Should I make a claim?

snashandm

I would be grateful for some advice from those with previous experience of this scenario.

I have a Ford KA which was parked outside my house last week. A lorry came into our close, hit my car and drove off. My daughter witnessed the collision and tried to chase the lorry, but he drove away.

The insurance policy I have for this car is loaded and costing me £1k as my daughter is a new driver and only 18. I have contacted the Lorry Co who have asked me to send them a quote for the repair. Their driver has stated that he was unaware of the collision? I have reported this matter to the police and have a Crime No. The quote for the repair is £600 and I have a feeling the co. are going to play hardball with this. My dilemma is should I claim on my insurance and lose my no claims, the car was stationery at my home and this seems so unfair?

Can anyone help please?

Thank you

waster_2

Get a quote and send to the lorry company. Give them 14 days to pay up. Say if you do not receive payment you will take them to the small claims court and will be requesting that they supply a copy of the driver's tacho printout for the day in question and also a copy of his delivery/drop sheet to prove he was in the area and the speed of the vehicle at the time of the collision. If they do not provide the tacho, which is a legally required document, the coourt will more than likely assume that on the balance of probability the driver is guilty. If they do produce it then it will demonstrate what he was doing and what you are saying is correct.

If they have any sense they will pay up without a fight.

Good luck and do not give up on this.

FirstClassMale

waster makes a good point, a tachograph should prove quite a lot about speed and in conjunction with the drop sheet can pinpoint the driver's movements. if the Police are taking this seriously then they will be able to inspect the lorry for damage. It probably has a few knocks and scrapes already but if your daughter can say exactly which part of it hit the KA it would be quite easy to match up the marks.

It is possible that the driver did not notice that he had hit the parked car but he should be cooperative and honest about if he is innocent then he has nothing to fear!

superkev

YEP... I agree with the others, big haulage companies are use to this and usually pay out, especially with your daughter witnessing it. Dont hate the lorry driver though, its a job that is getting harder nowadays, he might have just been wolf whistling at some bird ha ha, not your daughter i hope!!!

exil

Claim on your insurance and make them do the legwork! You will NOT lose your no-claims bonus assuming the facts are as you state.

iwanttosave_2

superkev wrote:

YEP... I agree with the others, big haulage companies are use to this and usually pay out, especially with your daughter witnessing it.

They should pay out, we recently got hit by a lorry outside our house, it was going to a build site across the road, OH went over and came back with the cash in his hand. The company don't want to go through all the mess of insurance and SCC for a minor bump, it won't look good on the company nor on their premiums.

Just give them the quote and request payment withing such a date.

Good luck xx

snashandm

Thank you for responding to my posting. The update to the situation is the lorry company asked me to get a quote, I did and sent this off to them with a letter and copies of all my supporting car docs. The damage is no bigger than an A4 piece of paper, and the quote from a ford garage is for £1k - unbelievable. They have acknowledged my letter and apologised for the inconvenience and passed it on to their insurance company. I am now waiting to hear. I do hope it is sorted soon.

Kind Regards
Susan Nash

Happychappy

I really would leave it with the company to start with and then go through your insurance, but set a deadline and talk to your insurance company asap.

Regarding the Police and any Sherlock Holmes evidence of tachographs and jobsheets....sorry, complete non starter for a simple non injury damage only RTC. And as to what powers or rights you have to seek disclosure of these articles..uuumm.

There would be no evidence whatsoever on the tachograph, if ever you have tried to gain evidence from one, you would realise that it is an extremely expensive job and requires expert analysis, only then does the whole event become worthwhile, but at extreme cost and not just £1000

The police also would not get the tachograph forensically analysed, which also means calibrating the lorry and tachograph head to prove these were accurate to start with, and the job sheet proves nothing. Im surprised noone mentioned cross contamination samples of paint transference between the two vehicles etc, etc. :rolleyes:

Hope the company sorts it but inform them in writing of your intention to progress the matter through legal options if no response within 14 days, and make sure the letter is sent recorded delivery to the Company secretary or transport manager.Failing that I would not hang about in informing your insurance company, they have a right to no and you may well be on a sticky wicket for not informing them. The vehicle has still been involved in an RTC regardless that you were not driving it, and they have an interest in it. The insurance companies can actually be your firends if you trust them, but to tell them 6 weeks after an event may well raise questions and then dont be suprised if they quote "Terms and conditions" and turn you down for non compliance


Good luck