Insurance 1 Police 0

[Johnny C]

Someone drove into the back of my car whilst it was parked in Manchester Airport Short Stay whilst I was abroad.

Some kind chap left a message on the windscreen with details of the car that caused the damage and his mobile number. So I reported it to the Police and to my insurance company.

After about 3 weeks the police went round, the chap denied it and there was no damage on his car (no surprises there, you can get a lot of work done in 3 weeks!). The Police rang the witness a few times but got no reply. So their conclusion was that the bloke hadn't done it and the person who did it probably left someone elses details. The main 'evidence' for this conclusion was that chap they spoke to (who's details had been left) 'seemed a pretty honest sort of bloke'. Great crime detection there!

The insurance company were completely different. Rang the witness, left a mesage for him to contact them which he did, he sent them in a full statement immediately, that was forwarded to the other bloke's insurance company and the bloke immediately admitted full liability.

The bloke had added his wife to his insurance policy at about the time of the bump, so I suspect she was driving uninsured, he's added her afterwards, but when faced with the prospect of a court case and a potential fraud case he's decided to take the claim on the chin.

So, the car is going in at the end of the month for a shiny new RS spoiler, bumper and orange 'porsche' panel.

I could still press charges of hit&run against the bloke who drove into the car, but as he's admitted liability promptly I'll let him off. If it had gone to court I definitely would have.

I'm deeply indebted to the bloke who left the note, it's saved me a claim on my policy or paying for the damage myself (repair job rather than replacement). it's good to know that there are decent people out there still, a lot of people would have thought 'It's a porsche, he can afford to pay for the damage himself' and not bothered.

 

[944s2]

Hmm letter to Chief constable re police inefficiency might be interesting....

Replace damaging car with theft/assault/murder keep witness details same and how would they look if they took same attitude?

That "insert criminals name" seemed decent bloke lets forget it....

 

[tscaptain]

Really pleased you got a result. I've had 3 hit and runs and never found out whodunnit. Chaps initials aren't CR and he drives (drove) red 599 by any chance?[] And yes there are still honest people out there[]

 

[GeoffB]

I witnessed a similar 'hit & run' in car park and left note.Ended up as court case with me against the offender and partner, the person whos car was hit did not even bother to turn up. We won case but i had to wait with lawyers untill opposition had gone and was then advised if any 'trouble' occurs to let the law firm know and they would resolve. Nothing did fortunatley but i did not receive any out of pocket expenses and person who had car repaired did not even send letter of thanks. I am sure you will have thanked them though.
On another note pal of mine witnessed road rage on young woman. Stepped in to help, again court case with him as witness. Court read his name and address out!!! a couple of weeks later his concourse car had paint stripper tipped on it. Police could not help as no evidence( the fact they did not look did not help). Its good to help but ensure you do not put yourself in the firing line

 

[clyde]

Pleased it was resolved satisfactorily Johnny.

I had a not too dissimilar thing when I was ran off the road when the driver of a car I was overtaking decided he was going to pull out. The police were not interested at all, I'm actually still waiting for them to get back to me to let me know the outcome some six months on. Their reason for not pursuing it initially was "because there was no third party damage it was a non-reportable offence". They didn't accept my arguement that I was the third party because the damage to my car was caused by the actions of the driver pulling out. According to them, if I had hit a fence or something then that would have been third party damage . They did eventually accept that just because it's not a reportable offence didn't mean that I couldn't report it.

My insurer wasn't a lot of help either; they decided that there was not enough evidence to pursue it after the driver denied all knowledge (despite a witness behind me). The solicitor appointed under DAS managed to recover my excess pretty quickly though, so I haven't lost any no-claims.

Contemplated reporting the police for their inactivity Dougie but decided that nothing would probably come of it, other than them making life awkward for me when I'm out in the car.

 

[944s2]

Years ago I was tailgated by two Police bikes who came up behind me at thigh speed while overtaking coming back from a day out at Loch Lomond

They must have been within 2-3m of back of car When I was able to pull in to let them past they shot of at high speed into distance still with no lights.

Letter to Traffic chief got a reply " the were on duty at Faslane escorting Princes Anne and were late finishing duty"

My reply asking if I could use that excuse next time I'm stopped got a "they will be spoken to" response

Easy to say but dont be intimidated after all if you did complain and were subsequently "intimidated" by police you could point to letter and ask for justification for there subsequent actions

 

[Johnny C]

I'm inclined to leave it as it is. As I said I suspect it was the wife driving (who was added to his policy at the time of the bash), if the police then start checking witness statements etc from the insurance company and find it was her who was driving then they might get shirty.

 

[944s2]

Can understand where you are coming from

Still lazy policing though

 

[edelschmetterling]

I've seen a few notes on cars, one by the actual driver who bumped the other vehicle. It gave me a warm feeling to know that there are still humans in this country.

I am pleased you managed to get this resolved and peacefully too.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that these days the police in the UK are seemingly not interested in assisting anyone. You ought to complain about the blase attitude they employed by way of initial investigation & get them sent back on the 'how to investigate a crime promptly, & properly for beginners (age four to eight year olds)' course.

I've had an occasion in the past where I had a go at the police for not being able to do the simplest of sums and had to resolve the investigation myself for them by spelling out facts, probability and natural reason. - I think all they learn is how to put the uniform on. - They went off, did what I suggested and came back with the 'he has admitted it now'... idiots! - I'm not angry, it's just that I am paying for a service I am not getting.