Just had police at door

[Auntieobem]

Saying that a note was left on a car saying that it had been hit my my DPs car. They looked over the car and said there was no evidence of any accident damage. Had no witness details, didn't even have a date of alleged accident. It allegedly happened somewhere where DP sometimes parks. DP denies and knowledge.

Anyone have this happen to them? I assume it won't go any further?

Does your husband use a parking app?
Satnav that keeps record of his trips?
Basically if he can prove he was elsewhere then that's easily sorted.
If he was in the car park then either he, the other driver or a third party is lying. Could someone have written his number plate on a note instead of their own?

But surely if the only 'evidence' they have is an anonymous note which can't be challenged or corroborated, DP doesn't have to prove anything? PC said they didnt even know when it had allegedly happened - just said "it must have been about 3 weeks ago". I'm hoping that there'll be no more contact about it.

It depends if the damaged car owner reports an accident to their insurance company giving your dh’s details.

He is essentially being accused of a hit and run?

Insurance companies will open a claim in those circumstances despite no clear evidence of liability.

But that's ridiculous??? So, I could just randomly say someone hit my car - with no evidence at all other than an anonymous note?? Not to drip feed, but I asked PC whether other vehicle was badly damaged and he said no - just minor. I know that different folks definition of minor can be different, but I wouldn't go through my insurance for "minor" damage.

@Poisonrunningthroughmyveins A caution for what offence? Why did you accept a caution for something you didn’t do?

I know it’s ridiculous, that’s what I said when I was falsely accused of hitting a car with no evidence!

so I could just randomly say someone hit my car with no evidence unfortunately yes ☹️a car insurance company will open a claim based on your word.

Hopefully if the damage is minor as you say, the other party won’t pursue it.

@Auntieobem well if there's no more contact then that's fine but if there is, hopefully with more specific information then he has the choice to just keep saying no or give any proof he has that he wasn't there.

Unless he's lying.

I have had this but without police involvement. I had a letter and phonecall from my insurers (not a scam) saying that I'd hit a parked car as I had pulled out from being parked behind them. Apparently there was an independent witness. I had parked on that road at the stated time and couldn't prove that I hadn't hit the car except for the lack of damage to my car. I 100% knew I hadn't done it but the insurers were ready to pay out. Then they realised there was no way I could have hit the passenger side from how everyone was parked so they didn't pay. I was really upset that they didn't take my word for it though. It felt malicious but I had no issues with anyone. Really disconcerting.

I imagine that someone did in fact hit the other person's car and was seen ... so they made a show of writing a note and using your husband's reg plate number as they were parked there, too, as they wrote it out.

You have to accept a caution – if you don’t they can then pursue it via prosecution.

@Oohoohwee you've just countered your own argument there. Like you say if you dont accept the caution- the offence can or will be pursued in the court where the prosecution has to prove the case beyond any reasonable doubt.

@Poisonrunningthroughmyveins what were you charged with?

We’ve had something similar-ish. A woman started chasing us whilst we were driving. We stopped to see what the problem was. She said we had hit her and “look at the damage on my car.” My first reaction was that this was a scam. I got out of my car, expecting her car to have suffered damage from a prior accident. But her car was pristine, absolutely pristine, not a scratch, nothing. It completely threw me. When I pointed out that her car was pristine, she lost the plot, started screaming in my face etc…. I called the police who came and confirmed there was no damage and off I went. Personally I think that she shouldn’t have been allowed to drive off in the state of anger she was in and given she had been driving dangerously - right by a school - but I must be terribly old fashioned.

Hope you get this sorted.

Well yeah, which if you haven’t done anything shouldn’t be a worry.

I wrote this because it seems the previous poster was lead to believe she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

No - as you say yourself - you don't have to accept a caution, but if you don't, you take the risk of being prosecuted through the courts.

I think what Oohoohwee meant here was that this is the way cautions work - you have to accept them, they can’t be foisted on you.

This was just a typo (or some autocorrect weirdness)– should have said ‘don’t’ have to.

This happened to a relative, he was threatened with legal action etc and said 'fine take me to court'. Nothing came of it in the end but it was stressful and he suspected it was malicious. I remember him measuring parts of his car to prove he couldn't have hit them.

Sounds like someone else was parked at the same place and had an accident then gave your partners registration number and did a runner from the car park.

I'm guessing someone else hit the car but didn't want to own up so they looked around, saw your partners car nearby and took his registration number and gave them that instead then did a runner.

I suppose they have to investigate as otherwise they have no way of knowing who is telling the truth.

I had an actual hit and run against me a few years ago, a woman tried to squeeze past at the traffic lights to make a turn.

I memorized her plate and as soon as I could I stopped and wrote it down. I didn't get the car make and was hazy on what size it was but I told my insurance and they went and found the matching damage on her car.

The damage was minor but I was annoyed she caused it by driving recklessly and then didn't stop.

I guess if they hadn't found anything then it would not have been taken further.

But in that case, the letter would be from an insurance company, the police wouldn’t need to get involved as it’s not leaving a crime or anything.

They really should, I don't know for sure who the supposed witness was, but they didn't leave their details. The police officer told me the woman had contacted them with the information from the note - he did notice that this person had even given the wrong hair colour! It was obvious I didn't have a clue what it was about, he said he could tell from how shocked and anxious I was (which is true, I really don't like the thought of breaking the law and probably would report to the police and insurance if I hit an unoccupied car to cover all bases and make sure I wasn't prosecuted! 😂).
The angry guy in the car park had the same colour car as me, and there was supposedly paint left on her car, that's what makes me think it was him.

Seriously keep ringing them. Tell them you'll ring every day until it's sorted. I managed to get a claim sorted much quicker by this approach.

Thank you. It’s difficult when it takes 45 mins or so to get through to the right department on the phone but will persist.

My emails asking for updates on this open claim are routinely ignored!
Judging by others comments this is quite a common scam - cash for crash/ car park scam.

it seems very unfair that I’m penalised with a higher insurance premium when nothing has been proven.