Have I comitted a crime and should I be concerned? UK only please?

Question

I parked my car some time ago, and about 1 month later had a letter from an insurance company lodging a claim against me, claiming I left the handbrake off, and the car rolled a whole 2 meters and damaged another car. For some inexplicable reason the alledged 3rd party called the police, and for another inexplicable reason the police apparently attended to investigate. They originally where claiming for whiplash, now it is just damages of 400 odd pounds, but perculiaraly there is no damage to my car. Ayway. I went to a police station to tell them what was happening, they gave me a number at Police HQ (because technically there was an alledged accident and I had to report it) who I called and left a detailed message. Two days later I left the Country to go travelling. Now I hear the Police have gone to my old address in teh UK twice, I have left a message for them to email me, but I have heard nothing. Have I comitted a crime???

Answer 1

I would have thought if your car had been in an accident then at least a note would have been left on your windscreen and if the police did attend they would have checked out the cars owner details and contacted you immediately.

Hope you get it all sorted mate

Tracey x*x

Answer 2

As regards the car hitting the other car, it sounds like you may be liable, subject to any court hearing, just for the record the 3rd party that called the police isn't alleged, what is alleged is that you left off the handbrake and the car rolled 2 metres and damaged another car.  Nor is the reason they called the police inexplicable, their car was damaged by another, the owner of which (you) was either not present or untraceable (aside from a PNC check of the vehicle registration).  In a case like this the police are obliged to attend to investigate so that's not inexplicable either.

The incident had already been reported so you didn't have to contact police HQ to report it, you may have been asked to give a statement, but this could have been done when you went to the police station.

I'd suggest that leaving the country when there is a possible civil case does not look great in the eyes of the law at court, and if there is some instance besides your reckless endangerment (not adequately pulling on the handbrake) then you should perhaps be concerned.

(Even worse if its a criminal charge BTW)

As to the police going to your old address twice to find you and you leaving them a message to Email you, well frankly that just sounds silly....If the police have tried to contact you twice, and you know about it, and leave them a message to email you as a proof of this [your knowledge of their attempts to contact] then it further casts aspersions as to your, honesty, reliability, and character, all of which are examined by the court.

If it is just a civil matter of a small car accident, you should really have got it all sorted out before you left the country, by avoiding both the police and a settlement over liability and costs (of repair, and now police time) you risk being charged with wasting police time amongst a whole host of other things.......which are indeed crimes.

You haven't actually put what you were initially charged with, so it's difficult to tell if you were charged with a crime at that point, but as I said earlier reckless endangerment sounds about right for leaving the handbrake off and then abandoning the car for a prolonged period, just think yourself lucky it hit another motor, and not a child.

My advice, is contact your local station as soon as you can, and you may want to speak to a solicitor beforehand.

Answer 3

It sounds like a small issue that the police just needed to do something about. Don’t worry about the insurance companies. They probably always assert that it is someone else’s fault to try to intimidate them into paying the money. There may be no legal claim at all. Plus there focus might be on the deep-pocket insurers rather than you.

Some people ignore things like that and just continue life as usual. But if it is bothering you constantly you should sort it out.

The right thing to do would be to pay for the damages even if it was an accident. The police may be concerned that it could have been far worse. Such as the car rolling out of control and running over children.

Answer 4

No you have not committed a crime. If you are 100% shore that you left the car with the hand brake on and secure you are OK and i would request a report from the police and the insurance company, was there any independent witness to what happened. If not i would say they are trying it on.

Answer 5

no, once youve reported it thats all you need to do. As for this claim id fight it, theres no damage to your car and its only the other persons word for it!!! even a slight prang like this would leave some damage

Answer 6

h**l yes you did,you look guilty as soon as you took off without taking care of business.

Answer 7

a point no one has mentioned is the whiplash . you can't get it from an undamaged car rolling at 1mph and therefore this questions the motives and integrety of the complainent,, but you shouldn't have buggered off 1st