Accused

[Hannibal]

That's exactly what I'd expect.

 

If it does go through insurance it'll be a real pain.

For a few hundred pound repair the defending costs with a vehicle inspection, arguing etc... will be stupid.

 

These claims tend to sit unresolved for some time on your record too which can effect your premium come renewal time if it's not settled.

 

You need to ask for the proof that you hit her car.

Is the person that said you hit the car willing to stand up in court and say you did?

 

I'm aware of this and think if may be an issue going forward.  My insurance will be due for renewal in March and I expect that this will still be hanging over me then.  Looks like no matter what happens I'll end up paying. 

[Hannibal]

I'd also add that I've known car alarms go of for a variety of reasons, not just getting hit. 

 

My Fabia's used to go off on a very cold night or hot day - pressure change apparently. 

There's a Micra that goes off on my street every time a lorry of large vehicle goes passed. 

[Gti Jazz Blue]

If you have legal cover I would recommend that you use it now for some legal advice on the best way to proceed. Outline exactly the sequence of events, and photos etc and you concerns that it may effect your future policy cost.

 

I would also recommend that you carefully document as much as the event as you can recall whilst it is still quite fresh, any photos that you can take of the location will help as well.

 

Good Luck.

[mdon]

I had the same scenario on the street back in 2002, lady accused me of hitting her car because her son had seen it. I refused insurance details at first as the damage didn't match (apparently my number plate screw markers her bumper which needed replaced, obviously nothing to do with it being a mobility car due for replacement and the bumper covered in old damage) anyhow after a few letters from her insurance I finally gave my insurance details (they couldn't trace it from my reg supposidely) I told my insurance that there was no contact made between the vehicles and because of the value of the claim her insurance gave up after a month or so.

I am willing to bet the same will happen here. I recommend you make no further contact with her other than provide your details and then inform your insurance, it is your word against the other staff members (tell them that he can't of possibly have seen a collision), she'll claim and end up paying her excess and having a claim so will be a lot worse off than you.

[Neily03]

I doubt very much that a scuff on the bumper as shown would even set the alarm off anyway....

[pierst1]

Really feel for you fella, stinking attitude but a good indication of the person you're dealing with.

Me personally I wouldn't write back with the above, you've clearly laid out your case which she's decided to ignore.

Having said that I'd clearly state that if she fraudulently progresses with a claim against you and involving your insurance company you will be looking to recover any costs involved directly or through any changes invoked by your insurance company to your risk or premium.

If she does indeed persue it, consider a civil claim through the small claims court against her directly. Cost you a tenner and with the evidence you have she will be told to go away and claim off her own insurance.

Strike quickly and hopefully a counter threat will get her off your back.

 

Good advise above, any Judge would realise this is fraudulent. The insurer would probably laugh in her face anyway once the evidence is seen and refuse to do anything but add an accident to her claim history.  If she is intent on doing so then claim as much off her at a civil level as possible including time and inconvenience stress etc charge for your ink paper time sitting down thinking about it talking about it on here and tell her you will do this.

[Hannibal]

I contacted my insurer at lunch time and described the situation.  This hasn't been logged as a claim on my file as yet, its been described as mistaken identity.  They will see how this progresses and act/ contact me as approproiate.  Based up what I described to them, especially the paint mis-match they are prepared to defend this - We'd all have been surprised if they didn't.  I've also taken video all the way along the side of my car as kindly suggested - it really helps to show there is no damage. 

 

I am giving thought to pursuing the other party for time/expense but I don't want to inflame the situation at present.  If this drags on then I may well reconsider.  As it stands she's I expect she'll already be out of pocket.  The cost of repair is more than likley less than her excess.  And then there's the claim on her record. 

 

I'm also sure that the centre has messed up for passing my reg details onto a third party - but I'll get to them later :think:

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice, I'll be sure to let you know how this progresses. 

[Yearofthegoat]

RE. Data Protection, from the ICO:

 

Is it ever acceptable to disclose personal data to other organisations for them to use for their own purposes?

It depends. You may be approached by a third party seeking personal data about one of your employees or customers. For example, the police may want information in connection with an investigation, or an individual may want information to pursue legal action. In such cases, you may choose to disclose the information if the conditions of a relevant exemption are satisfied.

 

Unless one of these specific exemptions applies, individuals should generally be able to choose whether or not their personal data is disclosed to another organisation. If your intention to disclose information in this way was not made absolutely clear at the outset, at a time when the individual had the option not to proceed in their business relationship with you, then you will usually have to get the individual’s consent before making such disclosures.

 

A decision to share personal data with another organisation does not take away your duty to treat individuals fairly. So before sharing personal data, you should consider carefully what the recipient will do with it, and what the effect on individuals is likely to be. It is good practice to obtain an assurance about this, for example in the form of a written contract.

 

And:

 

If challenged, you must be prepared to defend your decision to apply an exemption, to the ICO or the court. So we advise you to ensure that any such decisions are taken at an appropriately senior level in your organisation and that you document the reasons for the decision.

 

If passing your details to third parties - i.e. insurance companies - was not listed as one of the purposes they said they'd collected your details for, then they're in breach of the Act unless they can show why they decided an exemption was appropriate.  I'm personally not convinced that allowing another person to claim against you would be sufficient reason.

 

Good luck!

Edited 9 January, 2014 by Yearofthegoat

[cheezemonkhai]

Make sure you do a full walk around of your car, not just a one side, to show no damage and also pick up a copy of a newspaper with a date on it and bring it into the camera at the start and end.

 

That way it's much harder to dispute the date it was taken, and they can't say you took it before the date of the incident

[FUBAR]

Out of interest did you have a scout around the car park looking to see if any other cars had corresponding damage? I'd want a good look at the 'facilities managers' vehicle as he is the root of all evil in this. 

[gadgetman]

I contacted my insurer at lunch time and described the situation. This hasn't been logged as a claim on my file as yet, its been described as mistaken identity. They will see how this progresses and act/ contact me as approproiate. Based up what I described to them, especially the paint mis-match they are prepared to defend this - We'd all have been surprised if they didn't. I've also taken video all the way along the side of my car as kindly suggested - it really helps to show there is no damage.

I am giving thought to pursuing the other party for time/expense but I don't want to inflame the situation at present. If this drags on then I may well reconsider. As it stands she's I expect she'll already be out of pocket. The cost of repair is more than likley less than her excess. And then there's the claim on her record.

I'm also sure that the centre has messed up for passing my reg details onto a third party - but I'll get to them later :think:

Thanks to everyone for the advice, I'll be sure to let you know how this progresses.

if you gave them any information about you it'll be logged against you on file and MID regardless of what the call handler told you

[Octyman140]

No it wouldn't, it MID doesn't hold this sort of Data. There may be notes on the OPs account but certainly nothing to affect the actual insurance.

[PastyBoy]

Just to playing devil's advocate but can you not canvas the site and "come up" with a counter witness?

As it's her word and someone else against yours; level the playing field and make it 2 against 2.

 

"Well he saw you hit my car"
"Well Dave from accounts saw me arrive and says I didn't"

 

Stalemate surely?

[Hannibal]

Out of interest did you have a scout around the car park looking to see if any other cars had corresponding damage? I'd want a good look at the 'facilities managers' vehicle as he is the root of all evil in this. 

 

This in on my agenda for today! 

[Hannibal]

Just to playing devil's advocate but can you not canvas the site and "come up" with a counter witness?

As it's her word and someone else against yours; level the playing field and make it 2 against 2.

 

"Well he saw you hit my car"

"Well Dave from accounts saw me arrive and says I didn't"

 

Stalemate surely?

 

I won't sink to this level.  I wouldn't feel comfortable with it, and I wouldn't ask anyone else to do it.  Blind faith in the system perhaps

[PastyBoy]

Well as you say you didn't do it so - in theory - justice and the truth should previal.

I really don't know how they can have a case with no evidence (and potentially evidence that proves it wasn't you) and backed up hearsay.

 

Fingers crossed.

[whitep]

My wife got accused and the accuser ended up getting the police involved. She took her car in and said ok... point to my damage on my car that would have caused it. The officer just waved her away and signed the case off as no evidence. No harm done.

[RNPhoto]

It seems insurance companies works slightly different in the UK than here (Denmark).

 

I was at the opposite end of that stick once: I got a tail light smashed and received a dent at the corner of my car (above the bumper!) 2-2.5 inches long 1 inch deep!

 

I found the offending van a couple months later, red paint along the side at exactly the height mine was missing. Took pictures and sent it to the insurance, all they did was send a letter to GLS (the company owning the van). They asked the driver, he claimed he hadn't hit me, and that was it !!!      Despite the rest of the van showing clear signs of being driven like a bumper car!

 

I ended up paying the taillight myself (I had obviously replaced it right away) and living with the dent.

 

Your situation sucks right now, but I wouldn't be too worried TBH. Sounds like you have your insurer on your side, and as long as you don't **** off her witness (assuming it wasn't actually him that hit her) I don't think he'll make a strong enough argument that he actually saw you hit her.

Smart move by her though, getting you to canvas the grounds for the real offender instead of getting off her @$$ herself and go check!

 

[mdon]

Just to playing devil's advocate but can you not canvas the site and "come up" with a counter witness?

As it's her word and someone else against yours; level the playing field and make it 2 against 2.

"Well he saw you hit my car"

"Well Dave from accounts saw me arrive and says I didn't"

Stalemate surely?

Why is it 2 against one? The owner didn't see the collision, only the colleague who passed on the details. It's their word against the OPs so as I posted it's already a stalemate.

[moley]

I wouldn't worry too much as the witness did not see a collision, all they observed was a car alarm going off and a car matching yours driving by.

[stevenStefano]

Someone hit my bumper last week worse than in the pictures you showed and my alarm didn't go off

[Guy Incognito]

You say it is a BMW and I am fairly sure they don't have indicators.  I know they have hazard lights on the X5 and X6 4x4 models but they only work when parked half on the pavement or on yellow lines outside schools!

 

That means only some sort of siren was going off which may not have been audible from within a modern sound deadened car with the radio on and windows up.

 

On a more serious note I think most of the salient points have been covered.  In criminal cases witness statements carry very little weight due to proven unreliability so may be similar in a civil case/insurance claim such as this.

 

The damage looks more than a day old to me although hard to tell in a photo.  If it had been skelped before you went by it may be the alarm was still flashing and or hooting for twenty seconds every few minutes or so if she had not disarmed and then rearmed the system.

 

Best of luck with this, it sounds stressful and annoying and with it being work related adds a nice layer of complexity and politics just for good measure. :(

[eggessford]

Agreed, it looks like that car has been reversed into a stationary object. Look where the crack is. She probably parked it there with the intention of making a false claim. At least that what I would suggest to everyone if it happened to me

[national]

OK I will come clean

My experience was the other way about

I was parked up outside the house for the day (Friday) I do not use the car at weekends

My daughter had visited and on leaving said what happened to your car, the front was all mangled including the bonnet, my car was a Yellow Skoda VRS

 

I called the police and in about an hour they turned up, and I explained the damage, they first felt the bonnet and engine, then asked for all my documents MOT, INSURANCE, TAX DISC etc and breathealised me

 

Then went to my neighbours, my next door neighbour was very kind and explained the big blue Range Rover man who collects his buy to let rents, reversed into me, she was going to go out but noticed he was writing a note of explanation so did nothing  (the note said sucker)

 

I searched for him and his big blue Range Rover DID have yellow paint on the tow ball, got the police again, but they said it could not be proved as no one knew the registration, end of story

 

I was stupid enough to make a claim on MY Insurance, which has cost me four times what the original cost would have been private  (hit and run is classed as an at fault claim)

 

I give you this as she is about to get a damn great bill, NOT you

 

National

Edited 13 January, 2014 by national

[Red Studio]

That's bad. In your case you had a witness identify the driver so you'd think a reg number would have been un-necessary. You even had a sample of handwriting.

 

She saw him, spoke to him even, watched him get in his car, reverse into yours, leave a note etc. but because she didn't get the reg plate the Police say it couldn't be him? That's just shocking

Edited 13 January, 2014 by Red Studio