Accident - Looking for advice
Get a coffee first, this is going to take me a while.
A couple of months back, I screwed up in a car park and reversed into another car. No biggie. No damage to mine, cracked plastic trim on the other car. I was going to sort it out privately, but the other driver wants to go via insurance. So, a claim has been logged with my insurer. That's happening in the background.
A couple of weeks ago, my wife is driving the same car, and a van drives into the back of her at a junction. Crumpled boot lid, rear wheel arch wing pushed out of place. Other party makes a claim. We are issued with a hire car via his insurance. Our car gets collected on a truck on Friday. I don't see him load it.
Ten minutes later, I get a call from the body shop where it's being transferred to. The truck driver has crashed with my car on the back. The impact was bad enough that the driver was unconscious and the passerby who called the emergency services also found paperwork for the garage so called and informed them, hence how they knew to call me.
The accident site is only 2 minutes away, so I jump in the other car and pop round there. Pictures attached. The paramedic tells me the driver is conscious but confused. Could have had a seizure. (I hope not, don't want the guy to lose his job/license).
A number of things stand out in the images:
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The car is only secured by the back wheels, not all four corners.
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The front right wheel is right on the edge, whereas the opposite side has plenty of room, leading me to believe the car has shifted on impact. According to ChatGPT, this could have stressed/damaged the suspension, linkages, chassis geometry etc etc.
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The broken windscreen on the truck, together with demolition of both gateposts and a fence panel suggest a significant collision.
My car and the truck have been recovered but are apparently stuck somewhere until they can be transferred to the intended body shop. I tried to call my insurer to discuss all this but the claims team is closed until tomorrow.
I am left with a number of questions:
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The bodyshop is (was!) an independent party approved by the insurer of the liable party in the second impact. However, if they are also liable for any damage sustained in the third impact, surely I can't rely on them for an objective assessment of damage? Are they now an interested (rather than independent) party? (It's possible the truck and driver are actually a subcontractor, not sure on this)
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Given that the car has not been inspected between the first minor impact and this third one, how can any damage be attributed to a specific cause?
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Since each insurer will try to minimise their liability, how do I get all this sorted without leaving us out of pocket?
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I'm left wondering if the sheer complexity of the issue would potentially lead to it being written off, but surely each insurer will try and pass the buck so the payout wouldn't happen?
So I've got 3 impacts, 3 different claims, 4 insurers, 5 parties involved, and I'm driving a hire car provided by the insurer from the 2nd impact. How do I handle all this?
Help!
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Posted May 10, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC