Car damaged in car park - can I request CCTV footage?
Discussion
Hello. Part question, part catharitc rant...
A few months ago I spent twice as much as I've ever spent on a car before having wanted the specific model for a long time. I really look after it, it is (was) immaculate and I'm careful to park away from other cars wherever possible but over the last week I've been a little unlucky.
In the middle of last week I had to travel to London on business at short notice and had to leave the car in the station car park. It was very early when I got there so I parked at the far end as I know the car park fills up during the day. When I got back in the evening there was a very obvious dent in the passenger door, right on the crease line where a door had clearly been opened into it. No sign of anyone or any note of course. It was going dark and I was tired so I just drove home, obviously fuming but not thinking I could do anything about it.
Last night I took my children to see the new Avengers film (it's great by the way
), they have been dying to go for ages so I treated them to an opening night performance - can you tell where this is going? Again, I parked as far away as possible from other cars (to much moaning from my teenagers) and when we came out there were scrapes down the side of the rear quarter of the car and the offside wheel is quite badly scraped and scuffed (there's white paint around the area).
Again it was fairly late and dark so I could only see it under the lights but I've had another look this morning and I'm not happy. In the few months I've had the car I've only parked it "at risk" twice and both times it's been damaged so I want to see if there's anything I can do.
The cinema is on a big retail park and I called their security office this morning. They said they can't release CCTV footage to me (or let me view it) and that I should just call the Police on 101, ask for a crime number and the Police will investigate. A quick search on PH and Google brings up conflicting results as to whether this is the right course of action and use of Police time - I would much rather give them a clip of video and say "this is my car, this is what happened, what can be done" than expect them to spend their time "investigating" a car park bump.
What's the general consensus about the best course of action here please? I'd also like to follow the same course of action on the station car park if possible.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
PS - I'm totally and completely sick of ignorant, thoughtless, selfish people. Whenever I'm out in public they seem to be everywhere and growing in number. However, I can't fix that - and maybe I can do something about my car. Thanks for reading.
A few months ago I spent twice as much as I've ever spent on a car before having wanted the specific model for a long time. I really look after it, it is (was) immaculate and I'm careful to park away from other cars wherever possible but over the last week I've been a little unlucky.
In the middle of last week I had to travel to London on business at short notice and had to leave the car in the station car park. It was very early when I got there so I parked at the far end as I know the car park fills up during the day. When I got back in the evening there was a very obvious dent in the passenger door, right on the crease line where a door had clearly been opened into it. No sign of anyone or any note of course. It was going dark and I was tired so I just drove home, obviously fuming but not thinking I could do anything about it.
Last night I took my children to see the new Avengers film (it's great by the way
), they have been dying to go for ages so I treated them to an opening night performance - can you tell where this is going? Again, I parked as far away as possible from other cars (to much moaning from my teenagers) and when we came out there were scrapes down the side of the rear quarter of the car and the offside wheel is quite badly scraped and scuffed (there's white paint around the area).Again it was fairly late and dark so I could only see it under the lights but I've had another look this morning and I'm not happy. In the few months I've had the car I've only parked it "at risk" twice and both times it's been damaged so I want to see if there's anything I can do.
The cinema is on a big retail park and I called their security office this morning. They said they can't release CCTV footage to me (or let me view it) and that I should just call the Police on 101, ask for a crime number and the Police will investigate. A quick search on PH and Google brings up conflicting results as to whether this is the right course of action and use of Police time - I would much rather give them a clip of video and say "this is my car, this is what happened, what can be done" than expect them to spend their time "investigating" a car park bump.
What's the general consensus about the best course of action here please? I'd also like to follow the same course of action on the station car park if possible.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
PS - I'm totally and completely sick of ignorant, thoughtless, selfish people. Whenever I'm out in public they seem to be everywhere and growing in number. However, I can't fix that - and maybe I can do something about my car. Thanks for reading.
I think they’re only allowed to give you CCTV footage of you, so if you wanted a Car Reg of the accused, then it’d be police territory I believe.
Also, most CCTV is crap and unlikely to be anywhere near good enough quality to prove a neighbouring car left a small dent. Also how would you prove the damage wasn’t already present before you parked?
I think it’s just part of car ownership unfortunately. I park in a similar fashion to you and every time I wash my car I find new marks... scuff on the front bumper, dents and paint chips on the doors, etc. Annoying, but c’est la vie.
Also, most CCTV is crap and unlikely to be anywhere near good enough quality to prove a neighbouring car left a small dent. Also how would you prove the damage wasn’t already present before you parked?
I think it’s just part of car ownership unfortunately. I park in a similar fashion to you and every time I wash my car I find new marks... scuff on the front bumper, dents and paint chips on the doors, etc. Annoying, but c’est la vie.
Tidybeard said:
Hello. Part question, part catharitc rant...
PS - I'm totally and completely sick of ignorant, thoughtless, selfish people. Whenever I'm out in public they seem to be everywhere and growing in number. However, I can't fix that - and maybe I can do something about my car. Thanks for reading.
Sorry can't answer the CCTV question for definite. But the Data Protection Act and the ICO (Information Commissioner Office) maybe have guidelines/policy. Not sure if only if they view public areas - but CCTV operators must register with the ICO - and if they fail to provide the data can be fined.PS - I'm totally and completely sick of ignorant, thoughtless, selfish people. Whenever I'm out in public they seem to be everywhere and growing in number. However, I can't fix that - and maybe I can do something about my car. Thanks for reading.
I'd strongly recommend that you get a decent front/back Dashcam installed and backed up with a battery. I'm surprised that more car makers have not as of yet installed these by default/made part of the MMI system for example.
I've got Blackvue cameras in both of our cars - only Tuesday night it caught a car speeding down the road - whom then crashed after failing to negotiate the roundabout 100 metres past us. Police took a copy as it clearly showed driver in excess of double the speed limit.
Sorry it's not going to help you now - but I like you had to get it fitted after an incident - and glad I do now have them (and they are transferrable between cars) when you come to change it.
As for your rant ... don't get me started on selfish/self absorbed tw
ts 
I don't think you'll have much luck with this outside of going to the police, and even then I think you'll be disappointed with the outcome. The 'beyond reasonable doubt' standard for a criminal damage prosecution would be hard to reach with generic wide-angle car park CCTV footage.
The retail park will in all likelihood only release the footage to the police (which they have to do), and not to anyone else. As far as I'm aware they have no obligation to release CCTV footage to anyone else, and therefore won't in order to avoid any real or imagined data protection wrangles.
As you say, it then becomes a question of whether you feel it's justified to occupy police time with this sort of thing, but only you can answer that.
The retail park will in all likelihood only release the footage to the police (which they have to do), and not to anyone else. As far as I'm aware they have no obligation to release CCTV footage to anyone else, and therefore won't in order to avoid any real or imagined data protection wrangles.
As you say, it then becomes a question of whether you feel it's justified to occupy police time with this sort of thing, but only you can answer that.
Thanks for the replies and you make some good points. I'm obviously struggling to be objective but it's extremely frustrating that there's effectively no deterrent to behaving like a scrote and damaging other people's property. Probably time for me to just come and live in the modern world...
Also, thanks for the suggestion re dashcams - I think I'll need to look into them.
Also, thanks for the suggestion re dashcams - I think I'll need to look into them.
Edited by Tidybeard on Friday 27th April 10:07
Tidybeard said:
Hello. Part question, part catharitc rant...
A few months ago I spent twice as much as I've ever spent on a car before having wanted the specific model for a long time. I really look after it, it is (was) immaculate and I'm careful to park away from other cars wherever possible but over the last week I've been a little unlucky.
In the middle of last week I had to travel to London on business at short notice and had to leave the car in the station car park. It was very early when I got there so I parked at the far end as I know the car park fills up during the day. When I got back in the evening there was a very obvious dent in the passenger door, right on the crease line where a door had clearly been opened into it. No sign of anyone or any note of course. It was going dark and I was tired so I just drove home, obviously fuming but not thinking I could do anything about it.
Last night I took my children to see the new Avengers film (it's great by the way), they have been dying to go for ages so I treated them to an opening night performance - can you tell where this is going? Again, I parked as far away as possible from other cars (to much moaning from my teenagers) and when we came out there were scrapes down the side of the rear quarter of the car and the offside wheel is quite badly scraped and scuffed (there's white paint around the area).
Again it was fairly late and dark so I could only see it under the lights but I've had another look this morning and I'm not happy. In the few months I've had the car I've only parked it "at risk" twice and both times it's been damaged so I want to see if there's anything I can do.
The cinema is on a big retail park and I called their security office this morning. They said they can't release CCTV footage to me (or let me view it) and that I should just call the Police on 101, ask for a crime number and the Police will investigate. A quick search on PH and Google brings up conflicting results as to whether this is the right course of action and use of Police time - I would much rather give them a clip of video and say "this is my car, this is what happened, what can be done" than expect them to spend their time "investigating" a car park bump.
What's the general consensus about the best course of action here please? I'd also like to follow the same course of action on the station car park if possible.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
PS - I'm totally and completely sick of ignorant, thoughtless, selfish people. Whenever I'm out in public they seem to be everywhere and growing in number. However, I can't fix that - and maybe I can do something about my car. Thanks for reading.
I feel your pain. Been in the same position too many times over the last 20 years. I've had "nice" cars damaged in car parks, by kids playing in the street, and by a garage when in getting serviced. My solution? I no longer buy cars that I get precious about. Not for everyone I know, but it's very liberating.A few months ago I spent twice as much as I've ever spent on a car before having wanted the specific model for a long time. I really look after it, it is (was) immaculate and I'm careful to park away from other cars wherever possible but over the last week I've been a little unlucky.
In the middle of last week I had to travel to London on business at short notice and had to leave the car in the station car park. It was very early when I got there so I parked at the far end as I know the car park fills up during the day. When I got back in the evening there was a very obvious dent in the passenger door, right on the crease line where a door had clearly been opened into it. No sign of anyone or any note of course. It was going dark and I was tired so I just drove home, obviously fuming but not thinking I could do anything about it.
Last night I took my children to see the new Avengers film (it's great by the way
), they have been dying to go for ages so I treated them to an opening night performance - can you tell where this is going? Again, I parked as far away as possible from other cars (to much moaning from my teenagers) and when we came out there were scrapes down the side of the rear quarter of the car and the offside wheel is quite badly scraped and scuffed (there's white paint around the area).Again it was fairly late and dark so I could only see it under the lights but I've had another look this morning and I'm not happy. In the few months I've had the car I've only parked it "at risk" twice and both times it's been damaged so I want to see if there's anything I can do.
The cinema is on a big retail park and I called their security office this morning. They said they can't release CCTV footage to me (or let me view it) and that I should just call the Police on 101, ask for a crime number and the Police will investigate. A quick search on PH and Google brings up conflicting results as to whether this is the right course of action and use of Police time - I would much rather give them a clip of video and say "this is my car, this is what happened, what can be done" than expect them to spend their time "investigating" a car park bump.
What's the general consensus about the best course of action here please? I'd also like to follow the same course of action on the station car park if possible.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
PS - I'm totally and completely sick of ignorant, thoughtless, selfish people. Whenever I'm out in public they seem to be everywhere and growing in number. However, I can't fix that - and maybe I can do something about my car. Thanks for reading.
Tidybeard said:
Hello. Part question, part catharitc rant...
A few months ago I spent twice as much as I've ever spent on a car before having wanted the specific model for a long time. I really look after it, it is (was) immaculate and I'm careful to park away from other cars wherever possible but over the last week I've been a little unlucky.
In the middle of last week I had to travel to London on business at short notice and had to leave the car in the station car park. It was very early when I got there so I parked at the far end as I know the car park fills up during the day. When I got back in the evening there was a very obvious dent in the passenger door, right on the crease line where a door had clearly been opened into it. No sign of anyone or any note of course. It was going dark and I was tired so I just drove home, obviously fuming but not thinking I could do anything about it.
Last night I took my children to see the new Avengers film (it's great by the way), they have been dying to go for ages so I treated them to an opening night performance - can you tell where this is going? Again, I parked as far away as possible from other cars (to much moaning from my teenagers) and when we came out there were scrapes down the side of the rear quarter of the car and the offside wheel is quite badly scraped and scuffed (there's white paint around the area).
Again it was fairly late and dark so I could only see it under the lights but I've had another look this morning and I'm not happy. In the few months I've had the car I've only parked it "at risk" twice and both times it's been damaged so I want to see if there's anything I can do.
The cinema is on a big retail park and I called their security office this morning. They said they can't release CCTV footage to me (or let me view it) and that I should just call the Police on 101, ask for a crime number and the Police will investigate. A quick search on PH and Google brings up conflicting results as to whether this is the right course of action and use of Police time - I would much rather give them a clip of video and say "this is my car, this is what happened, what can be done" than expect them to spend their time "investigating" a car park bump.
What's the general consensus about the best course of action here please? I'd also like to follow the same course of action on the station car park if possible.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
PS - I'm totally and completely sick of ignorant, thoughtless, selfish people. Whenever I'm out in public they seem to be everywhere and growing in number. However, I can't fix that - and maybe I can do something about my car. Thanks for reading.
Best (realistic) course of action, honestly? Suck it up, get a PDR guy in and move on with your life. I can almost guarantee that the police will not give two hoots, and nor should they waste their time on such a petty, civil matter.A few months ago I spent twice as much as I've ever spent on a car before having wanted the specific model for a long time. I really look after it, it is (was) immaculate and I'm careful to park away from other cars wherever possible but over the last week I've been a little unlucky.
In the middle of last week I had to travel to London on business at short notice and had to leave the car in the station car park. It was very early when I got there so I parked at the far end as I know the car park fills up during the day. When I got back in the evening there was a very obvious dent in the passenger door, right on the crease line where a door had clearly been opened into it. No sign of anyone or any note of course. It was going dark and I was tired so I just drove home, obviously fuming but not thinking I could do anything about it.
Last night I took my children to see the new Avengers film (it's great by the way
), they have been dying to go for ages so I treated them to an opening night performance - can you tell where this is going? Again, I parked as far away as possible from other cars (to much moaning from my teenagers) and when we came out there were scrapes down the side of the rear quarter of the car and the offside wheel is quite badly scraped and scuffed (there's white paint around the area).Again it was fairly late and dark so I could only see it under the lights but I've had another look this morning and I'm not happy. In the few months I've had the car I've only parked it "at risk" twice and both times it's been damaged so I want to see if there's anything I can do.
The cinema is on a big retail park and I called their security office this morning. They said they can't release CCTV footage to me (or let me view it) and that I should just call the Police on 101, ask for a crime number and the Police will investigate. A quick search on PH and Google brings up conflicting results as to whether this is the right course of action and use of Police time - I would much rather give them a clip of video and say "this is my car, this is what happened, what can be done" than expect them to spend their time "investigating" a car park bump.
What's the general consensus about the best course of action here please? I'd also like to follow the same course of action on the station car park if possible.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
PS - I'm totally and completely sick of ignorant, thoughtless, selfish people. Whenever I'm out in public they seem to be everywhere and growing in number. However, I can't fix that - and maybe I can do something about my car. Thanks for reading.
If your car means that much to you, then don't put it in scenarios where it might get accidentally damaged by other people. Take a taxi to the station, for example. That is, unless you think the 'offender' deliberately nudged their door against yours, in some kind of spite-fuelled rage?
While your opinion of your car might align with the PH majority, you (and I) are in a tiny minority of people who see cars as anything other than a tool for a job. I live in London, and consequential decided that it's unrealistic to expect to keep a car in 'mint' condition when it's parked on the street and used for supermarket trips etc.. As a result, I bought a car that I'm not too precious about, and therefore I don't care when it acquires another 'ding'.
Edited by C70R on Friday 27th April 12:29
C70R said:
Best (realistic) course of action, honestly? Suck it up, get a PDR guy in and move on with your life. I can almost guarantee that the police will not give two hoots, and nor should they waste their time on such a petty, civil matter.
If your car means that much to you, then don't put it in scenarios where it might get accidentally damaged by other people. Take a taxi to the station, for example. That is, unless you think the 'offender' deliberately nudged their door against yours, in some kind of spite-fuelled rage?
While your opinion of your car might align with the PH majority, you (and I) are in a tiny minority of people who see cars as anything other than a tool for a job. I live in London, and consequential decided that it's unrealistic to expect to keep a car in 'mint' condition when it's parked on the street and used for supermarket trips etc.. As a result, I bought a car that I'm not too precious about, and therefore I don't care when it acquires another 'ding'.
This is probably what I'll end up doing, I certainly don't want to waste the Police's time but wanted to explore what I can do myself.If your car means that much to you, then don't put it in scenarios where it might get accidentally damaged by other people. Take a taxi to the station, for example. That is, unless you think the 'offender' deliberately nudged their door against yours, in some kind of spite-fuelled rage?
While your opinion of your car might align with the PH majority, you (and I) are in a tiny minority of people who see cars as anything other than a tool for a job. I live in London, and consequential decided that it's unrealistic to expect to keep a car in 'mint' condition when it's parked on the street and used for supermarket trips etc.. As a result, I bought a car that I'm not too precious about, and therefore I don't care when it acquires another 'ding'.
Edited by C70R on Friday 27th April 12:29
I'm not sure I get your other point though - my car isn't the be-all and end-all for me, it just does a job. I don't live in London and I don't often have to leave my car in a busy place (one of the reasons why I was OK buying it). I do think we should have a reasonable expectation that our property won't suffer hundred's of pounds' worth of damage when taken out in public though. We shouldn't automatically just suck it up and pay up to be fixed - otherwise it just becomes acceptable to smash up other people's stuff rather than having a bit of respect for others.
I've seen people park up and then just wallop their doors open into the car next to them without a care - it's not "spite fuelled rage", it's utter selfishness and ignorance. I can't fix that behaviour but I can see whether I can do anything when it happens to me (in the second case, someone has clearly driven into the side of my car, scraped their car along the rear quarter and then driven off). I can't see that I should just suck that up without at least exploring the possibilities, even though I accept chances of a positive outcome are slim.
Although it's reactive, I am going to look into dashcams as they seem like a good idea for all sorts of reasons.
Civil (C70R) or criminal (NickofName)?
You could try your insurance company as most now seem to advertise protected NCD in the event of vandalism. Depends on your excess I suppose. I work on the assumption that my excess reflects the limit of damage that I am prepared to suck up and fix myself.
You could try your insurance company as most now seem to advertise protected NCD in the event of vandalism. Depends on your excess I suppose. I work on the assumption that my excess reflects the limit of damage that I am prepared to suck up and fix myself.
Tidybeard said:
I do think we should have a reasonable expectation that our property won't suffer hundred's of pounds' worth of damage when taken out in public though. We shouldn't automatically just suck it up and pay up to be fixed - otherwise it just becomes acceptable to smash up other people's stuff rather than having a bit of respect for others.
Unfortunately I genuinely believe this ship has sailed for society. As you also said, it isn't people who do it maliciously that are necessarily the problem, it's the people who obviously and deliberately thump their door into the side of your car and then look genuinely bemused when you voice your displeasure, or the turd who scrapes down the whole side of your car in a display of total parking ineptitude, takes a quick look around to check no one saw and then just drives off. Because sadly most people view this as being perfectly ok.
speedking31 said:
Civil (C70R) or criminal (NickofName)?
Well I was thinking criminal, as in get plod to knock on their door and have a chat to them about criminal damage to encourage them to cough up for a repair. Fairly well-proven method of getting a result and involves the least effort all round (albeit a fair chunk of that effort comes from the police)If you could gather the appropriate evidence yourself then I guess you could go through small claims as a civil claim for damages or something, but you're talking a huge amount of ball-ache on the claimant's part for only a slightly increased chance of the decision going your way in court. Also, getting the verdict in a magistrates court and then ever actually seeing any of the money you've been awarded are two different things.
NickofName said:
Tidybeard said:
I do think we should have a reasonable expectation that our property won't suffer hundred's of pounds' worth of damage when taken out in public though. We shouldn't automatically just suck it up and pay up to be fixed - otherwise it just becomes acceptable to smash up other people's stuff rather than having a bit of respect for others.
Unfortunately I genuinely believe this ship has sailed for society.I remember my Dad in the 80s, complaining that someone had cracked his rear light and driven off when he left it in a multi-storey car park.
C70R said:
NickofName said:
Tidybeard said:
I do think we should have a reasonable expectation that our property won't suffer hundred's of pounds' worth of damage when taken out in public though. We shouldn't automatically just suck it up and pay up to be fixed - otherwise it just becomes acceptable to smash up other people's stuff rather than having a bit of respect for others.
Unfortunately I genuinely believe this ship has sailed for society.I remember my Dad in the 80s, complaining that someone had cracked his rear light and driven off when he left it in a multi-storey car park.
Mo28 said:
If you have any solicitor friends then they should be able to request the footage from them
You're making that up, aren't you? Why would a solicitor have any more right to request this than anyone else?Mind you, you can, of course, request the footage yourself. They won't give it to you but there's nothing stopping you requesting it...
NickofName said:
C70R said:
NickofName said:
Tidybeard said:
I do think we should have a reasonable expectation that our property won't suffer hundred's of pounds' worth of damage when taken out in public though. We shouldn't automatically just suck it up and pay up to be fixed - otherwise it just becomes acceptable to smash up other people's stuff rather than having a bit of respect for others.
Unfortunately I genuinely believe this ship has sailed for society.I remember my Dad in the 80s, complaining that someone had cracked his rear light and driven off when he left it in a multi-storey car park.
Apologies for the long post, but a similar scenario to show how frustrating this all is. Even if you do manage to get the CCTV then it may not help you.
Many years ago I had a phone call from the then Mrs Dunc to say that she had been filling her car with fuel when another car had reversed into hers quite hard damaging her bonnet and bumper quite badly. The other driver had got out, apologised, said she was just going to move her car so it wasn't blocking the forecourt, got in and drove off.
It was a local garage so I called in on my way home from work and asked to see the manager and politely requested to see the CCTV. The manager was very reasonable but said he wasn't authorised to release the CCTV and that would have to come from head office, but due to data protection they normally only released it if requested by the police or an insurance company.
I went to the local police station and reported it. They could not have been less interested. I asked whether they could request the CCTV so I could ask Swansea for the name and address of the registered keeper in order to write to them and ask for them to pay for the damage, but they declined. Basically it was "an accident", i.e. not a criminal activity and it was on private property (fuel station forecourt) not the public highway so not their concern. I resisted temptation to ask whether they would be equally unconcerned if someone accidently drove into a car in the police station private car park....
The next day I phoned our insurance company. I explained that I didn't want to make a claim on my policy, but could they request the CCTV so that I could track down the other driver. They politely explained that they wouldn't do anything unless I was going to make a claim, in which case, if the claim was large, they may ask for the CCTV in order to recover their costs from the other driver, but they certainly wouldn't ask for it just to pass it on to me.
The next day I went back to the petrol station with a little bit of cash in a brown envelope to see whether the manager may reconsider releasing the footage. As it happens, that wasn't needed. He was almost pleased to see me. "Fancy you coming in now. I have just had a call to say that a stolen credit card was used to pay for fuel a few days ago and the time was about the time your wife's car was hit. Our standard procedure is that I now have to review the CCTV so I can get the reg number of the car. Would you like to come into my office while I do so"?
Would you believe the chances? The stolen card was used by the lady who had driven into my wife's car. The footage of the reg plate was perfectly clear. I made a note of it. There was good clear footage of the car hitting my wife's car, good footage of the reg no, and drivers face while she briefly spoke to my wife and also footage of her paying (although I wasn't really interested in that bit). I popped into the police station and said just in case they were interested the driver of the hit and run I had reported a few days ago had used a stolen card to pay for the fuel and that there was good CCTV footage of it. They were not interested.
I wrote to Swansea. They replied saying no such reg number existed. I went to garage and checked the CCTV again with the manager. Definitely the correct number. I went back to the police and said that the hit and run where the driver used a stolen card, well she also had false number plates. I also added that if they wanted to see CCTV, then the garage only kept it for a month and since three weeks had gone by they only had a week to get the evidence. Still absolutely zero interest. I appreciate the police are both busy and short of manpower, and this is not meant to be having a go at them, but in this instance I felt very let down by the system.
Many years ago I had a phone call from the then Mrs Dunc to say that she had been filling her car with fuel when another car had reversed into hers quite hard damaging her bonnet and bumper quite badly. The other driver had got out, apologised, said she was just going to move her car so it wasn't blocking the forecourt, got in and drove off.
It was a local garage so I called in on my way home from work and asked to see the manager and politely requested to see the CCTV. The manager was very reasonable but said he wasn't authorised to release the CCTV and that would have to come from head office, but due to data protection they normally only released it if requested by the police or an insurance company.
I went to the local police station and reported it. They could not have been less interested. I asked whether they could request the CCTV so I could ask Swansea for the name and address of the registered keeper in order to write to them and ask for them to pay for the damage, but they declined. Basically it was "an accident", i.e. not a criminal activity and it was on private property (fuel station forecourt) not the public highway so not their concern. I resisted temptation to ask whether they would be equally unconcerned if someone accidently drove into a car in the police station private car park....
The next day I phoned our insurance company. I explained that I didn't want to make a claim on my policy, but could they request the CCTV so that I could track down the other driver. They politely explained that they wouldn't do anything unless I was going to make a claim, in which case, if the claim was large, they may ask for the CCTV in order to recover their costs from the other driver, but they certainly wouldn't ask for it just to pass it on to me.
The next day I went back to the petrol station with a little bit of cash in a brown envelope to see whether the manager may reconsider releasing the footage. As it happens, that wasn't needed. He was almost pleased to see me. "Fancy you coming in now. I have just had a call to say that a stolen credit card was used to pay for fuel a few days ago and the time was about the time your wife's car was hit. Our standard procedure is that I now have to review the CCTV so I can get the reg number of the car. Would you like to come into my office while I do so"?
Would you believe the chances? The stolen card was used by the lady who had driven into my wife's car. The footage of the reg plate was perfectly clear. I made a note of it. There was good clear footage of the car hitting my wife's car, good footage of the reg no, and drivers face while she briefly spoke to my wife and also footage of her paying (although I wasn't really interested in that bit). I popped into the police station and said just in case they were interested the driver of the hit and run I had reported a few days ago had used a stolen card to pay for the fuel and that there was good CCTV footage of it. They were not interested.
I wrote to Swansea. They replied saying no such reg number existed. I went to garage and checked the CCTV again with the manager. Definitely the correct number. I went back to the police and said that the hit and run where the driver used a stolen card, well she also had false number plates. I also added that if they wanted to see CCTV, then the garage only kept it for a month and since three weeks had gone by they only had a week to get the evidence. Still absolutely zero interest. I appreciate the police are both busy and short of manpower, and this is not meant to be having a go at them, but in this instance I felt very let down by the system.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff