Car damage caught on CCTV and driver drove off

tsears

Just looking for some advice really. Last week at work someone hit my parked car while driving out of a space which was caught on CCTV that I have the footage. The driver drove off so all I have is their reg plate and clear footage of their face and getting in the car. If I contact my insurance will they be able to find the driver's details or is it a lost hope?

It's not the worst damage in the world, but shouldn't be something I should pay out for. The driver does not work at my place of work. 

rigolith

If the number plate is visible then your insurance will be able to find out who the registered keeper is, who is probably also the driver.

Alternatively you could use AskMID to get the details yourself, and go to their insurance company.

The police may be interested too if their face is viable. Driving off is an offence.

DullGreyGuy

Your insurers will contact the DVLA to get the registered keeper and will use MID to find the insurer. They'll then approach both with your allegations (though potentially only after your repairs are underway).

rigolith said:

Alternatively you could use AskMID to get the details yourself, and go to their insurance company.

Just make sure you use the right version, there is one for "my vehicle" that is free and only says if the vehicle is insured or not today. There is a second version which is the one you want, where you pay a small fee (think £10?) and give date etc and it will tell you who the insurer was on that date and the policynumber. 

rigolith said:

The police may be interested too if their face is viable. Driving off is an offence.

Police wont be interested, they may be willing to send a producer to the registered keeper but it is highly unlikely to go anywhere further. As noted on previous threads here, the police would need to show that beyond reasonable doubt the TP knew they'd hit the other vehicle. Assuming the CCTV doesn't show the TP getting out the car to inspect the vehicles and show clear damage to both then the TP can easily say they didn't notice anything or thought they'd driven over some debris in the carpark etc. 

I did stop and exchange details when a TP hit our stationary vehicle but she didn't have anything to note my details on nor a camera to take photos etc but said she had an "excellent memory". Some time later I got a producer so went down to plod station with my evidence I had stopped etc and the desk sergeant couldn't care less and said not to worry as nothing is going to happen with it - didn't want to take copies of the photos etc. 

tsears

Thanks, both, I'll have a look on AskMID and see, as would rather go through TP insurance rather than my own, still judging the damage to see if its bad enough to claim, guess I'm just annoyed they drove off, but not sure if they actually knew they had hit my car as didn't get out afterward! There is also damage by the fog light which I paid to have repaired (after hitting an animal) which has also split again. 

Grumpy_chap

Is that photo the full extent of the damage?
How old is the car?

While I understand the total annoyance, it may well be worth considering a smart repair and taking the hit.  It is probably too low a value for your insurer to spend any effort in pursuing an unconfirmed third party.  How much is your excess?

tsears

Grumpy_chap said:

Is that photo the full extent of the damage?
How old is the car?

While I understand the total annoyance, it may well be worth considering a smart repair and taking the hit.  It is probably too low a value for your insurer to spend any effort in pursuing an unconfirmed third party.  How much is your excess?

Its pretty much all of the damage in the photo, as I said its not a massive amount. Car is 64 plate, but 170k on the clock so I'll probably not look at repairing it. 

Just annoying people can drive around hitting others cars, he was in a 2 year old 4x4 Audi, and I'm pretty sure on those models they have the parking sensors all around and the birdseye camera feature when you are parking. Excess is a few hundred, so wouldn't be worth paying IMO 

chrisw

If you decide to let it go, some black touch up paint should hide that fairly well.