English reg van drove off after damaging car

enricoh · 30-05-2026 04:50PM #1

Hi, a mate's car got badly damaged by a van turning around in his estate. He has good cctv of it, open n shut case really. Reg number is clear.

Yer man drove off, he knew full well he hit him. Van is a fairly old yoke. Does he go to the cops first, insurance or what, cheers.

cml387 · 30-05-2026 04:55PM

Well obviously the Gardai, failing to stop after a material damage accident is an offence.

But given it's a UK registration their power may be limted.

User1998 · 30-05-2026 04:56PM

Usually you would go to the Garda but I'm guessing its unlikely they will have access as to who the registered owners of the van is since it is from another jurisdiction. Also if the driver of the van is a resident of Ireland it is 100% certain the van is not even registered to them as DVLA will not register a UK vehicle to a ROI resident

adaminho · 30-05-2026 05:00PM

Def report it and get a pulse number.

enricoh · 30-05-2026 05:43PM

Cheers folks, if I was a gambling man I'd say the van was picked up cheap up north n has no insurance etc

...Ghost... · 30-05-2026 06:41PM

It needs to be reported as an official complaint. Get a Pulse ID. The Gardaí can find out if there is insurance in place by checking with the PSNI.
A claim needs to be made with MIBI using their online form.
Your mate needs to inform his own insurer, but doesn't need to make a claim with his own insurer.

MIBI take a couple of weeks to acknowledge receipt manually. Your mate can claim with his own insurer and they can chase the claim with the NI insurer to recoup the loss. Also you can enter the registration into the MOT website and see if the vehicle was recently sold, sworn off the road, or has valid MOT.

Marcusm · 30-05-2026 09:20PM

put the reg intonDVLA reg check and see whether it has been SORN’d, tax out of date or no MOT. It would be an additional reason for a guard to get involved. As a civil matter, they can easily fob you off over the initial incident.