Frustrated with ICBC regarding hit and run claim (long post)
 

About 2 months ago I was sitting in my car parked at a TD Canada Trust Parking lot when a van reverses into the empty spot beside me and when he attempts to drive forward to leave the spot, the van scrapes my front bumper. I honked at the van a few times but the van did not stop and drove off.

http://i62.tinypic.com/bg8mlv.png

http://i58.tinypic.com/2zew3ld.png

I was able to take down the van’s license plate and also had a witness who was sitting in their car as well. I called ICBC and filed a hit and run claim thinking that I had all my bases covered and that this would be a simple hit and run claim for icbc to investigate.

ICBC asked the owner of the van to bring the vehicle to their claim centre and they took pictures of the van and an autobody shop took pictures of my car and the damage. After their investigation ICBC called and told me that they are unable to match the damage on my vehicle to the van, saying that there is no way the van could have hit my car due to their pictures and measurements. I was shocked that they were unable to match the damage as I was sitting in my car when the accident happened and witnessed everything so there is absolutely no doubt that the van hit my car. I told my adjuster that it may not be obvious just relying on pictures and measurements. I suggested to my adjuster that since they cannot match the damage by looking at the pictures to set up an appointment to have both cars brought to their claim centre to compare and to recreate the point of impact, that way there will be no doubt at all.

ICBC was very reluctant to have an appointment set up for a match up but after much persistence, I was able to get them to set up an appointment to have both cars brought into a claim centre to do a match up.

My match up was scheduled for July 13, I showed up to the claim centre that day but the other party failed to show up so I'm back to square one and ICBC saying that based on their photo's there is no proof that the van hit my car.

Here are some photos of the van that were taken by ICBC

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...psj620d4pa.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...psxguj3o1b.jpg

Doesn't the rear hubcap look liked it is scratched up?
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...psvhzqjpsq.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...psppkagbev.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...psjzdi79iq.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...pszprldjgp.jpg

Do you see a straight line scratch on part of the side runner?
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...pstne8ukja.jpg

Here's the damage on my bumper

http://i59.tinypic.com/s1rh3c.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/r1bk47.jpg

I honestly think a part of the side runner scraped my bumper as well as the hubcap since part of it protrudes out. I mentioned that to ICBC and ICBC says this is not possible as no rotation in scratches that would have been caused by the hubcap. What do you guys think? I know for sure some part of the van hit my bumper but I have no substantial proof.

This picture is not the actual hubcap from the van that hit me, I went to a car dealership that had a similar van for sale to take a photo and get measurements of the hubcap
http://i59.tinypic.com/25q57k3.jpg

Does anyone here have or know anybody that has a Ford e350? I want to do a match up and possibly recreate the accident to prove to ICBC.

In regards to my witness, ICBC says, unfortunately the witness could not confirm there was an impact between the vehicles, but rather, indicated:

called witness and was able to get a brief statement as he didn't have a lot of time to talk.

***
I was waiting in my car in the parking lot of TD Bank as I just came out of the bank. The Nissan and I were facing each other. The white van was beside me to the right. The parking lot is small. I heard the honking and looked up and saw the white van had backed out and was turned really sharply. The parking lot is very tight, there isn't a lot of room to maneuver. I believe the white van had clipped the Nissan as the Nissan was honking.

After the hit, the driver of the Nissan came out of his car but the white van then took off. The white van didn't stay. I didn't get the plate of the white van. There was damage to the Nissan, on their front left fender area. I gave my information to the Nissan driver and then left.

I don't know anyone involved in the accident.
***

time to invest in a dash cam guy

yes just bought one last week

Looks like a work truck...maybe they switched plates and icbc didn't take note of the Vin's?

I questioned ICBC about that, asking if that was a commercial or personal vehicle but icbc wouldn't tell me due to privacy but they assured me they matched the vin with the plates

damn...sorry to hear...but maybe you should've ran out to the van and demanded buddy to stop.

Looks like this will be hard to fight if the other party refuses to co-operate

Edit: Did you feel the hit?

If the hubcap hit I would expect the mark to not be so straight. Looks like the side step clipped your car.

There is every possibility dude tossed a load of junk in the back to make it drop a couple inches. Not sure.

Or else maybe there was a height differential where you were parked?

Don't know what to say.

it couldn't been the hud caps as it would've left rotational marks like other ppl says, also it couldn't be the side step too. see how the side step is at max 2 inches thick? ur patch of damage seems to be arnd 4 inches? besides if it was the side step that met ur car it would've left a long deep scratch instead of a patch that is on ur car right now.

I went back to the parking lot to see if the road surface was uneven but it looks pretty flat.

If you look at my scratches closely, you can see a slightly downward group of scratches as well as a slightly more horizontal group of scratches.

I think the horizontal scratches may be from the side step and the downward group of scratches may be from the hubcap? You can see where the damage ends is curved/rounded which is similar to the shape of the protruding hubcap.

http://i58.tinypic.com/122nlsk.jpg

http://i57.tinypic.com/10xqzyb.jpg

The same thing happened to me. Some negligent bitch backed up into my front bumper damaging paint, and then some fucking how ICBC refused to pay saying that same thing "the damage wasn't caused by that vehicle" when it CLEARLY was! Had to take it up the tail pipe.

if icbc fails to side in ur favor, im pretty sure that scuff/scratch would polish right out

If you were sitting in the car when it happened and you had time to write down the plate of the van, why didn't you just try to get the van drivers attention and deal with it then and there?

Story seems sketch based on what you've written.

I honked at the van, thinking that they would stop. When I noticed the van was not going to stop and kept driving, I quickly got out of my car and caught the license plate. Don't know why you think its sketch.

^ if you're gonna quote the whole thing at least spoiler the pictures.

What's confusing me is the one thick area and one thin area that are at a different angle than the rest of the damage. I can only think of one way for that to happen with this van but I'd have to see the parking lot to know if it's possible.

Or vice-versa, if the van had gear in it when it hit OP that got removed before it went to ICBC (which would make sense, if it's going in to ICBC it's out of commission for a bit) it would have been sitting lower when OP was hit. That could put the rear bumper at the height where the damage is.

If it's part of a fleet they could've switched pretty much any damaged part - hubcaps, bumpers, side steps, etc.

Hey underscore, here's a photo of the parking lot.

I would have been parked on the second stall beside the CRV with my car backed in. The lot surface seems pretty even.

http://i62.tinypic.com/34ir11d.png

Just go to U-Haul and pay $20 to rent one, pretty sure they got E350

edit: nvm


Sorry to hear that happened to you OP

No fuckin way, thats through the paint. You are SO WRONG.

According to the pictures, the marks left on your car seem like are made from a flat surface. There also seems to be some paint transfer from the van to your car, possibility from a door or a panel.

I don't think the marks can be made from the hub cap or the running boards. The hub cap will leave rotational starches and the running boards will leave long, but narrow marks. The center of the marks on your car is about 16 inches off of the ground. From the pictures again, only the bottom of the van's front bumper is about 16 inches off of the ground. However, the bottom bumper part is black.

Are you sure you have the correct license plate? If the van is from a fleet, they may have closely sequential number license plates.

Other than that, I don't know what to say. I've been on the receiving end of a hit-and-run before, and it's not a pleasant experience. Sorry man.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have the correct license plate. I remember staring at the back of the van to catch the license plate and made sure I had written down the correct number.

I know the hubcap causing the damages to my bumper is a bit of a stretch since it doesn't look like there are rotational scratches but the hubcap is pretty much the only area on the van that matches up to the height of my damage.

Yes, one of my theories is that this could be a commercial van and that the owner has a fleet of these vans and perhaps swapped license plates and ICBC didn't really match license plate with vin or that there was some object attached to the side of the van that caused my damage but the owner of the van removed it prior to bringing the van into the claim centre for photos.

Louhasnocash mentioned that u-haul probably has one of these van's for rent and I looked on their website and it does look like they have a e350 for rent so I am going to rent one on the weekend and try to match the damage myself.

I will report back.

The side step of the van is at 13" where is shows a scratch at the edge of the side step.
The deep scratch on the front bumper is at 15" in the picture.

The side step would somehow have to raise up 2" to hit there, not to mention, if it hit that part of the side step on a turn he would have ended up driving over the front corner of the car.

Based upon that I see why ICBC has a hard time seeing how the van could have done this damage.

Other's have mentioned that it may be a work van and have been loaded when it was in use. If that's the case then the side steps would be even lower still and could not cause that damage. HOWEVER, being that its probably a commercial vehicle designed to be loaded it may have air bags in the back that could life the rear some.

There are a LOT of variables in this situation, and unless the driver of the van is willing to work with you or admit that it happened you will end up paying. Crappy situation for sure.


The hub cap sits are the right height to do the damage and in the right position to not have it drive over the front of your car BUT a hub cap will not leave straight line scratches, they will be rational as the wheel turns.

For the cost of renting a truck, and the risk of them still not accepting your claim, you might as well just pay the $300 out of pocket and get the bumper repainted. Looks like your sidemarker (little edge can be polished), headlight and lip are all fine. So just repaint your bumper and you are good.

It sucks, but I think at this point you are only wasting more money, and time pursuing this further.

I understand what you're saying but I've already spent the past 2 months disputing with ICBC that the damages on my bumper were caused by the van so I'm not quite ready to let this go and let the other party get away when I know they are at fault.

The cost of renting the van is only $20/day so I'll be spending at most $30, a cost I'm willing to pay and who knows if I am able to get the damage matched up then perhaps ICBC will also reimburse me for this cost as well.

Keep taking it up the chain @ ICBC, talk to the police about driver fleeing the scene of an accident, contact a media outlet etc.

Squeaky wheel almost always gets the grease, you just have to keep fighting and bitching.

GL OP.