Accident - hit by car which is SORN

[Mph76]

All, after a bit of advice. On Thursday evening I was hit in the side of my car by a car exiting a car park. There is no dispute as to whose fault it is as I was travelling down a main, one-way road and he just drove straight out of a car park entrance without looking, causing scrapes on the bumper, wing, side-skirt/sill-cover and drivers door of my car, along with a ripple in the door skin and a slightly bent frame.

Although the damage appeared superficial in the dark and rain on Thursday evening (dent wasn't very evident), the repair quote has come in at around £3k due to the number of panels which need to be repaired, paint blending etc.

The chap who hit me asked not to go through insurance, which I was happy with when it looked like maybe a few hundred pounds worth of damage on Thursday, but now with a much larger repair bill, I doubt he's going to want to part with that amount of cash. My main issue here now is that on looking up his vehicle details today, the car is coming up as SORN and MOT expired in January. The car is showing as insured though.

I guess I should be reporting him etc. but I also didn't want to have a no-fault claim going through my own insurance.

Advice on how to play it with the guy who hit me would be appreciated.

Cheers

[ashleyman]

Non-fault claim reduced my premium by £20 as according to the insurer, I was less likely to have another accident! Obviously this won't happen to everyone but it'll be minimal increase. You don't want it coming back to haunt you in the future and not being able to get insurance as you hadn't declared an accident.

Go through your insurance and send the old boy to the shop. It's March now, he deserves a telling off.

Edited by ashleyman on Tuesday 29th March 12:45

[Jonno02]

Don't shoot yourself in the foot, phone your insurance and declare the accident.

[marshalla]

a) You're going to have to tell your insurers about it eventually

b) Sounds like his driving standards are as good as his attention to keeping his vehicle legal for road use - he needs a warning. I can't think of a reason why a SORN vehicle would be on the road in the evening, especially emerging from a car park.

[Beggarall]

Why not speak to other party? Best to report to your own insurance company anyway - maybe they will take it on and pursue the third party for damage etc - save you the hassle. At least he's insured. Let him sort out MOT, SORN etc.

[Mph76]

To make it worse for him, he doesn't even live in the area, he lives nearly 40 miles way from where he hit me.

Yep, will report it today. Annoying as haven't had an accident in years and only just had to stop declaring a total loss for a car which was stolen off the drive in 2010.

[rb5er]

Report it. He should get a good slap for that.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

If he was insured, your position is unaffected regardless of him having no tax or mot. His insurers will have to meet any tp claim.

[TooMany2cvs]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

If he was insured, your position is unaffected regardless of him having no tax or mot. His insurers will have to meet any tp claim.

This.

Doesn't sound like he's going to play ball with cash, so just get his insurer's details from MID, and claim direct from them.

[andburg]

Go back to the car park, see if there is CCTV and ask for a copy to be stored or given over.
If the car is SORN and no MOT I'd say there is a risk he'll claim exactly that and it wasn't him

[JulianHJ]

andburg said:

Go back to the car park, see if there is CCTV and ask for a copy to be stored or given over.
If the car is SORN and no MOT I'd say there is a risk he'll claim exactly that and it wasn't him

Worth doing, but as the guy has given contact details it's unlikely he'd try that, unless he's really hard of thinking. Any pics taken at the scene?

[Mph76]

I've checked and there's no CCTV, he hit me on the main road anyway, just coming out of the car park entrance in the below:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6258701,0.038347...

I was heading down the hill and just before where the Mini in the picture is, he started to pull out from the driveway/car park entrance to the flats on the right. I hit the brakes (doing 20mph or less) but being very wet and cold tyres meant it took a few more feet to stop. I stopped almost completely level with the Mini but couldn't move left because of a parked car so his bumper scraped down the side of my car as I was coming to a stop.

No pictures taken at the scene as it was dark and throwing it down and the damage didn't look too bad. I really should've taken some, can't think why I didn't, it's not like I haven't been driving long enough! Hopefully he won't try and pretend he wasn't there!

[ashleyman]

If he is going to pretend like he wasn't there, how did you get the telephone number of a man you've never met before who just happens to own the same car as the car that hit you 40 miles away.

It's too much of a coincidence.

[PAULJ5555]

Why have you not called the police yet?

[Mph76]

Thought about calling them but not sure they'd be interested? There were no injuries and driving without tax or MOT aren't even endorsable offences as far as I'm aware?

The car was insured and I assume he has a valid licence.

As much as it pisses me off people drive like this, I just don't think the police would do anything.

[PAULJ5555]

Mph76 said:

As much as it pises me off people drive like this, I just don't think the police would do anything.

I too really hate the way this country is going - hope it works out for you.

Edited by PAULJ5555 on Wednesday 30th March 13:47

Edited by PAULJ5555 on Wednesday 30th March 15:07

[The Beaver King]

Mph76 said:

Thought about calling them but not sure they'd be interested? There were no injuries and driving without tax or MOT aren't even endorsable offences as far as I'm aware?

The car was insured and I assume he has a valid licence.

As much as it pisses me off people drive like this, I just don't think the police would do anything.

I agree that calling the police is probably a bit extreme, but I would certainly pop down to the local station and log a report. I had an accident a few weeks back (no fault) and had exchanged details with the driver. Logged it anyway, just for an incident number.

Glad I did; turns out the git isn't insured....