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Urgent help needed - accidental damage to a concours car


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Ah, he's an enthusiast and this is his focus. Has always been a pretty nice guy with wife and two very cute young daughters. I guess this is how he likes to spend/invest his money. That said, I had no idea he had a car of extraordinarily high value parked next to me that day. Had I known, I would have moved parking places. I don't drive my car as often as I would like - perhaps once a week. Over the course of ten years, he knows that. So IMO it was a calculated decision to put the recently arrived super car there for a day or two. Of course, it was on a Saturday, the weather was nice, and I wanted to take my car out. The stars then aligned (or not) for this to occur. I probably would have done the same thing. A calculated risk, but a risk, still.

 

Have not heard back on the estimate, yet, but as I said earlier yesterday was a holiday in the States. I guess tomorrow. Then, it will be passed on to my insurers. This world is out of my depth.

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It was not directed at the owner, it was a reference, as you can read, that the car could have been used as a mule. It has happened before that an innocent owner has been duped.

 

Simon

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Well, I guess he has three parking places as he probably got one with his flat and rents another two, and likes to work on his cars. All that is fine except I don't want to park 18 inches from something worth 20x mine!

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  • 2 weeks later...

As an update, my insurers are in contact with his repairer. I don't have an estimate as yet, but when I do I'll publish it here. I understand he has sourced the paint from Los Angeles and a new door skin locally. A private deal would be out of my price range and - has been rightly pointed out - losing the no claims bonus a lot cheaper. Also, someone is now involved who does these things for a living. Not me!

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Hi Ron,

he should think himself lucky you owned up to the prang.

 

Last January I ran into an Audi Q5 that jumped the traffic lights by over 5 seconds

There was a witness, an Asian man, but he walked away before I could get his details.

 

As for the chap who owned the Audi he turned from being a very nice Asian chap at the scene of the prang to a lying cheating bastard the following day.

 

The insurers will not allow my wife who was in the car to be a witness so I am snookered.

 

Life can be a bitch.

 

Roger

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Hi Dave,

yes there was a camera - pointing at the clouds

 

Hi Darren,

I wish you were there but I suspect you are being a bit naughty.

 

Hi John,

I had thought of that but nobody seems to think it would do any good. Do Solicitors dabble with things like this.?

 

Roger

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Hi Pete,

sadly not. Unlike the lying bas&^%d I couldn't live with myself to simply off load the blame on somebody else.

 

Every time I go over the event I can see somebody say - but the opposite could be true.

Without a witness I'm up a gum tree.

 

Everybody in the chain has been as difficult as possible to deal with

The council wouldn;t even reveal they had a camera there - Data protection matey - IT IS ON GOOGLE

The insurance didn't want to bother with CCTV - I had to chase that.

The police did not want to know - even though the little Asian shit went through red lights, too fast, not looking and under medication (mothers herbal remedy)

I asked if they would interrogate his phone - not worth the effort.

The AA, who picked him up, eventually came back to me (after 4 weeks delay) to say their driver had nothing to offer.

 

It is my fault - I let the witness escape. And that is upsetting.

 

Roger

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Hi Roger,

A dashcam would have helped, maybe.

 

N Wales police have said they welcome the public sending them dashcam footage of errant drivers.

https://www.north-wales.police.uk/advice-and-support/safer-roads/operation-snap

They have so few patrols that usually they are left picking up the injured - or worse - after a smash. Our roads are empty, so are b888y dangerous.

If dashcams don't work moves towards a blanket Wales-wide 40mph max limit might be on the cards - it has been mooted for non dual carriageways.

Peter

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Hi Pete,

the dashcam actually made things worse (for my mental state)

 

Before Christmas I went to Halfords to get one as a pressy to myself.

Annoyingly trying to find an assistant proved fruitless so I left empty handed.

 

I bought one a few days AFTER the prang.

 

Roger

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Roger,

in fact, it was the other driver and his insurers who took me and mine to the SCC.

There were no witnesses. There must have been dozens, but miraculously they were all struck by temporary blindness, but to be honest, in the heat of the incident I didn't ask anyone for names and addresses, or, indeed, anyone.

 

But it has to be a risky strategy. My repair cost £600, but I was being sued for a ridiculous sum, said my insurers. When at the first hearing, their barrister didn't turn up (!!) and the judge adjourned to another day, he directed that both insurance companies be informed that the court costs, plus the fine for non-attendance would amount to more than the sums being claimed, together. But they persevered, and I had the satisfaction of hearing him prefer my word to that of the other driver, who had been unaccountably furious at the scene, when I had been philosophical. Indeed I had laughed (never a good thing in these circumstances) when he said that he would call a policeman. The Judge awarded that the other party's insurers should pay for my damage as well as their own driver's, and all Court costs!

 

It may have helped that I had written down an account of the incident that day - contemporaneous evidence being paramount to the Law - but I was able to embellish that with a fuller account, with hand-drawn plans, to submit to the Court. The Court itself was just a room with a desk for the judge and seats either side for us, a side table for the lawyers papers; we all wore suits, no gowns or wigs, and no "Call the witness!" stuff, but we did give evidence on oath (I 'affirmed')

 

If you go to Court, or your insurers will agree to, good luck!

John

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Gee - much has transpired - and not only above (so sorry Roger!). Anyway, thanks to all of you I put this with my insurers for the 356 repair; estimate is in and is approx £3200 plus VAT for the door repair. At the end - not the worst for a "£750,000" car and yes I lose my no claims bonus!

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Gee - much has transpired - and not only above (so sorry Roger!). Anyway, thanks to all of you I put this with my insurers for the 356 repair; estimate is in and is approx £3200 plus VAT for the door repair. At the end - not the worst for a "£750,000" car and yes I lose my no claims bonus!

There is usually no no claims bonus on a classic policy though it may affect the next quote on your moderns policy.

Stuart.

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Even if it doubles, which I think the insurers would be hard to justify, it would still be a good result. The thing about little dings is that we take it all too personally because most of us hate to make insurance claims. Sometimes, though, it is the only option. Sign the paperwork and move on.

 

Simon

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