just had accident!!

[TOMMYGUNN]

just had accident a car a few in front slamed on and i hit car in front, my own stupid fault, fortunatly im ok and no real damage to car other than number plate, just got a bad feeling the passengers in car in front will put a claim in!! now im worried about insurance going up?? got 9 years NCB never been in accident before, has this happened to anyone else?? thanks for any advice

[sub39h]

i did this last year - how fast were you going? i looked into the evidence behind whiplash injuries and there's some medical studies on it which demonstrate the amount of accelerative force required to induce a whiplash type injury.

there's also some EU legislation regarding the speed required whereby bumpers don't deform

if you really want you can recheck the info on google/google scholar (i didn't save it - it was months ago, sorry). if the other person tries to pull a fast one you could then present this info to your insurance company/solicitor stating that a) the bumper didn't deform therefore this is the max speed i could have been travelling and b) this is not high enough to induce a whiplash type injury

but be relatively safe in the knowledge that most doctors, in my experience, don't diagnose "whiplash" in this country as there's no real evidence it exists as a disease entity and they'd obviously need a medical diagnosis before they can claim.

sorry none of that is probably of ANY use to you, but it's just good info to have to hand. i hate scammers - always trying to get something for nothing. that's why our insurance premiums are so high.

[Poverty]

If they want to claim for whiplash there's nothin you can do bout it.


Saying that mate don't worry about any of this stuff, I doubt your insurance will be affected by much in any case.

[E30Dom]

Yeah insurance companies seem to say it cheaper to pay out than to fight i'm afraid...

Wish you all the best in getting it sorted quickly...

[TOMMYGUNN]

thanks for replys, had proper look at car and cant see no damage, just worried bout insurance going up loads!! hopefully shop around it wont make to much differance!!!!

[Deako]

Take some photos. I hope you did of both cars anyway while at the scene. However, just provide as much proof as possible to show it was a low impact bump with no damage.

[Tamiyoman]

I read a while back that impacts below 20mph dont cause whiplash unless of course your in a very old car without headrests.

My younger brother had someone try to claim against him 4 years back, he moved forward and nudged the guy in front and just broke the guys reg plate, him and his passenger got out holding their necks  , (he was doing about 5mph!!)my brother (6'3" 17 stone rugby player) just looked at them and said "dont take the piss lads,  my girlfriend is a solicitor and im happy to take you to court for a fraudulent insurance claim", he gave them her card (which we both keep in our cars) and then said "Heres £40 for your number plate, do you want me to call police?", they said no its ok and my bro said, "see you later!".

[Poverty]

The effects of whiplash usually take a while to set on, and there no way of proving whether someone hasn't got it. If they google the symptoms and know what to say they can claim

[Andy]

The effects of whiplash usually take a while to set on, and there no way of proving whether someone hasn't got it. If they google the symptoms and know what to say they can claim

the internet can be a good source of infformation but in cases like this,as you mention it works against you when people know the sympton and lie about it

[mad_pete]

It's always bad when you have a prang but don't worry insurance will go up a bit but not a huge amount for just one accident in 9 years. I know someone who was rolled into at a junction at 4 mph or so. The lightest of bumps but because her neck was twisted looking for traffic it trapped a nerve and caused her a lot of problems. But that's all for the insurance company to sort out. Just provide as much info as possible and leave them to deal with it.