Someone hit my car and drove off

[james250]

Noticed someone scuffed my bumper then upon reviewing CCTV noticed a car doing a stupid 3 point turn. It appears he came to the area looking for an address but didn't come out of the car and did a 3 point turn. I believe it could be a Yodel deliver driver in a car because car looks very similar to a yodel driver that delivered to me a few days before but unfortunately couldn't see his plates then. But in the footage where he hit my car I got his number plate which is clearly visible. 

Want some advice what I should do. I'm not fussed about the scuff I think I'm planning to replace the front bumper at some point but I'm really cheesed off how badly he reversed in and it can be clearly seen and heard on the camera and he clearly knows he hit but drove off. Should I contact Yodel and ask if any of their drivers have that number plate or is there a way I can report it to get him notified because I don't want a moron like that to think he can just do that and drive off. Otherwise he will keep doing it.

[royoftherovers]

2 minutes ago, james250 said:

Noticed someone scuffed my bumper then upon reviewing CCTV noticed a car doing a stupid 3 point turn. It appears he came to the area looking for an address but didn't come out of the car and did a 3 point turn. I believe it could be a Yodel deliver driver in a car because car looks very similar to a yodel driver that delivered to me a few days before but unfortunately couldn't see his plates then. But in the footage where he hit my car I got his number plate which is clearly visible. 

Want some advice what I should do. I'm not fussed about the scuff I think I'm planning to replace the front bumper at some point but I'm really cheesed off how badly he reversed in and it can be clearly seen and heard on the camera and he clearly knows he hit but drove off. Should I contact Yodel and ask if any of their drivers have that number plate or is there a way I can report it to get him notified because I don't want a moron like that to think he can just do that and drive off. Otherwise he will keep doing it.

1.Write to DVLA and request details of the Registered Keeper of the vehicle that hit your stationary vehicle

2.Write to the REGISTERED KEEPER and inform him of the event which caused damage to your vehicle and inform him that you have CCTV evidence of the incident.Enclose an official estimate for repairing the damage and request that he reimburse you for making good.

3. Have your vehicle repaired

4. If the Registered Keeper fails to respond or denies responsibility, then inform the Police of the facts that a driver failed to report an incident after colliding with your vehicle

5. If the Registered Keeper still does not reimburse you then claim for damages plus associated costs via the Small Claims Track of the County Court.

Good luck.

[Barry14UK]

Seems like good advice from John.  Suggest you take some pictures.

Good luck.

[Spock66]

1 hour ago, james250 said:

Should I contact Yodel and ask if any of their drivers have that number plate or is there a way I can report it to get him notified because I don't want a moron like that to think he can just do that and drive off. Otherwise he will keep doing it.

Yes make a complaint to Yodel.

You should also report it to the police now as he has committed an offence, ok so Police are unlikely to do much but you should get a crime reference at least, I doubt DVLA would disclose details without this.

Failure to report an accident is an offence under Section 170 Road Traffic Act 1988, if you have not stopped and exchanged details. 

[Malc]

......  looks like a hanging is in the offing quite soon in your part of Derbyshire 

Malc

[royoftherovers]

10 hours ago, Spock66 said:

Yes make a complaint to Yodel.

You should also report it to the police now as he has committed an offence, ok so Police are unlikely to do much but you should get a crime reference at least, I doubt DVLA would disclose details without this.

Failure to report an accident is an offence under Section 170 Road Traffic Act 1988, if you have not stopped and exchanged details. 

You surely mean "to  the Registered keeper", don`t you Andrew, which may or may not, be Yodel ?

Don`t assume anything.

[LenT]

6 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

You surely mean "to  the Registered keeper", don`t you Andrew, which may or may not, be Yodel ?

Don`t assume anything.

Is it not the case that these are freelance drivers employed by Yodel?  Or some other delivery operation?  I may be mistaken, but I didn’t think they were Company employees using a company vehicle.

In other words, Yodel - or whoever - may disclaim any responsibility for the standard of driving by those delivering parcels for them.  In which case going the route you suggest, John, would be the most appropriate.

[Linas.P]

19 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

1.Write to DVLA and request details of the Registered Keeper of the vehicle that hit your stationary vehicle

2.Write to the REGISTERED KEEPER and inform him of the event which caused damage to your vehicle and inform him that you have CCTV evidence of the incident.Enclose an official estimate for repairing the damage and request that he reimburse you for making good.

3. Have your vehicle repaired

4. If the Registered Keeper fails to respond or denies responsibility, then inform the Police of the facts that a driver failed to report an incident after colliding with your vehicle

5. If the Registered Keeper still does not reimburse you then claim for damages plus associated costs via the Small Claims Track of the County Court.

Good luck.

That is good advise... IN THEORY! Sadly let me tell you how it works in practice.

1. DVLA most likely going to take months if not years to respond, I am not joking. They most likely to reject your request and may reject it several times, on the basis that they can't share personal details to third party. You see DVLA is fine selling our details to criminals which calls themselves "parking management companies", but that is because they are part of bigger schemes. As an individual it is nearly impossible to get keeper details from DVLA. That you claim the car hit your car needs to be proven and DVLA is not police, they not going to investigate (police won't investigate either), so I can say with confidence you will get nowhere with this if you ask DVLA for keeper details. To get keeper details from DVLA you first need to prove that what you allege has taken place. The only realistic way would be to ask police to come and collect evidence and then assist you getting information from DVLA, but I can guarantee you police WON'T COME!

2. Contacting keeper is kind of waste of time as well, as realistically you are "nobody" for them, you can threaten them with civil suit, but let's just do quick math on this - it will cost you £1000 to prove they did £100 of damage. Non-starter. In expectational circumstances keeper may come around agree to pay for a fix, but kind of unlikely if they run away in the first place. 

3. I would advise not doing it if you want to get anything out of runaway driver. But make sure to document damage as best as you could, maybe get quote for fixing from body shop, but DO NOT repair. if you repair, then police and insurance won't be able to do anything. Damage not there case closed.

4. Police won't bother, I have hit and run crash and had it on dashcam video, police refused to investigate twice stating "it is not in public interest to investigate", literally have it in writing. Eventually I had to write to commissioner of MET, threatening to sue police itself for "dereliction of duties" and only then they investigated, but eventually lost the case. I don't understand how it is possible to lose the case, but it went to Magistrates Court and they lost - I got nothing and run away driver got away. Besides if you go trough DVLA route and fixing first, then police automatically going to refuse to look at it, because by that time car will be fixed and it will be several months passed since the incident in best case.

5. Same as point 3, it will cost you more to make the claim than you can back and you can't recover costs of claim in small claims so you would be losing money either way. 

What John said - is all true and correct, but it assumes that state, police, DVLA gives a ..... they don't! Frankly it is a little bit idealistic and naive. If somebody would have been injured then maybe, but for scrape on the bumper - NO CHANCE! I was literally told by police multiple times - "just claim the insurance"!

Now what I think you should do (in my opinion). First - don't make mistake as I did and don't go to police. You can report it to police just to get crime reference number, but don't expect them to do anything with it.

Next thing - you need to think long and hard whenever you want to do anything about it, I know you want to give a lesson to the person who does not know how to drive and who runs away from the accident they caused, but you will be doing it at your detriment. Just bear that in mind. Fixing scrape on the bumper may cost you £100-£200, reporting it will be considered claim on your file and you insurance will be higher for 3-5 years. Depending on how much you paying for insurance, it may be couple of hundreds, but it may be a thousand, assume your insurance will be 20% higher for 3-5 years if you insurer finds out. 

If in the end you decide this is worth it, then I suggest you go to claims management company. If you have CCTV and it is clear that accident happened this will come under "no fault" claim. Meaning that claims management company will pre-authorise repairs to your car and claim it directly from third party insurance without involving your insurance, they will give you matching class car in mean time, they will fix your car in shop you want and your excess won't be triggered. But you will need to notify your insurance about this at which point your insurance will increase, even if you not going to claim anything from them. 

 

[Malc]

James ........ one of the inestimable joys of motoring eh !  Vent your frustration on summat else methinks .....  or take another pill .....  or both

Malc