Hit a parked car

Honest John Back Room » Legal matters
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Mon 29 Mar 2010 13:40
Hit a parked car - Zippy123

Hit a parked car this morning. Left contact details as owner was not there. Is there anything else I need to do such as reporting it to the police station?

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Mon 29 Mar 2010 16:49
Hit a parked car - concrete

I suspect the police would not be interested unless anyone was injured. It is an offence for a driver not to be in full control of a vehicle but there is no public interest in pursuing you for something relatively minor that you readily admit and are offering to make amends for. You have done the right thing and I applaud your honesty. However, for your own protection it would have been wise to photograph any damage caused and maybe get a witness to confirm this. You may find that some people are less honest than yourself and may attempt to exagerate a claim, especially if they think it is an insurance claim. Even worse if you wish to pay for this yourself. It may not be too late to go back to the scene and do this. Just be aware when contact is made that you need to agree the extent and price of any repairs, preferably with a witness or a recorded telehone call. Also you get to choose the garage where repairs are made. Well done and I hope it all works out properly, but be on guard. Good luck. Concrete

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Tue 30 Mar 2010 09:28
Hit a parked car - hbosken

Lesson to be learned from Concrete - always carry a camera with you and if poss, ensure each photo show the date and time! Trust no one!

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Sun 18 Apr 2010 11:34
Hit a parked car - Peter D

Report it to the police ir is a legal requirement. Leaving the details is a variable, they can blow away, someone may have seen you and you end up being charged for failing to stop, failing to report. Regards Peter

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Sun 18 Apr 2010 13:25
Hit a parked car - Peter D

If you left the details has the owner contacted you. ? Regards Peter

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Fri 14 May 2010 10:36
Hit a parked car - madcow

I remember quite a few years ago now, I reversed and hit the car behind me. I broke there number plate. This happened in Tesco Car park. I went into Tesco's and had the car registration called out. no one came. In the end I left a note on the screen.

That night a man rang to say may thanks and wanted my car insurance details. Hubby said we will pay for the number plate. No he said he said that I had smashed his bonnet and the list went on.

We rang our insurance company to explain what had happened, they said they would investigate via an independent inspection. (never happened)

It was not untill our next premium came, it had risen by megga money. Hubby phoned them to find our insurance had coughed up to the tune of nearly 2 grand.

There was not a mark on our car. If I had supposed ridden his bonnet like her claimed why did our car come out unscaved??

This is what we got for being honest. I won't do this again in a hurry!

So just beware they don't try to con you for damage to there car that was there prior to the accident!

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Fri 14 May 2010 16:06
Hit a parked car - concrete

Take note from Madcow and his experience. Always, always take photographs. Carry a digital camera or use your mobile telephone. This has served me very well in the past to establish the damage or substantiate a claim. Be aware at all times that most people see pound signs before their eyes when 'insurance' is mentioned. You are not obliged to give your insurance details to anyone except the police, so never do. You can decide whether to report the incident to your insurer or not. You need to have your wits about you these days. Concrete.

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Tue 25 May 2010 11:27
Hit a parked car - LucyBC

These cases can be really nasty.

The worst ones are when people "check for damage" - see "there wasn't any" and then drive off without leaving any details.

The cases seem to occur in supermarket car parks and there is almost always a witness. The result is the owner of the vehicle reports it to the police who usually follow up with failure to stop, failure to report and usually throw in "driving without due care and attention" for good measure.

At this stage it is not an insurance matter but three "serious" motoring offences - exactly the same as you might get as a hit and run driver. The police need to be persuaded to drop the charges and the chances are you will incur at least £250 in legal costs in persuading a good motoring solicitor to persuade them to do so. If there was any damage (and often if there was old damage) you will also pick up the bill for it.

Zippy123 was right to leave his details but the advice over taking pictures is also essential. But I would always recommend that the driver reports the incident to the police within 24 hours in any event. It is their legal responsibility to do so if the person suffering damage is not present. So it does not just apply to parked vehicles but also to damage to fences and street furniture.

That way there are no nasty surprises.

Edited by LucyBC on 25/05/2010 at 11:29

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Tue 20 Oct 2015 17:45
Hit a parked car - slkfanboy

Who knows the car might get struck be lightning and be burn to a crisp moments after the OP leaves and the owner is none the wiser of the OP's crash.

Thing do happen and often do, but it's unlikely that one of them is Mr Plod take an interest ina minor incident

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Sun 18 Oct 2015 22:28
Hit a parked car - adri

it happen to me too. i barely touch the car . i left note , but nobody called back that afternoon. they can call after few days and blame me for damage i didnt cause ?

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Sun 18 Oct 2015 22:49
Hit a parked car - RobJP

it happen to me too. i barely touch the car . i left note , but nobody called back that afternoon. they can call after few days and blame me for damage i didnt cause ?

The LAW is that you must report such an incident to the police. As another post has pointed out, failure to do so is (possibly) a number of driving offences, which in theory could leave you facing a driving ban - though that is unlikely.

As to damage 'you didn't cause'. Did you take a picture of the damage on your phone ? If not, then yes, it's possible they could 'try it on'. But the damage to YOUR car will be similar to that on theirs - for example, if you've got a slightly scuffed bumper but they're claiming for the back end of their car to be rebuilt, then they're trying it on.

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Wed 21 Oct 2015 11:00
Hit a parked car - Falkirk Bairn

50 years ago a fellow student had his rear wing clipped by a builder's lorry. The driver owned up and gave his company insurer details. The bash almost matched a similar bash, self inflicted, on the other side.

Builder's insurance covered the cost of fixing both, an early BOGOF repair.

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Wed 21 Oct 2015 13:41
Hit a parked car - alan1302

50 years ago a fellow student had his rear wing clipped by a builder's lorry. The driver owned up and gave his company insurer details. The bash almost matched a similar bash, self inflicted, on the other side.

Builder's insurance covered the cost of fixing both, an early BOGOF repair.

And people say they were more honest in the past! LOL :-)

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Wed 21 Oct 2015 13:59
Hit a parked car - skidpan

Report it to the police it is a legal requirement

Some years ago when the wife was on her way home from work she was passing through a narrow spot where 2 cars could just get through side by side when her mirror and that of the oncoming car touched. No damage other than broken glass to either car (the housings were black in those days).

The wife was happy just to accept it as one of the hazards of driving but the other driver probably saw it as a way of making cash and insisted the police were called. When they arrived they looked and asked who had called them and the chap was proud to say it was him. He was taken into the back of the Police car and given a right royal b******ing for wasting Police time and told to go home and sort it. We just fitted a new glass that cost about a tenner at the time.

There have been lights at the site for a few years now with the road narrowed further by a footpath. Not stopped accidents, just bigger head on ones now.

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Sun 3 Dec 2017 20:11
Hit a parked car - Safoora Hameed
Hi looking for some advice
Earlier this year sometime in July I received a letter from an insurance company saying that there had been an incident involving my car saying I had hit a parked car in a private car park of there costumer and the driver was looking to claim compensation for damages.
I did not remember this incident occurring but contacted my insurance company straight away to help with what to do. If i had hit a car and realised i would have 100% stopped and left details.

Further to investigation CCTV footage was provided to my insurance company and they said they would settle the matter we received this information in September.

It is now December and we had not heard anything since then about this claim. However, tonight two police officers came to our residence to caution me saying that I had committed a driving offence as they had reviewed the CCTV footage they can see there was evidence of the other car being hit but i failed to leave details or tell the police. I do not remember this incident or having collided with the car as if I had thought i did i would have stopped and left details so even if CCTV footage shows a collision i do not think i should be charged with an offence as I genuinely did not realise if I had hit the other car.

We live in Glasgow Scotland and they said this claim will be given forward to the proctor and we should wait to see what they said

Hoping for any help or information of what to expect

Many thanks
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Mon 4 Dec 2017 00:48
Hit a parked car - Avant

You've now started a new thread on the same subject, so it's more helpful to you if comments are made on the same thread. I'll close this one.

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