Need some advice..

[demonwolf]

Someone hit my parked car last night and sped off without leaving any details. Basic hit and run. I realised the alarm going on outside was my car, confirmed this by a glance outside my bedroom window, and went downstairs to turn it off. This was about 9:10pm. Realised the whole front of my car was damaged and the car has been moved back about 3-4 feet. (I remember exactly where I parked because a tree was blocking my drivers door so I parked with just enough space to clear it). At this time I had no idea who had done this.
That was last night and this morning one of my neighbours tells me that there is a witness who saw the whole thing and has the registration of the car that hit mine. I took pictures of all the damage today and retrieved some rear red light things from the floor underneath the front of my car obviously from the car that had hit me. They say Fiat on them.
Got the information from the witness and he says a black car was spinning its wheels furiously from a parked position then suddenly reversed at great speed and struck my car and immediately took off. My car moved back so much it struck the car behind it which in turn struck a third car behind it. He noted the time (8:40pm) and the reg, and said a young man was the driver. I've typed the reg into an online registration checker and it gives the make of the car as a Fiat and the colour as black. I've also checked to see if the car is insured and it isn't. The witness is prepared to give any statement to the police and go to court if neccessary.
I went to the police station tonight to report it with all my evidence and details and I've been given a 'Road Traffic Collision/Accident Self Reporting Scheme' form to fill in and return. With the promise of an interview by traffic detectives or something when the form is handed in.
So basically an uninsured young hooligan driver has smashed up my car and driven off..
It's a 1996 BMW 325 TDS, not really worth anything over £800. So what are my options and who pays for the repair? Can I get compensation for this? And how long will it take? Do I have to tell the insurance company? I have almost 8 years no claims bonus and have never had an accident before. I really don't want to lose my ncb.
A relative has said that in the case of a hit and run I will get compensation but it will take time (but he didn't clarify from whom I claim) that I need to make sure I have a professional estimate taken of all the repair work so that when the time comes I can claim an exact figure. Is this all true?
Any advice and experience would be welcome.

[Larkspeed]

First check to see if you have protected no claims, if you do then your NCB should be safe.

Actually saying that since your car was hit while parked I don't even think that would effect your NCB anyway

Chances are if your car is only worth 800 quid as you say then a claim for the damage to your own vehicle will probably result in a write off. They often let you keep the car after they write it off and reduce the amount they pay for it however if you take that option you would have to get the car fully repaired and inspected before you can put it back on the road again, possibly costing more than the car is worth.

I don't think you are responsible for the damage to the other 2 vehicles as their damage was a direct result of the same hit and run that damaged your car.

Now I am no lawyer so you would have to verify your liability concerning the other cars.

You need to decide if the damage to your car is worth it to you to fix or if you just want to let the insurance write it off.

[finlay666]

Chances are if your car is only worth 800 quid as you say then a claim for the damage to your own vehicle will probably result in a write off. They often let you keep the car after they write it off and reduce the amount they pay for it however if you take that option you would have to get the car fully repaired and inspected before you can put it back on the road again, possibly costing more than the car is worth.

I don't think you are responsible for the damage to the other 2 vehicles as their damage was a direct result of the same hit and run that damaged your car.

+1 on the first bit, I had an old Honda Accord that was written off when someone went into me, £880 car when I bought it, nearly £1600 damage to it (low speed collision from behind)

Depending on the damage and your excess if you have to claim against the car... I'd look at just getting a new one, but you should report it to the insurance company (if it's reported to the police you really should notify them as IIRC it's against all policy T+C not to and they love an excuse to invalidate your insurance (you may only have to notify them at renewal time though))

I doubt they will let you keep it though, mine wanted it as a result

As for the responsibility... No idea.

[kalniel]

Yes you must tell your insurers, and your premium will go up for the next three years or so as a result, but failing to do so will void your insurance and could lead to much worse than just a relatively mildly increased premium. At the least, your insurers need to know your side of the story as the car your car damaged will be claiming against you in the first instance - your insurers will be the ones to say 'nope'.

You can chose to claim or not to claim on your insurance for repairs. Claiming will reset your NCB if you don't have NCB protection. If you do, it still might lower the 'bonus years', see your insurance policy for details. If you claim, the insurers will handle pretty much everything, and will claim themselves from a pool of money all insurers pay into. If you don't claim then you'll have to sort stuff yourself. Remember, your premium will be increasing anyway - it's the loss of no claims bonus and slightly premium increases elsewhere when you have to declare you made a claim that you need to factor into whether it's worth claiming vs repairing yourself. You will have to declare to other insurance companies when renewing that your car was involved in an accident even if you were not.

Regarding compensation for yourself, don't hold your breath. I've seen the odd tv cop thing where they claim the uninsured driver pays for the damage, but I've heard just as many real life stories where no such thing happens.

Finally your insurance will likely pass/sell on your details to personal accident claim laywers. Who, despite you not being in the car, will start spamming you with texts trying to get you to use them to claim. Sending cold call texts is illegal, you should never respond to them (even with a STOP text) and instead forward them to your mobile network's spam address (usually 7726).

[Larkspeed]

Sorry would have to disagree with that

you only lose no claims or get an increased premium if you actually make a claim that is deemed your fault.

If you are simply informing your insurance company of the accident for the sake of legality and not actually claiming then there should be no increase in premium or loss of NCB.

Since the OP has a witness that is willing to testify the car was parked at the time of the accident and that the OP was not in the car at the time, then providing the car was legally parked there is no fault on the part of the OP and it should not affect premiums or NCB

[kalniel]

If you are simply informing your insurance company of the accident for the sake of legality and not actually claiming then there should be no increase in premium or loss of NCB.

Not true. The risk assessment goes up hence increased premium. You might get lucky and the risk increase could be balanced out by other factors.

[Smudger]

Kalniel's right - I've seen instances where insurance has been invalidated because someone rang to enquire about a claim, not gone through with it, then not declared it when renewing...

[Larkspeed]

yes but that is failure to disclose when at renewal which would invalidate insurance

I do not see how simply informing the insurance of the incident without filing claim can raise your premium.

It is clearly not your fault and should not in any way increase your risk factor since it was out of your control.

I have had my car clipped while parked on two occasions and both times I informed my insurance company of it, stated I did not wish to actually make a claim I was just making them aware for the record and fixed the car myself.

And on one of the occasions I had the same thing where my car slide into another.

On neither occasion did I get increased premiums or loss of NCB.

So from my own experience simply informing the insurance company of the incident should not effect anything, but not informing them can cause your insurance to be invalidated.

[kalniel]

yes but that is failure to disclose when at renewal which would invalidate insurance

I do not see how simply informing the insurance of the incident without filing claim can raise your premium.

It is clearly not your fault and should not in any way increase your risk factor since it was out of your control.

Ditto area you live and your profession.. but they are also risk factors. Insurance is very little about your actions as a driver. The fact that a car was involved in an incident means the risk factor increases - the area now has an incidence of an idiot who crashes into parked cars - yours in particular. They have no way of knowing if that's really a one off, or if there's something about that area that means there's an increased risk of that sort of thing happening. So they go off the stats. Have any kind of incident, even non-fault, and the stats indicate the area you park your particular car is more risky, hence premiums increase.

I have had my car clipped while parked on two occasions and both times I informed my insurance company of it, stated I did not wish to actually make a claim I was just making them aware for the record and fixed the car myself.

And on one of the occasions I had the same thing where my car slide into another.

On neither occasion did I get increased premiums or loss of NCB.

So from my own experience simply informing the insurance company of the incident should not effect anything, but not informing them can cause your insurance to be invalidated.

And on my two previous experiences it did increase premiums. When I asked why, they explained clearly how the risk factors increase even if I was not present, and how it would usually disappear after about 3 years. In one of those cases the increase was barely anything, because other factors acted in the opposite direction.

[DanceswithUnix]

As someone who has been in a no fault accident where I wasn't even in the car and the other person's insurance fully paid the claim, I can state that my insurance premium went up because of it.

The insurance people claim that being involved in an accident, even if you are not to blame, statistically increases your chance of being involved in another accident within the next 3 years. They load your premium accordingly.

So Kalniel is spot on, your insurance will go up for 3 years as mine did. That is what makes the modern protected NCD a racket, because your premium will go up anyway but without protection it can price you off the road with a double increase of losing the NCD as well.

So, the other cars involved will no doubt include your registration number in their claims, so for your own protection you must declare the incident to your insurers.

Down to the wording of your policy as to how punitive a no fault claim works out to be though. Might be cheaper to just buy a car than claim and increase your premiums by hundreds per year, or it might be that having informed the insurance company the worst has happened and you may as well claim. Policies are different on this.

Did your policy come with legal cover? Would be better than asking the opinion of us with our limited experience. RAC and AA should also have legal helplines if you are a member of either and have a specific question.

[demonwolf]

From the gist of most of the replies it seems the insurers will look at my report of an accident and then decide to increase the risk attached to my car being parked in this area overnight and increase my premium.
This has a thread of logic to it except that they will probably only increase my premium and only I will be penalised becuase of this. If this area is now suddenly deemed a higher accident risk then all my neighbours should get increased premiums too. Otherwise its very unjust and seems to me just about the greed of the insurers trying to find any excuse to raise my premium.

Does anybody have any experience dealing with the Motor Insurers' Bureau and getting compensation from them? I'm assuming they are this uninsured drivers fund that every insurance company has to pay into. If so that seems to me the place I should look at to get some money for my repairs. Or does my insurance company do that on my behalf?

Thanks for all the help and replies so far.

[demonwolf]

I have comprehensive insurance with NCB protection and legal cover.

[Larkspeed]

Ditto area you live and your profession.. but they are also risk factors. Insurance is very little about your actions as a driver. The fact that a car was involved in an incident means the risk factor increases - the area now has an incidence of an idiot who crashes into parked cars - yours in particular. They have no way of knowing if that's really a one off, or if there's something about that area that means there's an increased risk of that sort of thing happening. So they go off the stats. Have any kind of incident, even non-fault, and the stats indicate the area you park your particular car is more risky, hence premiums increase.


And on my two previous experiences it did increase premiums. When I asked why, they explained clearly how the risk factors increase even if I was not present, and how it would usually disappear after about 3 years. In one of those cases the increase was barely anything, because other factors acted in the opposite direction.

Well then insurance has changed a lot in the 7 years since I left the UK

That's one of the things I do not miss is the stupidly high insurance premiums.

Our last car a, Ford Escort GT, cost us 13 Euro a month for fully comprehensive insurance, in the UK I would expect to pay at least double if not triple that.

[DanceswithUnix]

I have comprehensive insurance with NCB protection and legal cover.

Well you paid extra for the legal cover, I would say it is time to find out how good and helpful their advice is!

[demonwolf]

Just to give an update. Ive completed and returned the police accident report form. Ive contacted my insurer just to tell them what happened but not to make a claim. I did ask them before I gave my details that if I was legally bound to tell them of any accident that occured which was yes otherwise my insurance could be invalidated at a later date. I then asked if just by informing them of this accident/hit and run would my insurance premium increase. He was cagey and said he wasnt sure, but supplemented with he didnt think so but didnt want to say no defintively as it might turn out that it does increase my insurance next year. Gave him all the details. He put my details through to their legal aid.
The legal aid representative contacted me this morning and I gave her the number plate of the car that hit mine. I told her that I dont think the other car was insured because Ive already done a check. She said she would do her own checks but in that case there wasnt any way that they could help me. If the other driver had insurance the legal aid team would chase up compensation and I would get money for repairs without having to claim and without any detriment to my insurance cover. But in this case with an uninsured driver they cant do anything.
So now I think I have to wait for the police to investigate and find the owner and try to prosecute them and get some compensation directly.
I'm also looking at making a claim at the motor insurers' burea. They state 'The Motor Insurers' Bureau is a fund of last resort and as such will consider claims for property damage and injury where compensation cannot be claimed from another source.'
Thought I'd let people know in case the information can help anyone else in future.

[Sarahangius98]

I personally have my car insurance with NCB so i think in order to keep your insurance validated you should inform about everything related to that accident to your insurance company