allegedly hit my trailer wirh car - advice, thoughts, help????!!

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tinap

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This may be long so please bare with me!!

On the way home from a show yesterday I had to pick my mum up. I pulled into her cul-de-sac but could see I wouldn't be able to turn the car & trailer at the bottom due to other cars. So I pulled the car forward so that the back end of the trailer was well away from the end of the street.

Went to get mum (few houses down) then walked back to car/trailer. A man came running up the street to tell me he had smashed his car up on the back of the trailer when he pulled in the street (had then drove his car to bottom of street to his house).

I checked the trailer as best as I could as it was dark & street light was at the opposite side, but couldn't see a mark on it - he stated that his car was a mess & wanted my insurance details.

As I was looking for a pen I could hear him telling my dad that I was too close to the corner - we measured it & the back end of the trailer was 30ft from road end. He said he wasn't speeding coming into street & was only doing 15mph, to which I replied that I thought that was still too fast to pull into a street.

Anyway, I couldn't find a pen so I got his address in the street & told him which was my mums & I would come back tomorrow (today) with details. I tried to take a photo of where the car/trailer were parked but my phones flash wouldn't work.

I'm 99% sure that this accident was not my fault - what do you think?????

My husband has told me to report it to the police as he has just got fined for not reporting an accident (another blokes fault, no damage , whole other story!!)

Would really appreciate opinions!! I've checked trailer again this morn & there is not a scratch. Pony was not bothered either, I'm actually wondering if he even hit it at all??? I'm going to his later to look at alleged damage in the daylight!! (Didn't look last night as it was dark)

Thanks xx
 
Thanks for that!

It was actually 11metres which I've just put in converter (I'm crap at imperial lol!!) Which I think is about 35/36ft (?)!
 
It does sound abit suspicious, surely if he was only doing 15mph he should of been able to stop before hitting your trailer. Also I find it abit odd to have no marks on your trailer not even borken lights etc.
I would suspect he either wasn't paying attention and did hit the back of your trailer or he didn't hit your trailer at all and hit something else (stationery perhaps) and is trying to claim off of you as opposed to claiming off of his for hitting a tree or whatever.

I would def go and check his car take pictures if you can and take pictures of your trailer etc. Did no-one hear a bang or anything at the time?
 
I would want to see evidence of your trailer paint on his vehicle. I would certainly get the police involved. Take photos of your trailer with you. Did anyone hear a "bang". Any neighbours have CCTV? If he damaged it so badly did his airbag go off - evidence of that? Suspicious me - noooooo!
 
No one else came out so I'm presuming they didn't hear anything but ill check with them today.

He said he hit the lights on the side (ifor 505 if you can picture what they look like) but there's no lens damage, scratches - nothing!! The pony was happily munching away too & he's a stress head!!! With how much damage he said there is to his car I would expect the lights to be smashed off at least!

I'm off to investigate shortly!!!
 
I had something similar and insisted that I be allowed to take photos of the alleged damage. Having seen the damage it was obvious the damage had been caused some other way so I just said "go to court if you want but I will dispute it". He got a claims firm involved who filed a county court thingy but I stood my ground and they withdrew the day before it went to court.

Suggest you get photos of damage to his car, measure height of damage off the ground, look for paint on his damage that might have come from hitting something else etc and then take a really close look at your trailer and also photo the trailer with good quality photos. If there is serious damage to his car there must be some damage to your trailer. If not then I suspect he is trying it on and I would be tempted to tell him to take a running jump or see you in court where you will claim expenses etc against him.
 
Thank you. Some really helpful advice.
I will do that this afternoon!! I know I should ideally have done it last night but it was dark & I was so mad I just wanted to leave before I punched the idiot!!! xx
 
...also look on the road where the trailer was parked and photograph that to prove there is no debris on the road that would have come off his car if it had hit the trailer. And also measure and draw a diagram of the road junction, where your trailer was in relation to the junction showing what distances have been measured and what they are. Do this whilst it is fresh in your mind.

On the face of it, from what you have said, if he did hit your trailer and it has some damage then it is you who should be claiming off him!!
 
Tell your insurers and tell them you suspect fraud, ask them to pass it to their fraud team. Insurers take fraudulent accidents seriously these days. Then take all the photographs the others have suggested. Take pictures of your trailer too to show that there is no damage.

He will struggle to prove fault against you if you were parked legally as the duty is on him to watch where he was going. When someone hits a parked vehicle there are very few circumstances which lead to it being considered the parked vehicle's fault.
 
Thanks everyone - I'm going to report it to the police & my insurance. I'm not sure whether to do that first though or get pictures & full details first & then do it.
 
KristmasKatt said:
Tell your insurers and tell them you suspect fraud, ask them to pass it to their fraud team. Insurers take fraudulent accidents seriously these days. Then take all the photographs the others have suggested. Take pictures of your trailer too to show that there is no damage.

He will struggle to prove fault against you if you were parked legally as the duty is on him to watch where he was going. When someone hits a parked vehicle there are very few circumstances which lead to it being considered the parked vehicle's fault.
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Agree
 
Me too!!! I think he's trying it on because he's smashed daddys car up (allegedly lol!!)

I've just rang cops & they're not interested - just said to exchange details, so my camera & tapemeasure are out & my Sherlock Holmes hat is on!
 
riding_high said:
sounds more like he hit something else but couldn't lay the blame so saw an opportunity to blame you when he saw the trailer.
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^^This!

The front of a car would be far tougher than the rear end of a trailer. If your trailer is unmarked then I doubt very much that he had pranged it. Even if he had then it would be his fault not yours.
 
Sounds dodgy to me. My advice is take photos of everything, try and date it by laying a newspaper with date in the corner of every picture- so that you have dated evidence- we have done this before with a gas meter- different situation but actually worked in our favour!

If you have evidence that you were 11m away thats brilliant especially as your father was present. Take a tape measure and measure every single bif of his car. Can you find a blank outline of a car shape they use for hire cars to mark on damage- as this will help record the heights/locations of the damage. I have a feeling he was speeding into the corner, and if it did happen was probably his fault.

Never ever appologise or admit to anything as they can take this as a sign of blame.
 
Oh I certainly didn't apologise or admit anything!!!!!

Just another query I've just thought of - it was my mums car that was towing the trailer (I am insured to drive any car on my policy - I always check as mine regularly breaks down!!) . As the car was parked, do I tell my insurance or my mums, or both as no-one was driving or even in it?!
 
MrsD123 said:
Deny all responsibility and let him take action, take photos of his vehicle and your own but take no further action. Anyone who hits a stationary object is not driving with due care and attention.
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This ^^^^^

He could be even trying to scam you to get money out of your insurance company , let him do his worst as there is no evidence that he actually hit your trailer , he'll never be able to prove it and MrsD123 is totally correct.
 
I once hit the back of someone and although I properly smashed the bonnet of my car (wrote off and only hit at 15mph!) his car was relatively ok! However, as this bloke says he hit your lit - would expect to see some damage to it!

Even if you had parked right at the end of the road, he drove in to you (apparently) so entirely his fault. If he'd been paying attention and looking into the junction as he turned he would've seen a big flipping trailer.

Suggest he goes to specsavers...or liars anonymous
 
Haha!!! Cheers!!

So do you reckon I should still give him my details or not & shall I still tell my insurance. I'm verging on the taking pictures but doing nowt else approach! x
 
Sounds like this guy is a prize bullsh*****r.. of course a plastic covered light would fare worse than his metal car if there was a collision that has damaged his car to the extent that it is worth trying to claim on insurance.. and as for the pony, you say yourself that it is a stresshead- sounds like this idiot is just trying to make a quick buck. What a plonker.

Hope it is resolved soon- not that there is much to actually resolve on your side- but hope it doesn't cause you too much hassle!
 
tinap555 said:
Me too!!! I think he's trying it on because he's smashed daddys car up (allegedly lol!!)

I've just rang cops & they're not interested - just said to exchange details, so my camera & tapemeasure are out & my Sherlock Holmes hat is on!
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Contact the police again & ensure that they have a record of you reporting the incident. Wether they wish to take action or not is a matter for them but you have a duty in law to report a RTC "as soon as practicdable & certainly within 24 hours".

The incident needs to be reported to your mother's insurance company as they are the company insuring the vehicle you were driving. I would suggest that everything is done in your mother's name as she holds the policy.

As has been said take plenty of photographs of your trainer, with special attention to where the car is alleged to have collided with you. Also plenty of photos of the damage on the car & measurements as to height of the damage off the floor so you can work out which part of the trailer he alleges the damage was caused by.

Take some photos of the road, showing where you were parked & also views from the direction the offending car was coming from. Take measurements of width of the road at that point & also the width of your trailer so you know how much road was left for the driver of the other car.

It is unlikely the police will get involved so it will be for insurance companies to sort out but when the claim form/notification of the incident goes to your insurance companu ensure you let bthem know that you have no damage & having seen the damage on the other vehicle you consider that no incident occurred & that the damage was caused elsewhere & the other person is may be trying insurance fraud.

Good Luck
 
AT the most I would give him your contact details and that's it. Not being funny, but even if he did hit your trailer, why would he be able to claim off your insurance? He hit a stationery object!

May be worth calling your mum's insurance as a "just to let you know..." call. Then you have covered all your bases!
 
Thank you so much TZ.

I also did think that I had to report it, but she just told me to exchange details, although tbh I'm feeling like I would be exchanging details on an accident that I think never really happened!

I'll get my mum to ring her insurance - thanks xx
 
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