Quick advice, hit and run on parked car

[mjr]

Amazing isn't it how precious we are about our cars?

Are we? I repair the paint because otherwise it's an easy way in for corrosion, just like I do on my bike. The car is a heck of a lot more expensive to do, though. More paintwork. All these hit-and-runs are getting rather tiresome.

 

[Pale Rider]

If you can get the reg number, you can get the name of his insurers from the Motor Insurers' Database.

http://www.askmid.com/

You can then claim directly from the other driver's insurance company.

The reg number will also get you the name of the registered keeper from the DVLA.

 

[Drago]

A couple of times I've returned to my parked car to find someone else's paint smeared over the nudge bars. Serves them right.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

A couple of times I've returned to my parked car to find someone else's paint smeared over the nudge bars. Serves them right.

Are we? I repair the paint because otherwise it's an easy way in for corrosion, just like I do on my bike. The car is a heck of a lot more expensive to do, though. More paintwork. All these hit-and-runs are getting rather tiresome.

Lots of plastic in cars now - less corrosion to fret about

 

[Dave7]

Hi all, I hope you wont mind me asking but as its never happened to me before Id appreciate a pointer as to what to do first and I know there are more knowledgeable people then me here. I did my good deed for the day by taking my 101 year old aunt out for Sunday lunch. When I came out of the pub I found some nice person had scraped their car along the front of mine and ran off. Hopefully they caught it on CCTV as there is a camera pointed right at it but should I contact my insurance or Police first? I obviously don't want to use my insurance but Im guessing it could take a while and get messy to resolve if the other person causes problems.

I have just seen this and haven't read all the answers so sorry if this duplicates. DO NOT contact the insurance company unless you know you are going to claim as.......regardless of who's fault it is.....it will go on your records and affect your renewal price. They will now view you as more likely to be involved in an accident.
Same thing happened to to my wife.......she was in the hospital car park......she got the registration number of the car as he drove off and she told the police.......they weren't interested as it was on private land. The guy denied it. We paid for the small dent to be repaired but...................we had made the mistake of telling the insurance company and "bingo".....our fee went up accordingly.

 

[slowwww]

Amazing isn't it how precious we are about our cars? In France when parking on flat ground (most notably in Paris) you leave your handbrake off because you can be certain that somebody will come along and nudge your car with their bumper so as to create space. Consequently every Parisian car has damaged bumpers - which is what bumpers are for, isn't it?

So Globalti, if your bike was worth £20k, and you'd parked it somewhere and somebody came along, parked their bike next to yours and in doing so scratched all the paintwork on yours, I take it that you'd be entirely phlegmatic about that? After all, the paintwork of your bike doesn't perform a function, does it?

 

[Globalti]

No because all the paintwork on my bike is on structural bits. My motorbike had crash bars around the engine, which were scratched (by the previous owner, not me) and I didn't give a damn about them because their job was to protect the valuable bits.

 

[Globalti]

I have just seen this and haven't read all the answers so sorry if this duplicates. DO NOT contact the insurance company unless you know you are going to claim as.......regardless of who's fault it is.....it will go on your records and affect your renewal price. They will now view you as more likely to be involved in an accident.
Same thing happened to to my wife.......she was in the hospital car park......she got the registration number of the car as he drove off and she told the police.......they weren't interested as it was on private land. The guy denied it. We paid for the small dent to be repaired but...................we had made the mistake of telling the insurance company and "bingo".....our fee went up accordingly.

Correct. We were told by somebody who works in motor insurance, strictly off the record, that if you report any incident to your insurer, no matter how small or by who caused and whether or not you claim, they will put you down as an "accident magnet" and your premiums will increase by even more than the amount that the sneaky barstewards will normally try to increase at renewal time.

 

[Pale Rider]

Correct. We were told by somebody who works in motor insurance, strictly off the record, that if you report any incident to your insurer, no matter how small or by who caused and whether or not you claim, they will put you down as an "accident magnet" and your premiums will increase by even more than the amount that the sneaky barstewards will normally try to increase at renewal time.

That's fine provided you don't claim from the other driver's insurer.

All claims are recorded centrally so your insurer will find out about it.

 

[tyred]

Amazing isn't it how precious we are about our cars? In France when parking on flat ground (most notably in Paris) you leave your handbrake off because you can be certain that somebody will come along and nudge your car with their bumper so as to create space. Consequently every Parisian car has damaged bumpers - which is what bumpers are for, isn't it?

Yes and no. Some people are overly obsessive but for anyone with a car worth much more than a few hundred, a few dents and scrapes will hurt residual values. They have in fact suffered financial loss purely caused by someone else's carelessness.

Even in my own case with a car that's worth little more than scrap value, if someone scratched it and owned up to it, I probably wouldn't ask for money to repair it if the damage was minor but I would not be very happy with some <Insert suitable expletive> damaging it and driving off without even mentioning it. It just shows a blatant lack of respect for other people's property and I would be very happy to see someone so inclined to be brought to book.

 

[Drago]

You would buy them a book? The Highway Code?

 

[Markymark]

Correct. We were told by somebody who works in motor insurance, strictly off the record, that if you report any incident to your insurer, no matter how small or by who caused and whether or not you claim, they will put you down as an "accident magnet" and your premiums will increase by even more than the amount that the sneaky barstewards will normally try to increase at renewal time.

However not reporting it may also be a breach of the insurance terms. Worth checking first.

 

[slowwww]

No because all the paintwork on my bike is on structural bits. My motorbike had crash bars around the engine, which were scratched (by the previous owner, not me) and I didn't give a damn about them because their job was to protect the valuable bits.

So you place no value (and not only monetary) in aesthetics? Do you ever decorate your house, buy new clothes, get a haircut etc?
Sorry, I'm not intending to troll, just interested at the vehemence of your initial post on the subject.

 

[Brandane]

I would go to the Police, not to report it as such, but you never know - maybe the driver who damaged your car did the right thing and went to a Police station and reported it (which he/she would be legally obliged to do if they couldn't trace the owner of the other vehicle at the time of the collision). Extremely unlikely scenario I know; but you'll never know unless you ask - and the only people who will be able to tell you are the Police.

 

[Globalti]

So you place no value (and not only monetary) in aesthetics? Do you ever decorate your house, buy new clothes, get a haircut etc?
Sorry, I'm not intending to troll, just interested at the vehemence of your initial post on the subject.

Yes, of course I love to see something that's smart and shiny and I'm fussy about keeping my company car clean and tidy because I often have to entertain business visitors and the car is lent to me as a business tool and a perk. But I also like to see an object that shows the scuffs and scars of honest hard work and long service, there's nothing lovelier than, for example, an old hand tool that's worn smooth by years of handling. A car kept on a city street will gather scrapes and dents and there's no point in getting upset over that, bumpers are designed to absorb those knocks at little expense while protecting the costly bits. I loved my Land Rover because underneath the dented, scruffy aluminium body there was a simple, reliable old machine in first-class running order ticking over like a Swiss watch.

Hope I explained that well enough.