Car repair cost and tracing driver

[boris77]

Am hoping the westy collective knowledge might have some views/knowledge on this.

Yesterday the missus had some dozy bint clip her car on a roundabout. Unfortunately said dozy bint drove off without exchanging details, the missus didn't catch her registration.

It looks like the roundabout in question has CCTV on it, we went to the police giving them the details etc but they said they were not sure that the CCTV on that roundabout was working.

In theory the police should of looked at it, but just incase has anyone ever tried to get CCTV footage out the council before for anything similar?

Luckily its only cosmetic damage, not so lucky the car is only 2 months old.

We have been quoted 590 quid for:

Knocking a dent out front of wing, removing small crease, and painting damaged area.

Bumper off, tidying up bumper and painting damaged bit.

Does that sound reasonable?

TIA.

[adamnreeves]

I had someone drive into my door in a council car park and they just drove off. I was not present. I reported it to the police and they examined the CCTV from the council and then traced the driver and paid them a visit. They called me the next day and gave me their details to pass onto my insurance.  

[carpetstu]

I had a guy back into my car a while back and drive off, while it was in the work car park. Luckily enough someone did get the plate number!

The Police couldn't have given two hoots, as it was only metal and no one was injured, they had no interest.

My insurance company where next to useless too. They just wanted me to put it through as a claim in the hope they could recover the money later. It would Have shown as a fault loss though if they couldn't recover.

It took me months to get my insurance to take the driver to court and issue a county court summons. I had to raise a complaint with the insurance ombudsman before they realised I was serious!  

You may think that your insurance would do this rather than want to have a fault claim? In truth it's too much work and they don't give an   either  

[Captain Colonial]

Preposterous that they dont know if it was working.  All they have to do is look goodness me!  Time to go over someone's head.  Any trouble, try saying Freedom of Information Act.  And coppers wonder why people don't trust them...

[frag68]

I work within the claims enviroment within an insurance company and can offer some advice.

The best thing to do is get onto the council as they generally only keep the CCTV for 7 to 14 days, maybe longer, but this is dependant on the council. This is a priority and dont take no for an answer. Be prepared for the run around however but dont give up.

However, if they do not have the CCTV then you have no real course of action to take. Your insurers cant make a recovery from a third party of their insurers if they are unidentified.

However the MIB are an organisation who are funded by insurers for exactly this reason. However you would need to claim on your own insurance policy for the damage sustained to you car and claim your excess back from the MIB. There are some insurers who do waive the excess when hit by uninsured drivers, but not sure of their policy about unidentified drivers. Directline are just one of these insurers, but I dont work for them so I cannot comment.

However Boris 77, to add a spanner into the works, the collision took place on a roundabout which has implications with regards liability. If both cars are travelling in the same direction and there is lane encroacment from one party, or if someone is in the wrong lane for exiting and cuts another up for example, and there are no means of verification by means of witnesses, then liability will come down to one word against another, and insurers will more than often settle on a 50/50 basis which means you would only get 50% of the excess back.

As the "bint" drove off and no one got the registration, there is no right of recovery from anyone, so my advice would be to use your insurance, get the car sorted, pay your excess and put it down to one of the unfair and miserable experiences in life.

I am sorry that I do not have any better news for you, but having had 20 years experience in the industry, this is probably the best course of action for you.

Best of luck

Fraser

[SteveD]

its allright saying use your insurance and just claim you dont even know the what customers excess is  ,it depends what the excess is on the policy ,if the repair costs are are say 500 and the excess is 550 whats the point in claiming , the estimate does not sound a million miles away for the damage you state ,speaking from 26 years in my bodyshop

[Guest]

frag 68 , just as a point of interest , i have taken 6 months to win 100% costs back from a driver who changed lanes on a roundabout and cut across me .

this was settled at the 11th hour after they tried a 50/50 settle a 70/30 and an 80/20 ......... no witnesses  just the photos of the damage , photos of the accident site , detailed areil photos of the road markings ,and it being notorious for being one of the worst roundabouts in surrey .....

there is justice sometimes , i say fight and don't give up.

[boris77]

Thanks all. I'll be on the phone to the council tomorrow morning and see what I can get out of them. I suspect it's going to be as fraser advises - claim, fix and forget it.

Not so much the damage that grates, just the fact the person drove off. I'd never think of doing that, but guess it's the way things/people are these days.

Thanks Steve from seeing your previous posts it gives me faith that the price is in the right range.

[carpetstu]

My insurance settled 50/50 on a claim where the other driver reversed into me!

I didn't claim for my car and told my insurance to not pay out as he admitted to fault at the scene but changed his mind when he spoke to his insurance. As far as I was aware no claim was filed, that was until I renewed my insurance 10 months later.

My insurance paid out without informing me! They said it's their decision and didn't have to consult me!  

[Blacknblue]

Unless you have protected no claims I'd avoid making an insurance claim if you can afford to. It's not just the cost of the excess you'll lose, it's the hike in your premiums for the next 3 or 5 years.

I've had a similar case with my sons car a year or so ago, small claim, would have cost maybe 900 ish to sort out if we'd paid it out of our pockets, has so far cost me - 500 excess on his policy plus a hike of 600 in his premium for the last year and who knows how much for the next couple of years.

[Stuart]

Protected no claims is a con - even if you have it they will still hike your premium.

[Blacknblue]

True, I didn't think of that, but yes you're right. So regardless of protected no claims I probably wouldn't claim in the future. Which just goes to prove, insurance companies will get the money out of us all in the end!!!!!

Certainly for 500 ish I'd be tempted to pay it myself and not report it. At least then you'd avoid paying 2 or 3 times the amount over the next few years

[Captain Colonial]

Protected no claims is a con - even if you have it they will still hike your premium.

This. With bells on and gold leaf cluster attached.

[Dibby]

Thanks, you learn something new every day.

Always paid for protected NCB, 14 years of driving without a single ding (2 spins but never had an acciendent) so I'd like to keep the no claims ... but it's quite expensive and if it's not worth the paper it's written on, I'll probably be cancelling it.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I've had protected no claims for years, and a couple of smallish, as in around £1000, claims in that time for non recoverable losses. Premium has been very consistent throughout that time. In fact this year is the first time, like everyone I suppose that I've seen it jump in a long time, and boy is it a jump           Renewal quote is about 50% up on last year. Needless to say, will be doing the ring around, though I'm not sure if I hold up much hope.