Parked Car Hit & Run Witnessed

Frankie89

Hi all, long-time reader first time poster! I need some help and advice please

I live in a block of flats with their own private car park (not gated car park, just leads out onto the road), but the area has CCTV.

I left my car parked in my space today, and some moron had crashed into the side of the car causing a load of scratches and a sizeable dent on the back wheel arch on the driver's side. They didn't leave me a note and drove off. Fortunately, somebody witnessed the accident and very kindly left me a note on my windshield with the suspect's vehicle registration on it.

I called the police about it, but they've said there's nothing they can do because its a private car park. They logged the incident and gave me an occurrence number - but they have advised me to contact my car insurer from this point forward (LV). I presume now that I will receive no further contact from the police, and that the matter is now closed with them.

My car has comprehensive insurance, £250 voluntary excess, and I'm paying for motor legal expenses. I also have 1 year NCD at 59.1%. I feel like I should report it to the insurance company, however I feel like I'm going to be significantly out of pocket if I do. No doubt this report will eliminate my NCD, and my premium will go up quite a bit I assume for the next few years (probably because it would make me appear as a higher risk to insurers, even though this clearly is not my fault!)

My other option is to pay for the repairs privately out of my own money and keep this incident under the radar (can I still do this even though the incident has been logged by the police?) - therefore allowing me to continue my NCD and be entitled to lower premiums next year. I haven't looked into repair costs yet, but I'd imagine it would be a couple of hundred pound...

Sorry for sounding a bit stupid here but this is the first time this has happened to me, and I'm not sure how to proceed. Your advice and help is much appreciated, Thanks!

ruggedtoast

You currently haven't been involved in an accident or made a claim, so no, you don't have to disclose. It would be the same if a friend were driving and had left it parked somewhere for example. It's up to you how you want to go about repairs.

That will all change the moment you tell your insurer. I would get a quote from a bodyshop first. If you are fully comp there is no guarantee that LV will even attempt to pursue the other driver. They are as likely to just reimburse you under a no fault claim less your excess. You are unlikely to hear about the incident again until renewal time.

The legal insurance probably won't make much difference in this case. You could try a claims management company to sue the other insurer for future premium hikes and a hire car while yours is being fixed.

The NCD won't make nearly as much difference to your premiums as a claim will. These days with insurers inventing accelerator NCD policies, protected bonuses and loyalty penalties regardless, its almost meaningless anyway in my experience.

rudekid48

If you've got the reg number of the other vehicle, you can go to www.askmid.com and find out who it is insured with (if it's insured!), this will cost you £4.00 but it's worth it. This will then allow you to pursue a claim against the other party. Did the witness leave you their contact details?
The terms of your policy will state that you need to declare ANY incidents that occur whether you are intending to claim or not. If you can get the details from askmid then it would help to ensure that you don't lose your NCB by giving you someone to claim against...

spacey2012

You can make a subject access request for the CCTV.
Keep it technical and simple.

McKneff

You signed a contract with your insurance company to say you will inform them them of any incidents.

Non disclosure can result in cancellation of your policy.

Unless everything is done 'under the radar' it will come back and bite you when you least want it, usually when you want to make a claim.

Im not sure even if your report to the police would pop up in the future to be honest.

Get your insurer to do the leg work, its what you pay them for.

ruggedtoast

My current insurer states that I have to inform them of any incident that may result in a claim under the policy they are covering me with even if I dont intend to claim for my own car.

I cant see how under any definition of that instruction I would have to report every scratch, scrape and dent I came back to find in a car park that I didn't even intend to claim on. Excepting the unlikely scenario that the other party would complain that my empty parked car in it's bay got in the way of their driving, causing them to hit it, the injured party is the only person who can claim and if they dont want to there is no way a claim can arise.

I had a quick google and found this to be a common term in most insurers instructions. However, some include the clause, 'You must inform us of any incident that may, or may not, result in a claim'. Which basically means you have to tell them about every single thing that happens to your car ever.' They then go on to say that whatever you tell them about will be recorded on 'registers'.

Incidentally on my only second day of owning a car, someone went into the back of the person behind me at some lights, probably wrote off both their cars and knocked the nearest car into my rear bumper. There was no damage to my car I was quickly adjudged to be not at fault and I never heard anything about it since.

Nevertheless for the last 5 years I've had to report this as a a no fault 'claim' with a £0 settlement every time I get a new policy, playing around with comparison sites it looks like it costs me about £10 - £30 each time, diminishing the longer ago it gets.

Just_Some_Guy

The police saying they can't do anything because it was a private car park could be baloney depending on how accessible the car park is. You have to report damage you cause in a "public place" which covers a lot more tarmac than you might think. The exact definition is shrouded in impenetrable legalese but unless your private car park is as inaccessible as Fort Knox it's worth asking the cops to justify themselves.

forgotmyname

Unless the carparks gated and private signs on there it shouldnt be classed as private.

Report it again and dont mention the word private.

Frankie89

Thank you all so much for your help. I'll get in contact with my insurer in that case and take it from there - hopefully this other guy will own up!