Catching someone who smashed your car, whats the chances?

kluivert

Is there any hope catching someone who has made bits of your car at the week end and didnt stop to say sorry and hey claim it on my insurance.

In the little hours of Sunday morning as myself, my gf and her friend went back to the gf's car, she could see the Gardas having a look at it, and she knew straight away it had been hit.

Rear end damage, Opel Dealer quoted 3.5k for repairs.

Anyway the evidence so far is... A Red Jeep or Van (High rear end damage)...And also found he feckers head light assembly. It was a Toyota and had the shape of the old Land Cruiser, the one before the new model now. No camera's but we re heading to a near by pub to nite to see if they caught anything on camera.

So going that who thinks that we'll find the feckers.

Bogger77

No chance, to be honest.

MIBI claim would be best bet

cormie

For 3.5K I'd be going to every place imaginable with a camera in at least a miles radius of the scene! Little hours of Sunday morning, it'll be easy to catch him on camera, whether the reg will be visible is another thing though. Especially if it may have been damaged. Good luck!

ballooba

Did it happen in a built up area? Near shops etc.?

kluivert

Yes it happened on a one way street in a town in Monaghan, Cars park both sides of the road and there is sufficent move for even artics to move drive on this road.

The way looks if you where to imagine it, was the Jeep was either parked the far side on the road and the driver swung out from the parking space and hit her car or the driver was driving down the one way road just hit the rear end of her car.

My gf is very carefull about where she parks and i park on this road as well on a Saturday nite too, well i believed it to be the safest place to park your car.

The insurance claim is really the only option, and she has that bit sorted anyway. Her insurance will go up 30% (210e) to 910e next year in '07 and she will lose her no claim bonus as well.

But she is hell bent on pursuing this till theres no hope left.

The thing is my gf's father and a good friend of his has connections and know alot of people who own garages and so on so they all have been notified and if anything turns up at a garage, panel beater, Toyota Dealer and so on they ll be caught straight away.

KerranJast

Like cormie said I'd get onto every premises with outside security cameras in the streets around where the accident happened. At that hour of the morning he/she will surely have been caught on one of the approach streets especially around banks. If/when you do catch them, sting them for the repairs and if they won't cough up get onto the Gardai to get them done for leaving the scene of an accident.

seamus

Go to the MIBI. There's no point in her losing her NCB over this. You pay 4% of your policy per year to the MIBI to cover you for scumbags doing **** like this.

kluivert

Just after talking to the gf, her father was able to get someone to fix the car for 500e + 100e for a bumper + 50e for a rear light and respray. A few favours where called in.

Shes not claiming on the insurance now.

But she still has the quote for the repairs from the dealer, so the jackass who done this will be hit with a bill for 3.5k if hes got. just for badness for not reporting it to the Gardas. Thats why we think the driver wa drinking.

Going to check the camera's to night. Approached the pub nearby and they said to call back to night and am going to go to the credit union thats on the same street but not near the accident, but they may have got a red jeep on their system so it might be worth a look.

I still think it was a local. Going to keep an eye out.

IS there not something about MIBI that won't pay out if they can't trace who did it?

Loomis

I went out a while ago in Maynooth with the girlfriend and she parked right outside the Garda station.
When we came out the left wing mirror was kicked off...you could see the footprints on the car!
How no one saw it I don't know.Surely if someone sees that they'd say something or at least walk all of twenty feet into the station and tell the Gardai?
Apparently about five other cars got the same treatment in the same area that night too.Poor youths out trying to occupy themselves no doubt.
So if no one is gonna put themselves through the trouble of letting the Gardai know something is happening right outside the building in order for something to be done I doubt you've any hope.
Hate that man!

seamus

ronoc wrote:

IS there not something about MIBI that won't pay out if they can't trace who did it?

Actually, after looking into it, you can only claim from the MIBI if you've been injured by an untraceable vehicle.

According to their site though, you can claim off your comprehensive insurance without affecting your NCB due to an agreement with the MIBI. This again may only apply to injuries.

Bogger77

seamus wrote:

Actually, after looking into it, you can only claim from the MIBI if you've been injured by an untraceable vehicle.

According to their site though, you can claim off your comprehensive insurance without affecting your NCB due to an agreement with the MIBI. This again may only apply to injuries.

Whats the chances of Quinn direct being covered by this. I'm with AXA and they have the system where your policy doesn't go up but there is a claim on the record.

bungeecork

You're lucky that you have connections in the area, the cops might help you out once they know you`re connected. Will shops and stores give you access to their CCTV though?
Know any kids in local schools? If all the kids were out on the prowl you'd have your man (or woman of course) pretty soon.
Good luck though.

miju

kluivert wrote:

Just after talking to the gf, her father was able to get someone to fix the car for 500e + 100e for a bumper + 50e for a rear light and respray. A few favours where called in.

Shes not claiming on the insurance now.

But she still has the quote for the repairs from the dealer, so the jackass who done this will be hit with a bill for 3.5k if hes got. just for badness for not reporting it to the Gardas. Thats why we think the driver wa drinking.

Going to check the camera's to night. Approached the pub nearby and they said to call back to night and am going to go to the credit union thats on the same street but not near the accident, but they may have got a red jeep on their system so it might be worth a look.

I still think it was a local. Going to keep an eye out.

i do sympathise with ye (being the victim of an uninsured driver myself) howe and ever what you'll be doing there is caused fraud and is

a: illegal
b: profiteering
c: just as bad as the dude / woman who did the damage in the first place
d: just helps to drive up the cost of insurance for everyone overall (not this one claim but everyone doing this if ye get me)

just because he did something wrong doesnt give you a license to go and flout the law as well and i feel that strongly i'd be have tempted to print and mail this thread to the gardai to be honest

kluivert

I agree with you, anyway it wouldnt be done. You need an actual invoice for the repairs and an estimate would not hold up.

The rate of insurance is too high as you said.

If he was caught, he would pay for the repairs what ever they where as per the above post. 800e or so.

This would be fair.

But i still feel he should be done for leaving the sence of an accident.

No school kids about because it was 3.00am Sunday Morning.

miju

good to hear wasn't trying to be a stick in the mud or anything,

if he's caught he'll defp be charged, the guy who left the scene of my accident was caught and charged with leaving the scene of an accident as i luckily enough got his reg before he belted off in his van

Bluehair

miju wrote:

if he's caught he'll defp be charged, the guy who left the scene of my accident was caught and charged with leaving the scene of an accident as i luckily enough got his reg before he belted off in his van

My arse, we had exactly the same problem last year where someone rear-ended the back of my fiances parked car and then decided to drive off.

Incredibly they actually left an imprint of their reg in the bumper and we had a decent couple who witnessed it call into the house too.

The Gardai couldn't have cared less, just gave us the womans number and told us they'd prefer we 'sort this kind of thing out ourselves'.

Long story short; she was a complete bitch and tried to wrangle out of it, had to call in a favour from a Gardai friend to get her to pay up. Asked local Gardai to press charges... not interested but got very uppity when i suggested that the lesson learned is if I every caused an accident with no witnesses I should just piss off home and not worry about it. :mad:

pontovic

I was in a situation where I was in the city center of Dublin and some bastard in a truck side swiped my car and just drove on as if nothing happened. I followed him, took his reg, and reported it to the guards and then to my insurance company on the same day. I didnt want to stop at the scene because it would have caused a massive tailback in an already horribly congested city center. It was on the north side of the Quays.

To cut a long story short, he did €1300 damage to my car. That was the estimate to get the body back to what it was before the impact. I tried contacting the company myself using the number I took down from the side of the truck, and they didnt return my calls or listen to me. A rep helping my case from my insurance company even tried to ring them and they just blanked her too.

I asked the guards to pursue it, I even gave a statement. They didn't do much. The prik got away with it. The company responsible is Mullen Hauliers, in Kilkullen, so Gary Smullen, if you're reading this, I believe in Karma mate. What goes around comes around.

bungeecork

Bluehair wrote:

...The Gardai couldn't have cared less.......had to call in a favour from a Gardai friend to get her to pay up

I think the guards get very uppity too if you equate fraud with needing to have connections in the force in order to get them to do anything for you. But they get crap pay and are only promoted on a politicians nod so I guess we get what we deserve. I think you're lucky she wasn't a politician or other "garda connected" individual, even your garda friend would have been slow to act then.

Irish-trucker

pontovic wrote:

The prik got away with it. The company responsible is Mullen Hauliers, in Kilkullen, so Gary Smullen, if you're reading this, I believe in Karma mate. What goes around comes around.

Most likely a bad foreign driver :rolleyes: The quality of truck drivers is going down with all the foreigners .
I was on aston quay waiting on the bus one day , and a truck driven by most likely a foreigner , took the mirror off the side of a bus clean off ,and went on his way

It's people like them , that really bring the name of truck drivers down , after all most are decent lad's .

Like , anyone i know who's a truck driver , is decent , and will pull in and give details etc..
I'm not trying to make excuses for drivers , but when your driving a 40' truck , it very difficult to keep tabs on everything , but this craic of driving off, company not wanting to know is a load of bull .

Why not try a solicitor's letter ?

Litcagral

Bluehair wrote:

The Gardai couldn't have cared less, just gave us the womans number and told us they'd prefer we 'sort this kind of thing out ourselves'.
QUOTE]



The Gardai are not usually interested in any accident where no one has been injured or where there has been no obstruction to traffic They refer to them as "material damage RTAs" and prefer to let the parties sort it out themselves. It is standard practise not to get involved. The only exception is if the Gardai witness the accident themselves.

Bluehair

Litcagral wrote:

The Gardai are not usually interested in any accident where no one has been injured or where there has been no obstruction to traffic They refer to them as "material damage RTAs" and prefer to let the parties sort it out themselves.

Seriously? Thats remarkable and yet another one to add to the list of reasons to leave this hole of a country asap.

So if you cause an accident which causes material damage (but no injury or obstruction) and piss off from the scene then you're saying it's actually Gardai "standard practise not to get involved"?.

Amazing.... truely amazing....

Our man in Havana

Sadly this is Ireland! :mad:

pontovic

Irish-trucker wrote:

Most likely a bad foreign driver :rolleyes: The quality of truck drivers is going down with all the foreigners .
I was on aston quay waiting on the bus one day , and a truck driven by most likely a foreigner , took the mirror off the side of a bus clean off ,and went on his way

Why not try a solicitor's letter ?

I thought about writing a solicitors letter and sending it on, but my solicitor advised against it saying that there was no 'proof' as I had no witnesses, so it was his word against mine. The driver/company could have gotten a solicitors letter denying anything happened and then it would have been a stalemate situation.

He denied to the lady from my insurance company the truck was ever at the location. I asked the cops about cameras, but they said there were none around. Apparently, on the phone, your man Gary said that the driver was Polish, when asked by the lady. What driver ? I ask. There wasn't meant to be a driver in the area !

Gary wasn't driving the truck, but the fact that he is trying to dodge these claims makes me angry, and he is just as guilty as the truck driver. I keep a disposable camera in my car from now on, so I can catch these pricks on film.

I couldn't stop and call the guards to the scene immediately, because they would have found out i was driving on my own on a first provisional, and they could have taken it off me, meaning no wheels, meaning I couldn't get into work, meaning I would have had to quit my job as it would take far too long to commute by public transport.

Padraig Mor

Bluehair wrote:

The Gardai couldn't have cared less,:

Agreed; they really couldn't give a flying fuck (what exactly do Gardai do?). Similar story with my GF. Her parked car was hit while at work. Several witnesses got reg no. of jeep that hit her but the guard in question did absolutely nothing. She only got in contact when I wrote a letter of complaint to the local Superintendent; even with that though she came up with a load of cock and bull to avoid doing anything about it. GF eventually paid for repairs herself.
My brother was also hit recently while parked and claimed the €1000 damage from his insurance......his insurance went up €1000 this year!

pontovic

Is it the case in any other countries that the police do absolutely nothing about smash and runs ?

I mean it would only take 10 mins out of their day to chase down the people who damage a car and drive off and use a bit of their clout against them to get them to pay up etc.

Litcagral

pontovic wrote:

Is it the case in any other countries that the police do absolutely nothing about smash and runs ?

I mean it would only take 10 mins out of their day to chase down the people who damage a car and drive off and use a bit of their clout against them to get them to pay up etc.

While I agree that they could track them down etc. making them pay is not a matter for the Gardai . That is up to the Insurance companies and/or the courts. The reason the Gardai appear uninterested is probably because on the "my word against theirs" senario which can be an inevitable feature of such cases and they probably feel that Insurance Companies are there to deal with this.

Realistically, it's going to take much longer than ten minutes to track someone down (probably several hours) and in the meantime others will be complaining that Gardai are not out there catching "the real criminals". I know this sounds very unsympathetic but I'm afraid that's how it is.

Alun

But surely they've committed some kind of offence by fleeing the scene of a traffic accident? If they can at least track them down and charge them, then armed with that, getting them (or their insuranc company) to pay up should be a piece of p1ss, surely?

kc66

I can understand the gardai letting people sort out accidents themselves but a hit and run is a crime. They should pursue these and if they dont I would bring it up with their superintendant. Too many lazy guard out there.
A truck driver hit the side of the gf's car. We chased him for a few miles flashing and beeping the horn before he pulled over. He was a Lithuanian and pleaded not to tell his boss cos he would lose his job. He said theres not much damage done and offered €20 to fix it! The corner panel was scratched. Cheeky fúcker

t5pwr

My aunt's car got damaged by a woman pulling out of a space. There was a witness who got the reg and it was caught on camera. The woman that hit the car turned out to be a right bitch and denied everything.

Gardaí got involved and did everything they could to get the woman to pay up and she eventually did... So I suppose it depends on which one you get on the day

shabbyroad

pontovic wrote:

I couldn't stop and call the guards to the scene immediately, because they would have found out i was driving on my own on a first provisional

Sorry for your trouble pontovic but there is a reason why you shouldn't be driving on your own with a 1st provisional license - especially on the quays in the city centre.

Irish-Trucker - what sort of person are you ? you really believe all that ? and somebody lets you on the roads ? :mad: You probably think they're all asylum seekers getting free cars and houses yeah ?

ballooba

Guards are unlikely to care that you are driving unaccompanied. The matter at hand is the accident.

I was involved in a crash one day in Donnybrook and the other party asked my sister (who was driving) had she got her full licence. Before my sis had a chance to answer, the guard told the woman that it was none of her business and that regardless, she was at fault.

pontovic

shabbyroad wrote:

Sorry for your trouble pontovic but there is a reason why you shouldn't be driving on your own with a 1st provisional license - especially on the quays in the city centre.

Now hang on a second. That side swipe was in no way at all my fault, so please don't assume that because I was on a provisional licence that I may have been at fault if you were thinking that. I dont know if you know, but the driving test application system in this country is in a shambles, and people like me have had to wait ages to get their test and full licence. I waited ages to do my test, and I passed it the first time around.
I am a careful driver. On that particular day, I had no problems with driving on the quays. Just because I was on a provisional doesn't necessarily mean I was a learner driver.

Just to clarify that point.

Alun

Just because I was on a provisional doesn't necessarily mean I was a learner driver.

What else does it make you then?

kluivert

Alun

Whether a person is a learner or not depends on your level of experience.

Technically speaking your correct, provisional = learner driver, however someone on there fourth or fifth provisional license could hardly be classified as a learner in the sense, they are a provisional license holder.

Anyway that person passed first time...

Theres no developments on catching the person who hit the gf's girl over the week end. The person who done it is very very lucky to get away.

Its strange really more lads die on the roads in this country yet the ladies have more accidents or mishaps. Ill get the stats, theres a website i found with it on.

Bluehair

kluivert wrote:

Theres no developments on catching the person who hit the gf's girl over the week end. The person who done it is very very lucky to get away.

Really sorry to hear that, don't give up just yet though and keep us posted.

pontovic

Alun wrote:

What else does it make you then?

It makes me someone who has proficient experience to drive in the city center without being a situation where I wouldn't know what I am doing. It makes me someone who was ready at the time to do their test, but they had to wait because of the overly long waiting times. In fact, less than 4 weeks after that mishap, I took my test and passed it with flying colours.

bungeecork

Irish-trucker wrote:

I was on aston quay waiting on the bus one day , and a truck driven by most likely a foreigner , took the mirror off the side of a bus clean off ,and went on his way

Sorry Dude, but I can't let this one slip by. What do you have against foreign truck drivers? International driving is part of the nature of trucking, isn't it? I love spotting a truck on the continent with "O'Sheas Transport - Tralee" or similar painted on the sides.

Saying he was most likely a foreigner is like saying he was most likely a Sinn Fein supporter. Kinda silly, yeah?

bungeecork

ballooba wrote:

...the other party asked my sister (who was driving) had she got her full licence. Before my sis had a chance to answer, the guard told the woman that it was none of her business....

Excellent!!
Cops are cool again

kluivert

Cheers Bluehair

This is not going to lay down easily.

Going to keep an eye out for Red Toyota Land Cruisers in the area.

Found out last night that a neighbour of the gf's lives a half mile up the road has a wine colour Jeep, the Jeep hasnt been seen all week, I know you cant accuse people like that but imagine if it was her neighbour.

Someone living a half a mile from you in the country would be classsified as a neighbour for all you city slickers...

shabbyroad

pontovic wrote:

It makes me someone who has proficient experience to drive in the city center without being a situation where I wouldn't know what I am doing. It makes me someone who was ready at the time to do their test, but they had to wait because of the overly long waiting times. In fact, less than 4 weeks after that mishap, I took my test and passed it with flying colours.

What's "proficient experience" ? You'll have to explain that one.

Look, you were on your 1st provisional unaccompanied, you shouldn't have been there. Simple as.

Congratulations on getting your certificate of competency. I don't believe they grade it so the 'flying colours' bit I'll take with a pinch of salt

pontovic

Hey Kluivert,

I hope you catch him

Best of luck with it

pontovic

shabbyroad wrote:

What's "proficient experience" ? You'll have to explain that one.

Look, you were on your 1st provisional unaccompanied, you shouldn't have been there. Simple as.

Congratulations on getting your certificate of competency. I don't believe they grade it so the 'flying colours' bit I'll take with a pinch of salt

Proficient experience means exactly what it says. I felt perfectly comfortable driving on that day and I had plenty of driving experience. I wont get into this argument again with people who say that because someone is on a provisional licence they are assumed to be careless drivers. Would it make any difference if I was on a full licence and it happened ? After all, the test was mere weeks after I was clipped.

On the driving test, they mark you down when you make mistakes doing certain things, like observation of hazards and turning, etc. A green mark is a minor mistake whereas a red mark is a major mistake and you can fail the test automatically for it. I didnt get any marks

MrSinn

This is a good example of the kind of society that we live in kluivert,people do this kinda thing all the time and get away with it,nothing but cowards i reckon.
It has been done to me too and i know what i would like to do if i could get the baxterds

shabbyroad

Sorry Pontovic - my mistake I assumed that English was your first language ("proficient experience" doesn't mean anything - do you mean 'sufficient experience' ?)

Nobody is assuming that you are a careless driver. But as a driver on their 1st provisional license you are an inexperienced driver. Whether you like to hear it or not you shouldn't have been there. It's as simple as that. Whether you believe that being comfortable or getting your certificate of competency some weeks later has anything to do with it is neither here nor there.

You can't "pass a test with flying colours" because it's a measure of competency. You proved to the examiner that you are a competent driver. That's something to be pleased with but don't kid yourself that you are anything else.

What happened to you and the OP was wrong but as you said yourself... karma. If you had been driving within the law you would not have been in that situation. That's karma mate. sucks doesn't it ?

pontovic

fair enough shabbyroad, i may have fractured the law on that day technically, but that point can't really be argued when we have to wait up to 14 months to take our driving test. in the states, i hear you can walk into a testing center and have a test started within about half an hour of applying for it.

i needed my car to get into and out of work. if i went by public transport, then it would take so long for me it wouldnt be feasible, and no one else in here can tell me they wouldnt drive into work in my situation if they had a car even though they were on their first provisional.

looking back, i have no regrets driving in the city center on that day. i would do it again just as i did. i had as much experience as anyone else, so its not really fair to say i shouldnt have been there. fair enough, it was against the law technically, but when you look at our driving testing situation, that point gets cancelled out.

ds20prefecture

pontovic wrote:

looking back, i have no regrets driving in the city center on that day. i would do it again just as i did. i had as much experience as anyone else, so its not really fair to say i shouldnt have been there. fair enough, it was against the law technically, but when you look at our driving testing situation, that point gets cancelled out.

Hi Pontovic - The side of my Alfa was badly damaged by a truck on the north side of the quays (down beside the point) back when it was legal to park there. I was in an office and didn't see it happen, but luckily one of the shops spotted it. The truck driver was still there (he damaged the car turning into a yard). He claimed it wasn't him even though there was Alaska Grey paint all over the trailer of the truck, and the shop assistants saw him do it. When I confronted him with this and told him I was calling the gardai he just jumped in the truck and buggered off.

The gardai arrived within 10 minutes, took statements and took off after yer man (The haulier's name was in 10' letters on the trailer, and I had taken the reg). Then they nabbed him at the far end of the quays he claimed he hadn't been anywhere near them. They must have told him they would arrest him if he didn't stop bull****ting because I then got a very apologetic call from him with his insurance details (which he also had to give to the garda). Problem was sorted immediately.

What was most impressive was how the Gardai handled the case. I was given a case number, the officer's card with his direct line and mobile, and they followed up on the case 7 and 14 days later to ensure it had been closed satisfactorily.

By the way, I had a full license and the truck driver was as Irish as they come. Should I say that all full license holders are careless parkers and all Irish truckers are thick as two short planks? I don't think so - I can't believe how quick people are to generalise here.

@ Kluivert - sorry for the OT rant. I hope you find who did it. One of my brothers was very involved in putting CCTV in a small rural town and it had a big impact on casual crime rates there, particularly in the wee hours. Unfortunately that town wasn't monaghan...

kluivert

Am from Carrickmacross in Monaghan and like your brother am going to propose that CCTV camera's be introduced to the town.

I spend alot of time in Dundalk where they have them and i think they re a great idea.

ds20prefecture

PM me if you'd like to contact my brother for more info. It helps if you are actually in the town/member of the chamber of commerce that sort of thing. Basically, a bunch of the local business subscribed to a scheme which put up 3 cameras in strategic locations (hotspots for crime & max coverage). Carrickmacross should be easy enough to cover with the wide streets and so on.

The legal requirements for the recording equipment are quite strict and it isn't cheap at all. You also need absolute buy in from the Gardai, as it's useless without.

HelterSkelter

Bogger77 wrote:

No chance, to be honest.

MIBI claim would be best bet

I think you need to have the reg to claim off the MIBI

ballooba

I thought there was funding made available in the last couple of months for community CCTV projects in small towns.

[edit] there was:
http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=funding+community+cctv&meta=[/edit]