims (if indeed you are allowed to choose?)

I gather the police were not involved so there is no question of any criminal proceedings and no question of any fine.

You certainly should contact your insurer immediately and give them a full report.

I suppose that the admission made by the other driver that it was his fault was simply made verbally and I suppose that there are no witnesses. You had better settle in for problems.

If you really did drive off without exchanging details then frankly it doesn't look very good for her – regardless of who was really at fault.

The best thing in these situations is to play exactly by the book – although it's a bit late to say it now.

Anyway you better do what you can to retrieve the situation by being completely straight dealing and filing the report.

Thread moved to Motoring Insurance Forum...please continue to post here to your thread.

Regards

Andy

Are you sure it is your insurance company contacting you and not a claims company wanting to make a quick buck? To make sure phone your insurance company using the number on the original literature you got when you took out the insurance and not the number on the recent letter.

It is definitely our insurance company.

also, did she not stop and exchange details? failure to do so is a criminal offence and may be enough of an excuse for your insurer to decide not to pay out leaving you to foot the bill.

You may find that getting insurance when renewal time comes along will be very difficult even if they play along with this claim. You need to clarify this and then speak to your insurer and if her version of events is true then there will be nothing to worry about on that front as his admission may be enough to mean that no further action was needed at the time.

Now it is clear that he has contacted his insurer but that is not the same as denying sole liability, his insurer will want to avoid paying up whatever the circumstances so will need statements and a damage report from your side

Regarding this same incident, today we received a letter from the police saying the wife is alleged to have committed the following: Driving without due care and attention, Failing to stop, and failing to report a collision.

Questions:

1) I've read somewhere that they should have sent this with 14 days of the prang, is this true?

2) If this goes to court can you ask them to change the given date if it coincides with a holiday you have already paid for?

3) What sort of points/action will be given/taken if she is found guilty of driving without due care and attention? (or indeed the other two)

Thanks in advance.

1) if you were stopped by the police at the time then the 14 day rule would apply.

2)you can request this or plead guilty by post beforehanda nd it is likely that will be accepted by the court. You will ahve to ask them when you get to that stage.

3)3-9 points per offence, possibly a ban if they feel it is serious enough. Fine of up to £2500 per offence. chances are they will be lumped together as it was one event so probably a fine of around £1000 and certainly points.

Dod you get on to your insurer to try and head this off with a statement about stopping and checking vehicles?

Unless i have missed something,

i will add this:

you will not go from 20 years NCB [full NCB] to zero NCB, it's a sliding scale.

Depending on the policy if found at fault you will go down to 3 years, it isnt that bad either.

The 14 day rule would apply to a postal Notice of Intended Prosecution, if stopped by the police, then I believe they have 6 months to initiate proceedings in the Magistrates Court.

The 14 day limit does not apply to offences involving an accident.

Oops my bad, thanks.