Non Fault Accident - Culprit Insured by the Same Insurance Company as Ours

DiaHeart

Dear All,
I have been trying to find advice online or at least a similar situation, but I have not been able to so far. I would appreciate if you could offer some advice as I have never had such an issue.

Our car was hit while it was parked in front of our house (off street) by a speeding car in the early morning. The vehicle at fault stopped further down because of the damage, the driver tried to start it several times, went out of the car together with another passenger, was seen making a call and then being picked up by another vehicle. They left the vehicle at fault there. No CCTV footage unfortunately, but a few eye witnesses.

The police came, they told us the keeper of the car lived nearby and that, when called, they denied knowing anything about the incident or about their car being stolen. A few days have passed now and we have not had any reports from the police. We managed to find out that the vehicle at fault is insured by the same insurance company that we are using. The insurance company keeps saying the keeper of the car is denying having had any incidents whatsoever.

 We are afraid that there's a conflict of interest here and that the insurance company will not bother doing anything, despite the fact that we have a comprehensive insurance. Our car is badly damaged and it cannot even be moved.

What happens now? Where should I ask for advice? I feel like there's nobody to be trusted, everyone is just trying to make a gain. Is there a way to put some pressure? How can we get our hands on the police report? Any piece of advice would be appreciated.

[Deleted User]

Well if both cars are insured by the same company then they are going to have to pay one way or another. They probably need confirmation from the police as to whether the vehicle was stolen or not as that will determine if it is claimed on your insurance or theirs

RBN20

Did you take images of the at fault vehicle, as it was left up the road? If so then send them to your insurer as proof that the car was involved, regardless of the driver. It may come down to them covering it on RTA basis 

Normally having both cars insured with the same company actually makes things easier as they don’t have to wait on other insurers time scales and can deal with everything in house 

DiaHeart

Thank you @nerox and @RBN20 for your replies. Yes, we have sent the pictures of both our vehicle and of the vehicle at fault to the insurance company, we are currently waiting for their reply. Would the police send us a report (that is what they said)? We were not given a case reference number, we only have the CAD number. Would this be enough for the insurance company to obtain the report from the police? Over the phone they suggested they already had the report, but how, if we still haven't got it and they didn't have the case red no either?

csgohan4

if the TP denies involvement, your case my drag on and when you come to renew you may have to declare this as at fault as it is still an open case and unable to claim back all costs at the time of a new policy. Doesn't mean your at fault, but related to costs

DiaHeart

Thank you, @csgohan4. We've still got time till January until renewal, hopefully it will be solved by then. If the TP denies involvement, would this be a case that MIB could handle?

pramsay13

Could the plates be cloned?
You can push your own insurer to repair the vehicle asap as it sounds as though this is not being done.
It will start off being registered as your claim and your fault, but if the third party admits liability or the police report proves it this will be changed to a no fault claim.

Sandtree

Cloned plates would certainly be my first thoughts, its not often people will abandon their own car in their own neighbourhood and then tell the fuzz nothings happened. Did the police say they had seen the owners actual vehicle when they called round? Did the eye witnesses get a description of the people that came out of the car? Do you know if they match the owner? 

The other one that happened occasionally was kids taking their parents car without permission but the parent not wanting them charged with theft and messing their lives up.

Insurers can get the police report off of fairly scant details but most reports wont be released until after any prosecutions (or until they have decided there will be no prosecutions) and aren't worth the paper they are written on.

As others have said, there is no conflict of interest on a blue on blue case like this as whatever happens it all is paid by them and hits one policy or the other. Disputed liability cases or injury cases are where issues can arise and need to be managed properly.

Aretnap

DiaHeart said:

Thank you, @csgohan4. We've still got time till January until renewal, hopefully it will be solved by then. If the TP denies involvement, would this be a case that MIB could handle?

No, the MIB is essentially an insurer of last resort - it will not cover losses which are covered by any insurance policy, including your own. So if you have comprehensive insurance you will have to use that - or make a claim through the other car's third party cover if you can. 

To make a claim through the other car's third party cover you need to be able to prove the identity of the driver - at least on the balance of probabilities. That's obviously easier if the owner admits driving, or says who it was, but it's not impossible if he doesn't. Did the witnesses see the driver well enough to identify him (or at least tell the difference between father and son)? 

DiaHeart

Thank you very much for your replies. My husband could see from our window that there were two males coming out of the car and he might be able to identify them if given the opportunity as the street was well lit. The thought of the plates being cloned did cross my mind. That or the keeper covering for someone they know. We could hear the driver revving the engine for quite a few minutes, so maybe abandoning it was a last resort. Maybe they were under the influence and panicked and couldn't think of anything better. But until we have the police report, we can only guess. I am relieved to read that it is unlikely there will be a conflict of interest. Thank you very much for the details and if there's anything else you can think of, please share.

csgohan4

Another possibility, if it is cloned, then shouldn't the innocent owner have their car in addition to the one involved with the accident? 

If it was the same car, then why didn't the TP declare it stolen? something doesn't smell right