accused of hit and run,advice please

mikeouk

sometime in april i had a letter from an insurance claims company along with a claims form, it was very vague and just said they wanted details of an accident id been in, ive got two vehicles and it didnt even mention which one. I rang them and said i hadnt been in an accident and they said not to worry and it could be mistaken identity. A few days later i had a police officer turn up at my house to say id been reported as being in a hit and run, again i told them i had not been in any accident, turns out the vehicle supposedly involved was my van, they checked it and confirmed there was no damage. The person making the claim says i pulled in front of them, hit their wing and carried on driving. I know for a fact i didnt hit anyone, if i had i would certainly have stopped. Anyway, the police took a statement from me then came back and said there was no case to answer to.
This morning ive received a letter from a firm of solicitors enclosing some pictures of the back of my van driving along, it says these are pictures taken after id hit the vehicle,theres also a picture of the alleged damage to the car, it looks in the picture like some dirt on the wing.
I am 100 percent certain i didnt hit a car, there was no damage to my vehicle that would indicate i had, the police have said theres no evidence and have closed the case, now this person has gone to a solicitor to chase it. Am i missing something here? of course i will once again dispute this, but im worried someone is trying to fit me up, and if so, why?
Any advice?

lolarentt

So what's the gist of the solicitor's letter then? What are they asking for?

Strider590

Well it's perfectly possible to have touched a car and not realised....

BUT, if you'd hit my car id have chased you down like a dog!! (have done this before with an uninsured driver)

So it begs the question..... Why did this person not come after you?

vikingaero

Are there any dates on the filename of the picture. For instance most mobiles save the dates in the file name - ie 20100716001 etc

Quentin

mikeouk wrote: »

Any advice?

If you did not do so at the time you got the original claim against you, inform your insurer about this.

And send them all correspondence you have received (and get in future) unanswered.

Let them sort this out (it's what you pay them for).

MsAnderson

They enclosed photos of your van driving away? If I was in my car and someone hit me and kept going, I'm not sure I could get my camera out so quickly! Or did they follow you and take photos at another location? Make sure the photos actually show your van, any chance your reg could be photoshopped onto another van? Maybe they lost sight of the actual van and you just happened to be passing by when their camera was snapping.

Depending on what the letter asks for, I would write back and say as far as the police are concerned there is no case to answer. Leave it to them to prove.

Some people have too much time on their hands...

Quentin

MsAnderson wrote: »

Depending on what the letter asks for, I would write back and say as far as the police are concerned there is no case to answer. Leave it to them to prove.

Once they have decided no criminal offence is involved in an incident, the police don't involve themselves in such civil cases.

MsAnderson

Quentin wrote: »

Once they have decided no criminal offence is involved in an incident, the police don't involve themselves in such civil cases.

Understood. I should have made it clear, when I said "Leave it to them to prove. " I meant the complainer had to prove there was a case.

mikeouk

lolarentt wrote: »

So what's the gist of the solicitor's letter then? What are they asking for?

they want me to confirm its my vehicle and that i recognise the road. they say if i wish to dispute the matter (which i do) then they will send an investigator to take a full statement.then i can attend court and defend the case.

mikeouk

vikingaero wrote: »

Are there any dates on the filename of the picture. For instance most mobiles save the dates in the file name - ie 20100716001 etc

no, just pictures of the back of my van, no date on them

Strider590

Could also be that someone else hit their car and did a runner, they didn't catch the plate and so waited around at the spot the next day hoping to catch the van and you just happened to come along in a similar van at the same time.