Rear end crunch

[johnp]

Some bugger has crunhed in to the back of my brava in a car park, left anf forgot to leave their insurance details.

A fair bit of damage has been done :-

Large gouges out of the bumber, doubtful if it could be repaired.

Rear quater panel has been crushed around the lights, some of it has folded and tourn, again I doubt if it could be repaired.

And two of the lights smashed up.

I'm guessing I got hit by bull bars or something.

Any ideas on how much the above would cost? Or should I bite the bullet and loose my no claims?

 

[Jonathan]

Insurance

Definitely tell your insurer. Its a common misconception that if you make a claim you lose your no-claims bonus. In fact for an accident like yours they can use their own discretion whether or not to.

Also if someone else hits you and doesnt leave their details, the government will bail you out. Contact your insurers for more details.

 

[Chris]

Insurance

Through your insurer, you would loose your bonus (unless it is protected) as it would be deemed a fault claim. This is because there is no third party (i.e. the vehicle that hit you) to claim from.

The MIB (not the film) is a government run facility which is split into 2 main areas:

The first is the Uninsured Drivers Agreement. They will claim against a driver who hit you if you have their details (i.e. name, address, vehicle details). In a nutshell you can claim for the damage to your vehicle and personal injuries.

The second id the Untraced Drivers Agreement. This is for people who have basically been hit and the other vehicle has not stopped. As a result you have no details and can only claim for personal injuries.

I'm affriad that because you weren't injured the MIB can't help you.

Work out how much it would cost to repair then balance out the increase to your premiums over the next 3 or 4 years. I've had one or two dings myself in car parks, it's one of life's shitty ways of kicking you in the balls.

Hope this helps.

 

[Chris]

RAC insurance

My insurance with the RAC states in there crap they send you that if that happens (even gives it as an example) I will NOT lose my no claims - even though
its not protected.
Best to check with your insurance company , it
probably varies

 

[Gary]

Re: RAC insurance

Don't forget to inform the police, the person who hit you left the scene of an accident. I know you will never find out who it was but at least you have reported the accident, which you are obliged to do.

Good Luck.......

 

[Barakka]

CCTV

Depends of course where your car was parked, but are you sure it wasn't covered by any CCTV cameras....

If so get in touch with the firm whose building it is, or the company who runs the CCTV ASAP Tell them the situation and they might give you a copy on tape for a tenner... they are required to give you a copy of any footage with you on it, which yes, technically is just you parking the car, then returning to the car, but stress that a crime has been commited and that they may have evidence, if they won't give it you then tell the police and they'll go get it... then you can take it to the police and say "Look, left the scene of an accident!"

If it wasn't covered by any cameras then Bummer! You need to weigh the costs of repair vs insurance hike for however many years you have no-claims bonus...

Plastic bumpers can usually be repaired (As long as it's just gouges/scratches/cracks) using plastic welding, filler and paint, but not if there's pieces missing from the bumper... Lights can be sourced from scrap yards... The panel is gonna be the killer !

Take it to an insurance approved repairer and get a quote (Tell them you're thinking about claiming on your insurance)... They will quote for new panels, new bumper everything....

 

[Chris]

Insurance

For my sins, I work in the insurance industry -(motorcycles not cars). Your insurers would need to claim the cost of repair back fom the third party who's fault it was. If insurance companies paid out for all claims like this you could bash your car yourself and then claim it on the insurance. As far as they are concerned, a car bashed by someone else in a car park is a car driven by yourself into your gatepost at home. It has the same result - no-one to claim the cost of repair from. It doesn't make sense. You would have to loose your NCB. Goodwill payments are few and far between from insurance companies. I suggest that if RAC are claiming they will pay out under these circumstances you check the small print. These things are never as black and white as they first appear.

 

[Jonathan]

wrong

My friend parked his car near school and when he came back to it the rear corner had been hit. No-one came forward. He couldnt afford to repair it himself,and couldnt afford the resultant rise of insurance claims so he was going to tell his insurers, get it fixed, then sell the car. Turns out his insurance company didnt remove his 3 years no-claims as he wasnt involved.

 

[Chris]

Amazing

Let me know who he was insured with, I'll be with them when I'm up for renewal!

 

[Jonathan]

ok

Think it was norwich union. I'll ask him when i next see him, actually i will prolly forget but i'll try I thought all insurers did this tho?!

 

[Chris]

Checked the small print

I have checked the small print with the RAC and it says (and I phoned them to check) that if someone hits my car and buggers off AND I can prove that it was parked and wasn't driving it (So yes they do need
some evidence so you can distinguish between false and real claims) then they WILL pay for it and I don't lose my no claims bonus.

In this case the CCTV and the till receipt should be
enough to get it done for free.

Chris

 

[Chris B]

Chris

Chris

The difficult part is actually proving you were parked and not driving. If CCTV captures the accident and has a clear view of the vehicles registration number then yes, this can be followed up. With the increasing use of CCTV cameras this can only be a good thing.

The norm for Norwich Union is to loose 2 years from your NCB for what would result in a fault claim.

In case you're not bored already I'll give you an example from the motorcycle market...

Track Days (i.e. thrashing your sports bike around a track) are notorious for crashes. Most polices will not cover you for this as the risk factor is very high. Mr Bloggs crashes his bike, takes it out to the road and claims he was hit or dropped his bike. An extreme example maybe, but he wouldn't be covreed if he claimed he did it on the track.

Jesus, I've been working here too long....