Hi fellow sea slugs,
I was just in a car accident. I am not at fault though. I was hit at the rear and there's a massive dent to the hatch and bumper.
The driver behind me admitted fault.
We exchanged details such as license and contact number.
Now, the question…
What do I do after this? I was driving my mothers car. What do I get off of this guy?
Thanks guys, would love for some input.
Thanks shaw, I'll give it a look.
This happened to me in July, was driving mothers car too. Does the car have insurance? If you are at fault then normally you do not have to pay an excess, or if they determine that you are not at fault at a later stage then they will refund you the excess.
Hey Ben,
Yes we are insured. As stated, the guy was at fault. Was wondering on how to proceed.
Just contact your mother's insurance company and they'll do everything for you including organizing repair and send the bill to the other person's insurance agency.
If you are hurt you should seek medical attention and keep records. If seriously injured, call the cops as well.
If you are faking it, please don't.
Injuries will be suitably compensated by green slip insurance, but this isn't America where a sore neck can be a lottery ticket.
It was an injury to my mother's car. Thanks keggs
I think when you say "injured", people are thinking about you the driver being injured (broken arm etc). Your car is damaged, not really injured.
Ohh i understand now, its usually because I consider my mothers car as being part of the family. That being said, she's like my older sister.
Hence the injury. I'm gonna miss her.. :'(
"NamandSpam 6 hours 40 min ago
Hi fellow sea slugs,
……What do I get off of this guy?"
If the other driver had insurance you would/ should not get anything from him. That's why we have insurance/ CTP. Hope you are not profit from the accident.
Hi lahir,
Misinterpreted/unclear wording..
What I meant was, what do I ask for from this guy. Should I be receiving a claim number or something the like?
Etc..
Thanks.
This is probably something your supervising drivers should have covered with you while you were learning to drive, it's not just the skills of driving that's needed in your training, you should know what to do when something like this happens. Accidents will occur and hopefully you are recovering well.
This is what I would do (whether you are at fault or not):
- Turn hazards on, check on the other party and make sure no emergency services are required (if needed, call 000 immediately).
Move car(s) away from danger (traffic) if possible, if there is any chance of danger/further damage to vehicles/passengers/property, just leave them where they are and call the police.
Exchange licences and copy down details (including other party's CTP insurer). With smartphones these days it should be fairly easy to take a quick photo. A few photos of damage to cars/other property could be useful. Exchange contact details as well. If not at fault, call the number you are given by the other party to make sure it's actually them. Things can get tricky if they aren't honest.
Write/type what has happened as clearly as possible, just all the facts that are relevant (time, traffic conditions, wet weather, location of collision including direction and nearest crossroad). Again, it doesn't matter whether you are at fault or not, just having all the facts written down makes it much easier when talking to insurers
Once that's done, remember to grab your own licence back and get home safely. Call your insurers and let them know what's happened. The operators are generally very understanding and know how to talk to customers especially after they've had an accident so don't stress, they will just ask you simple questions to recount the collision, and details of the other parties etc. The insurers will then use the information you gave them to contact the other party and their insurer and sort stuff out.
You shouldn't have to deal with the other party as it's now up to the insurers. If you're not at fault and the other party get in touch and get nasty, just report it
After that, I believe they will organise for an inspection to be made of the vehicle and see whether it can be repaired or written off.
If the car is to be repaired, then your insurer will offer to repair it for you at one of their repairers, or you can choose your own repairer as long as it's approved by the insurer. Things will be fixed at no cost to you and you'll get it back when it's done. Depending on your insurer and level of cover, you might be a hire car for free or cheap, or you might just get a free taxi trip home and to pick up the car when it's fixed.
If the car is written off, you get the value of the car paid to you (minus fees) and that's about it…just remember to grab valuables from the car before you leave it with the insurers.
I'm just speaking from personal experience here, things could be different for different states and/or insurers but I believe that's basically it.
Hope all this helps
This is a good answer
Keep it simple. Ring your insurance comapny, answer their questions,
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/automotive_accident
http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/racv/Internet/Primary…
You also need to visit your insurance company and have a chat.