It's Friday the 13th - of course something had to happen!

[vagabond]

I'm sure much worse has happened today but I was the victim of a "bump and run" incident this morning.

Sitting stationary in a queue of traffic on a large roundabout (the "Dome" in Watford) waiting for the lights to take my exit, a van tried to squeeze past on my right, at speed, hitting the my driver's side rear corner in the process, then hurried off taking the exit after mine. I wasn't hurt but it was a bit of a shock and the guy had sped off before I could even get his reg.

I do have a dash cam but it is forward pointing - you can clearly see in the footage that I am stationary (as are the other cars in front), you see the car jolt and then the side of the van as it passes by quite quickly but, the kicker, the reg is not in the field of view (because he effectively turned right and was never in front of me) :-( I did get a fleeting glance at the reg and tried to memorise it but couldn't find a match on the DVLA site - so probably got it wrong! :-((

Bar steward - the driver would have 100% known that he hit me and I believe the reason for him hurrying away from the scene like a scolded cat.

Damage - looks like it's relatively minor on the surface - some scrapes to the bodywork and crack in the rear light cluster (but functional). The car's a BMW E92, and because the corner is where several panels meet; the rear wing, the light surround/rear panel and the bumper/lower bumper - and they are all "body" panels, there is no specific "bumper" as such, they may all need a small paint touch up.

I've informed the insurance company (Direct Line) and they are sorting it and looks like it falls under their "fair" policy - so I only have to pay the excess and no impact to NCB etc. They couldn't find the offending reg either, so I probably did recall it incorrectly.

So, all-in-all not the worst result but it still annoys me that people don't take responsibility for their actions.
Sorry I just had to get this off my chest, hey ho, I know these things happen but it doesn't half piss you off!!!

[OldHooky]

What a pain.

Have a drive around and look for any CCTV cameras and then contact the owners - they may be able to help.

[RustyBin5]

I was sitting at traffic lights a year or so and some clown just ran into the back of me. Took it to the repair shop and got given a courtesy car. Drove the courtesy car round the corner and stopped at the lights. Yup you guessed it - another clown runs into the back of me.

I walked home.

[walkerwek1958]

Forgot it was Friday 13th until I read this at 18:00.......had a fairly good day so far but that could change!

[hops]

If it's only 3rd party you may be able to claim from a central fund called the Motor Insurers Bureau. If you're fully comp. I don't think they can help.

[vagabond]

Thanks - Insurance all good; I have fully comp with Direct Line and they also operate a fair claim policy, where even when there isn't a party to claim against, if it was a not at fault incident, it doesn't go against me. So NCP is fine and doesn't go on record as a claim made against me.

[David_D]

Thanks - Insurance all good; I have fully comp with Direct Line and they also operate a fair claim policy, where even when there isn't a party to claim against, if it was a not at fault incident, it doesn't go against me. So NCP is fine and doesn't go on record as a claim made against me.

I'm confused about this. A few years back, my car was damaged by a bus when I was stationary at traffic lights. I was paid out by the bus company but still had my premium hiked at the next renewal - despite attempting to argue the toss. (Thinking about it, I may have been with DL at the time!)

It came up last night in the pub as a friend's car was rear ended and he is anticipating a premium increase despite not being at fault and anticipating recovery from the offending driver's policy.

Direct Line may not take your NCD down but if you change insurer, the questions usually ask if you have had an accident and then if it was 'no fault'. You'd surely have to disclose if asked. Presumably, a new insurer isn't obliged to disregard the accident.

Is there an industry policy? Are NCDs actually what they appear? I think someone suggested not. Also, do insurance companies not now share claim information? Any motor insurance industry experts out there?

[Templogin]

Upping your premiums when the fault of the accident lies with the other driver is just a slimy money-making scheme indicative of the industry. I decided to fight back and use the legal cover to pursue an amount of money that my premium would increase by each year due to my no fault accident. Strangely enough the insurance company wouldn’t entertain it!

[vagabond]

I'm confused about this. A few years back, my car was damaged by a bus when I was stationary at traffic lights. I was paid out by the bus company but still had my premium hiked at the next renewal - despite attempting to argue the toss. (Thinking about it, I may have been with DL at the time!)

It came up last night in the pub as a friend's car was rear ended and he is anticipating a premium increase despite not being at fault and anticipating recovery from the offending driver's policy.

Direct Line may not take your NCD down but if you change insurer, the questions usually ask if you have had an accident and then if it was 'no fault'. You'd surely have to disclose if asked. Presumably, a new insurer isn't obliged to disregard the accident.

Is there an industry policy? Are NCDs actually what they appear? I think someone suggested not. Also, do insurance companies not now share claim information? Any motor insurance industry experts out there?

Yes, you're right - this only applies whilst I am a DL customer. If I change insurer, then the new provider isn't obliged to honour that.

WRT premium - I'm not anticipating that changing much - I do have max NCB (9 years+) and have it protected in anycase, plus I'm a bit of an old fart, so insurance is relatively cheap nowadays (one of the few benefits of getting older!)