The offence is not stopping to give your details or if that is not reasonably possible, reporting to a police station.ph001 wrote: ↑Tue May 22, 2018 8:33 pm I’m still unclear. I have a feeling that accidental damage to other people’s property is a civil offence, not a criminal one. In which case you would just claim for damages in the small claims court. The fact that they have insurance is just protection for them for exactly these kind of circumstances.
Totally different scenario but a dog owner was walking her dog on a public footpath behind our house off the lead. The dog spotted our cat in our garden, bolted in and savagely killed our cat. We wete advised that it merely constituted damage to our ‘property’ and hence was a civil matter.
There is no offence for the damage caused, that’s the civil part.
Just to add, there wouldn’t be a defence available to the driver as the OP says witnesses tried to stop him driving away. The main defence is if it’s deemed the driver could not have been aware any damage was caused or did not believe he had been involved in an accident (if reversing for example and didn’t realise contact with a vehicle or person had been made).