Wife being fobbed off by the police?

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Sp!ke

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West London
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SL500 & The Fart Car
Last week while my wife was at the gym, another visitor to the gym hit her parked car and shunted it half a car length into the front of another parked car before driving off, leaving the scene of the accident.

The damage is quite substantial and her car (being 9 years old) will probably be a write off. One must assume there would be an equal amount of damage to the other car, especially since it was a little Toyota Yaris. Luckily however, there was a witness to the event who came forward provided all the details of the can and her contact number. This was a welcome relief especially as my wife only has TPF&T insurance.

So armed with the details of the registration number of other the car involved, the witness details etc, my wife immediately went to the local police station to report the incident. She was told that the police would leave it 24 hours (allowing for the 24 hour rule to report the accident) and then visit the owner of the car who was local and go from there. She was told she'd get a letter within five days from the police updating her on the position and providing a crime reference. So far so good.

Anyway, a week later and a week without the use of the car and we've heard nothing. So wifey again went down the police station only to be told that the owner of said car will be sent a letter sometime over the next two months.... no visit from the cops, just a letter from some traffic department based in Kent (not local). The police were very blase bout the whole thing, pretty much saying no-one was injured so what's the big deal. :confused:

Frankly I'm gobsmacked. Is this what our police service has come to? All it would have taken was ten minutes of a police officers time to drop round to the address corresponding to the registration number and follow it up, it is a local driver after all allegedly. In two months time the damage to the other car will have likely been repaired and all allegations will likely be denied.

So far I've kept out of this but I am furious at this utterly useless response from the Police, and think that a formal complaint should be lodged. Maybe then, someone might actually do something.

Has anyone else had a similar response from the police with a hit and run or is wifey being royally fobbed off by people who don't give a toss?
 
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there is not much money to be made out of this incident.
your wifes insurance should take it up with the police and the court. and go from there.

basically they can get the details of the other car fron the plate number and find the insurace company and then start proceedings
the driver will now be informed by his insurance that a claim has been put against him.
if he has no insurance you will be in trouble.
and TPFT is not really the best except you are really desperate for cash or the car is not worth it.
as for getting fobbed off. i have been there and have complained and taken the police to court.
they can always make paperwork saying they went to the place and could not found the car, blah blah or basically cover their backsides. i was told in my case that six officers were dispatched to my scene even though i waited for 90mins and and i am surrounded by 5 stations and three are within 1mile radius and the headquaters is 3miles away.
they later said they were round the corner and watching me.

Good luck to you anyway
 
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I can only suggest you get photographic evidence of the car that caused the damage and put the matter into the hands of a solicitor. This is not my area of expertise, many others on the forum are clued up on insurance matters
 
he will have to find the car first
 
The police are only obliged to deal with accidents that involve injury, other than that, if there's no or little chance or any prosecution, you're unlikely to get anything other than a record that you reported the incident.

Recycled is partially right, the problem being that your wife is TPF&T her insurer won't entertain any claim for damage to her own vehicle (or even handle the claim generally). The fact her car was shunted into another may actually help a little as it means your wife's insurer will likely have to deal with that of the owner of the other parked car.

Personally I'd push the police, I wouldn't be waiting for letters I'd be stood in a police station asking them what they are going to do about it or if they are not concerned with drivers leaving the scene of an accident.

If your wife was fully comprehensive I'd just let the insurer get on with it, but I'm afraid the ball is firmly in your court to get the details.
 
I am not surprised by this pathetic in action but surely the most important thing at the moment is to get the car sorted? Have you contacted your wife's insurance company? She is the innocent party and the claim will be against the offending driver. If the insurance company don't want to know then what about writing to the DVLA and obtaining the offending drivers details. Make sure you get the witness to write down the full chain of events and keep a copy of this statement.

We are talking about a hit and run accident, or failing to stop etc, but if it happened on private property then should the police treat it as criminal damage?

I get really angry when I hear about how police nuimbers are up, and crime is down :mad: :mad: What on earth are all these new officers doing, apart from saying how busy they are.

Good luck with this
Regards
John
 
mudster you are right there in pressurising the cops, but the insurance company will take her case up if they can find the details of the other car.
then they will pursue and claim on her behalf.
happened to me in 2002.
hit by a white van. still young so only had third party car was worth £500.
exchanged details and my insurance chased the van insurance till i got paid out for my car and personal injury.
it was direct line though. very thorough
 
mudster you are right there in pressurising the cops, but the insurance company will take her case up if they can find the details of the other car.
then they will pursue and claim on her behalf.
happened to me in 2002.
hit by a white van. still young so only had third party car was worth £500.
exchanged details and my insurance chased the van insurance till i got paid out for my car and personal injury.
it was direct line though. very thorough

Certainly worth asking, although I fear Direct line may be one of the few genuinely helpful insurers. Nice to hear they provide a thorough service though, I have two other policies (Other than car insurances) with them.
 
Same thing happened to me, I was given the offending car reg number by a witness, I went to the copshop and the desk Sargent looked up the owners name and address and gave it to me, I went round to the owner and he paid up for the damage.

In your case the should give you the owners details in view of the circumstances, but police procedures may be preventing this happening. I would revisit the police again as you rightly say all evidence may be repaired and the only evidence will be the word of the witness.

Dec
 
manning radar sites and speed traps
Your a bit slow.....

They are stopping motor cyclists with undersized number plates, noisey exhausts and tinted visors. Sorry Sp!ke this might not be the time nor the place to crack jokes butr hopefully you will take these comments in the way they are meant.

I think our ANPR vans are manned by civilians so even that is not an excuse.

I'm very sorry sir but all our police units are busy at the moment, I will take your details and pass them on to the relevant department. :mad: :mad:



Sp!ke
This might call for tact and diplomacy to get the police motivated. Can you do this without loosing your cool?

Good luck
John
 
Actually I'm surprised the police provided you with his name and address. Were you obliged to prove the incident occurred?

Isn't this a form of breach of Data Protection?
 
Certainly worth asking, although I fear Direct line may be one of the few genuinely helpful insurers. Nice to hear they provide a thorough service though, I have two other policies (Other than car insurances) with them.
On a different thread a forum member was asking about getting a cheaper insurance quote. I mentioned that cheap might not work out to be the best value and just like yourself and recycled, I am with Directline and have found them to be first class.

Dec
I am amazed that the sergeant gave you the details. I do NOT disbelieve you, but surely this person was in breach of the data protection act or similar?

well done for doing it and well done for getting the result

John
 
Actually I'm surprised the police provided you with his name and address. Were you obliged to prove the incident occurred?

Isn't this a form of breach of Data Protection?

You can get the registered owner from the DVLA, provided you have good reason. In this case a crime number should be sufficient reason - see 'minor hit and run' the this DVLA link.

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/foi/relinfo.aspx
 
Actually I'm surprised the police provided you with his name and address. Were you obliged to prove the incident occurred?

Isn't this a form of breach of Data Protection?

Well it was about 7 years ago and in Ireland, there was no data protection at the time then as far as I know, I think the cop was just useing comon sense, if I dident get any joy from the "owner" I would have gone back to the police anyway.

Dec
 
My wife was not even given a crime reference. Apparenty that should also turn up in the post at sometime in the next two months... I suspect that its likely we'll hear nothing and neither will the other party.

TPF&T cover was taken as its an N plated Bravo and not really worth losing a no claims discount on. Even with fully comp, we wouldnt claim for this reason.

The woman that did this has effectively robbed us of the value of the car by not stopping after the accident. No difference effectively than stealing cash.

I just wish I could get the address so I can take pictures of the damage to the other car.

The gym has security camera footage of the person leaving the gym and getting into her car. The timelapse footage has a break just when she hits my wifes car, but it can be seen that my wifes car has physically moved between the frames, as then she drove off.

So if the insurance company can be bothered (again, can they be), then there's the witness and a little bit of semi conclusive video. :crazy:

I think Glojo is right, I need to go down and have a polite word at the cop shop. Dont think I'll get past the civvy's on the front desk though.
 
Frankly I'm gobsmacked. Is this what our police service has come to? All it would have taken was ten minutes of a police officers time to drop round to the address corresponding to the registration number and follow it up, it is a local driver after all allegedly. In two months time the damage to the other car will have likely been repaired and all allegations will likely be denied.

So far I've kept out of this but I am furious at this utterly useless response from the Police, and think that a formal complaint should be lodged. Maybe then, someone might actually do something.

Has anyone else had a similar response from the police with a hit and run or is wifey being royally fobbed off by people who don't give a toss?


I'm really sorry about the damage to your wife's car and the upset it has caused you both.

However, this is *not* a police matter as there was no personal injury. That might seem unjust, but it has always been this way. No personal injury, no police involvement. I have occasionally heard of cases where the police do get involved, but only very rarely.

It would normally be an insurance matter, and your insurance company would decide whether to take legal action (via litigation, with the threat of court action) on your behalf and its own. However, with only TPFT cover you are on your own. You must still inform the insurance company, as you are at risk of a claim from the owner of the car your wife's hit, but from now on any action has to be taken by yourself.

What you should do is find yourself a good solicitor and tell him/her everything, especially the details of any witness(es). Your solicitor can then contact DVLA for the details of the owner of the car you allege caused all this, and take it from there.

A good solicitor will take all the worry off your shoulders and will usually obtain the best possible result. The fact that the owner of the car allegedly left the scene without reporting the alleged incident would of course count heavily against him/her. But don't expect this to make you rich, it is all about recompense for your expenses.

If you need help finding a solicitor who specialises in motor claims, try the Law Society web site:

The Law Society - Find a solicitor
 
I think our ANPR vans are manned by civilians so even that is not an excuse.

Good luck
John

The ANPR vans may be but around here when the ANPR guys are out, there are about 30 coppers with them shepherding stopped cars into a large parking area.
then the speed camera vans have to be manned by coppers as well. if you add all those using patrol cars and vans to move house/ go to the chippy and catch smokers breaking the law, you pretty much have none left to deal with real criminals
 
A polite word in the gym could also get you the address of the owner, she must be a member and is likley to return there again prehaps same time next week.

If the car was parked on a private car park (gym) then it could be a civil matter and the police may not want to get involved.

I would ask the gym for a copy of security camra tape before it is overwritten.

Dec
 
the gym will probably say park at your own risk, we accept no liability blah blab blah, so they do not need to help you out.
 

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