Was this lady classed as a pedestrian? (car incident)

[didhedidhe]

I was parked up when a lady pulled up and parked in front of me and got out and opened her boot and tried to pull her pram and the folded wheels out at the same time, while doing this the pram wheels opened and scraped across my bonnet leaving a significant scrape and dent in it.
While she put the pram together and got her little one out and in the pram I got out to see the damage.
I asked for her details and she said she was a pedestrian as she wasn’t actually driving her car and said there’s nothing I can do.
Is she right? Is there no point trying to claim on her insurance?

I have the number plate and dash cam footage but not sure where I stand.

Omg! I would definitely get in touch with your insurance asap. They will advise you.

You need to report it to the police.

If she damaged your car I’d be calling the police and contacting insurance. If her car insurance doesn’t cover it she can pay for the damage herself. Her logic would mean someone could wander round damaging cars and not be found at fault.

Edited to add take photos of the car and save that dash cam
footage

If you have the dash cam footage then that's the end of it, surely?

ETA - you were parked up. so was she. no one was driving. I'm not sure but wouldn't this be criminal damage or something? Maybe it wasn't criminal damage if it wasn't intentional, but it's damage to your property while two cars were parked up in a car park.

Also to add for PSA - never let on in these situations that you have dash cam footage. Keep that under your hat until after the event has passed and everyone has left the scene.

Criminal damage can be intentional, or in this case, reckless.

The woman with the pram acted recklessly.

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/48/section/1

Why? genuine question.

Thank you for the link

This woman doesn'ty seem like the aggressive type, so that rules out the primary reason - danger of being intimidated or threatended into handing it over.

But more broadly speaking, People behave differently when they know they're being recorded. Someone who might otherwise make an admission, acknowledge what happened or what they did, might not when they know they're being recorded. (if the camera is still running it would be useful)

I'd never get out my car and announce dash cam footage.

Wow, she's a proper see you next tues isn't she?!

It's not a driving offence in any sense. Speak to your insurance company about whether you are covered for accidental damage to your car when it's parked on the street. Her attitude is infuriating, but she didn't purposely damage your car so there isn't a criminal offence. I don't think it would be 'reckless' to take items out of your boot without being sufficiently careful not to scrape the car behind. Just careless.

It was criminal damage and I'd be reporting it to the police. Then see what your car insurance says about vandalism or criminal damage and whether it's worth you using your insurance cover to claim based on the excess and the impact on your no claims.

Definitely contact your insurers for advice, or if you have free legal advice through that, then you could call them. And report to the police, ot doesnt sound like a driving/traffic offence but it still seems like it is an offence.

Dad had a nightmare with insurance in a 'pedestrian' claim. A car knocked a cyclist and the bike smashed in to Dad's parked car causing lots of damage. Obviously cyclist was not to blame but the drivers car insurance wouldn't pay as he didn't hit my dad's car! Dad ended up paying for repairs himself

If the insurance company and police won't help, then you could try the small claims court for negligent damage to your car.

Because if they lie and you then produce dash cam evidence it shows them in a poor light and strengthens your claim.

Codswallop.

The reason pedestrian and cyclist damage is difficult to pursue is more a matter of identifying the person to pursue. This does not mean that it cannot be pursued though.

You pay car insurance to protect yourself from costs incurred from damage to your car, which can run into many thousand. Your insurer will arrange for repair and if they have sufficient evidence they may decide to reclaim their cost from any another party that was at fault. In this case you have evidence of the damage being caused and a potential means of identifying that person through the registration of the car. This is not for you to bother yourself with, your insurer would decide if it was financially worth pursuing - and they may not if the cost of the repair is low enough not to justify the potential legal fight.

OP needs to decide if claiming on her insurance is worth it, as it will constitute a claim at renewal time. If the cost of repair is in hundreds, it might be as well taking the hit rather than claiming.

Other routes available: It may be considered criminal damage, so the police could be consulted to see if this is something they would pursue.

Private damages claim via court (sue for damages). Getting an ID may be more challenging but there are means, and people who can legitimately request details from the registered keeper of the car. Again, may not be cost effective as likely to need legal representation.

Post the video on a local FB group asking for details of the person to pursue for a damages claim via small claims court. Cost effective as long as you can get the ID of the person. But this will cause a bit of an online storm. A bit of a nuclear option.

Tricky one. Her insurance won't cover as she wasn't driving but she can still be personally liable if she was negligent (a lower bar than recklessness for the criminal offence), which she may well have been.

Where it gets difficult is that your insurance company may decide it's not worth pursuing her (given that they'd both have to show negligence and then enforce against her). That's a lot less certain and a lot more faff than two insurance companies sorting things out between themselves. You'd then need to consider whether to take action yourself, which again is uncertain and quite a faff.

All you can do for now is give everything to your insurer. I think the police are unlikely to be interested although you can of course report it if you like.

I think you are right that it's not a driving offence, but that doesn't mean that the woman is not liable for the damage. This seems to come fairly and squarely within the category of negligence causing foreseeable loss to OP, for which she would certainly be liable.

@SilenceInside , it wasn't criminal damage, it was accidental damage.

Your father should have pursued that one through the courts if necessary. The other car plainly caused the accident even if it did not hit your Dad's car directly, and I would hope the cyclist was also claiming against him so they could have pooled resources in going after him and his insurers.

Codswallop, really? Why so rude?

Irrelevant. You can still be liable for accidental damage caused by negligence.

It can be criminal damage if the action was reckless, which I think it could be considered as.

Her car insurance won’t cover it because she wasn’t driving, however she has committed an act of criminal damage and you should report this to the police via 101. They should be able to trace her via the number plate and you have video evidence of the crime as well. If it goes to court and she is found guilty, she will be expected to pay the cost of the repairs.

You would be able to claim the repairs on your car insurance but you would have to pay the excess and potentially loss your no claims discount so unless it’s a hugely expensive repair I wouldn’t bother.