ICBC Issue: proving a legitimate hit and run
 

Just looking to get opinions from the Revscene Community. Any advice on how to go about the situation would be great.

Case: Car was parallel parked along a street and when the owner got back to the car was hit by another car (possibly exiting a complex), as evidenced by the paint marked on the car's body with gashes from the driver's side door to the fender to the wheels (bad damage, sort of like a curb rash but higher up and covering 4/5 spokes of an 8 spoke design).

There's obviously no witness because the driver came back seeing the car damaged.

ICBC's insisting that the car was moving when it happened and it was a single vehicle collision based on the pictures of the aftermath.

Does anyone here know how to go about the situation?
Paying for insurance is pointless if the one insured isn't really covered by such a circumstance. A legitimate reason if I must say.

Any opinions or advice would be of great help.

A lot of the times, cases are win / lost based on how you present the information.. did you have any charts.. like even something crappy from LucidDraw or Google Draw would help. If it is a complex don't they have video surveillance?

You can escalate it higher ups.. but I doubt it would help.

if it was a single car collision, would the damage on the wheels be more circular as the wheels would be in motion? If another car struck this car, then I'd imagine the damage to the wheels would be more like straight lines.

just a thought.

^^The stationary wheel might have moved a bit too during & after impact thus creating different pattern. That's prob how they weasel out of paying you from that picture and description.

godwin's right. Ask the building manager for tapes otherwise you need an eye witness.

^^^^^
Yeah, if it get's classified as a hit and run ICBC will lose money since they cannot find the other party which did the hitting and running in order to charge their insurance to make up for your coverage. So most likely at this point it's just your word against what they think really happened with the statement + photo(s) you've provided.

Best bet is to go around the scene of the accident, see if there are kind of evidence that could support your statement, such as small pieces of the other vehicle that could have been left behind to going around and seeing whether anyone who works/lives in that area may have known about what happened. Posting some posters/flyers around that area would also be a good idea.

Bottom line is that with a hit and run, evidence is the most important thing you could provide as your own insurance, so just report whatever you think will back up your statement and hopefully ICBC will cover you under hit and run thus the only thing coming out of your own pocket is your deductible (it sucks... i know, similar thing happened to me), oh and fyi if you don't know this already but if you were to somehow find the other party and prove that they were the one who are at fault, within I think 2 years from the date of accident (could be wrong about the exact amount of time allowed). ICBC will refund you your deductible.

ICBC will try to screw you either way. Was in similar situation but luckily I had a habit of memorizing plates before leaving car after parked. These days I just snap a quick pic of the car in front / behind me, it doesn't hurt to take a pic just in case I came back to see my car damaged. Delete pic if no scratch afterwards :)

ICBC isn't going to try to "screw you" either way. Every day people claim hit and runs when it was infact a single car accident. I was shown the statistics once and you would be suprised. If it looks to them like it was a single car accident, and you have no proof otherwise then you're going to be out of luck. ICBC is not a charity. Make up some paint drawings showing how the car was parked in relation to the exit. Find some pictures online of curbed wheels from when the car was in motion. Estimate what speed the car would have needed to be going to create the damage on the panels, then find wheels that were curbed/scratched at the same speed while in motion. Show them that the damage just dosen't add up. Show up dressed well, don't make a scene... act like and adult and they will treat you like an adult.

The most important thing to do in a case like this is to take a LOT of pictures of the accident, in good light. DO NOT move the car until after you take the pictures. Unfortunately, the best evidence in your favor might already be gone or washed away.

One good way to prove your car was parked is if there's dirt, mud or other debris directly under your car. When a car gets hit, the shock will often cause all the dirt under the vehicle to drop on the ground. If its directly under your car ( or very close if your car was moved from the impact) then that proves the car was stationary and in the parking spot when the collision occurred.
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From the way you explaioned it, i would say it is a justified hit and run but really thread is useless without pics.

post photos and I can give you my professional opinion as an estimator

Thanks for all the replies guys! Much appreciated.

Unfortunately, the spoke damage indicates that the car was in motion when it happened because of the gashes!! I honestly have no idea how those spokes had those streak lines because it was stationary at the time of the incident. Please not that this is just for the wheel damage, the body damage is passable for hit and run if not for this.

All ICBC is saying is that those pictures indicate that the car was moving, now, how to go about proving it otherwise?

Life aint fair sometimes..
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Well, to me, it does look like the car was moving. You're SOL.

It honestly looks like you had curbed your rims, and you do know that there is a minimum distance between curb and the car? ie you are not suppose to rubbing.

If the car hit you have the momentum to move your wheels (the contact patch to the ground).. there should be corresponding damage to the bodywork etc, which you didn't show.

The way you presented the pictures makes it looks like you have something to hide I must say.

funny.. looks more like body work rubbing against the wheel to me.. probably a front lower corner of a bumper..

Bump!
Not sure if I should start a new thread, my apologies if thread-jack.
I was driving my gf's car earlier today (so no dash cam). This girl tried to parallel park, L on the back, a male (I'm assuming Dad) in the passenger seat. Hits my gf's car, hard, and decides to drive off.
We were just about to get into the car so we saw the whole thing. I even chased after them.
I have the make/model/license plate and everything.
My question is. Because I have no witnesses, could my hit and run claim be rejected?

Just claim and present them all your info.

You have their plate. ICBC will see what they say.

install a dash cam and saving the hassle.
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I have one in my car *sigh
The one time we take her car and not mine

:badpokerface:

Go call the police and file hit and run. If there is enough evidence they could be slapped with a hit and run ticket. And then go through ICBC with the info you have. If in the end you have to pay for it, you have two option to get it fix or just leave it.
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^As they said. Call the police, and file a report with them.

Hopefully there was paint transfer, so don't wash your car.

My friend hit someone in a parking lot and ran away, and somebody saw him, reported it to police. Cops called his house 3 days later and asked where the vehicle was at said date and time.

He confessed to it right there and then and no charges were laid, and it was deemed as "just an accident", but the police to follow up on it.

And obviously report to ICBC as well. Good luck.

Looks like the spoke damage was caused by a really bad curbage. Or are you blaming that 8 inch curbage on the hit and run too??

:suspicious:
install 4 so they're pointing in all directions :badpokerface:


on a serious note, just from the pics it doesn't look good for you. i can see why ICBC thinks what they think

Well, if dash cam doesn't work in this kind of case, then forget about it under this kind of situation.
Please keep update and let's see how ICBC and RCMP do on this case.