'Hit and run' by uninsured driver whilst car was parked

[JLammy]

Looking for some guidance here on what's the best thing to do...

Problem:
My car was hit by another car whilst I left it parked at a car park. My dash cam was triggered by the impact, and recorded a short footage, which includes the car's registration. After submitting a claim to my insurer, it turns out that this car is not insured.

My insurance company Aviva Zero says that because of this, the claim will be claimed against my own policy as 'my fault'. My NCB will go down from 9 years to 3 years, and I will have to fork out the £500 excess, and claim that back from the MIB afterwards.

What should I do in this fairly crap situation?
The damage is to the passenger side front bumper (some paint missing), bent the trim around the wheel arch and the inner arch liner, and scuffed my alloy wheel a little. The plastic trims could probably pop off and get replaced, and if I didn't want a good respray on the missing paint section, it could probably be repaired by one of those smart repairers, although I would very much prefer an actual bodyshop to do the repair!

Do I go ahead with the claim? I'm concerned about having this 'fault' claim hang above my head for the next 5 years when I renew my insurance, plus the reduction in NCB, so my premiums will be sky high, and I'll be paying for this for the next few years anyway. Do I cancel the claim and sort it myself?

[normalbloke]

Probably cheaper to get it done yourself. Your insurance will still go up next year though, unfortunately.

[Watcher of the skies]

Have you reported it to the Police?
It sounds like a criminal offence.

[JLammy]

Watcher of the skies said:

Have you reported it to the Police?
It sounds like a criminal offence.

I reported it to the police on the day the incident happened on their website, and received an automated email which states "We will prioritise investigations into injury road traffic collisions so, if you have reported a collision without an injury, you are unlikely to be contacted again by the police." so, frustratingly, I don't think they'll even bother to look into this and/or do anything about it.

[Killer2005]

Have you tried the motor insurance bureau?

https://www.mib.org.uk/making-a-claim/

[JLammy]

Killer2005 said:

Have you tried the motor insurance bureau?

https://www.mib.org.uk/making-a-claim/

Yep, they too won't help if you've got comprehensive insurance - they ask you to go through your insurance company.

[swisstoni]

I suppose you can not pursue a claim but you have reported an incident to the insurance and they will have logged it.

So the pain of up to 5 years of having to declare the incident is now locked in.
That being the case, you may decide that you might as well go ahead with the claim.

[JLammy]

Will it actually be a “claim” though when it comes to renewal? I thought you’d note it down as some sort of incident, but not quite a claim with a value out against it (which I assume has a larger impact). Either way, it’s a pain in the backside, and I wish I had checked askmid before I put in the claim!

[swisstoni]

JLammy said:

Will it actually be a claim though when it comes to renewal? I thought you d note it down as some sort of incident, but not quite a claim with a value out against it (which I assume has a larger impact). Either way, it s a pain in the backside, and I wish I had checked askmid before I put in the claim!

You have had an ‘incident’ that will have been recorded unfortunately.
Guess how I know there is no such thing as an off-the-record discussion with insurance companies.

[Mr-B]

swisstoni said:

JLammy said:

Will it actually be a claim though when it comes to renewal? I thought you d note it down as some sort of incident, but not quite a claim with a value out against it (which I assume has a larger impact). Either way, it s a pain in the backside, and I wish I had checked askmid before I put in the claim!

You have had an incident that will have been recorded unfortunately.
Guess how I know there is no such thing as an off-the-record discussion with insurance companies.

Exactly what Swisstoni said. I was caught with this donkeys years ago, I rang to ask about a "potential" claim that I didn't go through with in the end, came to renew insurance and they said I had a claim, WTF!? Corrected them about the non existent claim and they said we have a record of you speaking to your insurer about a potential claim and your NCB has gone down. I was f'kin fuming, I was never told this at the time and it didn't cost the insurer a penny but now I was getting penalised just for having a chat on the phone. Absolute pisstakers the insurance industry is.

[Robertb]

Mr-B said:

swisstoni said:

JLammy said:

Will it actually be a claim though when it comes to renewal? I thought you d note it down as some sort of incident, but not quite a claim with a value out against it (which I assume has a larger impact). Either way, it s a pain in the backside, and I wish I had checked askmid before I put in the claim!

You have had an incident that will have been recorded unfortunately.
Guess how I know there is no such thing as an off-the-record discussion with insurance companies.

Exactly what Swisstoni said. I was caught with this donkeys years ago, I rang to ask about a "potential" claim that I didn't go through with in the end, came to renew insurance and they said I had a claim, WTF!? Corrected them about the non existent claim and they said we have a record of you speaking to your insurer about a potential claim and your NCB has gone down. I was f'kin fuming, I was never told this at the time and it didn't cost the insurer a penny but now I was getting penalised just for having a chat on the phone. Absolute pisstakers the insurance industry is.

I’d have complained and taken that to the ombudsman if necessary- that’s appalling!

[Watcher of the skies]

JLammy said:

Watcher of the skies said:

Have you reported it to the Police?
It sounds like a criminal offence.

I reported it to the police on the day the incident happened on their website, and received an automated email which states "We will prioritise investigations into injury road traffic collisions so, if you have reported a collision without an injury, you are unlikely to be contacted again by the police." so, frustratingly, I don't think they'll even bother to look into this and/or do anything about it.

That's ridiculous. No insurance and failing to report an accident, with evidence and they can’t be bothered to follow up?

[Fady]

Watcher of the skies said:

JLammy said:

Watcher of the skies said:

Have you reported it to the Police?
It sounds like a criminal offence.

I reported it to the police on the day the incident happened on their website, and received an automated email which states "We will prioritise investigations into injury road traffic collisions so, if you have reported a collision without an injury, you are unlikely to be contacted again by the police." so, frustratingly, I don't think they'll even bother to look into this and/or do anything about it.

That's ridiculous. No insurance and failing to report an accident, with evidence and they can t be bothered to follow up?

They are hardly likely to report an accident if they have no insurance. And even if they did, won't now change the situation as regard's the OP who would still be left to to have to call on his own insurance for the repair.

So I can see it from the perspective of the police and best hope for everyone is that is that vehicle is picked up by ANPR sooner rather than later.

[Chubbyross]

The moral of this sad story is to check how much the damage will cost to repair BEFORE contacting your insurance company. I've always had a £1K threshold in mind. If it's over that I'd contact my insurer, if it's under I'd simply get it sorted myself. It's just not worth the time and inconvenience these days. The amount of time to fill out forms, chase insurers and dodgy insurance-recommended bodyshops will soon rack up the hours and days.