pezzza

Went out to my car this afternoon to go to work, and noticed this.........





Now i know this is niot much, but it is MY car and the council have damaged it.


Heres another view.......







What i would like to know is, shall i repair it myself and leave it at that, or shall i report it to police as an accident that failed to stop etc.

I have called the council, and they sent a person round to take a look, he then said to me that a truck could never have done that as it would have left loads more damage!

I told him he was talking out of his backside, being a heavy vehicle driver myself, i know that the vehicle has only touched my car, but it still left damage.

Opinions please........

pezzza

hmmm....

20 odd views, but no replies.

look close at the off side, the light surround has been knocked out, also the wing has a dent in it as does the bumper.

Is this worth repairing by myself, or take things further and claim from their insurance? as long as i get them to own up to it that is!

NEILLLLL

iTrader: (2)

Hard 1 mate. Unless anybody saw it happen you'll struggle to prove anything.

Nate

iTrader: (2)

Agreed ..... And the council bloke probably knows thisas well. Is there any CCTV in the area ?

pezzza

was outside mums house at the time, so no CCTV recordings.

Is it worth getting crime ref number from local friends service, or just leave it?

spally

iTrader: (1)

no witnessess etc, unfortunately this will have to go down as some a!!!! getting away with it!

pezzza

So you dont think its worth pursuing then?

Car will cost £££ to repair, may just need pulling out and a little straightening, but why let the scum bags get away with it!

Waiting to hear from basildon council on monday, maybe see the evidence on the truck or summit?

spally

iTrader: (1)

personaly i wouldnt bother. damage dosent look that severe, so shouldnt be to expensive and you will probably spend a lot of time/agro chasing your own tail.

NEILLLLL

iTrader: (2)

Hassle them as much as possible but don't take any action where it will cost you money because you will more than likely get no where with them as you have no witnesses or reg no.
Good luck but can't see it going anywhere.

pezzza

Damage is not that severe, but it IS damaged, and it was the bleedin council can that did it!

God im sooooooo pissed off with them for damaging my pride and joy, now its gonna cost ME money to get it right again.

spally

iTrader: (1)

dont get me wrong, fair play if you do chase it...just cant see you getting anything unfortunately

spally

iTrader: (1)

i had to have almost all of my front end rebuilt due to an "unsafe" load falling on me whilst driving along the A13.

funnily enough the lorry driver didnt stop and i couldnt prove it was him....who ended up paying.....ME!!!!!

pezzza

May just have to "brick" their truck next time i see it......

Rob42

Not knowing your circumstances, how do you know it was the council? If there are no witnesses and no CCTV then you've got your work cut out.
However, the fact they sent someone round is a good sign. I'd get some good measurements as to what part of the truck could have hit it, and compare height for height and check for paint/ damage on the truck. Their fleet manager should know what truck was in your area at the relevant time.
Get a quote or two, present them to the council and request compensation, but, and it's a big but, if you want to report the accident to the police, you have 24 hours from the time of the accident. So put your thinking cap on mate!
Good luck with it.....
Rob

pezzza

Was just thinking that, should i go NOW whilst i am still boiling. or wait til tomorrow, but i dont have much time for the 24 hours thingie to be up, it happened between 9.30am and 2pm today.

Rob42

The 24 hours thing used to be the case, but i think you have to go in person. Might be worth giving them a bell first, save a wasted journey. The fact you report it to five oh might also help focus the council's attention.
Good luck with it mate, I'd be bloody fuming if it were mine, and mines is nt as new or shiny as yours. It's a point of principle.
Rob

pezzza

Well......heres the update.

Just got off phone to Chelmsford HQ and spoke to one of their helpdesk team.

She told me that basicly thay are admitting liability, because when i phoned the council earlier today, they gave me their insurance policy number and the contact details too!

All i need to do now is go to my local police station tomorrow with the incident number, get a crime report number and then call my insurance company and give them the details of the councils insurance.

Looks like it should be an easy claim to sort out after all........

zs_phil

iTrader: (1)

even if you they brought the council van or whatever it was around for you to look at they have hundreds of the same vehicle so would prob just send a new untouched one unless you had the number plate .
my lass opened my door on a concrete lampost and im still waiting for her to pay never mind the council they are tight gits

Rob42

@Pezza,
Well done mate, chuffed for you.

pezzza

ALL trucks are recorded on a database now, so they know exactly where their vehicles are at any given time.

Will be going down there monday morning to show damage, and to get reg of vehicle and size up against others to prove that it was them that caused the damage in the first place.

pezzza

ROB42,

As you can appreciate, i spent loadsamoney on my scoob, so i like to keep it in good condition, so if someone hits it, THEY will pay for it in the end!

Thanks for your support.

spally

iTrader: (1)

fingers crossed it all works out for you mate. Bet you are glad you followed it up now.

pezzza

Going to see them this morning, will post an update later.

lollyMccray

I hope you got it all sorted today perry

pezzza

In a word.....NO!

They are STILL saying it was not one of their vehicles, and showed me the size of the back end on one.

Looks like it may not have been a BIG dumper, but was deffo a council motor of some sort.

Anywayz, looking more like I have to foot the bill for it, unless anyone can come up with any other ideas on how to screw the council like they screw us out of our hard earned money?

WRX_Dazza

im missing something here...

as said i think above somewhere, how are you 100% sure it was a council vehicle??? or have i missed something?

pezzza

Not sure myself, but was told it was one from basildon depot.

Well i am going to have to fit the bill myself now, so anyone know of any good body repair centres near me?