Hit & Run - question on insurance

[Mr_Megalomaniac]

Hi all,
Today I suffered the first damage to any vehicle in over 13 years - a hit and run on a country road in Hampshire. I have the other party's registration from the dashcam and I'm in the process of filling in the police report.
The damage is to the door mirror; given the cost of repair/replacement - my question is whether it's better to go through insurance for this or directly through money claim online?
Footage clearly shows the other party at fault and the drive-off nature of the hit & run.
That notwithstanding, I assume I am supposed to report it to insurance as well as the police?

[Oceanrower]

You pay for insurance. Why would you not use what you’re paying for?

[scorcher]

Oceanrower said:

You pay for insurance. Why would you not use what you re paying for?

Because there’s a good chance they’ll get screwed over for the next five years for a non fault claim and that could outweigh the cost of paying for a mirror.

[Mr_Megalomaniac]

scorcher said:

Oceanrower said:

You pay for insurance. Why would you not use what you re paying for?

Because there s a good chance they ll get screwed over for the next five years for a non fault claim and that could outweigh the cost of paying for a mirror.

Having not yet gone to the shop, I'm assuming the ~£500 of mirror and cover might not quite be worth the excess + increased premium? But again - I'm kind of asking a process question. Given a low value claim which might sit at or below excess, am I required to report it and does it make sense? (Police-wise, yes, and already done so).

As Oceanrower rightly points out; most insurers do tend to be sharks and will screw me no matter what; even if it were struck by an asteroid they'd still increase the premiums.

[CraigyMc]

scorcher said:

Oceanrower said:

You pay for insurance. Why would you not use what you re paying for?

Because there s a good chance they ll get screwed over for the next five years for a non fault claim and that could outweigh the cost of paying for a mirror.

Because they may write off his car over minor damage, take it for auction and give him less money than they get from the proceeds.

TL;DR insurance companies can make money when you claim from them.

Source: happened to me.
This is the damage (note, car has not been repaired on this photo). See the little scuff? That's what they wanted to write it off over.

[JQ]

My wife and I have made several no fault claims over the years. None have ever had an impact come renewal.

One of mine was for a wing mirror on a brand new TT I had where a prick tried to overtake in a turn right lane in heavy traffic. I claimed out of principle as the guy was a dick. Again, no impact for me at renewal.

OP - why would you pay your excess if you have the reg and dashcam footage of their fault - you’ll be claiming off their insurance?

[paul_c123]

Mr_Megalomaniac said:

Hi all,
Today I suffered the first damage to any vehicle in over 13 years - a hit and run on a country road in Hampshire. I have the other party's registration from the dashcam and I'm in the process of filling in the police report.
The damage is to the door mirror; given the cost of repair/replacement - my question is whether it's better to go through insurance for this or directly through money claim online?
Footage clearly shows the other party at fault and the drive-off nature of the hit & run.
That notwithstanding, I assume I am supposed to report it to insurance as well as the police?

Just to be 100% sure, was this a contact (of mirrors) while passing in opposite directions on a country lane? Did the lane have a line down the middle and its very clear from the dashcam you were within your lane and the other party was over the line? Or was it narrow and without a line?

[GasEngineer]

JQ said:

My wife and I have made several no fault claims over the years. None have ever had an impact come renewal.

One of mine was for a wing mirror on a brand new TT I had where a prick tried to overtake in a turn right lane in heavy traffic. I claimed out of principle as the guy was a dick. Again, no impact for me at renewal.

OP - why would you pay your excess if you have the reg and dashcam footage of their fault - you ll be claiming off their insurance?

^^^ This. You only be paying the excess to your insurers if the TP insurers won't admit fault.

Plus many insurance companies have terms that require you to report the incident to them anyway, even if you decide not to claim.

[davek_964]

JQ said:

My wife and I have made several no fault claims over the years. None have ever had an impact come renewal.

I made a fault claim, which also didn't affect my renewal.

As others have mentioned, yes - you are supposed to notify your insurers even though I suspect many people wouldn't.

[E-bmw]

scorcher said:

Oceanrower said:

You pay for insurance. Why would you not use what you re paying for?

Because there s a good chance they ll get screwed over for the next five years for a non fault claim and that could outweigh the cost of paying for a mirror.

How many times does this need to be debunked?

The great VAST majority of insurers will NOT increase premium for a non-fault claim & WILL recover excess (before that gets mentioned) and even if your current insurer is one of the tiny minority that do, a visit to the meerkats etc at the end of the year will soon get you with one that doesn't & even more likely a cheaper cost for the year.

On the other hand proving fault for what the OP mentions might be an uphill struggle unless the dashcam footage is clear that the OP could not have avoided the accident.

If he could have done something to avoid it then 50:50 is always a possible outcome and should be considered very closely.

Personally, if it were me & there is any chance that it would be anything other than non-fault I would report it & fix it.

[Monkeylegend]

How much is your excess versus the cost of a new mirror?

If it's only a few £'s difference then probably now worth the cost longer term of a claim if it does increase your premiums.

[GasEngineer]

Monkeylegend said:

How much is your excess versus the cost of a new mirror?

If it's only a few £'s difference then probably now worth the cost longer term of a claim if it does increase your premiums.

eh??

[Red9zero]

I had a tractor take the mirror completely off my car a while ago. It was early in the morning, so still dark, rounding a corner on a country lane. I was well over my side of the road, as I could see an amber flashing light coming towards me, and almost at a stop, when there was an almighty bang and my mirror disappeared (I never did find it). I stopped, but the tractor didn't, so I went after him and got him to stop. He of course denied everything and wouldn't give me his details. Luckily they were written on the side of the tractor, so I passed everything (including dashcam footage) to my insurer.

My car got repaired within a few days, but the claim dragged on for over 12 months as the tractor driver ignored both mine and his insurance companies attempts to contact him, until a couple of days before a court date was due. He admitted responsibility, so it finally went down as a non-fault claim. Total cost for the new mirror (with blind spot detection, indicator etc etc) and a small dent in the door was over £1200. I dread to think what it would cost in our current car with even more electronics in the mirror.

[Mr_Megalomaniac]

JQ said:

My wife and I have made several no fault claims over the years. None have ever had an impact come renewal.

One of mine was for a wing mirror on a brand new TT I had where a prick tried to overtake in a turn right lane in heavy traffic. I claimed out of principle as the guy was a dick. Again, no impact for me at renewal.

OP - why would you pay your excess if you have the reg and dashcam footage of their fault - you ll be claiming off their insurance?

Thanks for the perspective - honestly I have no idea how the process works with excess as the last time I had a scuff to be fixed it was ~13 years ago on a no-excess policy. So am I right by assuming from your message that the excess would be paid by the other party's insurance since they're at fault?

Thanks

[CMTMB]

Monkeylegend said:

How much is your excess versus the cost of a new mirror?

If it's only a few £'s difference then probably now worth the cost longer term of a claim if it does increase your premiums.

Not an issue if he's claiming from the other driver's insurance though iirc ?

[Mr_Megalomaniac]

paul_c123 said:

Just to be 100% sure, was this a contact (of mirrors) while passing in opposite directions on a country lane? Did the lane have a line down the middle and its very clear from the dashcam you were within your lane and the other party was over the line? Or was it narrow and without a line?

Yes contact of mirrors in opposite direction; no lane markers. This is a screen cap from a moment before they hit - at this point I'm practically off the verge of the tarmac and into the mud as I'd seen their lane positioning and was already moving further over.
For what it's worth (nothing to the insurer obviously) I do drive similar roads on a near-daily basis in Kent and have never had an issue previously as it seems most drivers position their cars properly.

[Mr_Megalomaniac]

davek_964 said:

I made a fault claim, which also didn't affect my renewal.

As others have mentioned, yes - you are supposed to notify your insurers even though I suspect many people wouldn't.

Thanks - I'll go ahead and report it now, especially as one way or another there will need to be repairs to the mirror.
Thanks

[Mr_Megalomaniac]

E-bmw said:

If he could have done something to avoid it then 50:50 is always a possible outcome and should be considered very closely.

My assumption is that they'll rule 50:50 to forego the hassle of pursuing it with the other insurer.
I'm happy to be proven wrong by my underwriter but I don't have much optimism about it.

[Mr_Megalomaniac]

Monkeylegend said:

How much is your excess versus the cost of a new mirror?

If it's only a few £'s difference then probably now worth the cost longer term of a claim if it does increase your premiums.

£400 total (voluntary + compulsory) - I haven't gotten a quote yet but the damage is the colour-matched housing and the glass itself. The rest of the mirror housing and mechanism is fine.

[ADJimbo]

This is easily resolvable…

The OP has the VRM of the vehicle which failed to stop, and video evidence of the negligence of the driver.

Go to AskMID, pay the £10.00 for the other drivers insurance details, and reach-out to that insurer and ask for them to put a resolution in place for you?