Car park ding - advice please

S

Spikey

Senior member
 Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire
I was returning to the car parked in a small Tesco express car park to see a car rolling back down the car park and it hit the front of my car. The driver then made to exit when I shouted and done an angry man impersonation - the driver stopped then slowly exited his car once I told him he hit my car.

He claimed he wasn't aware he hit me and as per insurance advice hasn't admitted doing it, but he did start to look for excuses like the way my vehicle was parked, saying everyone parks at their own risk etc.

I have his name and address but he couldn't remember his insurance company saying it was through his bank. I also have the contact details of a lady who did not see the incident but arrived soon after and could clearly see the damage to both vehicles.

In summary he has grazed my front bumper area about 10 inches by 6, scraped the paint off and left some of his on mine. I'd say the complete bumper will need a respiratory and a all repair to sort out the scuffed plastic.

Thing is I have just changed my own insurance company a few days ago, £300 excess.

If there is any chance of him not paying or disputing then I would rather pay for this myself and not involve the insurance company- so I don't know to notify my insurance or not . He wants me to get a quote for the work and let him know - but it was me who raised this as an option

Advice please - what best to do?
 
Sorry to her about the accident. If his car was "reversing" then is his fault, regardless of him admitting blame or not. If you have legal cover within your policy then they will get the claim and your excess back for you. Best of luck.
 
My advice is go to a garage first thing Monday morning and ask for a quick, rough quote. If it's likely to be more than £300 report it to your insurance company straight after and let them deal with it (not mentioning that you have a quote). If it's less than £300 then it's up to you how you want to pay/recover the cost. Bear in mind that you have no guarantee that the other guy will agree to pay anything. If you have problems recovering the costs and try and go through your insurance company later you'll have some explaining to do as to the delay in reporting it.
 
Thanks for the advice there is a chips away just down the road from me will call in there in the morning and get a price and take it from there.

Bloody annoying
 
Best to pay up and just get it sorted out off insurance as bumper around £250. .
Get an invoice and try to get it back. Even a contribution would help as I'm sure he won't want the hassle either.
Mine in the bodyshop now as guy hit me and coughed for £450 (suspect he had no insurance). Get it back tomorrow.

Sent from some bloody gadget using Tapatalk
 
i would find a decent spray shop rather than a chips away place, plenty about that will do this. my bumper looks like some one has sprayed it with a stone chipper and has a couple of scraped from speed bumps. one is a place recommended by a friend and the other is someone i know. both were ~220 mark.
 
The other driver must give you his insurance details, although this doesn't have to be at the scene. It's worth pursuing this, just to ensure you haven't found an uninsured driver. You were parked so unless you were parked illegally its unlikely to be your fault.

Crap thing to happen, I hope it's sorted painlessly
 
If he's making up excuses and genrally being a prat then you watch him go when he see's the size of the cost to repair. Anything more than £100 and I'll bet he'll be a major tit.

Go through your insurance company. That's why you pay your premium. It should end up as a no fault claim on the assumption that he's insured, so you'll get your excess back and any other uninsured losses.

Was there any CCTV in the car park. If so, might be worth contacting the store. At least that will show that your car was stationary and hopefully show there was no one in it. Amazing how "he reversed into a stationary car" can become "this lunatic in a Z4 screaned out of a parking space straight into my stationary car".

Good luck.
 
Annoying when this happens. I would just call your insurance company and ask for advice without
making a claim.

They will be able to see if the car is insured and suggest the best course of action before you start running around for quotes.
 
If it's a cheap fix, and he's not going to admit liability - I'd be tempted to fix myself and not involve insurance. I know you're supposed to report all accidents of any type, but let's face it, if the guilty party isn't taking responsibility - the insurer will never find out unless you tell them.

Regardless of who's liable - if you report an accident, and it ends up being fixed under your own insurance, you'll have the excess to pay, and 5 years worth of increased premiums.

I'd be tempted to fix it for the cost of a respray (call it £250) - avoid insurance excess of £300, and avoid 5 years of increased premiums.

Just my two penneth of course
 
cj10jeeper said:
Annoying when this happens. I would just call your insurance company and ask for advice without
making a claim.

They will be able to see if the car is insured and suggest the best course of action before you start running around for quotes.
Click to expand...

Some 25 years ago when people were perhaps arguably less devious and as well versed in insurance frauds, the following occurred.

Round friend's house and heard a loud bang from the adjoining cul-de-sac. We went to investigate and found a young woman had reversed her sports car into a stationary car in which a traveling salesman was parked quite properly and sitting doing his paperwork. The girl was hysterical whilst the salesman was a perfect gentleman and concerned for her.

We took both of them back to my friend's house and offered tea and sympathy while his wife calmed the girl down. The girl admitted complete liability and most graciously the salesman said he would forget all about it and simply tell his boss when he came back to his company car someone had pranged it. There was little damage to his car but her's had a fair bit of damage.

Some time later the salesman arrived at my friend's house in some distress. He had received a summons from the police for failing to report an accident where injury had occurred, not exchanging insurance details etc..

Apparently the car was boyfriend's rather than girl's and she made up a story she was whiplashed/injured/nervous wreck etc. to cover her ineptitude. He reported to police hence the summons. Girl distressed as she was, had taken down the salesman's registration.

Friend turned out as witness and salesman was discharged. Don't recall what happened to girl for lying but probably not much knowing our legal system.

Moral of story, I would suggest even more relevant today in our 'cash for crash society', is that you are always taking a risk if you don't report accidents to your insurance company with your version of events. If anyone is cagey about revealing/remembering their insurance provider that would make me doubly suspicious. As another poster suggests and my story confirms the facts of any incident in the absence of clear evidence can be distorted any which way.

Hope things turn out OK for you.
 
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