Diy Dent Removal.

[Dowdeswelln]

Came back from a shopping trip and found some...... person had bashed my Focus Titanium. Anyone got any tips on how to get the dent out?

[NorthSussex]

Whoa, that's bad, looks like a body shop repair and an insurance claim, who ever did that should be hung up by there shot and curly's. :o :(

[Stoney871]

Any cameras in the area?

[Preee]

That's a bad bash , and high as well for another car , maybe a 4 wheel drive or van.

Scum bags never left any note i guess.

I once saw a guy hit a car in a car part , i watched what he would do , he first changed parking space and then carried on his way.

So i wrote 2 notes , one for the car he hit and one for damaged car telling him i watched what he did and reported him to the driver and police.

Police station just around the corner. So i took his details left a note on his car and the other car he hit.

I then went and gave his details at the police station and a quick statement.

The owner of the Damaged car called me the following day thanking me :). I would have loved to see the scum bags face when he read my note.

back to your car , damage to the front wing i would say may need a new one and like above i would say body shop job. good luck. Ask at the shop if they have CCTV cameras might be lucky.

[Dowdeswelln]

Thanks for the replies guys, it happened at my local Tesco store which is one of those superstores with a vast car park so CCTV would not have seen much however i have been told i my be able to remove the headlight housing and push the body work dent out but as for the dent in the bumper dont think much can be done for that.

[Preee]

You could probably remove the light and push the dent out , but your not going to get it anywhere near perfect , it's probably twisted it as well at the end.

[NorthSussex]

That looks like the metal has been stretched and creased, after it has been pulled back it will need filling and respraying or alternatively replace the wing.

Are you unable to put it through your insurance?

[jeebowhite]

its a costly process for an insurance claim, even a notification only is likely to add up to 100 quid to the renewal, let alone before the claim.

You would be better paying out for the new parts, but call into tesco and write a letter as well requesting there CCTV camera locations and ask if there are any pointing at that particular area, although you may not get to see the tapes first hand, you can report it to the police as leaving the scene of an accident and they could review the footage. Might not get far, but its always worth asking.

[Stoney871]

Now this I can give a definitive answer on, having done CCTV liaison for a year.

Under freedom of information act you can request images stored on CCTV but data protection laws would dictate that you could only receive or view images/video if the scheme producing the footage has the means to obscure or remove personal data/images of anyone not involved in the incident.

Police can review or obtain unedited footage but can only do so on the authority of an Inspector or above and then only when concerning the prevention or investigation of a crime.

Amazing what I remember after 8 years :P

[NorthSussex]

As nobody was injured and there were no witnesses to the incident, it would be unlikely that your area police would have the time to be involved in obtaining evidence for a prosecution, unfortunately a lot of minor crime is not given a very high priority due to pressure of work.

Report it to the police an obtain a crime number, this will help with any subsequent claim you may make to your insurance company.

[jeebowhite]

Going on what Stoney just said, make a freedom of information request to Tesco and reference the date and time you parked and left. Then if you take the obcured footage, and provide the dates / times / camera details to the police, they can then go in and get the exact data. if you give them 99% of the work done, and all they need is to grab the data, your case is more likely to be taken, rather than them having to do 99% of the work, in which case, you are less likely to be given any time (not their fault, I know they will be under enough duress).