Someone claiming I damaged their car

MyRealNameToo

Any indication that they have your registration plate? If they do then the DVLA will provide them with the registered keepers details including address for any recovery action. Similarly were they to involve their insurers they too can do the same. 

Obviously it's been suggested sending a video, or at least prepping one. If one is sent then that clearly gives them your registration. 

born_again

MyRealNameToo said:

Any indication that they have your registration plate? If they do then the DVLA will provide them with the registered keepers details including address for any recovery action. Similarly were they to involve their insurers they too can do the same. 

Obviously it's been suggested sending a video, or at least prepping one. If one is sent then that clearly gives them your registration. 

Bit of gaffer tape over plate or such..

Sadly all OP making for parking in a private place.. 🤷‍♀️

Aretnap

sheramber said:

Police won’t be interested if the parking area is privately owned. 

Who owns the parking area doesn't matter. What matters for the purposes of most road traffic law is whether the area is used by the general public.

A supermarket car park, for example  is privately owned, but it is most definitely a public place where the police would be interested if you hit a car and drove off. A parking area in a housing estate might or might not be - there isn't enough information in the original post to offer an opinion.

MyRealNameToo

born_again said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Any indication that they have your registration plate? If they do then the DVLA will provide them with the registered keepers details including address for any recovery action. Similarly were they to involve their insurers they too can do the same. 

Obviously it's been suggested sending a video, or at least prepping one. If one is sent then that clearly gives them your registration. 

Bit of gaffer tape over plate or such..

Sadly all OP making for parking in a private place.. 🤷‍♀️

So they then claim thats what hit them and the gaffer tape is hiding the damage?

mitchino

Thanks all, I have replied, stated I'm 100% certain I did not damage their car, have witnesses, want no further direct contact and am waiting to hear from the police or their insurance company.
They sent a pic of the 'damage', which is an obvious previous repair that's been painted over with visible brush strokes. Hopefully the police will tell them to !!!!!! off.

MyRealNameToo

mitchino said:

Thanks all, I have replied, stated I'm 100% certain I did not damage their car, have witnesses, want no further direct contact and am waiting to hear from the police or their insurance company.
They sent a pic of the 'damage', which is an obvious previous repair that's been painted over with visible brush strokes. Hopefully the police will tell them to !!!!!! off.

Police are likely to say it's a civil matter and not be interested. They may lie to the police or just be enough of a pain that they agree to do "something" just to shut her up. 

I once had a hire car which was hit by a driver on the wrong side of the road. I'd seen them coming but they were turned round looking in the back. I'd pulled over as far as I could and stopped but she just kept going and clipped wing mirrors. Ours had a slight mark whereas hers was destroyed. 

We both stopped, I walked to her car, took photos, spoke to her. She said it was 50/50 I said its not 50/50 when you hit a stationary vehicle but she was distracted by the 4 small dogs that were not contained and in the back of the car. I took her details and noted them in the phone. She didn't have a phone or pen or paper but said she had a brilliant memory so would remember them.

A couple of weeks later got a producer through the door saying I'd failed to stop at the scene of an accident. Went to the local cop shop, couldn't produce insurance details as it was a hire but had the invoice for the hire. Said it was a false accusation as here are the photos taken from me standing not he pavement next to her damaged car. 

The copper looked it through, took some notes, gave a fairly inappropriate description of the other driver and I never heard anything about it ever again. 

Baldytyke88

sheramber said:

Police won’t be interested if the parking area is privately owned. 

You can be fined for driving off from the scene of, even a minor accident.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bradford-west-yorkshire-28658217

sheramber

Aretnap said:

sheramber said:

Police won’t be interested if the parking area is privately owned. 

Who owns the parking area doesn't matter. What matters for the purposes of most road traffic law is whether the area is used by the general public.

A supermarket car park, for example  is privately owned, but it is most definitely a public place where the police would be interested if you hit a car and drove off. A parking area in a housing estate might or might not be - there isn't enough information in the original post to offer an opinion.

The police were not interested in pursuing the driver who hit my car in the supermarket car park. A witness gave the registration number to the police. 

They. Visited address., said it was a block of flats and they didn’t know which flat the driver lived on so could not pursue further.

The same supermarket car park was transferred to the local council as able bodied drivers ( including local police buying their lunch on the supermarket) repeatedly parked in the designated disabled spots and   as it was a private car  park no action could be taken. 

Once it was owned by the council these  drivers could be given a ticket. 

Aretnap

sheramber said:

Aretnap said:

sheramber said:

Police won’t be interested if the parking area is privately owned. 

Who owns the parking area doesn't matter. What matters for the purposes of most road traffic law is whether the area is used by the general public.

A supermarket car park, for example  is privately owned, but it is most definitely a public place where the police would be interested if you hit a car and drove off. A parking area in a housing estate might or might not be - there isn't enough information in the original post to offer an opinion.

The police were not interested in pursuing the driver who hit my car in the supermarket car park. A witness gave the registration number to the police. 

They. Visited address., said it was a block of flats and they didn’t know which flat the driver lived on so could not pursue further.

So they were interested in pursuing him - they went as far as turning up at his home. The fact that they didn't investigate further was nothing to do with the fact that it was a supermarket car park, it was due to the difficulty in tracking down the driver.

Had it been a non-public place they would have told you that it wasn't their problem, and would have done nothing at all.

(Presumably they could have made more effort to track him down had they been so inclined, but it's not reasonable to expect the police to put as much time and effort into pursuing someone who dented a car in a car park as they would put into pursuing a murderer.)

sheramber said:

Aretnap said:

sheramber said:

Police won’t be interested if the parking area is privately owned. 

Who owns the parking area doesn't matter. What matters for the purposes of most road traffic law is whether the area is used by the general public.

A supermarket car park, for example  is privately owned, but it is most definitely a public place where the police would be interested if you hit a car and drove off. A parking area in a housing estate might or might not be - there isn't enough information in the original post to offer an opinion.

The same supermarket car park was transferred to the local council as able bodied drivers ( including local police buying their lunch on the supermarket) repeatedly parked in the designated disabled spots and   as it was a private car  park no action could be taken. 

Once it was owned by the council these  drivers could be given a ticket. 

Parking tickets are a completely different issue and are not a police matter at all. The council can indeed only enforce parking restrictions on public roads and council run car parks. However most criminal offences under the Road Traffic Act, including failure to stop after an accident, can be committed in any public place, including privately owned ones.

sheramber

Aretnap said:

sheramber said:

Aretnap said:

sheramber said:

Police won’t be interested if the parking area is privately owned. 

Who owns the parking area doesn't matter. What matters for the purposes of most road traffic law is whether the area is used by the general public.

A supermarket car park, for example  is privately owned, but it is most definitely a public place where the police would be interested if you hit a car and drove off. A parking area in a housing estate might or might not be - there isn't enough information in the original post to offer an opinion.

The police were not interested in pursuing the driver who hit my car in the supermarket car park. A witness gave the registration number to the police. 

They. Visited address., said it was a block of flats and they didn’t know which flat the driver lived on so could not pursue further.

So they were interested in pursuing him - they went as far as turning up at his home. The fact that they didn't investigate further was nothing to do with the fact that it was a supermarket car park, it was due to the difficulty in tracking down the driver.

Had it been a non-public place they would have told you that it wasn't their problem, and would have done nothing at all.

(Presumably they could have made more effort to track him down had they been so inclined, but it's not reasonable to expect the police to put as much time and effort into pursuing someone who dented a car in a car park as they would put into pursuing a murderer.)

sheramber said:

Aretnap said:

sheramber said:

Police won’t be interested if the parking area is privately owned. 

Who owns the parking area doesn't matter. What matters for the purposes of most road traffic law is whether the area is used by the general public.

A supermarket car park, for example  is privately owned, but it is most definitely a public place where the police would be interested if you hit a car and drove off. A parking area in a housing estate might or might not be - there isn't enough information in the original post to offer an opinion.

The same supermarket car park was transferred to the local council as able bodied drivers ( including local police buying their lunch on the supermarket) repeatedly parked in the designated disabled spots and   as it was a private car  park no action could be taken. 

Once it was owned by the council these  drivers could be given a ticket. 

Parking tickets are a completely different issue and are not a police matter at all. The council can indeed only enforce parking restrictions on public roads and council run car parks. However most criminal offences under the Road Traffic Act, including failure to stop after an accident, can be committed in any public place, including privately owned ones.

Unless they decide not to pursue it.