RTA with a large commercial foreign lorry. How to Proceed?

[jamie19]

Hello everyone,

I was recently involved in a road traffic accident and I’m not sure how to proceed.

 

I was in the middle lane approaching a roundabout and I was driving to go straight over.

There was a large commercial lorry from Germany to my left.

We were both going straight over (= the second exit), I was going to go onto the outer lane and he was going to go to the inner lane, well so I thought.

As we were exiting the roundabout he drove into the rear passenger side of my car, with the front passenger side of his car (bear in mind his car was a German left hand drive lorry).

 

He and his colleague got out of their lorry and I out of my car.

They both could not speak a word of English and I could not speak a word of German.

From their body language they both appeared very apologetic, and appeared to be apologizing.

They kept saying “police, police”, so I called the police.

However when I called them they said it was a minor accident and there was no need for them to come, and we should sort it out between ourselves, i.e., exchange information.

 

We exchanged information as best as we could, however they gave me a printed paper to fill in, which I could not understand as it was in German, I filled in my contact details where I thought appropriate, they asked me to sign at the bottom, but I refused to do this as I couldn’t understand any of it. I was not able to stop any car to be a witness to the incident.

 

I have a slight pain in my shoulder, but it does not feel like anything major.

I had my work laptop on the passenger seat, however in the accident it was knocked to the floor rest, there is a slight crack on the case and a blue screen, it does not appear to be working.

 

So I’m not sure how to proceed.

Shall I call my insurance company and explain to them what happened?

Or should I contact a solicitor first?

I don’t really want to be spending money on a solicitor if I don’t have to.

 

Is this something I could resolve on my own or with the help of my insurance company?

Or should I contact some sort of a no win no fee solicitor?

 

I would really appreciate some advice.

Thank you.

 

Jamie.

[renegadeimp]

COntact your insurers and let them deal with it. Thats what you pay them for after all.

 

I assume you caught the reg number of the vehicle and the company name/contact details?

[jamie19]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

Yes I have all the information you mentioned.

[dacouc]

The form they asked you to complete was an European Accident report form, both drivers fill it out and each keep a copy for their Insurers, a much better system than ours

[jamie19]

That helps, thank you.

It makes sense now.

I have taken a quick look on the net and found an English version of the form.

So we were supposed to come to an agreement and fill in the form together.

I will call my insurance company in the morning and see what they say.

[T.C.]

Once you have reported the crash/claim to your insurers, the MIB will act as the agent for the foreign vehicle and it will be processed in exactly the same way as it it were a UK insured vehicle.

 

Most people think that the MIB only deal with uninsured or untraced claims, but they are the appointed UK agent for overseas registered and insured vehicles, so don't worry too much, submit your claim to your insurers and let them do the rest.

[ericsbrother]

german insurers are pretty good at sorting things out quickly so hopefully you wont suffer. Having the vehicle reg is important as that also indicates the vehicle is insured.

[jamie19]

I spoke to my insurance company today.

They said that I should have got the contact details of their insurance company.

I had was the registration of the lorry and a contact number for the driver but not their insurance details.

They said that I could claim on my own policy, but I explained to them why should I do that when they were in the wrong.

They said they will chase it up and get back to me.

[ericsbrother]

Typical of our insurance industry, try and avoid working for their money. In Germany the registration plate is proof of insurance and if old or false plates are used then a government scheme pays out instead. Your insurer can contact their opposite numbers easily, if they drag their feet try contacting the police of the town or city the vehicle is registed in as they will have the details. your real problem is the language barrier.

[jamie19]

The lorry looked brand new to me. It had the branding of "DB Schenker". Looks like they are a logistics company.

Im thinking of contacting them directly and seeing what they say.

I found some information on doing a European insurance claim. I think it said the person who was responsible has 5 days to make a claim and the other person has 15 days. I dont want to wait around of my insurance company, as I am worried they may take too long.

So I was thinking of emailing DB Schenker directly.

What do you guys think?

[heliosuk]

The lorry looked brand new to me. It had the branding of "DB Schenker". Looks like they are a logistics company.

Im thinking of contacting them directly and seeing what they say.

I found some information on doing a European insurance claim. I think it said the person who was responsible has 5 days to make a claim and the other person has 15 days. I dont want to wait around of my insurance company, as I am worried they may take too long.

So I was thinking of emailing DB Schenker directly.

What do you guys think?

 

I recently had some dealings with this company and wrote to the chairman of the board in Germany and believe me, within 12 hours I had every man and his dog puckering up and had half hourly updates by phone from his UK staff as to what they were doing about it. DBS are keen to break into the UK Logistics market and this chairman seems very sensitive to complaints so suggest writing a nice e mail to him asking for the info required. I was very impressed how he reacted but it should not have happened in the first place and I have a serious amount of influence on an account his company might be chasing. It is worth a try though.