Someone scuffed my car, questions.....

[simonl]

"Dean" was just for starters. Got to my car today and somebody who tried to parallel park behind it did a lousy job and scuffed the rear nearside bumper. There's white paint on the bumper and green paint (of the vivianite variety) on the white car parked behind mine (front offside wing). So I at least know who the culprit is! They didn't leave a note on my car either.

Anyway, I bought a desposible camera and took plent of photos which I'll get developed tomorrow. I left a note under their wiper and the Police have said to give them one day max to get in touch. So if I hear nothing by tomorrow eve then I'm off to the Police.

Anything else I should do?

Cheers,
Simon

 

[Brian WH]

Originally posted by simonl
[BAnything else I should do?

Cheers,
Simon [/B]

Report to your insurance if you want to claim?

If not decide what you are going to charge him for the damage, and the chances of him paying, even if he contacts you M8.

 

[Steve_Perry]

NOOOOO!! Sorry to hear this Simon.

If I were in your position I would notify my insurance company immediately. You have the pictures, you shouldn't lose your no claims since you were not to blame. If the other driver's insurance company (assuming he is insured) agree blame then you should see your agreed excess paid back too. I s'pose the other guy's story is going to run along the lines of "I parked my car and when I got back some green SLK had swiped me"

Make notes of times too, i.e. when you parked there, when you returned, when you spoke to the police, who you spoke to, etc.

I hope you get a satisfactory outcome on this one.

S.

P.S. You didn't say how bad the damage was is it just scuffs that might polish out or is there physical damage, has the bumper moved from its mounts?

 

[GrahamC230K]

The person is obviously just too dumb to either notice they hit your car or that they would get found out.

I had a similar incident when a guy reversed out of a parking space into the side of my Wifes car. He then claimed it was her fault.

After my wife had tackled me and put me back in the car arms still waving about trying to hit the offending thick Sh**.......


.....The good news is insurance companies know an easy claim when they see it, had our repairs done the next week, we paid no excess as they 100% took our side of the story, and just politley kept us informed until they took the idiot to court still pleading his insane story and settled the whole issue.

Develope your snaps, report to insurance company asap and report to Police as soon as time is up.

It stinks, but at least it wont cost you.

 

[simonl]

Re: Re: Someone scuffed my car, questions.....

Originally posted by Brian WH
Report to your insurance if you want to claim?

If not decide what you are going to charge him for the damage, and the chances of him paying, even if he contacts you M8.

It's a scuff so it's probably about £200 to repair. If I claim on my insurance I loose 1 yr NCB which is a lot more than that. I'm basing that guess on two deep scratches and a dent repair that cost me £560 at the stealer earlier this year.

By going to the Police with my photos and given that the driver has insurance, can I not force his hand into having my car repaired? I've never been in this situation so I just don't know.

Someone's damaged my car. I can prove who did it. I'd like it repairing.



Steve:

Will note times. Cheers!

He/she can't use that excuse. Our cars were both parallel parked on the opposite side of the road. Both facing against the traffic. My damage on rear nearside corner, their's on front offside corner. I couldn't have caused the damage.

 

[simonl]

ps. No physical damage to the bumper, i.e. the part has not been moved. I gave it a good shove and everthing seems just as solid. Also lines up properly.

The damage is a graze. But a noticable one.

 

[Steve_Perry]

Re: Re: Re: Someone scuffed my car, questions.....

Originally posted by simonl
...He/she can't use that excuse. Our cars were both parallel parked on the opposite side of the road. Both facing against the traffic. My damage on rear nearside corner, their's on front offside corner. I couldn't have caused the damage.

Simon,

That won't stop some dumbarses from trying it on, take note of Graham's experience.

I would still notify your insurance company ASAP, it'll only cost you in terms of NCB & voluntary excess if you decide to get the insurance to pay for the damages AND your insurance company are unsuccessful in getting their money from somewhere else be it the other driver or his insurance company.

Notifying your insurance company of an incident doesn't automatically mean you will want them to pay for repairs arising from that incident although in the majority of cases it usually does.

S.

 

[simonl]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Someone scuffed my car, questions.....

Originally posted by Steve_Perry
Simon,

Notifying your insurance company of an incident doesn't automatically mean you will want them to pay for repairs arising from that incident although in the majority of cases it usually does.

S.

Didn't know that Steve, cheers! I have spoke to my insurance company. They took a few details and said phone back in the morning.

 

[Kinky]

take a note of any coversations, on the phone, or face to face.

Note the date and time, who was there and what was said and more importantly was was agreed or any further actions and any other relevant useful info (BiB name, any report numbers he might give you).

I'd also keep a log of the whole sorry take from the very start ..

ie:

Sunday, 21st Sept 2003 21:51
Read this item on MB Club about ...

21:53
Thought it would be good to respond ...

etc, etc ...

This will be useful should the other person get ****y and blame you. Shows a level of organisation.

All obvious I know, but you'd be suprised how lax and casual people are these days ....

 

[RichardM]

That really sucks Simon, hope you get it sorted it (with no cost to you).

 

[Dieselman]

Sorry to hear of your scrape.

At least your case sounds strong and you have photographic evidence. The Police will persue this but make sure it is properly reported with a crime number within 24 hours otherwise they don't / cant get involved.

Some little S**T reversed into my car about a year ago, scraping the rear bumper, and then drove off. I saw the car but not the number and couldn't persue it. Someone gave me the number of the car at a later date but the police couldn't persue it past asking the driver.

I had a paint repair performed by a mobile paint company for £75 cash.

 

[pepe]

If the scuff hasnt taken any of your paint off then usually his paint will polish off. Ive got a compressor run polisher but you should be able to do it by hand with cutting compound which is a bit like t-cut but a bit more abrasive,then just t-cut to shine it back up. If it did need painting id say about £100 to do bumper but depends where you took it . dealer would probably triple this, but you'd probably find a small dedicated body repair shop would be better anyway.
P.s this in no way affects the scumbag who did it. You should still report it, in case he decides to report it and blame you ! At least if youve contacted police/insurance then it looks better for you.

 

[Koolvin]

get a witness quick.