Non fault accident - help?

[C8H18]

Insurance companies log accidents on the MIB database, therefore if you use the MIB database to find the details of the other party (bearing in mind you can only legally use it if you've been in an accident, and they require you to provide your own vehicle information too) then choosing to 'not declare' it in future is going to end badly, as any future insurer could find out with minimal effort about this incident.

Just to clarify I'm not suggesting that the OP doesn't disclose the accident to his own insurers, but motor insurance being an annual contract there is no duty to disclose until renewal (I did spend over 30 years working in the general insurance claims industry, so have some experience in this area) and hopefully if the OP claims against the other party it will be a settled non-fault claim by the time he has to disclose it.

How has the OP been in an accident? He wasn't even in the f***ing car! Someone damaged a piece of property belonging to him (civil matter) and then drove off without leaving details (criminal offence). It would seem that the driver of the other vehicle has insurance to cover the civil aspect of his actions (as is required by law), against which the OP can readily obtain details (through MIB) and submit a claim, either:

a) Via his own insurers.
b) By trying to resolve the matter directly with the other party's insurers.
c) By using an accident management company to do option b) on his behalf.
d) By attempting to recover his losses through the small claims court.

From what OP has already said, option a) is proving difficult. Armed with a crime number and signed witness statements, option b) may be easier than he thinks, especially if he mentions to them the possibility of option c), but states that he "hopes that such a course of action will not be necessary..."

 

[ShineyT]

For what it is worth, had a repair quote today from BMW - £4232 all in.

Less than I expected if I am honest.

 

[Z4 COUPSTER]

Maybe it's time to contact an Ombudsman to get Inpartial advice? Just an idea. And that quote sounds fair. Also you don't want it Catted with ins
hard to get the value later

 

[Mr Tidy]

You can't contact the Ombudsman for impartial advice - his function is to provide a judgement when you have reached an impasse with YOUR OWN insurer (not the insurer of a third party).

Back in the late 80s when I had regular dealings in this sort of stuff the decision of the Ombudsman was binding on the insurer (but not the policyholder) yet the fee of over £150 was paid by the insurer - so if we had a claim for £100 that wasn't covered it was cheaper to pay the claim regardless of whether it was covered than the referral fee!

A repair cost of £4,232 for any M model surely isn't going to get it into "Cat" territory? :lol:

OK C8H18, while strictly speaking the OP may not have been involved in an accident he does have an outstanding claim and most insurers ask about accidents or claims IME.

For the purposes of the RTA a public road is roughly defined as "a road to which the public have access" so even drives tend to fall within that definition (as they should) - trying to suggest it isn't a public road is smoke and mirrors and/or wishful thinking (or total b*llocks) IMO. :lol:

But the OP has a claim in civil law against the idiot that hit his car (or the insurer of that car), or a claim in contractual law against his Comprehensive insurer - he can choose which party he pursues his claim against.

I wish him all the best regardless.

 

[Sidewaze Samm]

Back in the late 80s when I had regular dealings in this sort of stuff the decision of the Ombudsman was binding on the insurer (but not the policyholder) yet the fee of over £150 was paid by the insurer - so if we had a claim for £100 that wasn't covered it was cheaper to pay the claim regardless of whether it was covered than the referral fee!

My experience with the Ombudsman, FOS, is somewhat more recent - up to around 2010 when I think the fee had just risen to £500. I wonder what it is now?

 

[paullyjay]

For what it is worth, had a repair quote today from BMW - £4232 all in.

Less than I expected if I am honest.

OK - That quote doesn't seem too bad given the value of the car. In the past I have been offered another option by my insurers - usually when an engineer comes to asses the damage, they can agree a settlement with you for you to get the repairs sorted yourself.

The insurance company should always pursue the costs (including your excess) from the third party - especially as they crashed into your parked vehicle. I don't think it matters whether your car is on private property or not - as long as you were not doing anything that would exclude you from being insured (like a track day) there should be no problem... when you first insure your car they always ask where it is parked during the day and at night, so if it was parked in one of those spots there should definitely be no problem...

I would spend some time on the phone with your insurers (ask to speak to managers etc.) explaining that the reason you purchased this car was for the value of rarity, and if you can prove with receipts and your history that the car has always had BMW parts and or been serviced only by BMW then they should be able to agree to have the car fixed if not by BMW then by a BMW approved repair shop. You might even find that a BMW approved place is one of the insurers approved too

I had exactly the same experience as you about 10 years ago with a VW Golf GTI - it took me a month to convince my insurer to pay for a VW approved repair shop at about 4K - the same cost as you have been quoted by BMW...

Good Luck - I hope you can get this sorted!

 

[ShineyT]

Thanks for the pointers all.

I have managed to get the other sides insurance details from ASKMID and spoke to her insurers on Wednesday (Infinitely more helpful than my own, I might add. Might have earned themselves a customer at renewal.)

The other side has now admitted the collision, however and I quote "I left because I didn't think I had caused more than £50 of damage" was her response. So I guess if it's under £50 that makes it ok for the innocent party to foot the bill.

Her insurers have asked for pictures of all damages for their engineer to assess etc, as they are disputing she hit the front bumper as well, and caused damage to the passenger door. They have admitted full fault for the rear quarter, which is by far the worst and most expensive part. Just need to now prove that she also caused further damage, though god knows how I do that.

 

[C8H18]

Thanks for the pointers all.

I have managed to get the other sides insurance details from ASKMID and spoke to her insurers on Wednesday (Infinitely more helpful than my own, I might add. Might have earned themselves a customer at renewal.)

The other side has now admitted the collision, however and I quote "I left because I didn't think I had caused more than £50 of damage" was her response. So I guess if it's under £50 that makes it ok for the innocent party to foot the bill.

Her insurers have asked for pictures of all damages for their engineer to assess etc, as they are disputing she hit the front bumper as well, and caused damage to the passenger door. They have admitted full fault for the rear quarter, which is by far the worst and most expensive part. Just need to now prove that she also caused further damage, though god knows how I do that.

Sounds like very positive progress. Good to hear

 

[Davz]

Just need to now prove that she also caused further damage, though god knows how I do that.

So she has admitted hitting your car plus you have a witness, I would say the onus is on her insurance company proving that your car was previously damaged, which will be very difficult.
However, has any paint been left behind from her vehicle which is on all the damaged panels? Is the damage on all panels at the same height? Is there any bare metal which is clean and rust free, previously damaged bodywork would corrode quickly if it is bare metal.....take photo's of the damage asap. Do you have any recent photo's of your car which shows it in pre-accident condition? You could pay for a report from an insurance approved bodyshop to support your case?
If it is disputed I would be asking her insurance company to send the engineer to view your car and ask for the evidence which proves her lies. You could threaten to involve the insurance ombudsmen for a ruling if it goes that far. I would expect her insurance company to cave in, £4k is chicken feed to the company and it won't be worth the hassle if you put up a fight straight away.
Insurance companies will always try it on but if you have resolve they do cave in. My daily driver was written off 3yrs ago, golf tdi, 12 yrs old, much loved and cherished, only 60k miles and in mint cond, they offered £1500, 1 week later and threat of the ombudsmen, I slowly get better and better offers until we reach £3200 and they say this is it, "get the ombudsmen or take the money" I knew at this point I had pushed them to their limit.....I thanked them and took the money!

 

[richy176]

The other side has now admitted the collision, however and I quote "I left because I didn't think I had caused more than £50 of damage" was her response

If memory serves, your witnesses said they tried to get her to stop be she refused - how on earth could she have assessed the damage and setting it at no more than £50 without getting out of her car an looking? If I hit another car I would want to take photos to make certain they did not try and claim for pre-existing damage. In fairness i can understand her insurance company wondering how she hit your front bumper, passenger door and rear quarter when your car was on a shared drive - what speed was she doing?

 

[C8H18]

To the 2 posters above, I'm not the OP. It's ShineyT who wrote both the things that have been quoted as mine.

 

[richy176]

To the 2 posters above, I'm not the OP. It's ShineyT who wrote both the things that have been quoted as mine.

Sorry about that - sometimes gets confusing as threads get longer with quotes and re-quotes.

 

[kis]

In fairness i can understand her insurance company wondering how she hit your front bumper, passenger door and rear quarter when your car was on a shared drive - what speed was she doing?

:scratchhead:
Any pics OP? Does seem interesting!! Glad it's getting there with being resolved tho

 

[Flyingfifer]

Sounds like you have been fed a heafty dose of SH!TE across the board

I have reported to the police as leaving the scene of an accident to be informed they don’t investigate these if there is no personal injury. Is that accurate?

Rubbish, they are obligated to investigate as a criminal offence has been committed, my car was parked in Glasgow and was hit by another driver who drove off, witnesses snapped a picture and noted the reg which I reported to the police, I believe the guy was done for leaving the scene.

They will only entertain repairing the car at a Vauxhall dealer as that is their approved.

You have the right to use your own garage, I would have a chat with your insurance company and have them confirm in writing they are refusing to allow you to use another garage, if they do take that to the financial ombudsman
http://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/approved-repairers/

They won’t use OEM parts due to age of car.

With the resolution of the above you should also be able to have original parts used

I am entitled to a like for like hire car. This will be a Vauxhall Corsa.

Not by any stretch like for like, I'd submit a formal complaint and also mention it to the FO when you contact them about the garage

The repairs will take 6-8 weeks.

This again should be resolved by the choice of garage

I must pay full excess and will have a “strike” against my full (protected) no claims. This might be removed if they can reclaim from other side but no guarantee.

This is true and even if its a non fault the slimy bastards still sting you for it

 

[Nanu]

Most motoring legislation only refers to highways and not private roads so you will have to check. Suggest looking at a website called Peppipoo. Register and join the forum and they have specialist legal people who advise. (Sorted parking ticket issues out for me more than once)

As for finding the owner and the insurance company just apply to the DVLA with the registration number and details of why you want it and they will supply it.