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drgshah

While my car was parked at a hospital parking lot, someone crashed into it and drove away. This was witnessed by someone and they wrote down the registration number of the car and put it on my windshield.
So I now have a dent on my car, a witness, registration number of the culprit car and comprehensive car insurance with AA.
My questions are :
1. Why am I still paying excess when I am clearly not at fault.
2. AA has sent a letter to the address of the culprit. I am pretty sure they won't reply (why would they!). How long would AA wait for a reply? And what if they don't reply?
3. Isn't it illegal to crash into someone's car and not leave your details? How can I make sure this person is legally charged? (his actions have created a lot of unnecessary problems for me).

Thank you.

Anon

Hi there,
All of these questions will need to be asked of your insurance company (AA Insurance).
I imagine that because the alleged offender was not present to be positively linked to the incident, it would be hard for the insurance to automatically pin a claim on them, unless they admit liability. The excess is potentially a standard practice until it can be claimed back through a person, or you may have to settle for losses against the individual in a tribunal.
Yes drivers are legally obliged to leave their details for the vehicle owner or to the police, after an incident.