Hit & Run - Vehicle Registered to Company

Jenus on 03/03/2020 - 09:21

I was involved in a minor accident a couple of weeks ago where the car behind me hit my bumper as he tried to squeeze into the right turn lane. As he lined up to turn, he got out of the car, had a look at his front bumper and then drove off. Had it all on dashcam. I also have a witness statement from a very kind bystander.

Report was lodged with VicPol and they determined it was a company registered car so they would need some time to find out who exactly was driving the car. The status as of today is that an enquiry has been made but no feedback as yet.

Is that all that can be done? Surely the fact that it was a hit and run is compelling enough to force the company to cough up a name by a certain date?

Automotive

Comments

  • sharka on 03/03/2020 - 09:23

    Nothing is simple in the world of insurance anymore :(

  • Euphemistic on 03/03/2020 - 09:25
    +4

    End of the day it doesn’t matter who was driving. The company will probably have insurance (or self insure) for damages.

    How much to repair? Get a quote then send them a letter of demand. If it doesn’t need repair just let it go.

    IME the company won’t be too happy with an employee that causes damage with a company car and runs away, but they will try to keep the other party happy by getting the repair done. At least that is with a decent sized company. If it is a two bit show they might try to wriggle it of it.

    • Jenus on 03/03/2020 - 09:32

      That's the thing that confuses me. My insurer says they need the driver's name to get a claim against him, as opposed to claiming directly from the company the vehicle is registered to. And since VicPol has been trying to ascertain the driver's identify right from the start, I got the impression that all claims had to be to the individual in question.

      Repair costs shouldn't be much, but at this moment it seems as if I will have to bear all costs for someone who can't drive properly and doesn't have the decency to man up to his mistake.

      • k-rokfm on 03/03/2020 - 09:42

        Disregard saw below

      • EightImmortals on 03/03/2020 - 11:08
        +1

        See this is what I don't understand about insurance scams/policies. Your insurance company's agreement is with YOU, how they recoup their outlays (which should be covered by your collective premiums anyway) should have NOTHING to do with any claims you make. Paying customers claims is why they exist. And as you have the video evidence which I assume includes the rego plate of the other car and the driver when he got out to look, it should be a no brainer?

      • Randxyz123 on 03/03/2020 - 11:53

        Get a report from the police saying they are investigating and it is registered to xyz company. That is all they should need. It should not be your problem to sort that out. Threaten to go to the AFCA if they don’t refund the execss.

        If they need a contact, I’d push back to the police saying that you need a contact to finalise your insurance claim. Doesn’t need to be the driver but someone from that company. Whoever was driving can be changed later.

        Out of interest are you insured with an el cheapo insurer or one of the main ones?

        • Jenus on 03/03/2020 - 12:58

          One of the main ones. I'll call them later in the day to see if a company contact will suffice. VicPol has the company details but they've not given any of that info to me so I've requested for the officer in charge to give me a call too.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 03/03/2020 - 09:30
    +5

    This is the part of the story where we ask you if you are comprehensively insured.

    • Jenus on 03/03/2020 - 09:32
      +5

      Yes.

      • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 03/03/2020 - 10:04
        +8

        Obtain registration details from VicRoads using this process

        Obtain copy of the police report.

        Submit to insurance company.

        Get your car fixed. Wait for your insurance company to resolve the rest. Not satisfied/excess not returned? Call the AFCA.

        • Skramit on 03/03/2020 - 10:23
          +5

          Get your car fixed. Wait for your insurance company to resolve the rest. Not satisfied/excess not returned? Call the AFCA.

          This 100%

        • demiurgo on 03/03/2020 - 12:17

          It is a bit more involved.

          • Motor vehicle accidents

          VicRoads cannot release any information to a person involved in an accident with respect to the other vehicle or driver.

          However, if you wish to seek details of another vehicle, you can make an application to the Court for an "Application for Discovery to Identify a Defendant".

          This procedure enables the Court to order VicRoads to disclose information which may assist in the identification of the person against whom they believe they have a claim.

          • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 04/03/2020 - 10:11

            @demiurgo: It's not really.

            The Court will even help OP prepare the application. It's inexpensive. They get heaps of these requests all the time.

  • steven6 on 03/03/2020 - 09:50
    +1

    Insurance companies probably think if they take a long time to sort it out you might give up and fix it yourself? or maybe they're just lazy? Same can be said about the police. There is no profit or money to be made if the insurance or police go chasing this up and find the offender.

  • Skramit on 03/03/2020 - 09:51
    +3

    What did your insurance company say when you lodged the claim?

    • Jenus on 03/03/2020 - 09:56

      I had not done this before so hindsight is 20/20.

      They told me to send it into one of their approved centers to be repaired. At the same time, they charged me my entire excess and told me it would be credited back once they identify the person at fault. I had mistakenly thought this would be easily done since there was enough evidence to show that a hit and run and occurred - apparently not.

      I'll ring them up again to ask them to explore filing a claim against the company instead.

      • Skramit on 03/03/2020 - 10:00
        +4

        They told me to send it into one of their approved centers to be repaired

        This is why you pay for insurance, so your car is repaired quickly, at the cost of an excess initially. You're also paying for your insurance company to now go to work for you and recoup the costs from the at fault driver.

        they charged me my entire excess and told me it would be credited back once they identify the person at fault.

        This is still the case. You may be waiting a while but you pay your insurance company as they are now acting on your behalf to recoup the repair cost and the excess cost.

        You need to let them do their thing, but be aware it may take time and you will be out of pocket for that time.

        I had mistakenly thought this would be easily done since there was enough evidence to show that a hit and run and occurred - apparently not.

        Fair enough. They will probably review your footage to confirm who was at fault. But need to go through the correct channels to identify a driver and recoup costs.

        In summary, you just need to sit tight and be patient. No amount of internet advice, or inquiring with the police will speed this up.

        Call your insurance company if you want regular updates, but in reality there's not much you can do, bar lodging a complaint, to speed this up.

        Also, interfering with the processes is unwise and will just piss people off and complicate things. Dont contact the other person or company if you end up identifying them. Just deal with your insurance company.

        • Jenus on 03/03/2020 - 12:59

          Sound advice. Thanks. A good outcome at this point for me is for my insurer to have the details of the company the vehicle is registered to, otherwise it's well and truly stuck in limbo.

  • apsilon on 03/03/2020 - 10:00

    Never had to do it but I would've thought the insurer would go after the registered vehicle owner, ie the business.

    Email the company with a link to the video asking them to ID the driver for your insurance claim perhaps? Is it a large business or is the driver likely also the business owner?

    • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 03/03/2020 - 10:07
      +1

      The driver of the vehicle is liable. Not the owner.

      The owner is liable for an infringement in the event police issue an infringement and the company fails to nominate the driver.

      • apsilon on 03/03/2020 - 10:16

        What happens if the business refuses to name the driver, from an insurance claim POV?

        • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 03/03/2020 - 10:36

          You sue the company in Court.

          99.9% of the time they will then issue against the driver as a Third Party which brings them into the proceedings :)

          OP can't do this if they claim under their insurance. They have given their insurer rights to recovery. The insurer is lazy and wants OP to do the legwork so they don't have to spend anything to recover money.

    • Skramit on 03/03/2020 - 10:20

      Email the company

      Whilst this may seem logical at first thought, this is a bad move. Leave this to your insurance company. This is what you pay them for. If you start interfering in their processes it may make it more complicated than it needs to be and just piss people off.

      • Wampus on 03/03/2020 - 11:03

        The company might benefit from having a copy of the dashcam footage to ascertain the driver however

        Ideally yes, leave it up to the insurance company, but they don't really care who pays the excess so they won't go in and bat for you if the company is dragging its feet

        • Skramit on 03/03/2020 - 11:27
          +1

          True… but really that's for the insurance company to worry about.

          • Wampus on 03/03/2020 - 11:49

            @Skramit: Agreed, but it's not going to get your excess back

            • Skramit on 03/03/2020 - 11:52
              +1

              @Wampus: Not in a hurry but you should still get it back. When 'not at fault' you will normally get your excess back once the insurance company can track down the other driver OR your insurance company takes it all the way to court and court rules in your favour.

              • Wampus on 03/03/2020 - 15:18

                @Skramit: You're 'at fault' until they can pin it on someone else, and you won't get your excess back, and you'll wear the higher premiums because you've made an 'at fault' claim.

                It's not in their interest to chase a recalcitrant guilty party hiding behind a company smoke screen

                • Skramit on 03/03/2020 - 15:47
                  +1

                  @Wampus:

                  It's not in their interest to chase a recalcitrant guilty party hiding behind a company smoke screen

                  Wait what? Nonsense.

                  It absolutely is in their interest to chase them down …as they don't want to pay for the repair to the car any more than the OP does. They want to chase the other party's insurance to pay for it and they will.

                  • Wampus on 03/03/2020 - 16:34

                    @Skramit: Actually, just after I wrote that, I realised that you're right and I'm wrong. I apologise!

            • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 03/03/2020 - 12:16

              @Wampus: If OP obtains the VicRoads report and a police report, the insurance company would be crazy to refuse to refund the excess as OP should have satisfied any requirement to provide registration details and make all reasonable enquiries.

  • H E B on 03/03/2020 - 11:38

    How much damage was done? Sounds like he lined up beforehand and didn't notice after?

    • Jenus on 03/03/2020 - 13:04

      Nah, he hit my car as he was trying to squeeze into the right turn lane, and then got out to have a look after he lined up to turn and then drove off. As I was lined up to go straight, I had to reverse slightly to change into his lane (with the objective of getting out after to talk to him) but he drove off by the time I did so.

  • Kranbone on 03/03/2020 - 13:50

    You have the details of the other vehicle, a police report and dash cam evidence.

    Tell your insurer to pull your finger out and being lazy.

  • His_Holiness on 03/03/2020 - 14:18

    Do an ASIC search of the company and give the name of the director as the driver to your insurer. When they get the bill they'll be finding out who actually was driving the vehicle.

  • CMH on 04/03/2020 - 04:31
    +1

    This link contains information that might be pertinent:

    https://www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au/Pages/representing/lawassis…

    I'll quote:

    If a person is at fault in an accident while they are driving a car they don't own, the owner and driver might both be responsible for the accident. An owner can be liable if the driver was an 'agent' of the owner. This is sometimes called 'vicariou​s liability'.

    A person may be an agent of the owner if:

    • ​​the owner asks the driver to drive their car for the owner's purpose
    • the owner has some control over how the driver uses their car.
  • OzHunterNSW on 04/03/2020 - 10:14

    Just give all the details to the police… it is a serious matter now

    • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 04/03/2020 - 10:16

      OP already did. Read the original post lol.

      • Skramit on 04/03/2020 - 13:12
        +1

        Read the original post lol

        Since when is that a requirement?? :)

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