So driving to work this morning from Canterbury to ashford, along a narrow country lane

Came up against a massive foreign lorry – I pulled in as far as I could, and it drove past, ok at first then started scraping the scoob.

I got out and took a photo of the numberplate (unfortunately the country letter was blurred).

He spoke very poor English and didn’t seem to understand “insurance” – apparently because my car was smaller than his lorry “it’s my problem”.

Reg no was 559 XD 62 is that France?? Can anyone trace it for me? I think the company name he said was RGV or RDV.

He said he was going to the next junction to meet- I turned round to try to follow, but by this point there was a massive traffic jam, and it took me ages to get there- by that time he was gone. L

Any advice? I have phoned insurance co (luckily I have 4 years ncb & protected no-claims), but they say I will only get to keep my excess & one of my “free strikes” if they manage to trace the vehicle & the owners pay up.

Will be reporting it to the police later today.

 

I would contact the police and see say and do it quickly.

 

yeah its a french lorry. Contact police asap as they might be able to stop him at dover as its a bit of a hit and run situation

 

IIRC then its French, 3 (or 4) numbers, 2 letters followed by 2 numbers.
The last 2 numbers are the area where the truck comes from, 62 being Saint-Omer.

Could be wrong though.

You really should have called the dibble at the time as he was failing to give details, unless he did give you all his contact details? And now the driver will vanish and I am affraid to say unless your insurance company are brilliant then you will lose out on this one.

 

Getting them to put a stop on it at Dover is a good idea actually - but dont expect the bib to be that helpful!

 

Yes, it's French, but the bad news is that "62" is "Pas de Calais", which is a large dept.

The UK police are unlikely to be helpful, but the French police may help your ins co trace it.

Looking at your Scoob, why not get a quote and don't claim? Could end up cheaper, although I know it's not what you want to hear

Alcazar

 

Did you get a photograph of the registration plate on the tractor unit? Now Ive asked you youll notice how many foreign semi trailers carry the registered number of the last tractor to pull them...

 

that's not what i wanted to hear!

no just the trailer

At least its french- i was a bit worried it was some eastern block country

cheers, going to see the fuzz after work- with protected No claims its going to be cheaper than doing it privately (i'd hope!)

 

Thinking about it, it seems to be more common for an English registered tractor to be pulling a foreign trailer which is still carrying its original plate. If the driver wasnt English Id be less concerned.

 

I thought the foreign tractor/trailer issue was because trailers were registered seperately? Might well be wrong.

Hope you've phoned the police already, agree this should go under hit and run.


5t.

 

any lorry (uk or from abroad) on the uk roads has to have valid insurance and a current reg plate for the country of origion, so from the plate the lorry will be tracable.

 

Sure..........but my experience of the UK police, born out by many on here, is that they won't be interested. Even if they DO help, they'll only do NFA further along the line: No money in it for them y'know

Alcazar

 

If nobody else is going to do it then i feel obilged.

That will T-Cut out, a bit of elbow grease and job done!

 

Don't take this the wrong way but you may find this difficult i.e. can you prove that he hit you rather than the other way round? If you have no witnesses I would expect him to deny liability and you may be stuck.

Do hope you get it sorted though, this kind of thing makes my blood boil.
dnc

 

for such a small amount of damage I would not spoil my no claims. It can only be about £100ish to get that sorted

 

Agree with stevebt, easier to pay up. I had a t0553r at work do this in a private car park.... £100 job done.

DunxC

P.S. Funny how many punctures "you" pick up all at once init ?

 

UK lorries should display the number plate for the tractor unit that is pulling the trailer. On the continent, trailers all have their own registration therefore it will not be the same as the tractor unit.

 

I did this when mine was damaged - cost £350 ish for a top drawer respray of the panel. worked out cheaper in the long run.

andy

 

As said before i cant see that bein to expensive to repair(no more than £100), It'll cost you more through insurance and as u said you'll have a tick next to your name. Can't see you gettin the driver prosicuted unless you got witnesses, sorry fella.

 

Try pursuing his company, if it fails for the sake of a bumper respray dont bother claiming it not worth fudging your insurance over.

 

French truck.

Given the damage, there's no way I'd have told my insurers. Complete waste of time.

You can't prove the Frog was at fault.

I'd have taken it to a mate's spray shop, £200 cash [probably less than your excess which you are going to lose plus your strike] and job done.

Sorry but sh*t happens and this is one of them. Get over it.

 

A lot of that looks like tyre rubber, is there any distortion to the panel/bumper..?

Definitely agree, not to go through insurance if possible. Unfortunately, even IF the driver is found, it'll be his word against yours, just not worth the hassle and cost to your premium (NCB or not your premium WILL go up).

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but you should have called 50 to the scene..

Try polishing it out and then seek the advice of several good body shops, then take it from there. If it's more than it looks then insurance may be the better option, depends on your excess..!

 

Sorry mate, but it's extremely unlikely that either the police, or your insurance company are going to be of any help in tracing the lorry driver, after the event. The police are not going to "watch the ports" for this type of incident, & your insurers are not going to incur the additional high costs of tracing TP insurers & recovering, relative, to the damage cost.

Hindsight's great I know, but what you should have done is asked for his insurance details at the time, & called the police if he "didnt understand". You should have made a record of his details, including the registration & company name & address.

I always carry a disposable camera in the glovebox - just in case of an accident, & to photograph the damage, vehicle locations (to help prove liability) other vehicles & drivers (incase it's later claimed they're not involved)...

 

Buy a new bumper from a breakers, job done.

It's a ****ter, but your excess will probably cost more than the bumper.