Foreign lorry fails to stop at accident scene: how do I proceed with damage and personal injury recovery?

My son recently had an accident on the M4 when a lorry hit him on the nearside rear wing/bumper. He has suffered minor whiplash and his car is damaged. There was a witness to the accident. The lorry drove off despite my son following for a short distance and flashing his lights. The lorry was apprehended by the police approximately 80 miles eat of the incident. The driver was foreign (Polish, we understand) and the police have notified me of his name and insurance details (in Poland). They do not intend to prosecute the driver and the lorry was only inspected superficially before being allowed to proceed. The driver could not speak English and neither admitted nor denied that he had hit my son's car. The registration was foreign, albeit the trailer was a British based international haulage company. I am considering engaging a solicitor on a no win no fee basis. My question is: what is the likelihood of winning an action against the driver, and if the chances are good, what are the chances of receiving compensation? If we are successful, but do not receive payment, am I liable to pay my solicitor?

Your son clearly has a valid claim and so long as you have the registration number of the truck which presumably was provided by the police (as opposed to the trailer which may well have a different number), any specialist Road Traffic Accident solicitor will be able to quickly establish quite the identity of the UK handling agents of the Polish insurers.

If, for any reason, the Polish driver was uninsured, your son's claim can be directed to the Motor Insurers' Bureau which handles claims involving uninsured drivers, whether from the UK or overseas.

Claims involving foreign trucks changing lanes are becoming increasingly frequent and the panel solicitors on our sister site Crashguard have considerable experience in dealing with them.  Your son's chances of succeeding should be high and we can provide details of suitable solicitors with an expertise in this area if you wish.

It may well be unnecessary for your son to enter into a no-win-no-fee agreement as he may have legal expenses insurance sold with his motor policy.

Please call us on 0800 066 99 07 or respond by email if you wish us to provide you with further detailed advice on how to proceed.

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