Claiming on My Car Insurance

moneytomyway on 27/11/2022 - 14:45
Last edited 28/11/2022 - 07:19 by 1 other user

Hi, not sure if this will be the right sub for my post, if not MOD can you please move it to the right one if possible.

I was called by a stranger (A) this morning at a grocery shop, as he caught another person (B) tried to hit and run my car (parked in a proper park space).

The front bumper sort of come off and with some pretty obvious scratches. B initially denied he was responsible for it, although there were some mark with the same colour of my car on his tyre and he purposely moved from the space next to my car to a further space. There was some disagreement between A, B and myself until another person C involved and proved that A said it's correct.

B then claimed he must have missed the crash as his radio was loud and he's sorry for what he did. I took a photo of his driver license, his rego and his phone number. I then submitted a claim to my insurance provider which I might hear back tomorrow or day after. I tried to report this to my local police station but was told there's no need to report this as no one was harmed nor the guy refused to pass his contacts.

This is the first car incident I ran into in Australia, anything in particular I will need to do with dealing B and my insurance provider? Do I need to pay the excess fee if I was told by my insurance provider? Or B is responsible for all the payments? Do I get to choose which workshop I am taking my car to the repair or it is B's call?

Thanks in advance!!

EDITED: Thanks for all the comments, went through the PDS and think I am all covered now waiting for the call from my insurance provider. Truly appreciated what A has done, otherwise I will be paying a crap load of excess from my pocket. Stay safe!!

• 

  zonra on 27/11/2022 - 14:52

  +1

  Congrats on having insurance. You have saved yourself a lot of stress, headache and money.

  Do I need to pay the excess fee if I was told by my insurance provider?

  Depends on who you’re with. Some will still ask you to pay excess and will refund that once they’ve establish B is solely at fault.

  Do I get to choose which workshop I am taking my car to the repair or it is B's call?

  Again, depends on the insurance company. Most will have a list of approved repairers that you can choose out of. You may also have options for a loan car. It should all be in your PDS.

  Edit: you may get an offer directly from B to settle privately (not getting insurance involved), as tempting as the offer may be. I’d recommend against it, especially with someone who tried the hit-n-run routine.

• 

  Ughhh on 27/11/2022 - 15:02

  +3

  A lot of your questions about what you need, excess etc should be answered in your PDS.

• 

  Muzeeb on 27/11/2022 - 15:14

  -4

  This is the first car incident I ran into in Australia

  Are you from the UK?

• 

  whoamitoblame on 27/11/2022 - 15:40

  +2

  Just make sure you have contact details of witnesses to pass to insurance.
  If hit and runner tries to change the story to their insurer/your insurer, witnesses will turn it into your favor .

• 

  Unorthodox on 27/11/2022 - 15:43

  You've done all you need to at this point.

  Would have been good to have gotten a witness statement and signed by the witness at the time or an email confirmation as they may be busy later on.

  Also… Quite poor form on the police officer, too lazy to at least write the report and have a reference. The driver's reason being the radio was too loud is not a valid reason, imagine if he had clipped a child or adult. There may not need to be a charge for the offender but at least it would have saved OP some hassle and maybe taught the offender a lesson.

  • 

    whoamitoblame on 27/11/2022 - 15:45

    +1

    No need to get police involved unless a party is injured / hit and run or refuses to show drivers license.

    • 

      Unorthodox on 27/11/2022 - 16:08

      The guy did hit and run, and when confronted he denied it until witnesses said otherwise.

      If it were minor scratches, then not worth the hassle but the bumper pretty much coming off etc would be enough to backstop your claim and make sure the claim goes through in your favour

• 

  KaTst3R on 27/11/2022 - 17:16

  he's sorry for what he did

  Just a lesson for everyone on this thread. Even though the likelihood of Person B getting away with the accident is almost non-existent because of the witnesses, but never ever admit wrongdoing or apologise in an accident. Doing that will almost certainly rule against your favour.

  On the flip side, you can try to get the counterparty to admit wrongdoing and it will be an easy claim.