Hi Guys
On Thursday evening last my car was parked unattended about 3 doors up from me.It appears that three of my neighbours heard a loud cracking noise (loud enough to be heard indoors) and looked out to see the local paper delivery van driving away from the back of my car. They didn't actually see the van hit my car , but are fairly sure it was this vehicle that caused the damage to my car.
Basically the bumper now has a large crack in it , which will mean that I have to replace it through my insurance.(Having to pay excess etc).
I only noticed the damage on Friday , and reported it to my insurance company straight away.
My neighbour came round last night (Saturday) to say what she had heard and seen.
I am after some advice please as to what to do next - should I report it to the Police even though at this stage I don't have any details of the offending vehicle?
I am planning on calling the papers head office on Tuesday to try and track down the driver.
The van makes regular weekly deliveries on a Thursday to my neighbours house.
Any advice gratefully received!!
Thanks
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You could try a report to the Police as it would appear offences of fail to stop/report, due care may well have been committed by the driver of the delivery van who sounds well in the frame from what you and your neighbours say. However, in leaving it so long, then don't be surprised if Plod shows little or no interest as it is only a damage only accident.
Contact between vehicles generally means there is a transference of matter but again because of the delay forensics may well have been lost through paint samples being washed away. But again there may be signs of damage on the van that can be tied in at the same height as your vehicle.
Me? I would be round pronto to papers head office and a word with the Transport Manager acquianting him with the occurrence and that you have a witness. At the same time you may be able to see which van had damage that would fit. Presumably if all came good then no doubt a settlement would be forthcoming to your satisfaction. Don't accept a tale that the driver didn't know as the sound of contact was sufficient to be heard within walls.
DVD
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If you can't prove who did it and it's just a damaged bumper then weigh up if it is worth claiming it on your insurance. Excess, NCD, premium etc can all go up (for five years).
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DVD is right, get round to to the papers office and tell them you have a witness or better still you saw it happen, it worked for me once.
A similar thing happened to me three years ago. One afternoon I was sat reading the paper when I heard a dull bang outside, I leaned forward in my chair and saw nothing so dismissed it as my imagination. I could see my car but part of it was out of sight. Not long after, I took the mutt for his exercise and when I looked at the back of my car, a large crack, a small hole and a dent over the bumper had appeared. So the dawning realisation came that the bang I half ignored was my car being driven in to.
Where I sit in the house, I can see the road and I probably chose to ignore the bang as no vehicle had passed when I heard the noise. So for a while I was puzzled how I could have sustained the damage, I knew it was not there when I had come in from work. Then it twigged. A Mr. Magoo like decorator, who lives at the bottom of our road had been jobbing at the house opposite. Now the thing is, their drive is a steepish slope and whenever they are reversing their own cars off the drive, I watch with trepidation. So I deduced he must have done it as there had been no other vehicles around at the time. I hot footed down to his house ready for a challenge and he wasn't in.
So this is where I called his bluff. I wrote a note and pushed it through his door. I said I had seen him reverse in to my car, from the bedroom window and he drove off before I had a chance to get downstairs. If he didn't come and see me, I was off to see the Plod.
Result, about an hour later he was at my door very sheepish and apologetic. Claims he thought no one was in and he was going to call later anyway, a likely story. It got even better when I went to his house to chase him for his insurance, his wife blew up at him and I got the impression he had done it before. Considering the state of his "white" van, I wasn't surprised.
The only annoying aspect of it is the fact that for the last three years, I have had to declare the incident for insurance purposes. Which is a pain as my wife can't insure her MX5 through Esure because of it.
Try it, you have absolutely nothing to lose.
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I'm afraid that the police generally have better things to do than worry about damage only accidents where no one is hurt. The response will almost certainly be "that's what you pay insurance for". If you can prove that the offending driver had no tax or insurance, or was driving in a lunatic manner, then they might be more interested.
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I'm afraid that the police generally have better things to do than worry about damage only accidents where no one is hurt. The response will almost certainly be "that's what you pay insurance for". If you can prove that the offending driver had no tax or insurance, or was driving in a lunatic manner, then they might be more interested.
I suspect that they will be very interested in a driver who fails to stop after an accident.
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