Car got scratched in the car park

omri

My car got scratched while I was shopping two days ago. It might be caught on the CCTV. Should I pursue this with insurer/gardai if there is enough evidence showing the perpetrator, or is it not worth it?

Irishphotodesk

omri wrote: »

My car got scratched while I was shopping two days ago. It might be caught on the CCTV. Should I pursue this with insurer/gardai if there is enough evidence showing the perpetrator, or is it not worth it?

Depends on the damage, if it's seriousor possibly deliberate... Report to gardai.

If it's minor, something like t-cut will remedy it.

Also depends on your car and how much you value it... I have a 2005 corolla so for me a scratch isn't important, but my car is a tool to get from A to B.

It's possible that the person may not even have noticed any contact between the two vehicles, (it is surprising how ignorant some drivers are and how bad they are are parking)

omri

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

Depends on the damage, if it's seriousor possibly deliberate... Report to gardai.

If it's minor, something like t-cut will remedy it.

Also depends on your car and how much you value it... I have a 2005 corolla so for me a scratch isn't important, but my car is a tool to get from A to B.

It's possible that the person may not even have noticed any contact between the two vehicles, (it is surprising how ignorant some drivers are and how bad they are are parking)

Thanks, I'm really asking from the point of view of how to deal with that (do I call insurer, do I report it to gardai then go to insurer, will my premium go up despite this being claimed from someone elses policy etc.)

Plumbthedepths

You need to weigh up the cost of repair versus your excess/ loss of no claims bonus if not covered. As for the Guards you can report it ask for them to view the CCTV footage ( you won't get to see it) but I suspect nothing will happen there and chances of identifying the guilty party would be almost nil ,it would be a civil matter.

Boom_Bap

With any incident that you think may require some involvement with insurance, I would always alert my insurer first.
Let them know whats happened and that you may not be proceeding but you just want a record of the incident with them.


If you get your CCTV footage and get a reg, that's when you go to the Garda.

Plumbthedepths

Boom_Bap wrote: »

With any incident that you think may require some involvement with insurance, I would always alert my insurer first.
Let them know whats happened and that you may not be proceeding but you just want a record of the incident with them.


If you get your CCTV footage and get a reg, that's when you go to the Garda.

CCTV footage will not be handed over to the OP as per GDPR. He can request the Guards to ask to view what footage may exist.

seagull

It's a good idea to get back to the shop to ask them to make sure the footage doesn't get wiped.

jcd5971

Plumbthedepths wrote:

CCTV footage will not be handed over to the OP as per GDPR. He can request the Guards to ask to view what footage may exist.

The footage won't be handed to op, op can report it to gardai who will then review the footage and obtain a copy if it's needed, the op will never be given a copy of the footage.

omri

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

You need to weigh up the cost of repair versus your excess/ loss of no claims bonus if not covered. As for the Guards you can report it ask for them to view the CCTV footage ( you won't get to see it) but I suspect nothing will happen there and chances of identifying the guilty party would be almost nil ,it would be a civil matter.

So what you're saying is I will be loosing no claims bonus discounts even if I make a claim against someone elses policy?

Eggs For Dinner

omri wrote: »

So what you're saying is I will be loosing no claims bonus discounts even if I make a claim against someone elses policy?

No you won't. I presume other posters are suggesting you dont have the other person's details, therefore you are talking about claiming on your own policy

Plumbthedepths

omri wrote: »

So what you're saying is I will be loosing no claims bonus discounts even if I make a claim against someone elses policy?

If you claim off your own insurance you will lose your NCB unless it's protected. If you can get the details of the other driver and prove they caused the damage it will have no bearing on your policy. Personally I think you have no hope in proving your car was damaged by a specific driver. Not being argumentative just being a realist.
Fix the car if it is worth it and move on would be my advice.

seagull

Step 1 - Contact the shop and ask them if they have CCTV footage of the relevant area. Assuming yes, then
Step 2 - Ask them to make sure the CCTV footage for the day in question isn't overwritten
Step 3 - Go the gardai and make a report and ask them to request the CCTV footage from the shop

After that, you have to hope the footage is good enough to identify the car. If yes, then you can potentially get their insurance details and claim.

absolutegroove

omri wrote: »

My car got scratched while I was shopping two days ago. It might be caught on the CCTV. Should I pursue this with insurer/gardai if there is enough evidence showing the perpetrator, or is it not worth it?

This happened to my Sister and she pursued it with the Guards and got the CCTV.

The lady who scratched/damaged my Sisters car said she didn’t know she’d done it. The CCTV showed that she got out looked at the damage and got back in her car and drove away.

End result is the car is being repaired and the guards were very helpful.

Berserker5

Awful waste of garda manpower has to be said

There should be another way besides gardai checking CCTV over a scratch

Whocare

Berserker5 wrote: »

Awful waste of garda manpower has to be said

There should be another way besides gardai checking CCTV over a scratch

That there job to serve tax payers maybe you see it as a waste because your not a tax payers