car damage - recovering costs ?
just curious if anyone has ever taken someone to court for car damage on here, instead of going via an insurer.
thing is in less than a month, I've had my 59 plate car dinged by some "hit n run" idiot for the 2nd time.. this time I'm 85-90% sure who it is, due to a number of things, including the angle it was hit etc.. he even had the front to come back and park outside, but try to hide the damage on his car, out of sight slightly so I'd not see it..
I've got a bill for ?280+vat for a new back bumper + maybe another ?300 or more for the damaged by this idiot.
London is full of static ANPR camera's and CCTV, so they can track the area's they have been, and the 2 main routes where I think they live.. only 2 ways into there really and both should be covered by at least ANPR. So they can't lie about being around here hopefully..
so I've been to the police regarding it , hopefully have a part of their car they left behind.. and I refuse to up my insurance premiums claiming for it (yer I know that's what they are for, but they will get battered next year if I claim 2 times)
so I figure if the police catch them , I can take a private case out against the person regarding it ?
I guess if I had a swear box , at the time I could have easily have funded it out of that due to the amount of expletives I used, they scuffed the wing , but it's more the damage the caused to the inside part of the wheel arch in the process
thing is in less than a month, I've had my 59 plate car dinged by some "hit n run" idiot for the 2nd time.. this time I'm 85-90% sure who it is, due to a number of things, including the angle it was hit etc.. he even had the front to come back and park outside, but try to hide the damage on his car, out of sight slightly so I'd not see it..
I've got a bill for ?280+vat for a new back bumper + maybe another ?300 or more for the damaged by this idiot.
London is full of static ANPR camera's and CCTV, so they can track the area's they have been, and the 2 main routes where I think they live.. only 2 ways into there really and both should be covered by at least ANPR. So they can't lie about being around here hopefully..
so I've been to the police regarding it , hopefully have a part of their car they left behind.. and I refuse to up my insurance premiums claiming for it (yer I know that's what they are for, but they will get battered next year if I claim 2 times)
so I figure if the police catch them , I can take a private case out against the person regarding it ?
I guess if I had a swear box , at the time I could have easily have funded it out of that due to the amount of expletives I used, they scuffed the wing , but it's more the damage the caused to the inside part of the wheel arch in the process
Post edited by fog on
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Small claims court is basically you and the other party sat in front of a district judge, to discuss the merits of your case.
The main problem you may have is in proving beyond a doubt that the other party caused the damage - have you taken photos of any damage to their vehicle and is there any sign of your paint colour on the scuffs to their body work?
www.rwapsoftware.co.uk
www.sellmyretro.com
you know it's linked to static ANPR camera's these days in london ? plate reading to pinpoint a car rough area location at an exact time, speeds up that process. due to the age of the vehicle / colour / type it stands out even more.. a 02 plate white corsa van and if they go up as far as wood lane (where the BBC is based) there is S-loads of camera's there. (a friend sent me pics of him getting caught in the bus lane there.. and they were crystal clear)
well they have pictures of the other vehicles damage also.. the licence plate. also I found a part on the road, which I'm hoping to confirm is off their vehicle.
basically I've done a lot of the grunt work for them.. if they can get an image of the car on cctv undamaged 1 day, then damaged the next.. then that points to it. also if the driver lies and says "oh it's been like that for months"
but how it was hit, is they were parked.. turned out too wide, side swiped my car.. if it had been a moving car passing, it'd been the rest of the body work..
a number of neighbours will confirm that van had been parked there day by day for weeks.. last 2 days, facing the other way to hide the damage from where I live... why would you park across the road from a house you were doing work on , when you would want to park outside.. and the road has few cars on.
another 2 cars on my road NEVER move, so I know they can't park there.. again they could try and lie about that, but that limits the spaces they can park in.
pretty sure, they even rang the doorbell to check I wasn't in.. so that points to what time it was done.. I thought someone else had answered the door, but they hadn't.
basically it's a lot of small chunks of info combined, that points to it and how the damage is on my car. e.g. not the full body work etc. the height of the paint work (no colour) and bumper marking.
to get to ladbroke grove (where I suspect they probably live) there is only 2 main routes, you have to go via to go directly.. the harrow road / scrubs lane (some would know it for wormwood scrubs prison) .. both will have some sort of coverage on them, as they are major roads.
I have evidence regarding the damage on both vehicles .. white van , you have me on FB.. look at the wheel arch of that van.. they took off the trim to hide the paint from my car. they have been the only white vehicles parked there for weeks + the height of the scratches will no doubt match that van exactly.
I want the police to get a solid case, charge him.. then from that go small claims etc.. BUT small claims is ?500 max right ? so if damage is more, I wanna take it further... more money I spend on **** like that = less money I have to buy all them M-A-C / scrabbles off you :)
it's like 5-6 bits of circumstantial evidence & the damage on their wing / my car, some of which my neighbours can back up
I also have a small part, if I can confirm it's off his vehicle and not mine.. then why have I got it . I almost missed it from the pic I took is the only way I saw it.
because their s***box car is old, more likely company property.. a marked van with a company name was there, so I'm guessing it's the same people.. no point.. it's probably worth ?500 IF THAT. and I'm guessing a company van... they can't lie about who was driving either as I gave descriptions of the 2 lads and the older bloke. Also they are supposed to keep a log of it, which I didn't know.
let the police deal with them.. and I'll also see if I can charge for my time @?100 or ?200 a day ON TOP for wasted time, when I see if I can go after them civilly.
failing that, I've got another few tricks up my sleeve that will drop the house owner and his builders in the brown stuff IF I get no joy with the car. I shouldn't be angry/stressed at stuff that people think is fine to do.. but all that was missing was smoke out of my ears
if you drive a new car.. you expect to get hit.. dunno .. maybe once every few years? as it's not cheap on the parts etc to make it look like new... but 2 times within just over a month.. sorry thats just a bit too ****ish , because some little pleb can't drive.
if they had fessed up about it , fair enough.. but saying nothing will leave them in fear of "wonder if I got away with it".. they knew I took pics of it the other day.. if they are stupid enough to be there on monday.. time to take a few pics of the **** driving it.
But - aren't you obliged to inform your insurer of an accident even if you don't claim for it?
If they came to your door then they have tried to sort it with you (they haven't tried very hard, obviously). You could always give their firm a call and *politely* discuss it - or get your other half to do it if you're still livid. They may prefer to settle amicably especially if you have evidence.
moneysavingexpert.com has a motoring forum, you could ask the guys there what they think.
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as long as I report it to the police, that's the main thing.
You know they are gonna **** up my insurance if I report it right ? , which is the whole point.. the car was PARKED.. not even being driven. I wasn't even within 10 feet of it / wasn't even on.. so no.. it's just an excuse for them to scr*w more money out of me next year
They will give the usual crap of "oh , had an accident.. so therefore next year will be more dittery etc.. REGARDLESS of who caused it. I get screwed over next year as a result, for something I didn't cause BOTH times. my premiums mess up as a result.. how is that fair on me ?
they won't settle it's some little 20 year old-ish **** who is probably driving a company van , for starters and I HIGHLY doubt could afford the repair bill (like I am ****ing money ?!?! ) . who I doubt even is insured on his on name. he actively avoided paying out or talking to me, he knew I was there taking pictures.. could have said something there and then.
if I don't get paid.. lets just say I will drop the owner of that house in it for thousands.. other ways. They were working for him, they are his little crew.. so to me, he's liable indirectly. It wouldn't surprise me if that company building van was in his companies name.. I do hope he has LEGAL records of his "employees" ;-)
no one likes the owner around here, he is a buy/to let merchant.. and one of my neighbours knocked him out in the past because of how he acts.. that time the police were called, and I highly suspect he is known to them for other things.
Small claims court limit is ?5000 from memory nowadays, so will be more than enough.
HOWEVER, you are obliged to notify your insurer of the accident - otherwise, if you do not inform them, and you later need to make a claim, they may well find out about the fact you did not tell them about the claim and then will refuse to pay out.
www.rwapsoftware.co.uk
www.sellmyretro.com
from the main dealer I got my car from.. obviously going via insurance they make out some cr** like it's ?600 or some bunk
all they will do as a result is up my premiums, they use any excuse to do it.
spoke to insurers , they seem ok..
the police traffic unit have been as much use as a chocolate teapot so far AND they try to avoid you contact them..
1) phone number that didn't work / 2) no email address on letter /
3) person dealing with it left.
so if I get no joy again, which seems REALLY probable.. I'll see what I can do civilly or well just, drop them in it a few ways (my logic being , if I can drop them in it for *10 the amount then thats fair enough).
I bet it's easily provable on CCTV to link it due to what's missing from the car that damaged mine, but no they aren't bothered.