Car Hit In Public Car Park - Driver Left Scene - Who Is 'at Fault'

[munchie63]

Hi all,

some lovely person hit my car while I was at work 3 weeks ago.
large dent in the side of the rear wing, lights smashed, scratches etc. They drove off, no note, no witness.

I've gone through insurance company and the car is currently neing repared.
My insurance is due next week....how would this go down in terms of fault for claims ? As I've no other drivers details is it classed as my fault ?

I have NCD but am wondering how it'll affect my premium (I'm down £200 excess already).
Also, as I'm using a courtesy car from my current insurers is there any issue renewing elsewhere while I have that ? (think there'll be an overlap of 2/3 days before I get my car nack and CC returned)

[top_driver]

were there any cameras around that you could pull some footage from

[DJHawkes]

are you sure it was a car that did the damage and no a shopping trolley?

[factor-fiction]

I think it will be counted as a claim. It's a no claims bonus rather than a no-blame bonus, although the two are the same when the insurer can recover the losses (which can't be done here).

[JoolsTwo]

It will go against you as a claim even though it's not your fault. It's a no CLAIMS bonus not a no FAULT bonus. So unless your bonus is protected you will lose at least part of it I think.

[munchie63]

Thanks,
It was a town centre street level car park. The main dent was the size of a football and it's hard to believe the other driver didnt realise.

I've accepted that I'm going to have to pay the £200 excess. There is cctv, and I've told the police and ins company that.

I need to renew my car ins on 5th Feb, and on-line it asks for any claims in last 5 years, and who was at fault. it seems a bit rich to be at fault when someone hits your car while you're at work. I dont want to mislead any new insurer, so want to try and find out where I stand as to if this goes down as my fault, non-fault, 50-50 etc

[MrIncredible]

Same thing happened to me a few yrs ago, Front wing damaged (only cosmetic)
Not even sure when it was done or where (but i think supermarket c/p)
Claimed on my insurance and had the work done (£150 excess)
when they came to renew my policy they sent through a quote of £650 previousley it was £270 !
Politly told them to stick there insurance and shopped around.
I found some companies ask "have you ever had a claim in the last five years" and left it at that, other insurers would ask the same question but then go on to ask "was is your fault?" to which you can obvioulsy reply "No".
Managed to get insured fully comp for £310.

[munchie63]

thanks all

having spoken to a helpful chap at Tesco Car Ins he's told me it needs to go down as a fault claim. If (massive if, as the police and insurers don't seem too fussed about cctv etc) they ever find the guilty driver, and can claim back the repair costs then it will become a non-fault.

Seems harsh, but I can just about see where they're coming from. In terms of policy cost it's only increased by £40 (thankfully protected NCD).
£276 with Tesco as opposed to £480 with Endsleigh who've ramped my insurers qte up massively

[ABerrant]

'Fault' has a specific meaning to insurers that is different to the rest of society.

We use fault to indicate where blame lies.
Insurers use fault to indicate which party's insurer settles the claim - if the other insurer pays it is a non-fault claim, if your own insurer pays it is a fault claim.