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Car crash, probaibly my fault insurance wise

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Hello everybody,

Firstly, sorry this post is very long. Secondly, thank you to anyone that can help. So, here is the scenario:

I was driving up to a roundabout with 1 car in front of me and we were both braking. A quick look to the right gave me the all clear and the driver ahead of me stopped braking. Another quick look to the right to confirm I could go as well was followed by me looking forward to discover he hadn't gone.

I slammed the brakes on and then 2 things happened. I went into the back of the car infront and a car went into the back of me. I genuinely am not sure which happened first, it was all very fast. There were no injuries (apart from myself having a small niggle at the bottom of my back), we all acted very civilly, just took details and left, with nobody admitting liability. There was minimal damage to all cars, except my rear which has minor, not minimal damage. The damage is a cracked bumper, missing light at the bottom of the bumper and my boot won't lock.

There was only 1 passanger in the combined 3 cars, a lady in the first car. I know when looking from a logical point of view, it is my fault. Even if I want to blame the guy in front for hesitating, I should have paid more attention and should have been further behind so I had more time to react in case that happened. Luckily I have learnt from this and am glad I have been taught a lesson with such a minor incident. Ironically I mocked a work colleague for doing the same thing a couple of years ago, pointing out that you should check the car has actually gone before deciding to go yourself.

So logically, I'm a moron, but where it came to insurance, that doesn't usually seem to matter from what I've heard. It's my first crash and I wasn't sure of usual protocol so I just rang the insurers to let them know what had happened and they started by saying they would claim it against the third driver and all I had to do was fill out a form, then they rang me today saying that the first driver disputes what I've said, claiming I definitely hit him before being hit by the third car. The insurers said before they can sort out my car (it is driveable, but I want it fixed) a solicitor would have to go through it??

I've done some research and from what I can gather, in 3 car crash situation the front driver is usually impartial and their word is taken, however I'm not sure how this guy can claim to know I hit him first as he didn't feel the bumps. In other cases people have said that it comes down to where the damage is (my rear being most damaged hints at me being hit first) and how many bumps there were into the first guy (I'm sure there was only 1, approximately 99% sure - again, usually pointing at me being hit first)

What I would appreciate being told is whether I can do anything here? I actually don't mind if I get the blame for the first car, it'll be minimal cost if any to me and my front is fine enough to not have fixed if it is going to be an issue, but I fear this is going to slow down me getting my rear fixed while they deal with the claim, because I'm sure my rear damage will be down as the third driver's fault and his insurance will pay for it.

I don't want to ring up and say ignore my claim, I only care about the rear damage incase it looks like I lied previously, and I wouldn't mind it getting sorted out without me having to dive into my pockets.

So...if this does go on and nobody wants to take any blame, what outweighs what, will the front driver's verdict outweight the bumps and damage argument? Will they just say settle at 50/50 for ease? Will they tell me I'm completely at fault for the front and there's nothing I can do? Will this affect my claim for the damage to the back of my car? Is it worth me getting my car fixed and then trying to get money back if the claim goes through?

Sorry again for the long post, was just trying to get all the information across.

Thanks in advance to any advice.

Kind Regards all

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