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Hey Guys,
I had a car accident back in April. I was stationary at the traffic lights
on a one way ring road and some **** head rammed me up the rear causing
about £3500 worth of damage. I suffered whip lash and had to take time off
work.
Immediately after the crash I took the guys insurance details and
registration number (note he did not disclose his address or phone number)
and moved on. He did not even ask for mine. There were no witnesses that
came forward at the time. It was also my first ever accident after 8 years
of driving. I didnt have the presence of mind to take pictures and stop
passing drivers, of which were pretty disgruntled as we were causing tail
backs in a pretty busy part of London.
Anyway, I contacted my insurers almost immediately and made an appointment
to see my doctor. My insurers advised me that it was clearly not my fault
and so on. They recommended me a repairer and provided me with a hire car.
The insurance company tracked him down with a DVLA search on his Reg Number
and issued a liabilty claim on my behalf for damages to the car and my
injuries.
Now the culprit that smashed into the back of my car is claiming that I
reversed into him and that he has a third party witness.
It looks like it may go to court but all I have is a statement of what
really happened. i have no witnesses. Am I screwed??
Please help!!!!
J888HNT
Not necessarily screwed, no. I'm surprid the Police weren't called as it
seems like a pretty bad smash and you were both holding up other traffic. I
won't carry on about this because in those sorts of situations we all act
strangely. I'd be VERY interested to see who this "witness" was. I suggest
you speak to the Met Police (or City of London Police if you were within
the square mile....) and see if they can pull any CCTV from the date in
question. The Police will be the only ones who can obtain any CCTV due to
data protection laws. Given that it happened in a fairly busy street plus
you were at a set of traffic lights, I can safely presume there was some
sort of street CCTV present. If you have no luck with the Police you could
ask your insurance company I guess, or a Solicitor. Good Luck!
Cliffy
3500 worth of damage would be pretty hard to cause in reverse...as well as
the whiplash. Your head would have been forced further back against the
headrest, which would potentially stop the damage to your neck. If it was
medically documented at the time, then there's a paper trail. As well, as
Cliffy said, get the police involved to see if any traffic cameras could
have caught it. Definitely get a lawyer involved though!
dodgerforlife
