Someone knocked off the wing mirror of my parked car in November 2020. The car was parked a few doors away from my house and whilst I had no witnesses, someone had written on some cardboard a number plate and stated it was a scaffold truck that did it. No phone number or name of the person who had left the note.
Long story short I was able to track the driver down from video footage outside my house showing the truck driving down my road just before the impact (sadly the footage did not show the impact but you can hear it). With the number plate visible/confirming to the note's reg, I used social media to track down the driver who parked his truck a few streets away from where I lived.
Upon confronting the driver, he denied all knowledge in a rude manner however once I showed the footage and sent him them via WhatsApp, his tone changed, was apologetic and now remembered the incident/thought it was the car behind him as he heard the impact.
He literally begged me to not report him to my insurance due to previous claims and this would result in his license being revoked and ultimately affecting his livelihood.
He advised he was a local with a very good reputation on delivering scaffold and could provide references.
He further advised he would pay for the costs of repair, which at the time and with my inexperience of this matter and feeling sorry for him that it would affect his livelihood and he was happy to pay the repair costs, I agreed to look into the repair costs.
He was happy for me to get any garage to quote, which I did.
I whatsapped him over the next 24hrs to advise I had contacted a couple of garages and waiting for a repsonse back to when they could see me.
He called back to advise he was still very sorry and he will pay the costs for repair although didn't respond to the message (I know why he purposely called rather than responding to my messages!).
One of the two garages I contacted he apparently had provided scaffolding to in the past and said when I visit to mention his name and company for a discount.
I visited the garage 3 days from the point I confronted the driver and was given a quote the same day advising the part alone would cost £601 excluding labor, which I whatsapped to the driver.
He responded back to the message by message stating 'it was too much my friend'.
I asked him if he could find cheaper to let me know which he advised he would contact his mechanic.
At this point he did not respond and then called me with a changed tone saying, what actual proof I had with his truck actually hitting the car and until then to provide actual proof. When I said you had initially admitted it when I had confronted you, he denied all knowledge and said he wanted actual proof of impact whilst his tone being quite agressive.
I sent a final WhatsApp message stating the a summary of what had happened and what he had agreed to which he now denied knowledge and accpetance.
I then went on to report this to the police online (for a crime reference as I was advised by a friend and as insurance would ask) and then reported to my insurance company.
Based on the WhatsApp messages and footage the insurance company took my claim on as a 'non fault claim' however, it is on the basis on 'the best to their ability' and if they get nowhere with the third party it will be a claim against my own policy.
I have 10 years NCD fully protected.
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As above my long-term leased car was hit by a scaffold ruck in Nov 2020. From November 2020 until to date, the claim has been going through my insurance company (Churchill) - A lot of back and forth with the 3rd party and last min SLA response times, from what Churchill has advised me over the months.
On Christmas Eve 2021 I received a letter from a Solicitors (Lyons Davidson - Bristol) to advise that they have been instructed by 'Direct Line Group' to review my claim and 'if appropriate to recover the monies paid out by my insurer from the third part insurer'.
It also states - 'As settlement of this claim has not been reached, we now intend to issue court proceedings against the person responsible for causing the damage'.
The claimed total is just under £1900 which includes court and legal rep fees.
First time I am going through this process, so I just wanted to check if this is all as should be and what I should be prepared for/lookout for prior to responding to the Solicitors?
Long story short I was able to track the driver down from video footage outside my house showing the truck driving down my road just before the impact (sadly the footage did not show the impact but you can hear it). With the number plate visible/confirming to the note's reg, I used social media to track down the driver who parked his truck a few streets away from where I lived.
Upon confronting the driver, he denied all knowledge in a rude manner however once I showed the footage and sent him them via WhatsApp, his tone changed, was apologetic and now remembered the incident/thought it was the car behind him as he heard the impact.
He literally begged me to not report him to my insurance due to previous claims and this would result in his license being revoked and ultimately affecting his livelihood.
He advised he was a local with a very good reputation on delivering scaffold and could provide references.
He further advised he would pay for the costs of repair, which at the time and with my inexperience of this matter and feeling sorry for him that it would affect his livelihood and he was happy to pay the repair costs, I agreed to look into the repair costs.
He was happy for me to get any garage to quote, which I did.
I whatsapped him over the next 24hrs to advise I had contacted a couple of garages and waiting for a repsonse back to when they could see me.
He called back to advise he was still very sorry and he will pay the costs for repair although didn't respond to the message (I know why he purposely called rather than responding to my messages!).
One of the two garages I contacted he apparently had provided scaffolding to in the past and said when I visit to mention his name and company for a discount.
I visited the garage 3 days from the point I confronted the driver and was given a quote the same day advising the part alone would cost £601 excluding labor, which I whatsapped to the driver.
He responded back to the message by message stating 'it was too much my friend'.
I asked him if he could find cheaper to let me know which he advised he would contact his mechanic.
At this point he did not respond and then called me with a changed tone saying, what actual proof I had with his truck actually hitting the car and until then to provide actual proof. When I said you had initially admitted it when I had confronted you, he denied all knowledge and said he wanted actual proof of impact whilst his tone being quite agressive.
I sent a final WhatsApp message stating the a summary of what had happened and what he had agreed to which he now denied knowledge and accpetance.
I then went on to report this to the police online (for a crime reference as I was advised by a friend and as insurance would ask) and then reported to my insurance company.
Based on the WhatsApp messages and footage the insurance company took my claim on as a 'non fault claim' however, it is on the basis on 'the best to their ability' and if they get nowhere with the third party it will be a claim against my own policy.
I have 10 years NCD fully protected.
----
As above my long-term leased car was hit by a scaffold ruck in Nov 2020. From November 2020 until to date, the claim has been going through my insurance company (Churchill) - A lot of back and forth with the 3rd party and last min SLA response times, from what Churchill has advised me over the months.
On Christmas Eve 2021 I received a letter from a Solicitors (Lyons Davidson - Bristol) to advise that they have been instructed by 'Direct Line Group' to review my claim and 'if appropriate to recover the monies paid out by my insurer from the third part insurer'.
It also states - 'As settlement of this claim has not been reached, we now intend to issue court proceedings against the person responsible for causing the damage'.
The claimed total is just under £1900 which includes court and legal rep fees.
First time I am going through this process, so I just wanted to check if this is all as should be and what I should be prepared for/lookout for prior to responding to the Solicitors?
