Driver denies any involvement

[merc07]

A couple of months back I was sat in heavy traffic in a city centre, not moving. The car behind me who I think was blocking a junction by sitting on a yellow box had to switch lanes as the lights on the other junction changed. In doing so, he nudged my right rear corner with his left front and just drove off. It took a few seconds to realise what had happend. He knew he'd hit me because the female passenger turned around as they drove by and looked straight across at me. I got his reg and model and after checking for damage (about £350) I called the police. They took the details and told me to report it at a local station.Turns out he is insured through the same company as me and is completely denying any involvement at all.I still have his paint on my bumper, got his reg, rang the police the second it happened but this doesn't seem to mean a thing ?I really don't know what to do next?CheersAdam

 

[Mercedes cozy]

Any witnesses or cameras in the area?

 

[Sp!ke]

From experience, the police dont bother with this kind of thing anymore.... they would have just written to him asking for his version of events, your word against his and his witness.

Seems to me like its almost foolish not to drive off and see if you can get away with it nowadays.

If you claim it will be 50/50 at best so no point increasing your insurance premium for half of £300.

 

[CiaranMcKeown]

This type of behaviour sickens me to death!

IMHO if it were me there is ways of finding out his adress, id go in the middle of the night with a claw hammer and hit every body panel as hard as i could just to teach him a lesson.

On secend thoughts, what kind of car was it...hitting it with a hammer may work out to be an improvement, lol.

 

[Spinal]

Personally, I'de :

-take picture of the damage (I tend to do this as soon as anything happens, carrying a single-use camera in your glove box helps!)

-write down ANY details you still remember (e.g. licence plate, driver/passenger looks/clothing, weather, time, etc)

-try to find ANY witnesses; just ask them if they would be willing to be a witness and get a name/number (too late for this I guess!)

-take some close-ups of your cars damage, try to show the other cars paint

-get your car to a MB approved garage; ask them to get a quote as well as take a paint sample. Some will be more helpful than others. (the paint sample isn't really needed, its just that if it comes to your word vs. his, a garage's letter stating that they found blue paint on your silver merc is better than you saying you found the paint)

-last but not least, if you intend to progress, GET A LAWYER!

I've found insurance companies to be fairly worthless, and the police to not bother with "smaller" things. (I wonder if they have a chart of what crime needs to be commited to warrant a certain response:
Car accident, no injured: do nothing
Car accident, minor injuries: send a letter
Policeman breaks the speed limit: issue a press release
Pedofile: think about it, if it gets out to the press, then investigate...

bah - thats just me being cynical...


Either way; if you do intend to pursue it, have a chat with a lawyer. They will be able to give you the best advice.

Michele

 

[MikeL]

And post his number plate on "that" whistle blower web site - maybe he was with someone he shouldn't have been with, that's why he didn't stop.

Mike

 

[MBManInKen]

IMHO if it were me there is ways of finding out his adress, id go in the middle of the night with a claw hammer and hit every body panel as hard as i could just to teach him a lesson.

Can I suggest we leave the suggestions of violent and illegal behaviour off the forum?

While it's frustrating what has happened to the original poster, we don't live in the Far West.

 

[glojo]

Reading these type of posts really makes my blood boil. Apart from the Metropolitan Police, we as tax payers contribute to the salary of the police who are public servants. It is an offence to fail to stop, or report to a police station that you have been involved in an accident. Of course there might be times when the offender denies the offence but without an investigation how do we know this. If you have accident damage on your car will the other vehicle have damage?

What would I do?

I would go back to the station and politely request to see the duty senior officer. If they refused to do anything I would ask that they put this in writing and then contact my MP. This lackadaisical attitude has got to stop and if we allow it to continue then who knows where it will end? Police numbers are up, crime figures are down so what are our wonderful police doing?

My thoughts are with you and just be careful how much you spend investigating this incident. Solicitors are not cheap, how much is your excess?

Regards
John

 

[nick mercedes]

A couple of months back I was sat in heavy traffic in a city centre, not moving. The car behind me who I think was blocking a junction by sitting on a yellow box had to switch lanes as the lights on the other junction changed. In doing so, he nudged my right rear corner with his left front and just drove off. It took a few seconds to realise what had happend. He knew he'd hit me because the female passenger turned around as they drove by and looked straight across at me. I got his reg and model and after checking for damage (about £350) I called the police. They took the details and told me to report it at a local station.Turns out he is insured through the same company as me and is completely denying any involvement at all.I still have his paint on my bumper, got his reg, rang the police the second it happened but this doesn't seem to mean a thing ?I really don't know what to do next?CheersAdam

Without witnesses, you really don't have much hope.

 

[Rory]

I tend to think that if you're involved in any kind of incident like this you should find your self injured and call an ambulance. The Police will attend and are bound the investigate.
I know this sounds OTT, but if that's the only way to get them involved so so be it.
On the other hand, my SIL was little more than nudged by a small truck a few yrs ago. A couple of days later her neck started to hurt and she never been right since. The legal side has been sorted now, but it took a heck of a lot of effort to get it going because she didn't immediately think she was hurt so the Police weren't involved.

 

[Dieselman]

Without witnesses, you really don't have much hope.

Agreed. It's happened to me once and if the driver denies it there is nothing you can do.
The Police did investigate but they can not persue it and said the offenders usually get their car repaired asap so there is no evidence of damage.

 

[nick mercedes]

I tend to think that if you're involved in any kind of incident like this you should find your self injured and call an ambulance.

Calling an ambulance for a bumper scratch is wasting everyones time.

While your ambulance is speeding through traffic to get to you, someone who is actually injured or even close to death could be waiting all because someone has scratched your car.

What sort of people have we turned into??

 

[Alfie]

A couple of months back I was sat in heavy traffic in a city centre, not moving. The car behind me who I think was blocking a junction by sitting on a yellow box had to switch lanes as the lights on the other junction changed. In doing so, he nudged my right rear corner with his left front and just drove off. It took a few seconds to realise what had happend. He knew he'd hit me because the female passenger turned around as they drove by and looked straight across at me. I got his reg and model and after checking for damage (about £350) I called the police. They took the details and told me to report it at a local station.Turns out he is insured through the same company as me and is completely denying any involvement at all.I still have his paint on my bumper, got his reg, rang the police the second it happened but this doesn't seem to mean a thing ?I really don't know what to do next?CheersAdam

If you have his paint, then thats a start.

Write to his insurance company and tell them you wish to make a claim on his insurance. You have paint on your vehicle to prove it was him. At the very least the insurance company will take a record of it as a claim against him. Whether its found in your favour or not, there will be a claim made against him so he 'should' then have to declare it next time he renews. This will be logged on the insurers database and shared with other insurance companies. As the insurers say, its not a no blame discount its a no claim discount.

His passenger is not considered a witness in these type of things. A witness needs to be independant.

 

[glojo]

The Police did investigate but they can not persue it and said the offenders usually get their car repaired asap so there is no evidence of damage.

And that is how it should be, they should carry out a diligent inquiry and not sit behind a desk, suck through their teeth and simply claim the offending vehicle might have got the damage repaired. This would take time and if we complain staright away, then they should treat it as an offence and deal with it.

Regards
John

 

[prprandall51]

While it's frustrating what has happened to the original poster, we don't live in the Far West.

I know what you mean - it's completely lawless down in Cornwall, and near Land's End, well, a man's gonna get himself shot proper just for sayin' "Howdy".

 

[prprandall51]

On a more serious note, your biggest problem is that you are both insured by the same insurer so they have little motivation to resolve the issue of culpability.

I was knocked off my motorbike a few years ago and found that both parties were insured by Norwich Union - though different departments dealt with each side of the claim.

I was gobsmacked at one point to hear my representative tell me that "if we weren't pursuing our own company, we would have taken the other party's insurer to court to reclaim damages for you, but we have a strict policy of not issuing court proceedings against ourselves."

Well, yes, it seems like a good strategy not to sue yourself, but it leaves the motorist rather stuffed.

Philip

 

[Parrot of Doom]

You have his paint on your bumper.

I'd say that's fairly strong evidence tbh. If he wants to get ****y with you, then get ****y with him. Time to call a solicitor.

 

[amwebby]

Did the yellow box junction have cameras? Most in London do now. If so there should be a CCTV record.

 

[stats007]

Can I suggest we leave the suggestions of violent and illegal behaviour off the forum?

While it's frustrating what has happened to the original poster, we don't live in the Far West.

You can suggest it but I for one am not interested.

Wait until it happens to you and then see if you feel the same .

 

[crockers]

I know what you mean - it's completely lawless down in Cornwall, and near Land's End, well, a man's gonna get himself shot proper just for sayin' "Howdy".

Ya means a mans gotta do whatta mans gotta do -- pardner...