somebody has hit the car. :(

jodenice · 27-11-2007, 5:05 PM

Some bloke has hit our car, claimed he doesn't know the insurance details and given us a false company name and address. He tried to drive off but my boyfriend caught him up.

We do have a mobile number (which we rang to check) and the registration number. I phoned him to enquire about the false address and he was very aggressive. Said he'd phone back later (I'll ring you LATER, alright) and put the phone down.

~What now? What I want is to find him and run him over but I'll do with some legal advice.

Just get in touch with insurers? There was only one witness, an old man that was writing stuff down but we lost him driving after the guy who hit us!

Decadence · 27-11-2007, 5:07 PM

I'd call the Police on this one...not 999 but your local number.

maix27 · 27-11-2007, 5:23 PM

dito to that, it's illegal to give false info. There are a few coppers on here who should be able to help! (i don't mean go round there-type help, only advice)

**Kieron** · 27-11-2007, 5:27 PM

Totally agree. One for the Poice. Although it sounds to me that he possibly doesn't have insurance....

How bad is the damage?

Paul_HDLover · 27-11-2007, 5:30 PM

You have his number plate so he is easily traceable. Leaving the scene of an accident without providing, or providing falsified evidence is against the law. Call your local cop shop.

Decadence · 27-11-2007, 5:31 PM

If the guy isn't insured (and I am a little hazy on this) I think that a Solicitor can take up a case and claim from the Motor Insurance Bureau or something like that...there will be people who know more than me about this though.

h4rri · 27-11-2007, 5:35 PM

Main thing to do is relax, everyone is ok [I assume & hope] and it's only a piece of metal so not worth getting stressed over.

Call Dibble, have them give you a crime reference number then call your insurance and have them deal with it. At least you'll get a nice new hire car to batter for a while while yours is being fixed

jodenice · 27-11-2007, 5:40 PM

You're right of course, nobody is hurt. And I wouldn't be so stressed if he hadn't been so bleedin RUDE.

And now we lose our no claims don't we?

dognosh · 27-11-2007, 6:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodenice

You're right of course, nobody is hurt. And I wouldn't be so stressed if he hadn't been so bleedin RUDE.

And now we lose our no claims don't we?

no , not necessarily, make a claim on your insurance and let them sort it out, but to be able to start this process you need to report it straight away instead of lettting it be, get off the internet and go to the police station.
"Fail to stop" and "not exchanging details,or refusing to" are both illegal and can carry penalties of up to 11 points I believe, and fines.
(even worse if they give false info)

jodenice · 27-11-2007, 7:45 PM

well we phoned the insurance company and they said not to bother phoning the police, as they will tell us to pass it onto the insurance company?

And now the insurance companies legal department is on it.

dennis · 27-11-2007, 7:49 PM

ring the police anyway,just in case.

CFC1 · 27-11-2007, 7:52 PM

Go to the local police station and report it anyway. For all you know, the old man that was writing stuff down may also have gone to the police, so could possibly strengthen your case, as a witness.
If the other driver hasn't got any insurance, and also ran from the scene, that is a police matter... not an insurance one. For the sake of anyone else suffering the same fate in the future, go to the police!

Geege · 27-11-2007, 8:20 PM

You must report the accident (by law) so phone the police switchboard non-emergency number if you haven't already done so. Give them the index number & description of the vehicle and circumstances. Then provide your insurance number with the incident number (serial number/CAD reference) for their reference. Take photos of the damage to your vehicle. The police will be able to check on the police national computer database to confirm who the registered owner is and whether insurance is held.

tonycb6 · 27-11-2007, 8:26 PM

Check the number plate on this data base to see if he is insured.

Tony.

http://www.askmid.com/askmid.aspx

dognosh · 27-11-2007, 8:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jodenice

well we phoned the insurance company and they said not to bother phoning the police, as they will tell us to pass it onto the insurance company?

And now the insurance companies legal department is on it.

With all due respect to you this is the sort of thing that ****** me off

If you know what to do then don't post here asking our opinion.
If you need advice and post here, and you get lots of people giving you the same advice then maybe you should listen ?

The insurance company has it's own agenda.

Ring/go to the police station and report it as the guy has broken the law. If the police fob you off then insist on reporting it and grab an incident number and some details of who/when/where you reported it

geomuss · 27-11-2007, 8:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul_gilmour

You must report the accident (by law)

No you dont.

If your insurance company says they are dealing with it then leave them with it.
They have access to all the same information as the police, if they feel the case merits police attention then they will contact them.

By the sounds of things maybe the driver was uninsured, no license etc

But where the problems lie is you did not get a name and address etc, so it will probably be quite hard for the police to prove who was driving the motor.

Mep · 27-11-2007, 8:40 PM

Paul's a copper.......he probably knows!

geomuss · 27-11-2007, 8:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mep

Paul's a copper.......he probably knows!

If you are in a car accident and no one is injured, there is no need for the police to be informed or attend as long as both parties are satisfied with the details exchanged.

Mep · 27-11-2007, 8:53 PM

but they weren't happy as they were false

geomuss · 27-11-2007, 8:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mep

but they weren't happy as they were false

not saying in this case, saying in general it is not law, not to this specific case.

The insurance company will do all the necessary for this one.

Mep · 27-11-2007, 9:04 PM

i thought we were discussing a specific case

Geege · 27-11-2007, 9:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geomuss

No you dont.

If your insurance company says they are dealing with it then leave them with it.
They have access to all the same information as the police, if they feel the case merits police attention then they will contact them.

By the sounds of things maybe the driver was uninsured, no license etc

But where the problems lie is you did not get a name and address etc, so it will probably be quite hard for the police to prove who was driving the motor.

Hi geomuss. I understand where you are coming from as my understanding is that both drivers exchanged their details at the scene, however by reporting the accident to police they may safe guard themselves if there is any dispute with the other driver or insurance company (there may be a clause in their small print which may give them an excuse not to pay out, who knows...) and there is other systems that the police can check that insurance companies do not have that will assist in locating and identifying the other driver. So reporting this to police will assist. Section 170 Road Traffic Act 1988 - The law actually states that every driver has a duty to stop and given their name and address. If they fail to provide their name & address to the driver at the time of the accident, they have a legal requirement to report the accident to police as soon as reasonably practicable and in any case must do so within 24 hours.

http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/digest/rta170.html

Hope this helps.

geomuss · 27-11-2007, 9:07 PM

aaahhhhhh

ok point conceded, but my point is, its NOT law to report every accident as intimated by pauls post!

http://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q425.htm

Mep · 27-11-2007, 9:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geomuss

aaahhhhhh

ok point conceded, but the my point is its NOT law to report every accident as intimated by pauls post!

http://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q425.htm

lol...ok

gus607 · 27-11-2007, 9:11 PM

Would be a waste of time reporting this to the Police, they don't give a TOSS.

Geege · 27-11-2007, 9:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geomuss

aaahhhhhh

ok point conceded, but my point is, its NOT law to report every accident as intimated by pauls post!

http://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q425.htm

Ok point taken. Sorry if I was unclear. The OP didn't state whether or not she had gave her/his name & address so I assumed that Section 170 wasn't complied with at the time. Hence why I highlighted "if" under section 170(3)

partyweb · 27-11-2007, 9:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonycb6

Check the number plate on this data base to see if he is insured.

Tony.

http://www.askmid.com/askmid.aspx

That site looks like it's no good as it asks if you are the owner of the car being checked. There's no way I'd tick yes to someone else's details, especially one involved in an accident.

partyweb · 27-11-2007, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gus607

Would be a waste of time reporting this to the Police, they don't give a TOSS.

I'd agree too with that. From my personal experience where I was hit by another car in Hackney. The big burly bloke gave me a Hemel Hempstead telephone number & address which turned out to be false. After reporting it to the police I was told a few months later that they went round to the registered owners house (in Hackney!) knocked on their door but got no reply and that was that, case closed.

As I was only 3rd party at the time that was the end of it, no money for me and a car destined for the scrapheap.

jodenice · 27-11-2007, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dognosh

With all due respect to you this is the sort of thing that ****** me off

If you know what to do then don't post here asking our opinion.
If you need advice and post here, and you get lots of people giving you the same advice then maybe you should listen ?

The insurance company has it's own agenda.

Ring/go to the police station and report it as the guy has broken the law. If the police fob you off then insist on reporting it and grab an incident number and some details of who/when/where you reported it

With all 'due respect', I hadn't actually phoned the insurance company when i first wrote the question and even if I had done I would still post on here asking for opinions because, funny enough, I thought it was a forum and I might be allowed to ask questions. And if I get differing advice and then ask advice on here about it - again, maybe I'm wrong, but i thought that was allowed too.

Anyway, enough of that, I DID phone the local police, who told me to phone a more local police station, who put me through to a general number, who then attempted to put me through to a smaller local police station and it was unmanned. So i'll try again tomorrow.

jodenice · 27-11-2007, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mep

but they weren't happy as they were false

Yes, funny enough 'R&R' company name, Archer Road as address and can you guess what the name was......

Mr Smith.

Other than wrestling him to the floor and frisking him for his wallet there was no way of physically holding onto him. I've been phoning him constantly but now his phone switched off. However, I enjoy the fact that he could be either terrified or irritated that I may be ringing to harrass him and have decided to do it indefinitely.

I may get friends to join in.