After coming out of the gym today there were a couple looking at my car. At first I thought they were admiring it so made a quip as I approached along the lines of "you haven't driven into me have you?" to which they replied "no, but someone just did"
They'd seen someone reverse out of a space opposite, into the front of mine. It's scuffed and dented my metal number plate and there's a fair amount of scratches between the kidney drills on the paintwork, it won't buff out as it's rough so will need sanding and painting. Some of the chrome appears to be rubbed off on a number of the grill slats so I think it just caught the grill too.
Not the worst damage ever, but the guy got out, looked at it and drive away without leaving any details with the witnesses so if I can ensure it costs him to repair it, I will. Annoyingly I missed it literally by a minute.
So the witness works at the gym, recognises the guy's face, and while only got a partial plate, they're going to get me the CCTV of the car leaving the carpark so I'll have a full registration. I'm not sure the gym will be allowed to try to give me a name due to GDPR etc. so me getting the drivers name might be more tricky but of course the insurance company could.
Questions for those that have dealt with similar (in the uk only please as I imagine it's different all over):
I've logged it with the police, although I don't have all the details / reg yet I will get a crime number if needed for insurance.
Once I have his reg, should I just pass it onto my insurers and let them deal with it, knowing it will impact my premium as even in non-fault I'll have to declare it on renewal.
The alternative is to find him via his reg and give him the opportunity to pay out of pocket. As he decided to drive away he may try to wriggle out of paying, so insurance with a witness statement seems rock solid, I just don't want my premiums to go up for someone else's issue.