Car door dented, caught on Sentry - help!

[DanTW_GB]

Hi all,

After cleaning the car today for the first time in months due to the lockdown I’ve noticed a nasty dent/scrape on the passenger door where someone’s opened their door onto mine, painful!

Gratefully sentry recorded the incident, but due to the rain it’s really hard to make out her number plate. Can anyone help?! Any ideas how to make it clearer? photos attached, and videos here (unfortunately the compression on upload has made them even grainier):

Incident:
Streamable - free video publishing

drive past: Streamable - free video publishing

thanks so much in advance, hopefully someone can help!

 

[M3noob]

I'd turn it over to CSI:Tunbridge Wells

Seriously, date/time/location and any surrounding cams or shops could help, if it is worth the effort.

Insurance claim if you don't want to just eat it for the sake of avoiding hassle.

It sucks.

 

[Adopado]

Incident:
Streamable - free video publishing

drive past: Streamable - free video publishing

thanks so much in advance, hopefully someone can help!

From the stream it looks like:

 

[Jonslatt]

Wong car! It is the white car driving past we are interested in not the one parked up!

 

[Mr H]

BMW 1 series

 

[DanTW_GB]

Finally, I’ve got it! The video I’ve got is a little clearer than the upload above, and I’ve tried a lot of variations, but very confident with this:

GN65 ENW

This is a white BMW M1 according to the DVLA, which is what’s in the video.

Now, what to do next?! I’d really like to track them down and see if they will pay for the repair, but want to keep things above board.
Any advice?

 

[Mr H]

I think you have 3 options..

1 - Report to Insurance

2 - Report to Police and Insurance

3 - Stake out car park and hope they appear at some point

it's a 116i ES

 

[Mf03]

Finally, I’ve got it! The video I’ve got is a little clearer than the upload above, and I’ve tried a lot of variations, but very confident with this:

GN65 ENW

This is a white BMW M1 according to the DVLA, which is what’s in the video.

Now, what to do next?! I’d really like to track them down and see if they will pay for the repair, but want to keep things above board.
Any advice?

Police
You have a clear shot of face of the owner a knock on their door will soon confirm if you have given them the correct reg. and if they don’t want to help give it all to your insurance company.

good luck

 

[Mr H]

I've started driving forward into parking spaces as this allows the side cameras a perfect view of any registration numbers etc

 

[Mf03]

I've started driving forward into parking spaces as this allows the side cameras a perfect view of any registration numbers etc

that’s a top tip I need to remember

 

[DanTW_GB]

I think you have 3 options..

1 - Report to Insurance

2 - Report to Police and Insurance

3 - Stake out car park and hope they appear at some point

it's a 116i ES

forgive me for the noob question - if I report it to my insurer, will I lose my no claims? No claims previously, but I imagine that’s obvious with the no claims and all

 

[dakaix]

It depends if the other party admits liability, if they do then your No Claims Discount is safe. However if they don't admit liability, and there isn't sufficient proof (to the judgement of both insurer's), then it could be judged as "knock for knock" (i.e. 50:50) which means you'll lose your NCD and the excess.

Depending on the actual damage it may be better to pursue the insurance route last, as it may be cheaper to repair the damage privately than your excess + the future insurance premium when you declare you had a claim. Best to get an estimate from a bodyshop or chip repairer before making a decision on calling the insurer.

 

[Dickybeau]

This happened to me in February. My wife was out with the car and my phone warned me that alarm had gone off. When she got home I viewed the video. Car, registration and incident was clear as was the fact that the driver parked up checked my car and drove off. That night I phoned the police to report the incident and phoned my insurance company. Police took a statement, took a copy of the video and after viewing it charged the driver. My insurance company also got a copy and was able to reject the drivers claim that nothing happened. Call the police now if you haven’t. Tell your insurance company now if you haven’t already. Save the video (more than 1 copy) download it to a memory stick to give to the police.

I was informed I don’t need to pay any excess. There’s no doubt my claim will affect my NCB but the person that drove off will receive a very heavy fine and a very large number of points on her licence. Her insurance is likely to be very expensive for a few years and other people might learn not to drive away from an accident.

the cost, to replace my drivers door and paint it etc is around £2200

 

[MrBadger]

How big is the dent? Do you think it is fixable for reasonable amount? If you think its fixable, take the hit yourself or just leave it. It may well be cheaper to do it this way than risk losing no claims or future increases in premium. Dinks in car parks are a reality of long term car ownership. It won't be the last unfortunately, even if parking defensively. There are many people who have no respect for other peoples property. One of them just happen to park next to you that night. We have been 'dinked' at least 3 times in 6 months, most minimal damage now long forgotten where. The first dink is the worst.

 

[Durzel]

This happened to me in February. My wife was out with the car and my phone warned me that alarm had gone off. When she got home I viewed the video. Car, registration and incident was clear as was the fact that the driver parked up checked my car and drove off. That night I phoned the police to report the incident and phoned my insurance company. Police took a statement, took a copy of the video and after viewing it charged the driver. My insurance company also got a copy and was able to reject the drivers claim that nothing happened. Call the police now if you haven’t. Tell your insurance company now if you haven’t already. Save the video (more than 1 copy) download it to a memory stick to give to the police.

I was informed I don’t need to pay any excess. There’s no doubt my claim will affect my NCB but the person that drove off will receive a very heavy fine and a very large number of points on her licence. Her insurance is likely to be very expensive for a few years and other people might learn not to drive away from an accident.

the cost, to replace my drivers door and paint it etc is around £2200

Holy *sugar* how bad was the door ding that it needed a new door? I assume she just drove straight into the car?

 

[Durzel]

People who use other people’s cars as door stoppers make me want to smash something up.

I don’t care how flash or not the car next to me is, I’ll be extra careful getting out and if there’s any danger at all of doors touching unavoidably I’ll make sure my hand shields the contact, and open very slowly.

 

[DanTW_GB]

How big is the dent? Do you think it is fixable for reasonable amount? If you think its fixable, take the hit yourself or just leave it. It may well be cheaper to do it this way than risk losing no claims or future increases in premium. Dinks in car parks are a reality of long term car ownership. It won't be the last unfortunately, even if parking defensively. There are many people who have no respect for other peoples property. One of them just happen to park next to you that night. We have been 'dinked' at least 3 times in 6 months, most minimal damage now long forgotten where. The first dink is the worst.

the dent is about the size of a two pound coin, with two little scratches inside where the paint has been taken off. It’s certainly not the end of the world, and I would guess I could get it repaired for roughly £200-£400 with one of the mobile repairers. I imagine an insurer would say more like £1000 though, knowing how shifty they can be with things like this. Although I do appreciate, I’m speculating massively here.

It’s the principle of it though for me; I don’t want to see anyone ‘punished’, but I do believe we should be held accountable for our actions and if by reporting it I may stop her doing it again to someone else it’s probably worth it. I’ll probably sleep on it and see how I feel in the morning.

would be interested to know what you would all do if it were you.... report it, suck it up and pay for a fix to avoid the insurance costs, or leave it....

 

[Rooster6655]

Finally, I’ve got it! The video I’ve got is a little clearer than the upload above, and I’ve tried a lot of variations, but very confident with this:

GN65 ENW

This is a white BMW M1 according to the DVLA, which is what’s in the video.

Now, what to do next?! I’d really like to track them down and see if they will pay for the repair, but want to keep things above board.
Any advice?

Those wheel look a bit rubbish for an M1

 

[DanTW_GB]

Those wheel look a bit rubbish for an M1

hmmm - that is actually a really good point.

this is the spec on DVLA

 

[DanTW_GB]

Looks to be the same as these no?

Check out this BMW 1 Series that I have just found on #motorscouk