Accident in Perth June the 2nd

Hi friends,
my wife and me went to Scotland at the end of May until June. We didn't use our MG but a Volkswagen campervan.
On June the 2nd we were in Perth at Tesco for shopping. After leaving the superstore, an elderly lady backed with her Nissan Quashquai and bumped into the side of our campervan. We talked to her and asked for her insurance card, she had it at home (she said). We were uncertain to call the police, as no one was hurt and took photos of the situation and damage. She gave us her address and asked for sending the bill, she would pay it honestly without insurance.
Few days later I went to a coachbuilder near our home here in Germany, he estimated the damage around 5000€ as the complete side panel has to be replaced.
I wrote a letter to the lady, told her about that, asked her to contact her insurance company and sent it by registered mail. Also I contacted my own insurance company.
The letter arrived more than two weeks ago without any response. I tried to call her a few times, but there's only the answerphone.
The lady lives in Kinross-Shire. Anybody near this area? Is this behaviour common in the UK? Any advices or tips what to do next were appreciated very much.
Thank you in advance
Kind regards
Christof

maybe someone nearby could take a photo of her front door to send it to her without any comment. She may understand...

but seriously, an accident abroad can be a real pain. It's always right to call the police to have a record and to make sure to get all necessary deails of the other party.
I'm in Eire, here an insurance badge with all details needs to be present on the front screen, not sure about the rules in the UK.
Maybe there is a central register similar to Germany? Surely one of the UK guys is able to help, fingers crossed you can get it sorted!

For a collision causing damage or injury in the UK, by law you must:-
"-give the following to anyone with ‘reasonable grounds for requiring them’, for example an insurance company:

your name and address
the vehicle registration number
You also need to give the owner’s name and address if the vehicle is not yours.

You must report the accident to the police within 24 hours if you do not give your details at the time of the accident.

You must also report the accident to your insurance company, even if you’re not planning to make a claim. "

It is quite common for people to try to circumvent the legal requirements by offering to pay for damage directly, I would imagine that this woman has been shocked by the cost of repair and is hoping , because you are a foreigner, you will just "Go away!"

I would say you have two ways to proceed,
1. Ask your insurance company to find the woman's insurance details and claim for the repair against it. That's what you pay them for, after all.
If that is not possible, then make a claim in the 'Scottish small claims court' against her. This can be done online and the 'simple procedure can be used for any amount under £5000.
Here is a link to the claim form Simple procedure

Sorry that you have been a victim of what could be someone taking advantage of a foreign registered vehicle . Take David's advice and hopefully you will get paid out .

John

"You must also report the accident to your insurance company, even if you’re not planning to make a claim"

The quote from David's post is correct but be careful, I had my car written off parked outside my house and called my insurance company out of courtesy and said I was going through the other drivers insurance company MISTAKE. I later had problems with the claim and my insurance company washed there hands and said you didn't want us involved, so I would keep them on board.

Thanks to everyone answering.
We called our insurance company, they first said "Wait for the answer from this lady". Few days later they called back and told us we had concluded a foreign claim insurance, which means they'd regulate the damage the same way as if the other party was insured at them.
What the hell! Next day they sent a few forms to fill in. We described the accident and added some photos. After another call they sent a consultant, he estimated the damage around 3600€. In the afternoon the same day the company mailed and asked about outpayment or repair. We decided to let the money pay out as the coachbuilder can do the repair around 1000€ (that's legal in Germany).
At one of the calls I asked the agent about the procedure against the elderly lady. He meant after finishing the complete case including the consultant's cost they'd give these informations to their partner insurance in Norwich which would try to make a claim against her. But he also said, there's not much hope to get the money back from her.
Therefore I wrote another letter to the Police Scotland in Perth and described the accident, the behaviour of the lady, added some photos and asked them what to do now. I hope she'll get into trouble. She had told us to pay any bill "honestly".
AND: I swore against my beloved wife to get back to Scotland sometime and knock on her door, if she was'nt honestly. I guess I'll do that. Sometime. She chose the wrong one for this game, as I'm friendly to honest people but unforgiving if not.
Thank you all once more.
Christof

It's a damn shame that this woman reneged on her promise, and left you to pay the bill.:rant:
Hopefully the Scottish Police will take action against her. I'll be interested to hear what response you get from them.

I'll keep you updated.

The police replied as follows:
As they were not involved in any action, they cannot assist us in this case. We should contact our insurance company and provide them with the ladies details.
So, in the whole, they were no help to us.
Okay, the damage is thankfully settled by our own insurance company, but the elderly ladie's behaviour wasn't fair. I will certainly return to Scotland one day!
Kind regards
Christof

Not at all helpful. Typical Police reaction-don't want to get involved.

IF the lady had no insurance (which could be possible), the police should get involved. I have no idea whether there is any sharing between European (including the UK)insurance companies of car insurance details via a central register. Unfortunately. data protection often protests the dishonest more than the honest.

I know that when my licence got changed from a UK one to a Swiss one, there was clearly some sharing of info going on between the UK and Switzerland (via access to each others databases?)