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Nightmare before Christmas


mini

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After owning my zed for only a relatively short period of time I was horified, to find that some guy had reversed into the side of my motor and then did one!!!! :rant:

 

Basically, the story goes, I parked my car up after work on the side of the road (no off road parking available at the time) behind some friends car's. I was leaving early the next morning so it wasn't going to be an issue blocking anyone in. Then, when I return to my car in the morning this is how I find it!!!!! :angry:

 

As you can imagine I was more than just pi**ed at what had happened and initially thought it had been vandalised by kids.....when returning from I long day of meetings in the North West, I was approached by one of the other tenants, who lives in the house I was parked outside of, to say:

 

"someone drove into the side of your car last night"

 

to which I responded "no s**t sherlock, have you seen the damage they've done!"

 

He then responded "don't worry, I have his registration plate. It was a silver Peugeot 206."

 

Anyway, I went to the car to get a pen and as he was giving me the details, it suddenly dawned on me that the draived that did it lives over the road!!!!! And he obviously didn't think anyone had seen him, as he didn't leave a note.

 

Rather than confronting the guy and potentially putting myself in a cell for the night, I decided to let the police and insurance companies deal with it. Watch this space and I'll let you know how I get on, as he hasn't accepted liability as yet and my insurance company said it could take months to resolve!!! :scare:

 

One thing that I have learned from this experience is always protect you NCB, it might be a bit more expensive but man it's worth it.

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Truly a nightmare mate! The same happened to my S3 a couple of years ago. Some guy attempted to park in a space outside my place and made a complete ARSE of it and caved in my offside wing. He then sped off without leaving anything. I never saw it happening, but the guy who lives in the apartment above me seen it all and gave me the make, colour and registration number of the car. It was a burgundy E-Class Mercedes with a private reg. I called the Police and they came round and I basically gave them them this guy on a plate. There's all the info, go and book him. And the outcome?? Absolutely nothing. After about 100 phone calls to the Police they finally admitted that they couldn't find the guy. I'm sorry, but if I give them the make, colour and reg of a car, you'd expect some results!! I ended up paying for the new wing and spray myself. £600. At least you know where this muppet lives. You'd be as well going round and giving him a hiding to get some satisfaction, cos I'd be surprised if you got a result from the Police.

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Mini, I understand how your feeling but let me tell you a story that may change your perspective on things....

 

Sat in a beer garden on a lovely summers day drinking lemonade ;) . My beloved was on the car park! Heard a noise, natural ( :blush: ) paranoid 350z owners reaction - jump out of seat and check kerfufal... Only 2 see some t*at driving off and leaving my zed with a lovely dent on the rear wheel arch :angry:

 

Liam immediately gave chase!!! :drive1

 

Caught the "hit n run driver"... Turned out 2 be a lady in a company MPV........

 

Half way through dishing out my rollocking I realised she had 3 Down Syndrome passengers on board who were very enrgetic!!!!

 

In hindsight I genuinely believe she didn't know, accidents happen, sometime unknowingly... Hopefully thats the case ;)

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You probably did the right thing, although how you managed not to casually knock on his door with a cricket bat I'll never know :)

 

If he accepts liability it will take a short while, if not - then it could take months... (depressing I know)

 

I'd actually wonder over and ask if he knows anything about it - the curiousity would have got to me long ago :D

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That's just out of order, hope you get it sorted.

 

I had an issue with my old show car. It was parked up after a show in a town centre, safe place and I was gone for an hour. Parked in a well lit, well CCTV covered part of town. When I returned, someone had stood by the boot lid and scratched a square inch of paint off down to the metal, and somebody had walked over the length of the car. Yep, front bumper to get up, along the bonnet (nice dents!) along the roof (god knows how no dents but scratches!), down the rear window and off the back.

 

Best bit is, the police camera shows a group approach the car, then turns the camera away to watch a pub with to pikeys at each other. 5 mins later they swing back, damage done, no evidence. :angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry::angry:

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I'd actually wonder over and ask if he knows anything about it - the curiousity would have got to me long ago :D

 

Thats a great idea :thumbs: You can imagine him standing at the door squirming as your asking questions about it :lol:

 

I got hit a few months ago on a busy dual carriageway, I pulled into the layby & the person that hit me just drove off. I never got their number plate though & no witnesses stopped :angry:

 

What did the police say? Have they visited your neighbour yet?

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In hindsight I genuinely believe she didn't know, accidents happen, sometime unknowingly... Hopefully thats the case

 

I wouldn't be quite so cross about it if it was a genuine accident, however, the guy that saw it said "i was on the phone and heard I huge bang, so I looked out the window to see what had happened and your car was rocking with another car attached to the side of it. The driver must have then realised what he'd done because he wound his window down to have a look then sped off"

 

The police have done nothing to date, but the witness has said he will make a statement to both the police and my insurance company.

 

I'm holding off getting the body work done at the minute because if (for whatever reason) he gets away with it (lets be fair the legal system is screwed) and that would be the end of my NCD.

 

Any one any idea how much this would cost out of my own pocket if he does get away with it?

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In hindsight I genuinely believe she didn't know, accidents happen, sometime unknowingly... Hopefully thats the case

 

I wouldn't be quite so cross about it if it was a genuine accident, however, the guy that saw it said "i was on the phone and heard I huge bang, so I looked out the window to see what had happened and your car was rocking with another car attached to the side of it. The driver must have then realised what he'd done because he wound his window down to have a look then sped off"

 

The police have done nothing to date, but the witness has said he will make a statement to both the police and my insurance company.

 

I'm holding off getting the body work done at the minute because if (for whatever reason) he gets away with it (lets be fair the legal system is screwed) and that would be the end of my NCD.

 

Any one any idea how much this would cost out of my own pocket if he does get away with it?

 

Am no expert, but I thought as long as the insurance company were fully reimbursed for any costs incurred you kept your no claims?

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Am no expert, but I thought as long as the insurance company were fully reimbursed for any costs incurred you kept your no claims?

 

Yeah, but what about if my insurance company can't prove he did it? If that were to happen and I'd already done the body work, I wouldn't have the option of getting it done privately.

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Am no expert, but I thought as long as the insurance company were fully reimbursed for any costs incurred you kept your no claims?

 

Yeah, but what about if my insurance company can't prove he did it? If that were to happen and I'd already done the body work, I wouldn't have the option of getting it done privately.

 

True, unless you managed the costs with the insurance company and you accept the repair work so you were 'happy' to pay them should it not be proven. Just an option. :)

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Quote:

 

Am no expert, but I thought as long as the insurance company were fully reimbursed for any costs incurred you kept your no claims?

 

 

 

Yeah, but what about if my insurance company can't prove he did it? If that were to happen and I'd already done the body work, I wouldn't have the option of getting it done privately.

 

Hadn't thought about doing it that way and I would like to get it sorted ASAP. I'll speak to my insurance company and see what they say. Cheers:)

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Mini, don't worry about this one mate. Provided the witness will go to Court if necessary (I would suggest you get him to give written statement before mentioning the C word) I can't see this tw@t escaping liability. In the face of a clear witness statement I doubt any insurance company would back him to fight it but even if they did I doubt you would have a problem in the County Court. If you need any specific pointers PM me (this is what I do for a living, God help me.) :)

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@Mini

 

My wife reversed in to my MGF a few years ago, hitting it exactly in the same place as yours has been hit...

 

One quote I got was over £1200; they wanted to take the rear wing off and weld a new one on. I was advised against doing this as it would be susceptible to rust. I got another quote from a body shop for filling the dent and painting the wing and door. This was £450 if I paid for it or £650 if the insurance did...

 

In the end I claimed on the insurance... 12 years NCB, you are damned right mine is protected!

 

HTH

 

fM

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for letting me know FM, I'm hoping the insurance companies will sort it out but it's not an overnight process! It's at this point you begin to think "how good is my insurance company???"

 

Has anyone had to have panels replaced? Can they matched to the existing paintwork or is it a complete new re-spray?

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  • 1 month later...

I know it's been some time since posting on this topic, but the guy that reversed into me has finally accepted full liability (after taking a bit of verbal abuse) :teeth:

 

So it's time to put my zed in the body shop to bring her back to her former glory! :stretcher: Goes in this Saturday for a week, the only downside being I'll have to travel around in a hire car, but it will be worth it. :thumbs:

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