Scraped by car in car park, go through insurance or not bother?

[User0610134049]

Car backed out of a space into me in a car park today.
Looks like a surface scrape, down to white colour but can’t feel dent.
For some inexplicable reason I did not take the guy’s number only his registration.
I mumbled something about it ‘probably being fine’ but would take his registration just in case. He didn’t offer me his number, I thought then that I should get it and went after him and waved but he didn’t see me or didn’t want to see me.

I’ve ordered some T cut but all the reviews say it only works on very surface scrape.

Should I call my insurance?
Can they trace him using just registration?
Won’t he just deny it then it could be down as my fault and I lose big no claims bonus?

Kicking myself for not getting his number so I could give him the option of just paying me directly. I don’t think it will be big job to repair but I know insurance companies tend to make a meal out of things.

Wwyd?

I’ve asked chips away for a quote and am wondering if I just suck it up myself if it’s not much. There’s another chip on there my daughter did that I’d get done at the same time

I have 17 years unprotected no claims
And excess of £700….

I did a nasty scratch to my car a few years ago (my fault, nobody else involved) and it cost £250 to put right along with a couple of other dents.

You don't need to claim on the insurance, just pay for the dents to be removed if they bother you.

The Police can be bothered
I once did similar to someone’s car in a car park, waited for ages, no sign of them.
Left my phone number, name and reg on a bit of paper on their windscreen.
Got rung by the police that night and given a right bollocking for not also leaving my address!!

I'd think carefully about claiming for that, given your insurance situation. You're going to have little to no proof that it was him (as you have no witnesses).

Even if he agrees and it goes down and a no fault claim it will affect you premiums going forwards. (Been there and done that unfortunately, twice in two years, and it put my insurance up significantly.)

If he doesn't take responsibility then I guess its possible you might loose your no claims? (I don't how that works as I've always protected it.) Someone with more insurance knowledge might know.

I'd get the quotes and, while its super annoying, pay for it yourself. It will be more than you think I suspect as its over two panels.

Alternatively, you could just leave it??

That should be nowhere near £700 to fix if you can get a decent independant spray painter, rather than a big company. Get some quotes. I had worse damage than that on mine (needed new bumper clips too) and only cost me £650 through my dealer who are known to be extortionate for repairs.

[quote FizzyTango]@LondonQueen
I always see people say this, but the police don't care.
Someone maliciously rammed my car and drove off and the police did not give a shit. I think because no-one was hurt and there were no witnesses.
His insurance company didn't give a shit either - his car was really damaged too! I managed to get his reg so my insurance were able to contact his. It took them over a month for his own insurance to make contact with him, and he straight up denied it and said I did it!
I queried with both insurers if him not stopping/not exchanging details was an issue and they actually didn't care either. It got settled 50:50 as I literally had no choice.
It boils my piss, I can't even believe this kind of thing is allowed to happen.[/quote]
No such thing as 50/50. It's a no claim bonus not a no blame bonus.

Insurers will always support their insured even if they are lying through their teeth; until it's proved otherwise. This is why I have a camera.

@Ifeellikedancing

That should be nowhere near £700 to fix if you can get a decent independant spray painter, rather than a big company. Get some quotes. I had worse damage than that on mine (needed new bumper clips too) and only cost me £650 through my dealer who are known to be extortionate for repairs.

The problem with small scratches is that you usually have to paint a much larger area than is damaged. So the damage could be 100% worse but the price would be the same as the same surface area needs to be taken back to primer and then painted. Obviously area will reflect price a bit but body work repairs are expensive because they are labour intensive.

We had a customer who put the info on fb and said unless they were contacted they would go through insurance, the offender did contact and paid for the damage.

I think chips away would be fine wouldn’t it and be less than your excess

OP, that shouldn't be too dear to rectify.

But, if you do decide to claim you'll probably be expected to get a Police reference number.

Call 101. They will ask some questions, probably say the case is then closed as no witnesses/CCTV. But local police will be updated in case of other incidents.

You never know, he may be on the list already!

17 years unprotected no claims! For christs sake do nothing then. I was all for doing nothing anyway, but in that circumstance you would be mad to go through insurance.

Personally I would just leave it as it is, but I realise I have a more relaxed attitude to the ways car look than most people.

@User0610134049
I had to pay the excess. My insurance did say the would attempt to get me half of that back but they never did.
It also counted against my no claims but mine was protected. So I just have to make sure I don’t have another incident in the next 2 years…horribly frustrating though. If it was unprotected I would have lost 15 years of no claim!

@Karatema
Yes you are right in the sense that it went down as a strike against me and presumably him.
It was the insurance that settled 50:50 between them - presumably the cost of repairs. But as the other guy refused to admit fault, his insurers refused to accept responsibility. So I was told they settled.

But it still goes down as a strike against my no claims which was infuriating.

I'm almost certain the police won't do anything even if you had all of his details. I once accidentally scratched a car in a car park. It was heavily raining so there was no point in me leaving a note on the windscreen. I waited for half an hour but no one came, so I gave a note into the supermarket in case the owner of the car went in asking about it, and I also reported myself to the police. I've never had this followed up 🤷‍♀️

@User0610134049

I have 17 years unprotected no claims And excess of £700….

Does that mean you have to pay the first £700 of any claim??

First of all are there any cameras in the car park, if there are try obtain a copy of the incident. With footage providing that is not your fault I would report it to your insurer.

If its down to grey on your paint work it has removed the paint down to the primer layer (I used to be a car sprayer along time ago). It will need both panels spraying and possibly bending in to adjacent panels.

If you can get footage of the incident, you can claim with only the registration. It will not affect your no claims or insurance premium`s as I had exactly the same a couple of years ago. Do not let him get away with it, people like this will do it again and have complete disregard for others.

Just to add if you can prove its not your fault there is no excess charge for you.

@Idontreplytotrolls

Just to add if you can prove its not your fault there is no excess charge for you.

However your insurance renewal will be more as even if it isnt you fault you will be classed as a higher risk. The policy will say you have to report it even if you dont make a claim, but they will still increase your renewal price next time

OP Give the T cut ago, worst case use chips away

Won't comment on the cost etc as I have no clue but all I would say is a few years back having parked my car in a supermarket car park whilst shopping I came back to find a big dent in the side and no more/witnesses - asked for CCTV footage and supermarket basically said no and that area not covered plus you park at your own risk

Perhaps he legged it as he has no tax and shouldn't be driving car - could be his word against yours and he may just deny completely

Gutting I know

A car is essentially a metal box on wheels, why are you getting so worked up about a minor scrape? Just ignore it and get on with your life. If you do claim on insurance remember that no claims bonus is based on claims, not blame.

Appreciate all the advice thank you

Redburnett i got this car about 6 months ago and my previous one was covered in scrapes etc. It didn’t matter and it went for virtually nothing in Facebook in the end, we had it for years and ran it into the ground.

I only mind so much about this because the paint work was perfect until my dd did the seat belt thing last week and this happened. And I was thinking to trade it in after a few years ans I know that bodywork damage knocks a lot off the price.

Someone reversed into me a few weeks ago - minor scrapes - damaged parking sensors and tiny crease in bumper - estimate from body shop is £1500!
Person wanted to settle privately (before we knew actual cost)
Now gone very quiet
Struggling to sort out and lots of hassle
Wish I’d gone straight to my insurance company as past experience was much better

The chips away quote is pretty reasonable I think. More than £100 but less than £200.
I’ll probably just sort it myself and put it down as a learning experience that I should’ve taken his number to give him option of paying for it direct.

Police won't be interested as it happened in a car park. A friend of mine had substantial damage done to her car in an Asda car park years ago and they wouldn't take details or anything as it happened on private land.

@User0610134049

The chips away quote is pretty reasonable I think. More than £100 but less than £200. I’ll probably just sort it myself and put it down as a learning experience that I should’ve taken his number to give him option of paying for it direct.

For goodness sake don't report to your insurer. They'll set up a claim and you'll be affected even if you don't claim. For future reference though if you have a proper accident all you need is a registration the insurance company can get his insurers from that.