Girlfriend scraped a parked car... Looking to do everything as we should

RoyMi6

RoyMi6

RoyMi6

Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2010
Posts
2,893
Got a call from the GF (insanely upset) saying she'd bumped a car on the way to work but carried on driving.

I couldn't make out exactly where it happened during this first call as she was the most upset I'd ever heard her.

As I didn't know where it had happened (CCTV covered parking lot? Busy high street??) I told her to call the non emergency police number to report it.

I'm actually heading home at this time and she calls me back. Turns out it was a neighbors car that she bumped while doing a turn in the usual spot.

When I get home I find that the Ford Ka's giant plastic bumpers have done it's job, and the old Volvo that she scraped (banged up massively already) appears to only have superficial damage.

Turns out the neighbor that owns it is on holiday but I got their contact details, gave them a call and have emailed them pictures.

I've told her to call the police to update them that you've made contact with the owner, exchanged detail and will meet them on Monday when they return.

This all happened within an hour of the incident.

Next step is to call her insurance company.

I'll let you know how it turns out - hopefully it will be an example of how things can go right. I'm not sure I would have done it any other way next time - hopefully it won't be too harsh a lesson in why you should always stop :(
 
if they are both old cars don't talk to the insurance company till you've spoken to the owner, no point having a claim on record, or getting them to pay out unless the cost to fix is over a couple of hundred quid
 
Siliconslave said:
if they are both old cars don't talk to the insurance company till you've spoken to the owner, no point having a claim on record, or getting them to pay out unless the cost to fix is over a couple of hundred quid
Click to expand...

The damage is nothing compared to the state of the rest of the car.

She's made a scuff but every panel has rust on one edge or another and there's even a bolted on piece of metal on one of the front arches...

Being a little friendly with the owner, and being on the phone to her, I don't think she'll actually progress it.

However, from the possible "hit and run" side of things from my partners side I definitely think we need to report to the insurance company since we involved the police so early - not to mention it's required by law regardless...
 
I'm not sure I'd bother making contact for superficial damage to an already banged up car (depends how 'superficial' I suppose).

Similarly, I'm never overly bothered about such superficial damage to my already banged up 10-year old Passat.

Frankly, sounds like you've been a bit over-officious with it all.
 
Deep breath relax and wait until you talk to the guy before doing anything, if he is driving something a bit battered and old he probably has no interest in having a non fault claim on his policy either.

I don't know why but women really love to flap about these things, I had an ex that touched a parked car with a bit of her bump strip only enough to leave a smear in the dirt on the other car and it took a good 20 minutes to stop her freaking out.

Also no need to involve the police next time. http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/faq-answer?id=Q425
 
Last edited:
kindai said:
Quite.... seems you're girlfriend is making a mountain our of an.... anthill?
Click to expand...

Her mother, father and step father are all police officers - she's never put a foot out of line in her entire life. It's literally the first time she's ever faced this kind situation - that involves damage to someone else property or the police.

It's not easy to keep a level head in that kind of situation. Still, she's the type of person that will learn from it as well.
 
Couldn't agree more with what people are saying.

If I had been in the car we would have stopped, checked out the damage. Got straight in contact with the owner and likely they wouldn't have done anything.

The problem has definitely been exacerbated by the fact that we had to communicate over the phone while she was massively upset and I didn't have all the details - all I knew was she'd driven away from hitting a car.

In my mind we had to sort that out ASAP (the hit and run aspect)

It doesn't help the car owner is out of the country at the moment so it makes resolving it in person difficult but in turn this means that potentially we're only reporting the accident to the insurance company 7 days after it happens - IF they owner chooses to pursue it.

Obviously I have no control over what the owner chooses to do when it comes to this so in my mind she needs to report it to insurance ASAP as well. I'm not sure I'll be convinced any other way, regardless of the monetary penalties.
 
My mrs reversed into a new Seat Leon a few months back. Waited for the owner to come out of the supermarket and told him.

He supposidly just said "Dont worry about it, its only a car" jumped in his car and drove off. Granted mrs said neither car was marked but she said he didnt even bother looking at his car at all.

I would have been looking at it at every angle if it was mine haha.
 
tom_e said:
Also no need to involve the police next time. http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/faq-answer?id=Q425
Click to expand...

"If both parties stopped at the scene and exchanged names and addresses there is no requirement to report the accident to the police."

That's the exact opposite of what happened.

This seems more appropriate:

Question
Do I have to report to the police an accident that happened in a car park?

Answer
If you're the driver of a mechanically propelled vehicle (car, motorcycle, bus, lorry etc.) that's involved in an accident on a road or public place and:

damage is caused to another vehicle or to someone else's property

You must stop and provide your details and in some cases produce your insurance certificate. If you don't you must report the matter to the police - it's against the law not to. For a fuller explanation of accident law see the additional accident questions.
Click to expand...
 
Tell her not to worry, it's only a car.

I would have waited until the neighbor got back, then tell them and ask what they want to do.

If it's some banged up old car, apologise with some flowers and a bottle of wine, then hope for the best outcome :)
 
RoyMi6 said:
"If both parties stopped at the scene and exchanged names and addresses there is no requirement to report the accident to the police."

That's the exact opposite of what happened.

This seems more appropriate:
Click to expand...

You only need to inform the police if you cannot trace the owner (such as a multi storey etc.) as it would pre-empt the owner coming back and reporting her to the police as driven off, as the owner is a neighbor and you have made contact I wouldn't worry, also do not inform your insurance until you have spoken to the neighbor as they may not want to pursue the claim, if they do and your insurance queries why the delay state you don't want to claim for your vehicle and the other party was on holiday.
 
Little update.

We chose to inform the insurance company and that looks to have paid off. When she called the police back they've closed in case in light of us following the process to the letter.

Maundie - I totally agree we should only inform the police if we can't find the owner. When I gave that advice to her (to call the police) I was under the impression it was a car in town or something. It was difficult to get a rational word out of her at the time.

Informing the insurance company appears to have been part of the reason the police where happy to immediately close the issue. When she first had called they were asking her to report to her nearest police station by the end of the day to make a statement in person so; obviously we were keen to de-escalate her having to do that as soon as possible.

It really looks like common sense has won out here. Even with the police involved they've willingly taken a step back and we now just need to see if the owner wants to pursue anything.
 
kaptainmarc said:
There's doing the right thing

and then there is going HUGELY overboard for a little scrape that can be easily resolved
Click to expand...

This.

In future, take a deep breath, stop for five minutes and just approach the owner calmly. Chances are, if the damage is as minor as you say and the car is as old and trashed as you've also said, they aren't going to care too much.

Should have just asked them to get a quote if they want it fixed and you'll foot the bill. Wine and chocolates for the inconvenience.
 
I know what's done and done and you can't change it now, but if someone went into my old banger and caused very little damage, I would be more annoyed about not talking to me first.

A non-fault claim on your insurance still puts up the premium, could be more than the damage actually caused.
 
You've reported it to the police so the choice is made. You need to contact your insurance probably?
They likely won't bother claiming but the insurance will load the insurance because she's a risk.
 
kaptainmarc said:
There's doing the right thing

and then there is going HUGELY overboard for a little scrape that can be easily resolved
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. This is why insurance premiums continue to soar, getting a load of third parties involved over a simple 'sorry i bumped your car, let me help you fix that'.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom