Accident with another car, they're claiming whiplash

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petemc

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I was looking for Knowsley Community College as I had a photo shoot to do there that day. I was driving down the road and I saw a sign for what looked like the place. I stopped the car just after the sign. I was looking at the sign and the building to see if it was the place and I saw a car go past mine in the corner of my eye. I decided to reverse a bit to properly read the sign. I checked my rear view mirror and it was empty. I then put the car into reverse and checked my right hand mirror which was also empty so I reversed slowly. I then heard a bump sound and checked my rear view mirror to see the woman's car behind me. My airbags didn't go off either as I wasn't moving fast enough. Hers didn't either. I only reversed about a meter or so at a very slow speed. Based on her angle the right hand side of my bumper would have touched the area close to the door handle or near her tire. There is no damage to my car but there is what looks like tire marks and a small scratch around the right hand side of my bumper.

I moved my car forward and while I could see some damage to her drivers door, based on the angle that she entered the drive way I couldn't have caused that as it was too far forward on the car. The right hand side of my car would have hit hers, not the left hand side. She got out and explained to me that she only had 3rd party insurance. Another woman was also with her but she didn't identify herself so I do not know if she was a passenger or the driver of another car. They took my name, number, and insurance company and left without giving me any information on who either of them were.

From the design of the road there would not have been enough space for me to pickup any speed. There was a speed bump on the road just by the college. If my car was ahead of that ramp then I would have had to slow down to go over it and I would have been so far away from her car that I would have been looking in my rear view mirror. If my car was on the bump then I would have done the same. If either of these scenarios were where I was parked then she would have had enough time to have moved out my way. However, I was before the speed bump and there wasn't sufficient distance for me to have built up any real speed to cause any real damage or even whiplash.

So it looks like I might loose my no-claims over a golf ball sized dent that I may or may not have caused. I was too stressed to deal with the accident properly. I was trying to get to the shoot, which I was worried about. I should have gotten out my car, taken shots there and then.

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The road. You can see how close to the drive the speed bumps are. Theres no space for me to build up any real speed.

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My car, undamaged.
 
she drove into you? could get complicated this one Pete, if you didnt admit liability at the scene then you need to tell your insurance company so they can contest it, you dont have to say you were moving, just that you were stopped...
 
So you didnt get any details at all? Reg plate?

I hope you didnt admit liability there and then

Best thing to do would be to get her details and then let the insurance companies argue about it. You could offer to pay for the damage but if they are claiming whiplash then thats a whole different story.
 
Should of got her details mate! Might be worth contacting the police just to inform them of what happend?
 
Glen said:
Should of got her details mate! Might be worth contacting the police just to inform them of what happend?
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Police wont be interested
 
Yeah I know. I was really stressed by both events and I gave her mine. She then didn't offer any info. I didn't admit to anything other than she was between my mirrors when I reversed. I checked one mirror, empty. put into reverse. checked the other, empty. reversed like a meter and before i could look back into my rear view mirror, bang.

She actually contacted my insurance company and explained her side. 3hrs later her solicitor rang them and said she was claming whiplash. My insurance company said it seemed unusual.
 
I'm ok with everything if my insurance company say its my fault and I loose my no-claims, but the whole whiplash thing has just annoyed me.
 
petemc said:
Yeah I know. I was really stressed by both events and I gave her mine. She then didn't offer any info. I didn't admit to anything other than she was between my mirrors when I reversed. I checked one mirror, empty. put into reverse. checked the other, empty. reversed like a meter and before i could look back into my rear view mirror, bang.

She actually contacted my insurance company and explained her side. 3hrs later her solicitor rang them and said she was claming whiplash. My insurance company said it seemed unusual.
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Money grabber!

I doubt shes even seen a doctor in that time. Solicitor my arse
 
Pete have you got legal cover?
 
As is the case almost everytime these days shes decided to get everything she can out of it (or as tends to be more the case shes spoken to someone who has told her she could get claim).

Nothing to add - sorry, but these money grabbers do :bang: me off :thumbsdown:
 
petemc said:
I've just got my car insurance.
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For gawds sake get the cameras and lenses on the market place now..:eek:


You should be out in 7 years though so look at it this way..:help:

Canon should have a 50 megapixel body out by then and saves you messing around with the 400D series..:nuts:


On a serious note....
Its an age old scenario here, Minor bump occurs.. She is gonna play act getting as much wonga out of your insurance that she can.. In turn she gets 3 months off work at your expense..:wacky:

Bloody world is full of muppets like this..:bang:
 
The hilarious part, that I'm kicking myself over, is that I had everything with me to document the "crime" scene.
 
Whiplash - b*l*x. I was rear ended at under full braking by someone doing 50 and I didn't get whiplash. it normally dosn't show till the next day anyway unless it's severe. Your insurers should know this though...
 
If she's not been to a doctor and got a medical report then the chances of her getting anywhere much are pretty much nil. Likewise, it was a side impact? Not likely to be whiplash (classic whiplash anyway) then as the movement would have been all wrong.

You MUST contact your insurance company immediately to tell them you wish them to contest her claim. Do it in writing. If they insist that they just want to pay out against your wishes, get yourself to a solicitor.

Good luck. I had something similar myself years ago.

As for moneygrabbers - don't blame the solicitors (I'm meaning genuine ones not the current crop of "specialist" firms that have sprung up) - blame the dishonest people who want to capitalise on things like this!
 
what witch said, tell your insurance company that you wish to contest it, do it now Pete
 
i've got the forms from my insurance company and i've told them about the accident. i've told them i wasn't doing more than 5mph and i seriously doubted her claim to whiplash. Even they found it all odd. Even though I've got all this info, which I'm sending to the insurance company tomorrow, I should ring them and remind them that I think she's full of crap?
 
yes Pete i would, ive claimed off other peoples insurance 3 times, but ive never claimed injurys

she will have to go and be examined by a doctor and her car by an accident repair center, i would ring em and say she hit you, you were on the other side of the road to her, and she pulled across you, that will screw her
 
I've already explained what I saw happen to my insurance company though.
 
her whiplash set in in 3 hours...I don't think so...in fact it must have set in instantly, can this happen? I thought it was something that you woke up with the next morning :shrug:
 
petemc said:
I've already explained what I saw happen to my insurance company though.
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Pete , you've got to remember you were in shock. Anything you told the insurance company was obviously a bit out of step with reality ;)

15 years back I was tailgated at red lights by a green car. I reported it to the police as he was drunk but according to the DVLA it was a brown car , a few weeks after the shunt I saw the driver in his brown car but to this day my memory is of it being green :eek:
 
mrgubby said:
a few weeks after the shunt I saw the driver in his brown car but to this day my memory is of it being green :eek:
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I can do that without shock - it's called partial red/green colour blindness :)

Oh and hope the stress level drops soon petemc
 
I dunno. I recall things quite well. I remembered the colour of the car and that it was a 2 door hatchback. While I could suggest that she drove into me and that her tyre hit my bumper, that would place her car clearly visible in my right hand mirror. That would suggest that I wasn't paying attention.
 
Six of one and half a dozen of the other tbh, but if I'm understanding the situation properly, then regardless of the fact that you were reversing, she's the one who's driven into you in attempting to turn into the drive. The police wont be remotely interested in dealing with a minor shunt like this, but you have to be careful to fulfil your legal obligations when involved in an RTA....

You MUST exchange names and addresses and index marks of vehicles. You're only legally required to exchange insurance details in the event of an injury accident. If you don't comply with this then you must report the accident to police as soon as reasonably practicable and in any case within 24hrs. It must be reported to a police officer personally, you can't report it on the phone. It's a bit belt and braces I know, but you wouldn't be the first person to be at risk for failing to stop/report when the other party has got their version of events into the cops first.

Lying about the circumstances is daft and potentially dangerous. In this situation, I wouldn't admit liability either to the other driver or to the insurance company. Let the insurance companies argue it out. It's almost certainly going to be settled on a knock for knock basis unless you admit liabilty.
 
Yeah I've maintained that it was simply a case of a small distance between the cars and that in the time I checked each mirrors she'd moved from one to the other. Then I moved back about a metre and bang. She never admitted any injury at the time, she never told me anything. No name, insurance anything. She only took mine. Hopefully the insurance company will see that I did everything right and that it was simply an accident.
 
Well if it's knock for knock, you get your damage paid for... she whistles 'Dixie' if she's 3rd party. :D Without the insurance company backing her 'whiplash' claim that will soon die a death

You don't go turning into a drive assuming that another vehicle will out of your way by the time you start your turn, which is what she seems to have done.

Don't stand for it. Or lie down for it.
 
B'stards, I hope they do her, AND the solicitor, for trying to defraud the system :thumbsdown:
 
I was parked just after the drive. She claims I was moving forward slowly.
 
petemc said:
I was parked just after the drive. She claims I was moving forward slowly.
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It doesn't matter mate. Other cars do move along roads all the while. It's up to drivers to anticipate their movements. ;)
 
Yup CT's right.

You were performing a legitimate manouvre, she wasn't taking any notice and turned in behind you.

It could be argued on a knock for knock basis that you were stationary/parked when she started performing her manoevure (ie turning into the drive), which you then reversed into her.

Send the stuff off to your insurance company, tell them that you're disputing her claim of whiplash. Offer your version of events, as honest as you can be, and let them sort it out. That's what you pay your car insurance for.

As for her whiplash claim, I have a feeling that will be quickly forgotten about.

I know exactly how you feel about thinking of things 'after the fact', and panicking and forgetting alot when its all happening.

I did 5 years as a bus driver, and saw plenty of times where i needed to sort things like this out.
The first thing that I learnt was...get witnesses...anyone nearby...get their details...as many as possible...it always usually makes a difference (in a good way of course).
I now have cards in my tax disc, pre filled out with my details, and some to fill in with the other persons details.
When I was bus driving aswell, I used to carry my camera, and the first thing was to take photos....I know it's not easy to remember in the heat of the moment.

Good luck with it mate, and keep us informed as to what happens.
Like CT says, dont take it sitting, lying, crouching, or squatting down......
let the insurance company know everything, including your position on it all (that she's a lying mare), and let them sort it out, that's what theyre paid for. (y)
 
A further thought, her stating that you were moving forward actually buggers up her version of events.

Like CT says, she can't just go turning into a side road, in the hope that you're out of the way by the time she gets there. If you were moving forward, then she is admitting this is what she's done.

If she admits you reversed into her, then she *may* have a knock for knock claim, in that you started reversing as she was crossing your path, BUT she would have a hard time proving it.

Stick to your guns, you were performing a legitimate reversing manoeuvre on YOUR side of the road, she drove in your path and you couldnt stop in time....her fault.

Imagine if you were moving forward and she drove infront of you....who's fault would it be then? ;)
 
it wernt your falt mate sounds like she was late for work and wasnt payin attension herself. as the others fight it and as she didnt offer any details that puts her in the wrong right away. good luck let us know the out come were all rootin for YOU.:clap: :clap: :clap:
 
Is it worth going back there, if she does work there, you can see if she's got a neck brace on, if she hasn't real some pics off with a long lens as evidence :naughty:

Or get her address details and do the same at her home, I would the little skanky so and so.
 
Another thing you could do is go back to the exact spot where your car was parked, take a picture, then if you have a mates car place that roughly where she would have been, take some more pics, this will clearly show the insurance company the following, you were reversing, not going forward as she said, 'cause if you were you'd be on the speed bump, it would also show the distance travelled between the cars to prove that you couldn't have amounted any speed what so ever. :shrug:

Just blind them with loads of pictures, it worked for my father in law a few months back, we went to a stretch of road where someone had run into him in the wrong, we took a good 20-30 pics to show the normal route of traffic, all angles of the road more pictures about 300yards away, where this other guy had said the accident had happend again total crap and lies and how this guy had done totally the wrong thing, it worked for him on his claim.
 
If she’s gonna be dishonest, then you should too Pete...

I'd go along the lines of; you where paying all due care and attention...she on the other was screamed down the road and turned quickly, without observation (due care and attention) into the turning, failing to notice a car slowly reversing and a driver looking behind in his direction of travel.
 
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