Car has been bumped. Incident is on CCTV. Next steps?

u47mm3

Hello.

Yesterday our car was scratched in the car park of a well known garden centre.  We weren't at the car at the time but were later informed by the garden centre that there was a witness and they have sent us the CCTV of the incident,  and a registration number of the car.  The driver of the car drove off.  We've contacted the police and are about to give them the CCTV footage and they've given us a crime report number.  They've yet to contact the person who drove off.  One of the first things the police said to us is are we going to go though the insurer?  Our worry is that even though we could raise this as a 'non-fault' claim,  it might still raise our future premiums?  If we don't go though the insurer then it will be £280 for us to pay for the damage to our car.  The third option could be that we try and ask the police for the contact details of the driver,  and hope that we can contact them and try and convince them to pay for the damage.  

What is the best way of us to progress this,  and save us from having to pay for the incident?  

Thanks in advance

DullGreyGuy

Legally you are required to inform your insurers either way and the impact of an unclaimed incident is typically similar to that of a non-fault claim. The absolute impact depends on your insurer and what your risk profile is before this incident. 

The police won't give you the details of the driver unless either the other driver consents or its going to court. Most cases they will simply send a producer to the registered keeper and assuming they provide their details to their local station it'll be a verbal slap on the wrist and thats it. Obv is they are a wanted fellon etc then things may be a bit different. 

With the registration plate you can apply to the DVLA for the details of the registered keeper or apply to MID to find the insurer of the vehicle for that date. Obv if you went to their insurers and claimed from them its likely to go into the CUE database and your insurers (present or future) may find the claim if you choose to "forget" to inform them. Similarly if you approach the TP directly they may well pass it on to their insurers to handle and you have the same CUE issue. 

Car_54

As above, you need to report it to your insurer.

If you have a good record, the effect on your future premiums is likely to be much less than the cost of the claim. And given the way premiums in general are escalating, you won't be able to tell.

u47mm3

That's great.   Thanks very much to both of you for your advice. 

Nasqueron

You can use AskMID to get the details of their insurer and contact them - explain what happened, that you have a witness and CCTV and a police report. They will have to take it up with their client though. I had an incident when someone drove into me when riding a bike, I spoke to their insurance and they were helpful but wouldn't take action until their driver admitted it (the police and ambulance attended so wasn't going to be an issue) which they did a couple of other days. If you have legal cover on your policy, home insurance, union membership etc it may help