Broken Wing Mirror!

justinjustice

Someone knocked off the wing mirror of my parked car at some point today. The car was parked a few doors away from my house and whilst I have no witnesses, someone had written on some cardboard a number plate and stated it was a scaffold truck that did it. No number or name of the person who left the note. I am yet to contact my insurance company. Any one know what I should do as I am some what concerned if I let my insurance company know and I have no witnesses, that note is as good as me making something up? I do not want my premium to go up (I have NCD).

Update -

Using the anonymous note left on my windscreen with the number plate, CCTV footage from my house camera showing the truck going past my house and whilst not seeing but hearing the sound of impact and the power of social media, I was able to find the culprit at the weekend.
The driver initially tried to deny it was him but after seeing the footage and seeing the photo of his number plate, he admitted he heard the impact but thought it may have been the car behind him at the time. 
He then said his reputation was very good in the area and an impact on it would be too big so he would pay and do the needful on getting it repaired. He also said it was best to go out of the insurance companies as he had previously had an impact on his insurance and would cause issues with his livelihood. 
I took my car to a local reputable mechanic today and he called BMW direct to find the cost of a replacement mirror - £600 excluding labour!
I informed the driver of the cost and he said 'it was too much'. I said I would get a couple more opinions from other mechanics however how should I approach this situation?
On one side I am keen to just go via insurance however at the same time I don't want to be the cause of someone's livelihood being impacted. 
I want to be fair as possible but at the same time not risk any complications getting this resolved.

Aylesbury_Duck

Two choices: either contact your insurer with the minimal information you have, in the vain hope it leads to a claim from the other party, or get it fixed yourself.  You are contractually obliged to let your insurer know anyway, but log it for information rather than making a claim if you fix it yourself.

lesalanos

Buy a 2nd hand one from ebay/breakers and fit it yourself dependant on cost as you didn't say what car it was 

justinjustice

new 2020 BMW Gran Tourer. Only had it for 5 months

justinjustice

Update - So I have found some video footage from a neighbour that shows what looks to appear the exact said van (same make as van form reg on note) although the number plate is somewhat blurred - can make out the make of the vehicle and couple of the numbers from the reg.
Whilst you cannot see the impact take place you can hear it - there is a loud bang and you can hear glass smash from the mirror.
Some online checks show the truck as not being insured and no road tax. 
Any further advise please?

clive0510

justinjustice said:

Update - So I have found some video footage from a neighbour that shows what looks to appear the exact said van (same make as van form reg on note) although the number plate is somewhat blurred - can make out the make of the vehicle and couple of the numbers from the reg.
Whilst you cannot see the impact take place you can hear it - there is a loud bang and you can hear glass smash from the mirror.
Some online checks show the truck as not being insured and no road tax. 
Any further advise please?

Some online checks show the truck as not being insured and no road tax. 
Any further advise please?

IN That case you need to tell the police. so then maybe from the evidence you have they can be traced, and prosecuted.driving without insurance and road tax are both serious offences. as well as failing to stop at the scene of a accident.

clive0510

actually thinking about it, should your bmw not have electric folding mirrors as my peugeot does? ie lock the car and the mirrors fold in. 

AdrianC

Contact the van's operator. Tell them somebody left you the plate and you have cctv showing it.
Ask for their insurance details.

TadleyBaggie

clive0510 said:

actually thinking about it, should your bmw not have electric folding mirrors as my peugeot does? ie lock the car and the mirrors fold in. 

Only available with an option pack I suspect, it's not a standard feature. My 2 series M-Sport doesn't have it.

lesalanos

The first thing to do would be to call them and tell them that you have it on cctv.  See if they agree to replace.

If they then say no then tell them that you will just have to go to the insurance/police with your evidence then 

JustAnotherSaver

A bin wagon hit mine and you could hear the contact on my dashcam. 

I contacted the bin wagon company for claiming off them. They said the driver denied everything. 
The little <censored> actually aimed for me with the line he took. I was stationary at lights. 
They said the camera didn't show anything. Yeah no kidding... Because its pointed ahead and not sideways at my mirror. 
Insurance company decided not enough evidence. 

In the end I never went through the insurance but now that I've contacted them about it I've got 3 years left to pay for this report.