Hit and Run - Police lack of action.

Badgeronimous

I bought a new car in March.

Anyway, whilst parked in a busy inner city supermarket, I returned to my car to find a huge scrape, damage down the side of the door, front and rear wings, cracked/distorted bumper, and a deeply scratched alloy wheel. There was no note left.

Being a new car, and not a particularly cheap car either (not that it matters), I naturally want this to be repaired correctly, and have been quoted between £1500 and £2000 to get it repaired. So we're not talking a minor amount of damage, indeed you could buy an OK little run around for the amount of money being quoted.

Anyway, the incident happened in one of the closest able bodied spaces to the main entrance of the supermarket, and around 20m from the ATM machines (indeed the second closest space to the ATM's). There is at least one CCTV pointing in the general direction of where my car was parked.

I reported this to the security in the supermarket, and they said I would need to raise a complaint with the police in order for the issue to be pursued. I did this.

Anyway now 5wks have passed, and despite chasing it up, still nobody from the police has contacted the supermarket to review the CCTV.

Any advice? What are my rights here?

mrcow

Have you raised a complaint with the police yet? What have they said?

Badgeronimous

I reported it within an hour of it happening (luck would have it the police station is next to the supermarket).

I filled out all the relevant paperwork to raise a complaint, and was issued a HORT/1 to produce my licence/insurance to that police station. They basically said they would investigate it.

I have been chasing up to find out what has happened with regards to my complaint, to be fobbed off. Eventually I have been told they have been unable to review the CCTV footage as of yet.

Ultimately the point of this post is, I've had £2k worth of damage did to my car that wasn't my fault, and don't really want to have to use my insurance, or pay out my own pocket to have it fixed - if I can avoid it.

I'm angry as it is likely the CCTV will have caught the culprit, but the police haven't bothered their !!!! in the 4wks since it happened. I appreciate it is not a priority crime, but I would still expect some sort of correspondence within a month. £2K of damage isn't exactly minor.

ILW

Chances are CCTV has been wiped by now.

Weird_Nev

Yep. You'll be lucky if the CCTV is still there - it's often overwritten on a 4 week basis. I'd go to the supermarket, tell them you've lodged the issue with police, and would they very kindly burn the relevant time to CD so that it can be collected by police later.
However, wide angle CCTV cameras don't often pick up numberplates to the extent that they can be read.
So, sweet talk the security guard, and see if there's any way of tallying the CCTV (time the vehicle leaves and does damage to your car) with the exit logs from the ANPR camera.

All of this adds up to "a long shot". I think it's 90% likely you'll have to bite the bullet and get it done through your own insurance, unfortunately.

Guest101

Your insurance company may be able to request the CCTV too, and you may not necessarily need to claim on your insurance

notanewuser

Never park a car you care about anywhere near the store.

vaio

Guest101 wrote: »

Your insurance company may be able to request the CCTV too, and you may not necessarily need to claim on your insurance

the OP should be able to get it too, problem is that after 5 weeks it might not still be available

Strider590

Badgeronimous wrote: »

Anyway, the incident happened in one of the closest able bodied spaces to the main entrance of the supermarket

Well there's your answer, I drive a 10 year old car and even I park as far from the other cars as possible.

But, firstly you had the right to demand the video footage for a small fee, no Police needed.
Secondly, the Police won't give a damn, it's private property and the Police will leave it to the insurance companies to deal with.

Guest101

vaio wrote: »

the OP should be able to get it too, problem is that after 5 weeks it might not still be available

Very true. The difficulty initially may have been overzealous security guard and lack of knowledge by manager.

Even a simple SAR request with £10 charge may have provided the necessary footage.

fivetide

Strider590 wrote: »

Secondly, the Police won't give a damn, it's private property and the Police will leave it to the insurance companies to deal with.

Sorry but that's wrong. It is open to the public and the RTA applies. Been covered lots of times on here.

OP - the nail that gets hammered first is the one that sticks out furthest. Get chasing plod or they'll do nothing though.

Member of the local car club was hit, on a main road by an uninsured driver and despite handing it to local police on a plate it took 3 months and an official complaint before they even visited the guy