Hit and run damaged my parked car: foreign lorry and total loss: PLEASE HELP ME

13

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  • bigisi
    bigisi Posts: 925 Forumite
    Afrapp88 wrote: »
    Well it's easy then, I will never accept the write off and never accept the payout and keep my bloody car. Only frustrated I have to go through all this when it's not even my fault and I have witnesses and photographs :( Sort of like twice the victim. Or even thrice, considering my premium [STRIKE]can[/STRIKE] will potentially even go up! And the lorry driver, who can still potentially be driving on UK soil, gets away with it like it was nothing. He can potentially be the one who will scratch your cars too and there is no way of preventing it (like blocking him from driving in the UK) unless I try legal action, for which I have no time nor will nor money.

    Shock horror, life's not fair. Who'd have guessed?
  • lisyloo
    lisyloo Posts: 29,583
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    Afrapp88 wrote: »
    Well it's easy then, I will never accept the write off and never accept the payout and keep my bloody car. Only frustrated I have to go through all this when it's not even my fault and I have witnesses and photographs :( Sort of like twice the victim. Or even thrice, considering my premium can potentially even go up! And the lorry driver, who can still potentially be driving on UK soil, gets away with it like it was nothing. He can potentially be the one who will scratch your cars too and there is no way of preventing it (like blocking him from driving in the UK) unless I try legal action, for which I have no time nor will nor money.

    It’s good to research things, but it’s not good if you are getting upset over a scenario that might not happen.
    We don’t know that your car is a write off.
    How are you getting on with quotes? (I’d be getting 2 or 3).

    I know you’re upset but people don’t get blocked from driving because they scratched someone else’s car.

    Did you report the incident to the Police?
  • Afrapp88
    Afrapp88 Posts: 21 Forumite
    edited 19 September 2019 at 3:53PM
    @bigisi life is not fair when we make it so. So keep your patronising lessons to yourself, please.

    By the way, all your posts to this feed are derisive. Can you kindly please abstain if you have nothing useful to say and maybe spend your time in what I am sure would be a more interesting way both for you and for me? I would really appreciate. Nobody is forcing you to read and answer to my questions if you find them silly.
  • @lisyloo I did report it to police. They told me they can't do anything since it's a foreign lorry, even though it's a EU registration plate which I find insane.

    And by the way, you're right, people don't get blocked from.driving if they scratch a car. But damaging someone else's property and fleeing the scene is illegal and, theoretically speaking, worth of prosecution. It's called hit and run, even if nobody was injured.
  • lisyloo
    lisyloo Posts: 29,583
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    Afrapp88 wrote: »
    @lisyloo I did report it to police. They told me they can't do anything since it's a foreign lorry, even though it's a EU registration plate which I find insane.

    And by the way, you're right, people don't get blocked from.driving if they scratch a car. But damaging someone else's property and fleeing the scene is illegal and, theoretically speaking, worth of prosecution. It's called hit and run, even if nobody was injured.

    I totally agree.
    The only thing I’d say is that sometimes lorry drivers are not aware of hitting things, but I am surprised the police can’t/won’t do anything.

    Do you have independent witnesses or a dash cam?

    It might be that the police cannot do anything on your word alone.
    They have to be able to prove it to make a criminal prosecution.

    Yes it’s unfair, agree on both counts (the insurance and the hit & run), but please don’t get too upset about scenarios that might not happen.
  • Afrapp88 wrote: »
    "The amounts are obviously just examples"

    Of course, I got that at least :) I guess I will wait for them to contact me back. I'm pretty sure that if it's gonna be written off it'll be in category N or maybe S (it's not clear to me what "structural damage" means...I assume the rearview mirror is not a structural part of the car but still a damage that makes it unsafe to drive).
    Many years ago there was clip on wing mirrors that attached to the door frame or window...might get you back on the road as a stop gap…if you can find one? Modify caravan mirrors?
  • Afrapp88
    Afrapp88 Posts: 21 Forumite
    edited 19 September 2019 at 3:38PM
    lisyloo wrote: »
    I totally agree.
    The only thing I’d say is that sometimes lorry drivers are not aware of hitting things, but I am surprised the police can’t/won’t do anything.

    Do you have independent witnesses or a dash cam?

    It might be that the police cannot do anything on your word alone.
    They have to be able to prove it to make a criminal prosecution.

    Yes it’s unfair, agree on both counts (the insurance and the hit & run), but please don’t get too upset about scenarios that might not happen.

    I had one eye witness, who saw the lorry driver getting out after the crash, checking my car and possibly taking the detached mirror with him because the eye witness couldn't find it immediately afterwards while checking the damage and is certain it was there BEFORE the crash. The other is a "sound" witness who heard the crash and took the picture of the lorry right next to my car (it's clearly the front, bottom right corner of the container that hit it and scratched it).

    In the police report, that I filed online, I mentioned the existence of the witnesses, gave their contact details and said there is a picture. They called me to tell me that if it's a foreign lorry it's out of their jurisdiction. Couldn't say much except accepting it, it didn't sound there was much room for "negotiations". My personal view? It's not that they can't, it's that they cannot be bothered to look into that for just a scratched car, even though it's technically a hit and run. I cannot believe they cannot look into it with all the evidence I was ready to provide and considering we're talking about a EU lorry, not a Kazakhstan one.
  • lisyloo
    lisyloo Posts: 29,583
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    I don't believe they can't look into it either and I think they are fobbing you off. You have my sympathies, but I'd concentrate on getting prices for both routes (the insurance repairs and your repairs) rather than thinking about worst case scenarios.
  • lisyloo wrote: »
    I don't believe they can't look into it either and I think they are fobbing you off. You have my sympathies, but I'd concentrate on getting prices for both routes (the insurance repairs and your repairs) rather than thinking about worst case scenarios.

    Thank you so much for your understanding. I will do as you wisely suggest. I am waiting for my trusted garage to send me an estimate of the price of the repairs after I sent them the pictures. Will do the same with other garages as well. Thank you very much for taking the time and having the patience to reply to my posts :)
  • Another possibility is that you identify the lorry and find their insurer, and then claim from them.
    For example, if it were a Spanish insurer they could be made to compensate for the damage in cash and, in reality, you could end up with a fairly satisfactory result.
    Where was the lorry registered ?
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