Someone has hit my car while parked... Have eye witness

[densham]

Hi everyone

My neighbour has just popped around and said that she saw a van scrape my Elise whilst it was parked on the street last night. She got the last 3 letters of the number plate and said that she sees it around here quite a bit so shouldn’t be too hard to find the culprit.

Anyway my question to you guys is this: Where do I stand and what do you think the best course of action is? If I have the number plate and an eye witness who's willing to testify to seeing the accident, will I be able to claim off his insurance without too many problems? Or is it a grey area with her being my neighbour (although I have never seen or spoke to her before). Is it worth calling the police? Have they caused an offense?

Anyone who has been through this before; you thoughts and advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Matt

[s3fella]

when she sees it again get her to say she noted the FULL reg first time, or you cannot prove it was him!

[MitchT]

s3fella said:

when she sees it again get her to say she noted the FULL reg first time, or you cannot prove it was him!

^^
What he said.

I don't see why the fact that the witness was your neighbour should be a problem. A crime has been committed and your neighbour is a witness. I'm sure your neighbour wouldn't be deemed unable to be a witness if you'd been burgled, so why when you're a victim of a hit and run?

[eldudereno]

Get yourself out walking the streets to find the van and reg as he might well live close by.

[densham]

Yeah that was my plan, look for the transit van that did it and write the number down then take some action. Just wondering what the best way to go about was? Straight to the insurance company, police?

Here are some pics

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/2986971209_dc9...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3288/2986971207_305...

Although it doesn’t look too bad, it has cracked the clam and if it needs a new one, it’s going to cost a lot.

Does any of the more practically minded out there know if it would be repairable and if so what sort of price would I be looking out for a decent repair

Cheers
Matt

[Plotloss]

Is it just the scratch and the small crack on the arch?

Fairly simple repair, few hundred quid max.

[SS HSV]

Plotloss said:

Is it just the scratch and the small crack on the arch?

Fairly simple repair, few hundred quid max.

I thought that when I leant my Ultima to a mate and he was involved in a side on (idiot pulled into the side of my car).

Total bill to fibreglass = £8,600

[just me]

Wait till you have the full number. Then say you saw it happen.

If there are any marks on the van, take pictures before they are cleaned off.

[Paul Dishman]

Someone reversed in my mothers car when it was parked outside our house and then drove off. One of our neighbours heard the bang and took his reg number. I contacted mothers insurance with the reg number and they pursued him by contacting his insurance company.

Matey then appears at our house saying that he didn't realise he'd done any damage and offered to pay the bill. We let him pay and then rang her insurance to say that he'd paid and we wouldn't be taking it any further so no loss of NCB on mothers policy.

I don't suppose mateys insurance co were over impressed with him, especially as he was driving his grandmothers car

Edited by Paul Dishman on Thursday 30th October 22:14

[Mobile Chicane]

Leaving the scene of an accident is an offence, but to be fair the van driver might not have realised that they'd hit your car. I'd get the full reg and then progress it via the police.

Meanwhile, Duck Tape over the crack to stop it getting worse and keep an eye out for any spidery cracks in the paint / crazing nearby. Often the damage isn't immediately apparent.

Post on the Lotus section if you want recommendations for bodyshops - lots of good ones about, and depending on your excess it may be worth getting it sorted yourself rather than claiming on insurance.

Good luck finding the van driver. One wants to believe that most people are honest, and I hope whoever hit your car is one of such.

[V8NRG]

SS HSV said:

Plotloss said:

Is it just the scratch and the small crack on the arch?

Fairly simple repair, few hundred quid max.

I thought that when I leant my Ultima to a mate and he was involved in a side on (idiot pulled into the side of my car).

Total bill to fibreglass = £8,600

I had a new rear clam on my S1 after someone drove into me. Total cost of repair and car hire was about 8K

[anonymous-user]

Try to find the van & look for damage from the scrape. Take a picture of it. Tell him that a witness saw him hit your car.
Ask him if he would like to go through insurance as you do not want to have to report it to the police. Job done, he'll pay up.

[Risotto]

Trying to pursue the van driver is an exercise in futility.

Probably not what you want to hear, but my advice would be to just get it repaired and move on.

Edited by Risotto on Friday 31st October 10:23

[OJ]

Shouldn't be a problem, you AND your neighbour saw him do it didn't you?...

[EllAJ]

Matt

If your neighbour sees he van again, and can say that it is definately the same vehicle / driver, they can note the registration and a description of the driver. You can then report this to the police and your insurance (if you want).

Yoor insurance company will probably want to speak with your neighbour (as they were the witness) so make sure that this is ok with them.

It shoudn't be a problem that they didn't get the registration at the time as long as they are sure that it is the same vehicle and driver.

Ell

[fastcaterham]

Had this a few years ago with my mums car only rather a lot of damage was done as a van hit my mums car in turn into the wall it was parked next too. Neighbour had full reg number so rung police at the time who turned up and said yes we'll investigate. Time went on heard nothing. My mum even managed to trace the van, owner. Took photos of his van and the damage, took photos of the fact it was parked outsiode his house minus tax, he was also a well known local troublemaker by all accounts. Tokk all this to the police who did nothing at all to cut a long story short except beat about the bush. After about 6 months of weekly calls to the police my mum eventually gave up!

[Jez200]

fastcaterham said:

Had this a few years ago with my mums car only rather a lot of damage was done as a van hit my mums car in turn into the wall it was parked next too. Neighbour had full reg number so rung police at the time who turned up and said yes we'll investigate. Time went on heard nothing. My mum even managed to trace the van, owner. Took photos of his van and the damage, took photos of the fact it was parked outsiode his house minus tax, he was also a well known local troublemaker by all accounts. Tokk all this to the police who did nothing at all to cut a long story short except beat about the bush. After about 6 months of weekly calls to the police my mum eventually gave up!

Thats ridiculous! She did their job for them and they still weren't interested!

Have had people drive into my car 3 times when parked...every time no note or witness so repaired out of my own pocket each time

[heyuk]

fastcaterham said:

Had this a few years ago with my mums car only rather a lot of damage was done as a van hit my mums car in turn into the wall it was parked next too. Neighbour had full reg number so rung police at the time who turned up and said yes we'll investigate. Time went on heard nothing. My mum even managed to trace the van, owner. Took photos of his van and the damage, took photos of the fact it was parked outsiode his house minus tax, he was also a well known local troublemaker by all accounts. Tokk all this to the police who did nothing at all to cut a long story short except beat about the bush. After about 6 months of weekly calls to the police my mum eventually gave up!

Thats the point where I would get the local press involved and kick up a bigger stink, if you know the identity it could be worth small claims court to recover costs.

Key thing is to document *everything*

[fastcaterham]

Yes it was all a bit strange to be honest, It was a good 10 years ago now so I was only early teens at the time and didn't pay that much attention. I will get the full story from her later though from what I remember the bloke went to prison for a long period around a year later for drugs offenses much to my mums delight.

[Planet Blatark-9]

Mobile Chicane said:

Leaving the scene of an accident is an offence, but to be fair the van driver might not have realised that they'd hit your car. I'd get the full reg and then progress it via the police.

I agree.