Hit and run incident

[pinkbabytots]

My car and another neighbours car got badly damaged, last weekend, whilst they were parked up on the road where we live. The other car that was damaged was parked directly behind mine. Just to set the scene I live on a cul de sac that is very quiet. We virtually know every car/van that lives on the road and every car/van that visits. Their is very strong evidence to suggest that our cars were hit by a white van. The is only one white van that regularly visits my neighbour and he is always drunk when driving. Quite often he falls out of his van ****** up! To cut a long story short, we know that the van has hit us.We have inspected the van and yes there is damage and black paint on his car (the same colour as our cars). Problem is........despite the fact that there is definate evidence to say that he has hit us, the police are not interested in pursuing as we have no witness' Could we take out a civil claim? I am prepared to pay the costs of proving that the paint on his van is the one from mine/ours. Thanks in advance

[Buenchico]

You're certainly entitled to make a civil claim against the van driver. Details of the the court procedures are here:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/c laims/index.htm

However, no court will consider a claim unless you've given the other person reasonable time to pay. i.e. you can't go straight to court; you've got to send the van driver the bill for your repairs first. It's only when he fails to pay up that you can take court action.

You should also remember that someone driving their vehicle into yours does not give you an automatic right to claim compensation from them (or from their insurers). You must be able to show (based upon the 'balance of probabilities') that the driver was negligent. If, for example, the van driver had swerved to avoid a drunk pedestrian (or a dog), you'd have no right to claim against the driver. (Any claim would have to be made against the drunk or the dog owner in order to be successful). The van driver might say: "Yes, I did hit the other two vehicles but only because a drunk stepped into my path". If the court believed him (or, at least, thought that his explanation of the circumstances was more likely than yours) your claim would fail.

Chris

[Oneeyedvic]

There are plenty of actions that the police should be taking - though often they do not want the hassle.

Go back to the police and try reporting it again - and tell them that you thought it was a criminal offence to leave the scene of an accident.

If you still get no joy, take you story to the local paper - they should be told how the local police do not want to help members of the public.

[Twenty20]

I do sympathise, but how do you really intend to prove that this particular van hit your cars? You would need to get detailed checks done on the paint on your vehicle and match it exactly to the paint on his. In reality there must be hundreds if not thousands of white vans whose paint would match. Also, how do you prove that he was driving the van on that particular occasion, unless you have witnesses and/or photographic evidence? You'd be spending many thousands of pounds on forensic tests for what purpose? To prove that the paint came from a white van.

Get the cars repaired on your insurance. If you see him driving drunk again get evidence and call the police. The police wont be interested at the moment because there's no evidence, only your suspicions.

I can understand why your angry about it but wait till you get concrete evidence.

[Oneeyedvic]

The police should be interested at the moment as a crime has taken place - someone has caused criminal damage and not reported a motor vehicle accident.

They should investigate this crime, and take into account all the relevant factors. If you can show that you have a suspect, then that person should be investigated and evidence sought to back up your claim.