car hit my car did not notify insurance and 7 months later other person has claimed?

Question

Help!!! 7 months ago I was at a roundabut and was going straight on....just as i pulled out I spotted a car coming towards me andjust knew it was going to ht my car...i turned to the left to try and avoid it but it still hit my drivers side wing mirror and caused a lil scratch to the front of my car. His car hand a scratch along the side where my wing mirrorscraped it. My wing mirror needed replacing. he was rather nice and first thing was checked me and my passengers were ok. we swapped details and went our way. On return home i had my wing mirror replaced. Advice from friedns and family was didnt need to inform insurance...( i had only been driving 3 months at time of car accident) and was unsure whether I had to notify them or not....nothing was heard of so just forgot abot it. & months later and not with the the same car ins (was directline) and they have wrote to me stating that a claim has been made on the policy due to an alledged incident. I am going to contact them tomo morning but just wanted some advice about what will happen??? will i be in trouble for not informing them already?? why would the over driver wait 7 months to make a claim?? and what will happen now? would i be held liable as idont believe this was a fault of mine.

Answer 1

Here's you first mistake

1.whether you are making a claim or not, you must always inform your insurance company in writing



This happened to my son, he didn't inform them, as the damage was minimal (reg plate damage )

, it was also Direct Line and months later the person who drove into him,

made a fraudulent claim stating that he had run into him,.which was all lies

This meant months or wrangling with my son's insurance company

and the other insurance company

thankfully in time, the other person's claim was seen as a fraudulent claim,

but sadly my son went through months of agony because of it

You now have to prove what really happened, by witness statements , photo evidence etc

There's no answer as to why he waited 7 months, He obviously thinks he can try and get

money out of it,

Sadly there are insurance scammers out there, but hopefully your insurance company will see straight through this, but be prepared for a few weeks of phone calls backwards and forwards

Answer 2

1) It was your fault, I hope you've now learnt to drive and pay attention properly. You do need to inform your insurance company of any accidents within 24 hours, by law.



2) There is a limit after which you can no longer make a claim for an accident, and certainly 7 months is past that, so they shouldn't be able to claim even with apparent witnesses. I'd be tempted to say you have no idea about the accident, as it's unlikely the person can prove anything, as witnesses won't remember anything after 7 months!



3) That relies on the assumption, however, that they have in fact waited 7 months to make an insurance claim rather than it just taking 7 months for them to get in contact with you for whatever reason.

Answer 3

You have to deal with whoever you were insured with at the time as far as the claim goes.

You have to inform your current insurer about the matter and should have done so at the start of the policy - they will need to adjust your premium to one that includes an accident/claim



As you failed to notify the insurer that you were with promptly when the accident occurred they can now opt to wash their hands of it leaving you to pay the other persons damages.



Of course you are totally liable and have admitted so when you said you pulled onto a roundabout and was hit by a car already on the roundabout.



Yes you should talk to those friends and family and get them to chip in for the money this is going to cost you in extra premiums and repair to the other car!

Answer 4

"Advice from friends and family was didn't need to inform insurance"

I think you'll find that your insurance company thinks differently: You are obliged to report any incident to them, usually within 24 hours. You will have a claim registered against you, and your insurer may impose a hefty 'weighting' on any future premiums for failing to comply with the terms of your policy. They may even sue you for costs of the claim. There's nothing you can do other than speak to them tomorrow, but I'd be very worried.

Answer 5

If that's all they told you, it's quite inadequate. You need to know the full details of the alleged incident , and I suggest you tell them to provide that in writing before you can even consider it. For all you know this might be a try-on and nothing whatsoever to do with your "ding".