Accident claim?

The police should be able to track down the truck after a PNC check of the plate, assuming everything is ok and the truck wasn't stolen :-). If you claim through your insurance, this will most likely be registered as a 'fault' claim. So even though it is not your fault, for insurance purposes it will be, and you will have to declare it come renewal time.

Whatever you decide, make sure you keep any receipts you acquire as a result of this incident (travel, vehicle). In case the vehicle is written off, keep any adverts from papers and websites (eg Auto Trader) in order to demonstrate the value of your vehicle *at the time of loss*, as they will try to get away with paying you as little as possible.

This may be redundant, but note anything related to the incident down, including dates, times, names etc. Be polite and assertive (not aggressive, angry or upset) when dealing with the relevant people and/or organisations as this seems to get better results.

On a personal note, a similar thing happened to me last year. I tracked down the lorry, dropped my claim with the insurance company and went with one of those 'no win no fee' people. It took two months to sort out, but I did have a hire car for the duration and a cheque at the end.

Regards and good luck

gino

AIUI the DVLA will supply you with the keepers details if they think you have a valid reason for knowing them. Check their web site.

IIRC the DVLA will give you the owner details for a couple of quid "with good cause" - you might be able to approach them direct and see if they want to do it the easy way or the hard way...

I'm not sure if this is the type of claim they would deal with, but it might be worth looking at what the small claims court can do for you. It would almost certainly involve you forking out and then claiming back but there are no 3rd parties to pay off etc. and it is a painless way of going about things if you do need leverage after going through the polite letters etc. stage.

I used them once - and you can include on your claim the whole nine yards (postage, out of pocket expenses, reasonable interest payments if they don't cough up quick etc etc etc) - although you should be able to do all this anyway.

Also - are you a member of the AA/RAC (they might still do an uninsured loss recovery service)?

Does your employer give free legal advice to employees?

And - does your household insurance cover you for (this type of) legal claim (you never know!)?

All worth a look

The original poster only has TPFT cover so he won't be able to claim through his own insurance. And at renewal, all accidents should be disclosed, regardless of fault.

Yes, sometimes the ambulance chasers get better results than the insurers' legal teams.

I think the easiest way is to get the other parties details from Police and then contact a company like HelpHire. They will repair your car and give you a hire car during the repair. They will then claim for all this on the third party. All you need to pay for is £10 for a insurance just in case they cannot claim off the third party.

Indeed, Helphire was recommended to me by the Rover dealership I took the car to for an estimate. I have started the process with them and hopefully they'll be pro-active about chasing the third party insurers. Unfortunately the police rang me today and said they could not trace the registered keeper of the lorry as it listed as being a 'trade' vehicle (?) and the previously registered business no longer exists...

Darren

Well the police rang me today and said that they cannot trace the owner as it is a trade vehicle (think that's the phrase he used) and doesn't have a person's name on the DVLA database. Also the previous registered keeper is no longer in business! I asked him what my chances were of getting insurance details were and he said they were slim. :-(

Darren

You may be able to get insurance info from the MIIC:

You just download a form from the DVLA website ,send it off when completed .I also attached a couple of pics of the damage for confirmation . Got reply in a couple of days .Only costs about 2 quid . Stuart

That looks like a good website, thanks for the info!

Darren