My parked car was crashed into!

zudecke

Hi guys,

Today I came home from work to discover my car had been crashed into!

There were two notes lodged behind my windscreen wipers. One a written note from a good samaritan witness and another a presumably left by the driver himself, with details of the car rental firm, vehicle reg and roadside recovery details.

I phoned the witness when I got the note and explained everything to me and how he'd be willing to give a statement etc.

I then phoned the car rental firm and they were a bit weird.. Sort of trying to see how much info and evidence I had before admitting to knowing anything, when clearly this had been reported to them earlier - as according to the witness, the other car was completely undriveable after the incident, testament to how hard my car got hit.

Crux of it is, my rear wheel (drivers side) has been pushed /bent inwards and the car is undriveable also. There's also damage to my alloy, wheel arch and front of the car (as the impact jolted my car forward into the car in front of mine).

So my question is, what happens in these situations? Who pays who? Bit unfair if I have to foot the bill of even lose a no claims because of it!

Any help and advice appreciated as always!

Z

cheekyweegit

This happened to me about 4 years ago, parked in multi story car park and about to drop some Christmas shopping into the boot, and thought, that's one hell of a scratch.

The scratch was smashed bumper, wheel arch, broken tail light, broken wheel trim (didn't have alloys) and scriff / dent in back passenger door.

Driver disappeared, but someone noticed it and left me a note (still grateful to them to this day).

Anyway I contacted police, then made a claim on my insurance who traced other party and made a claim through their insurance.

Took a while longer but party was found taken to court and points on their licence and criminal record.

My own insurance provided a hire car whilst mine was away for nearly 3 weeks getting fixed.

By the way sounds like your car may be a write off, as buckled / bent inwards wheel could be the steering column is gone too, then there is the cost of the alloy, wing, paint job, plus the other bits and bobs needing done. The above is not cheap. Sorry, hope you get it sorted swiftly though.

You should also call the police, just as a safeguard to report what's happened, as your insurance may stipulate this, it will just cover your back.

Strider590

You won't lose NCB in the long term, but you will in the short term until the claim is resolved. This means if your renewal comes up before it's resolved, you'll pay a higher premium (they like to drag claims out to this point).
Long term you'll have your NCB, but you'll be classed as higher risk and pay around £50-£100 a year on top of your normal premium for around 5 years.

zudecke

Thanks for the replies guys..

I haven't even contacted my own insurer yet... I have a high excess.. Would I be required to pay this excess even though it wasn't my fault at all?

Thanks,

Z

zudecke

Just after I submitted the last message, I got a call from the rental agency head office who apologised sincerely for everything.

They've organised a rental car for me and to take my car to a preferred garage for the repairs.

Again, my insurer still has not been contacted... Do they need to know!?

neilmcl

zudecke wrote: »

Just after I submitted the last message, I got a call from the rental agency head office who apologised sincerely for everything.

They've organised a rental car for me and to take my car to a preferred garage for the repairs.

Again, my insurer still has not been contacted... Do they need to know!?

Yes they do, but make it clear to them it's for "information only" and you're not making any claim. Also, you will have to declare it on renewal now for the next 3-5 years.

King

If they are gonna fix it all through a garage for you then that seems the better option than doing it through insurance. When you claim through insurance, even when the other drive admits fault your premiums still increase....:mad:

zudecke

So the recommendation is just leave it in the hands of this rental company (who are reputable enough)?

Perhaps best to not even inform my insurer?

Norman_Castle

Again, my insurer still has not been contacted... Do they need to know!?

Yes. As the third party is admitting liability this should be relativly easy to resolve, but speak to your insurer before doing anything.

King

I would suggest the best thing to do, is have the car looked at by a garage you trust as first you need to see what needs to be repaired and if it can even be repaired. Then get the rental company pay these costs if thats what they have agreed to?

I don't see any advantage of telling your insurers as it would only increase your costs.

zudecke

King wrote: »

I would suggest the best thing to do, is have the car looked at by a garage you trust as first you need to see what needs to be repaired and if it can even be repaired. Then get the rental company pay these costs if thats what they have agreed to?

I don't see any advantage of telling your insurers as it would only increase your costs.

Hi mate, thanks for the response.

How would I get it to my garage though? It's undriveable and I'd have to pay a tow truck..

I did TRY and drive it about 10 minutes, but it was soon startlingly obvious that it was a complete mess. My steering is acting all weird, the wheel is sounds (and smells!) like it's about to fall off completely and the whole thing is rattling.

Should I tell them the problems? But then they'll know I've driven it - is that a problem?