What can you do in an accident when the other guy flees the scene?

[wprime]

Does anyone have experience in what happens in the following situations:

 

 - You have a dashcam which clearly shows the other party is at fault but the other guy has painted over his numberplate so it's not-visible in the footage. Can you still claim it as being the other party's fault without being able to identify them?

 

 - You have a dash cam which clearly shows the other party is at fault but they flee the scene and you have their number plate? I've been previously told that I need to identify the person who caused the accident and the car license plate is not enough to make a not-at-fault claim.

 

Or do you need to chase them down if you don't want an at-fault claim?

[Richard 2020]

Since this is a "national sport" in Thailand, so "hit and run",
there is only one way to protect yourself from damage!
A 1Class fully comprehensive car insurance!

Maximum excess 5000.-THB

I do so for 30 years!

[Kildonan]

4 minutes ago, Richard 2020 said:

Since this is a "national sport" in Thailand, so "hit and run",
there is only one way to protect yourself from damage!
A 1Class fully comprehensive car insurance!

Maximum excess 5000.-THB

I do so for 30 years!

Unfortunately Thai insurance companies do not offer 1st class insurance if the vehicle is over ten years old? 

[Kwasaki]

35 minutes ago, wprime said:

Or do you need to chase them down if you don't want an at-fault claim ?

I reckon if the guy does a runner he probably hasn't got insurance and I would also add not a reasonable person to deal with. 

 

That's what 1st class is all about and only thing you do is report it the police and give them the footage. 

 

My truck was hit by kids on a bike from a poor family, I paid to have it fixed. 

Is was not worth the aggro. 

[KhunLA]

Be grateful they left, and don't demand compensation from you.  If you refuse to pay, then your vehicle is held until settled in court.

 

If I hit or someone hits me, I pray they leave the scene.

[blackprince]

If you've got a dashcam just hand it over to the police and let them deal with it.

 

Running away from an accident is a crime as is covering up plates.

 

In my area the police are very efficient at this kind of thing.  If you're living in a rural area they'd quite likely recognise the other party from the video.

[Will B Good]

Frustrating, but chasing them down could end up with you looking at the wrong end of a gun.

[Ralf001]

this other vehicle with the painted over number plate, is it front of your vehicle ?

[IvorBiggun2]

30 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

My truck was hit by kids on a bike from a poor family, I paid to have it fixed. 

Is was not worth the aggro. 

When I had an accident the police were going to fine the motorcyclist 400 Baht but decided that cuz he was poor they didn't. I had to claim off of my insurers.

Just a word of warning. If the changing of fluids ie oils have to be renewed for a repair they are not covered by your 1st class insurance. My Toyota dealer who did my repair wouldn't release my repaired car until I paid. 

Edited November 15, 2021 by IvorBiggun2

[Will B Good]

36 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

My truck was hit by kids on a bike from a poor family, I paid to have it fixed. 

Is was not worth the aggro. 

Same thing happened to me....but in Germany.

 

Family came round to confess. Their insurance covered the cost of repairs, over 10,000 Euro.........and I received a cheque for 2,500 Euro for any inconvenience I suffered!!!!!!

[meechai]

1 hour ago, Kildonan said:

Unfortunately Thai insurance companies do not offer 1st class insurance if the vehicle is over ten years old? 

I think that is a confusion depending on ownership

 

Thai insurers do not want to first class insure a older car being paid for on time (car loan )

 

But if you own the car outright you can always get 1st class insurance & they are happy to sell it to you....

but most owners see diminishing returns after x amount of years and drop to third class insurance due to bluebook value of car etc...unless a classic of course or of they are well off & do not want any hassles at any accident etc etc

 

In Thailand a falang driver is well served to have 1st class insurance for peace of mind

Edited November 15, 2021 by meechai

[onthedarkside]

A flame post toward a fellow forum member has been removed.

 

[TheFishman1]

I had an accident and the guy did a run I had a police report I had to pay for my towing but the insurance company covered the expense of fixing the car Tit

[kwak250]

I was driving along slowly in a soi when a old Toyota soluna came out a side street 

 

It was being driven by maybe the son and the dad was trying to help turn the wheel to avoid hitting me.

It didn't help he still hit me.

I got out and the other 2 got out and swapped seats.

I thought they moved the car to the side of the road but they forked off.

I told the police who were sat right near where it happened and they shrugged and radioed the number plate.

At least thats what they told me.

Lesson learnt since then i bought 1st class insurance.

 

 

[tonray]

GF has a one year old car....in the first few months of ownership hit by two motocycles. One at a traffic light when stopped, she was able to get pic of rider and bike (with plate #) before he ran off. Local police told her to pursue it she would need to provide them some incentive as they were very busy...basically they flat out asked her for 3000 baht to go check on the guy. Insurance claim..

 

2nd incident: Guy on moto took out her mirror on passenger side when trying to pass in traffic...again...he took off...police not interested in pursuing anything. 

 

Th dashcam is basically only good for protecting you against phony claims against your actions...nothing else.

[LivinLOS]

On 11/15/2021 at 5:09 AM, meechai said:

But if you own the car outright you can always get 1st class insurance & they are happy to sell it to you....

Nope.. 

 

No way to get anything over Class 2 + money at one age and class 3 + money at another.. The age is dependant on the company and if you were insured with them over years.. 

10 years back I had a 1996 VW golf.. at 15 years old there was no insurer who would offer anything good. Same when I had a 'beach jeep' 

Have a retro / classic merc 500 of mid 90s.. and you have to run around on base insurance even if the thing is worth 500 600k.. I have no idea how the multi million baht classics get covered, I have asked every insurer I spoke to and no one can refer me to a specialist for classics, I make the assumption one has to exist but I have asked. 

[The Fugitive]

30 minutes ago, tonray said:

GF has a one year old car....in the first few months of ownership hit by two motocycles. One at a traffic light when stopped, she was able to get pic of rider and bike (with plate #) before he ran off. Local police told her to pursue it she would need to provide them some incentive as they were very busy...basically they flat out asked her for 3000 baht to go check on the guy. Insurance claim..

 

2nd incident: Guy on moto took out her mirror on passenger side when trying to pass in traffic...again...he took off...police not interested in pursuing anything. 

 

Th dashcam is basically only good for protecting you against phony claims against your actions...nothing else.

Very sound advice. Unfortunately to be expected of police (and not only in Thailand).

[bojo]

On 11/15/2021 at 3:25 AM, wprime said:

Or do you need to chase them down if you don't want an at-fault claim?

I think the fact that they did a runner means you're not getting paid anyway, so you're going to have to claim yourself or pay yourself depending on what insurance you have......................and personally, in all the years of driving in the Kingdom, i have seen loadsa red plates and loadsa vehicles without plates, but never ever 'obscured plates',so.........................................................

[Asquith Production]

On 11/15/2021 at 11:20 AM, KhunLA said:

Be grateful they left, and don't demand compensation from you.  If you refuse to pay, then your vehicle is held until settled in court.

 

If I hit or someone hits me, I pray they leave the scene.

That's why you have a dash cam to show who was at fault.

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, tonray said:

GF has a one year old car....in the first few months of ownership hit by two motocycles. One at a traffic light when stopped, she was able to get pic of rider and bike (with plate #) before he ran off. Local police told her to pursue it she would need to provide them some incentive as they were very busy...basically they flat out asked her for 3000 baht to go check on the guy. Insurance claim..

 

2nd incident: Guy on moto took out her mirror on passenger side when trying to pass in traffic...again...he took off...police not interested in pursuing anything. 

 

Th dashcam is basically only good for protecting you against phony claims against your actions...nothing else.

She got off lightly. A good friend of mine had his house broken into, and as well as taking stuff like his tv they found the keys to his Fortuner and took that too. It took place in a gated community where the security guard vanished on the same day, giving a clue who might be at least a part of it, but the police demanded 100,000 to investigate.

He decided he'd had enough of Thailand and returned home to Australia. His Thai wife was traumatised by the robbery and police response and was all too happy to leave with him.

[andygrr]

This painting / whiting out number plates seems to be to common.  In nearly 20 years here I have never seen the police pull anyone over for it.

I've always wondered how they can let people get away with this. 

[marcho]

On 11/15/2021 at 10:44 AM, Kildonan said:

Unfortunately Thai insurance companies do not offer 1st class insurance if the vehicle is over ten years old? 

Some do, i am with KSK insurance, my car is nearly 11 yrs old.

[Guderian]

It happened to me in Pattaya two years ago. I was waiting at the Thepprasit/Sukhumvit junction and when the lights turned green a Grab Food guy cut straight across the front of me as I started to move off. I hit him at a crawl, but it still made a mess of his bike and the front of my car, but he wasn't hurt. It was pretty clear that he didn't have any insurance as I asked him for his details but he didn't have them, and then said I'd settle for 10,000 Baht to fix my car if he wanted to avoid the police coming. He looked very worried at that, so probably had no driving licence either. I turned away and pretended to phone my insurance company which gave him plenty of time to hop on his bike, which still worked, and drive off. I just didn't see any point in taking it further as he had no money and no documents and I wasn't going to get any compensation so why get a young guy in trouble, maybe cost him his job in these dark days, when I've got first class insurance and can claim? In the end, I had to pay 1,000 Baht excess on the insurance policy, and although the annual premium was supposed to go up to reflect the fact that I'd had an accident the next payment was actually quite a bit less than the one before the accident. Don't ask me. Anyway, I may have done the wrong thing from a legal standpoint, but I'm pretty sure it was the simplest solution for us both and probably the right thing to do morally in the circumstances.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Guderian

[tonray]

12 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Anyway, I may have done the wrong thing from a legal standpoint, but I'm pretty sure it was the simplest solution for us both and probably the right thing to do morally in the circumstances.

That's pretty much how foreigners should handle this situation in Thailand...stay away from hassles...just the price of being a foreigner here.

[G Rex]

1 hour ago, LivinLOS said:

Nope.. 

 

No way to get anything over Class 2 + money at one age and class 3 + money at another.. The age is dependant on the company and if you were insured with them over years.. 

10 years back I had a 1996 VW golf.. at 15 years old there was no insurer who would offer anything good. Same when I had a 'beach jeep' 

Have a retro / classic merc 500 of mid 90s.. and you have to run around on base insurance even if the thing is worth 500 600k.. I have no idea how the multi million baht classics get covered, I have asked every insurer I spoke to and no one can refer me to a specialist for classics, I make the assumption one has to exist but I have asked. 

Try Bangkok Insurance - they gave me 'reasonable' cost First Class insurance for my Porsche - none of the normal companies (Roojai etc) were interested...

[IvorBiggun2]

13 minutes ago, Guderian said:

why get a young guy in trouble, maybe cost him his job in these dark days,

Cuz his next accident could cause the death of some poor innocent person.

[Road Warrior]

this common i understand in thailand , if the offender has covered with number plate then he as done it before .not surprising ---   after  all !! !this  is thailand 

[Gsxrnz]

Take a seat at the closes restaurant to the incident and drink copious coffee.  Eventually you'll see the vehicle as he/she no doubt will pass again.

 

Follow said vehicle to determine it's place of overnight residence.

 

Extract your pound of flesh from the vehicle ensuring you are suitably disguised to avoid detection (limp and wear a wig).

 

Revenge is wonderfully satisfying. Don't ask me how I know.

[vandeventer]

On 11/15/2021 at 11:25 AM, Will B Good said:

Frustrating, but chasing them down could end up with you looking at the wrong end of a gun.

Not really, a few years ago I was having lunch with a few friends and I had my bike parked on the main street where I was eating. A car was parked in front of my bike and when they were leaving they backed into my bike. Only a little damage was done to my bike and the people said sorry. I asked them if they had insurance and they said yes. So I told them to ring their insurance compony and they did. The insurance people were there quick but the people who own the car told them it was my fault. The insurance people scratched their head and told me were to go to get it fixed and paid for it. So even thro they have insurance they try to worm there way out. And they tried to leave a few times before the insurance people got there.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, andygrr said:

This painting / whiting out number plates seems to be to common.  In nearly 20 years here I have never seen the police pull anyone over for it.

I've always wondered how they can let people get away with this. 

They are not painted. They are faded due to a rubbish paint job at the plate factory. Unfortunately, some people knowingly take advantage of this issue.