What happens next - note on car?

goodmum

Hi all,
I arrived back to my car this evening (I park it beside the station) and found a note from someone who said they witnessed another car reverse into mine. My back bumper is dented and fog light is smashed.
The guy left his mobile and said to ring him, that he has the other drivers details.
Ill ring him in the morning but just wondering what do I do once I get the reg..report it to the gards I assume and then what happens?
Thanks

murraymarmalade

goodmum wrote: »

Hi all,
I arrived back to my car this evening (I park it beside the station) and found a note from someone who said they witnessed another car reverse into mine. My back bumper is dented and fog light is smashed.
The guy left his mobile and said to ring him, that he has the other drivers details.
Ill ring him in the morning but just wondering what do I do once I get the reg..report it to the gards I assume and then what happens?
Thanks

clueless as to why you havent rang the guy straight away

contact your insurance after you get the deatails i suppose:rolleyes:

dirtydiesel

You should ring that guy(witness) and let him tell you what he saw, ask is he prepared to give a statment to guards if needed, then go to guards with all the info on the other car and see what they can do.
Chances are if they contact other driver he will know the game is up and pay for your repairs.

goodmum

Simple. No credit and no money till the morning!

murraymarmalade

goodmum wrote: »

Simple. No credit and no money till the morning!

ohhh ok,sorry to hear that. best of luck

goodmum

Don't know why you;re sorry to hear that!

Anyway, thanks dirtydiesel. I assume that this guy (that I ring) has to say he'll be a witness to the gards? This hasn;'t happened to me before and I'm just wondering if it could get to court or anything? I just want the car fixed but I guess the only way of finding out who crashed into me (when I only have their reg) is to go to the gardai...?

dirtydiesel

goodmum wrote: »

Don't know why you;re sorry to hear that!

Anyway, thanks dirtydiesel. I assume that this guy (that I ring) has to say he'll be a witness to the gards? This hasn;'t happened to me before and I'm just wondering if it could get to court or anything? I just want the car fixed but I guess the only way of finding out who crashed into me (when I only have their reg) is to go to the gardai...?

I doubt there will be a court case, the guards will tell you straight as to what will happen, your lucky to have a witness, ive a nasty dent my my passenger door which happened in a supermarket car park, its annoying.

shamwari

If the driver who caused the damage left the scene without leaving the details, then obviously you have been the victim of a hit and run.

Assuming this is the case, ask the witness what s/he saw, get the details from him / her, and then go to the guards immediately and let them pursue matters. Contact your own insurance company and get them to contact your witness and request a statement. Get an estimate for the damage to your car.

A friend of mine had a similar experience of a hit and run in a car park. Someone got the reg number of the hit and runner, who denied to the Gardai that they hit the car and were unaware of any collision. Subsequent CCTV footage showed the runner hitting the injured party's car, then stopping and getting out, and inspecting the damage caused to both cars before hairing off as quickly as they could. Their insurance company stumped up for the damage and the guard prosecuted them for leaving the scene and failing to report an accident. Serves the git right. :mad:

marious

I'd say ofter You call your man for details, meet him and buy him something nice because hes done something outstanding

goodmum

Ok, thats great thanks. I was just clueless as to where I stood etc. Ill ring the witness in the morning and take it from there. Thanks again.

goodmum

That's the second thing I'm going to do!

mgbgt1978

Lets just hope that this note wasn't left by the person who did the damage....."Just leaving this note in case anyone saw what just happened".
Don't want to worry you too much , but it wouldn't be the first time.
Please let us know how you get on.

**Timbuk2**

That was really nice of the man that left the note. I wish there was a 100 more like him! Hardly anybody does the decent thing nowadays!

php-fox

Goodmum, you're so lucky to have such a witness! My car was hit three times in the past several months, all in car parks. No one left any note, and all three times I was unfortunate enough to be in CCTV blind spot...

Gonna cost me more than a 1000 euro to get it all fixed now

goodmum

Thanks again for replies guys.
I spoke to the witness, who even told me where the person lives and gave me their reg (gave me date and time of accident too). My guess is he's a neighbour because he said he heard the bang as the car reversed out of their drive and into my car (which was parked legally, on the opposite side of the road).
So I'm going to write to the person and ask them to settle this and just pay for the car to be fixed - if I hear nothing back from them after a reasonable amount of time, I'll go to the guards.
Its not a huge amount of damage - fog light shattered and dent and scratches in the rear but it won't pass the nct in July if I don't get it repaired.

Mr. Presentable

I'd suggest going to the Gardai first. It will hurry the guy along and focus his mind.

goodmum

You think?
It was a young female driver, I've been told. I wanted to give her an opportunity to own up and pay to fix the car, before I approached the guards - am I being too soft?

Gran Hermano

goodmum wrote: »

You think?
It was a young female driver, I've been told. I wanted to give her an opportunity to own up and pay to fix the car, before I approached the guards - am I being too soft?

Yes, far too soft. How considerate was she when she damaged your car and fled the scene?
Get straighr onto the police

goodmum

That's a fair point I guess. I hadn't thought of it like that. The witness actually suggested I approach her first - although he did say he would give a statement to the guards, he said he'd rather not.
Like I said, I get the impression he's her neighbour.
I need to toughen up I suppose - My car continues to be parked on the same road, and she has never left a note to say she did the damage etc - obviously thinks she's gotten away with it.
Problem is, I would like to continue to park there for the forseeable.....? There may be repercussions if I report her - sorry, but I'm erring on the side of caution here.

Gran Hermano

goodmum wrote: »

That's a fair point I guess. I hadn't thought of it like that. The witness actually suggested I approach her first - although he did say he would give a statement to the guards, he said he'd rather not.
Like I said, I get the impression he's her neighbour.
I need to toughen up I suppose - My car continues to be parked on the same road, and she has never left a note to say she did the damage etc - obviously thinks she's gotten away with it.
Problem is, I would like to continue to park there for the forseeable.....? There may be repercussions if I report her - sorry, but I'm erring on the side of caution here.

If witness is a neighbour he most likely realises she could have done it to his car and could do so in the future.

goodmum

Another good point.
It's my first experience of something like this happening to my car...I'll drop into the guards tomorrow.
Thanks again.

Mc Love

Get down the local Station and report it - you get sorted quicker than leaving it up to her.

jaffa20

If you know where she lives, then why not just knock on her door and they might own up to it and swap insurance details. You could go straight to the guards but as your witness would rather not go this route then maybe the former would be the best option first as they did help you out in the first place by leaving a note for you.

Del2005

jaffa20 wrote: »

If you know where she lives, then why not just knock on her door and they might own up to it and swap insurance details. You could go straight to the guards but as your witness would rather not go this route then maybe the former would be the best option first as they did help you out in the first place by leaving a note for you.

Don't call to her door. Leave it to the Gardaí, she may claim you where intimidating her.

Much better off doing this officially. It was a hit and run and she deserves what ever she gets.

But if you do know where she lives there would be no harm for someone to take a few pictures of her car if there's any damage visible.

Yawns

with a polaroid camera of course!

no digital camera as it won't stand it court. And seeing as it's not being taken at the scene where it happened can a citizen go up to her car in her drive and take pics? You could stand outside the garden and take photo's I suppose but you'll never get close ups that way

Bookkeeper09

This happened me a year or so ago. I witnessed a car being hit in a shopping centre and the offending driver drive away. Passed on the details and the car owner and he went down to the garda station to report it. The gards just rang me to ask me what I had seen but I didnt have to go down to the station to give them a formal statement.

colm_mcm

Saw a car reverse into my housemates car years ago, they hit it a good whack and sped off, just caught the reg number and noticed the exact model and colour, rang the guards, hours later the guy had admitted liability and said he didnt realise he'd hit the car...


I think getting the Gardai involved is a good move.
Also take pictures of the neighbours car if there's any damage/paint exchanged before they get a chance to fix it or clean it up.

goodmum

Ok, so I wrote them a note and stuck in their letterbox. Too soft, I know.
The womans husband rang me, irate, saying she didn't do it. Said he thinks I'm making it up and asked for the witnesses number to talk to him directly.
So I rang the witness to ask if it was ok to pass on his number and he said fine.
Haven't heard from from either of them now and that was on friday.

I found out (chatting to the witness) that they are neighbours and have a pretty checkered history which has involved the gardai for some anti-social behaviour....

Think I should just go to the gards myself now....which I should have done at the start.

However, if this is literally one neighbour (the witness) with a vendetta against the other...am I scr*wed???

Abelloid

The neighbour does seem suspiciously helpful, maybe he hit you...

keithclancy

goodmum wrote: »

Ok, so I wrote them a note and stuck in their letterbox. Too soft, I know.
The womans husband rang me, irate, saying she didn't do it. Said he thinks I'm making it up and asked for the witnesses number to talk to him directly.
So I rang the witness to ask if it was ok to pass on his number and he said fine.
Haven't heard from from either of them now and that was on friday.

I found out (chatting to the witness) that they are neighbours and have a pretty checkered history which has involved the gardai for some anti-social behaviour....

Think I should just go to the gards myself now....which I should have done at the start.

However, if this is literally one neighbour (the witness) with a vendetta against the other...am I scr*wed???

You've totally screwed the pooch there i'm afraid.

What exactly did you think was going to happen when you passed on a third parties number onto a fourth party (the b/f),

IMO get onto the Gardai straight away, their probably getting the damage to their car fixed asap and will deny everything.

Either call the gardai or forget about it tbh.

goodmum

'What exactly did you think was going to happen when you passed on a third parties number onto a fourth party (the b/f), '


Eh...I thought the witness would confirm that he was my witness of course! The guy who is supposed to have done it (his wife) said he thought I was making it up and wanted to speak to the witness directly.

keithclancy

goodmum wrote: »

'What exactly did you think was going to happen when you passed on a third parties number onto a fourth party (the b/f), '


Eh...I thought the witness would confirm that he was my witness of course! The guy who is supposed to have done it (his wife) said he thought I was making it up and wanted to speak to the witness directly.

At the point where he said he wanted to speak to your witness you should have just said you'll leave the Gardai deal with it.

Don't contact them anymore, imo your witness is only of any use to the Garda, it doesn't matter what the person thinks they did (She may not have even noticed)

Now your bringing a third party into the argument and your 'witness' just may not think its worth the hassle anymore i.e. now he has agro with his neighbour which prior to that he would just would have provided a statement to the Gardai and that would be it.

goodmum

My witness was reluctant for me to go to the gards. He said he'd rather not involve them.
None of this has anything to do with me and I thought I'd give the person the benefit of the doubt (rather than going to the gards first) by writing them a note about it. Ill go to the gards this evening.

Bogger77

you're too soft, and you've just given a stranger the chance to intimidate/retaliate against your only witness. You even knew that the couple were "anti-social" Well done!

Call into the Gardai, who are open 24hrs, by the way, to lodge the complaint, before it's too late. Ask for the pulse number of the record. Mention that you've tried to make contact. Since you haven't taken pics of the offending car, there's a good chance they'll have gotten rid of it, or repaired. You shouldn't have given them that chance.

Next time, cop on, just cos you're female (going by you username), do not give some stranger whose done a hit and run causing damage to your car, a break cos they happen to be female. I'd bet if it was a guy, you'd have been straight to the cops!

goodmum

Nice attitude bogger.
Thanks.

Mc Love

Bogger's right though

Bogger77

goodmum wrote: »

Nice attitude bogger.
Thanks.

I live in the real world, rather than the utopia, you seem to inhabit.
If I need to get someone to repair damages they caused, through their stupidity or carelessness, I do so in the manner thats most likely to succeed, rather than the method you seem to be following, which is to be a saint and friend of everyone, otherwise known as a soft touch or a push over.

RentDayBlues

As a female I have to agree with Bogger - why would you give this person the chance to screw you over! This happened almost a week ago and you should have gone to the gardai first chance you had - who's to say your "witness" will help out now that the other party have had a word

Mc Love

This happened someone I know. The driver who hit the car left a note with his contact details. Friend rang him and the driver said he hadnt insurance and said he would pay for the damages. It worked out well - suppose there are decent people out there.

goodmum

Could you close this thread please mods.
I was trying to be a decent human being.
Bye now.

Mc Love

Decent?? Why? Someone wasnt decent when the crashed into your car and then drove off.

Why bother even posting here. Everyone here told you to get the Gardai involved and you did the opposite

Jeeesh!

enda1

goodmum wrote: »

Could you close this thread please mods.
I was trying to be a decent human being.
Bye now.

The descent thing would'a been to contact the police so that she never commits a hit and run again.

Sure there's no loss for her to try again her ploy if all that comes out is she has to pay the damages she caused in the first place. She may as well not own up if there's people like you out there!

PaulKK

Theres no point trying to be a decent human being when someone has caused damage to your car and attempted to get away with it.


As the old saying goes when things like this happen you need to stand up and be counted, or sit down and be mounted.

grudgebringer

Mc Love wrote: »

This happened someone I know. The driver who hit the car left a note with his contact details. Friend rang him and the driver said he hadnt insurance and said he would pay for the damages. It worked out well - suppose there are decent people out there.

He's not that decent if he's driving about with no insurance in the first place :rolleyes:

Magenta

goodmum wrote: »

Could you close this thread please mods.
I was trying to be a decent human being.
Bye now.

There's a huge difference between a decent human being, and a doormat.
Enjoy paying for the damage that somebody else caused, because you have screwed yourself over in every way possible.

jaffa20

goodmum wrote: »

That's a fair point I guess. I hadn't thought of it like that. The witness actually suggested I approach her first - although he did say he would give a statement to the guards, he said he'd rather not.

Are people not reading the above? The op's witness said he'd rather not give a statement so that is why the OP didn't involve the guards at first. Geez, i don't she deserves all the names she's getting called. She wouldn't have had any idea who had caused the damage if it wasn't for the witness.

Gael23

He said hed "rather not" slight difference imo.
Op if you want to get anywhere on this you must involve the guards. Sorting it yourself will only lead to you getting further intimidated.

Mc Love

jaffa20 wrote: »

Are people not reading the above? The op's witness said he'd rather not give a statement so that is why the OP didn't involve the guards at first. Geez, i don't she deserves all the names she's getting called. She wouldn't have had any idea who had caused the damage if it wasn't for the witness.

Well why did he give the person the details that someone hit the car, if he would rather not speak to the gardai!?

jaffa20

Mc Love wrote: »

Well why did he give the person the details that someone hit the car, if he would rather not speak to the gardai!?

He was doing a good deed. I'd do the same. They were all neighbours so probably didn't want to get involved with guardai at first and thought it could just be sorted out by paying them a visit first and the women would have just owned up to causing the damage. Obviously the note in their letterbox didn't work out and if it was me when he rang shouting the odds, i would have told him where to go and he would be hearing from the guardai.

I still would check with the witness if that was ok with them first though. It's strange how the witness agreed for the OP to pass on his details. At least with the guardai, everything would be confidential.

Mr Benevolent

The whole proves the maxim that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Looks like you just got involved in a neighbour's dispute without meaning to. My advice? Forget about the whole thing. Unless you want to be dragged in deeper. I know lots about neighbourhood disputes as my dad caused most of them!

Mc Love

But the neighbour/person who passed on the details knew there were Anti Social problems before - which begs the question: do you really think a letter or confronting the person that crashed into you is going to solve the problem??