Mum tracks down hit-and-run driver

A mother of two has turned detective in order to save her cheap women's car insurance premium after somebody smashed into her car and drove off.

Vicki Flatt fumed when she saw the boot of her car had been crushed whilst it was parked on the road outside her Surrey home, but determined to find out who had caused the £1000 of damage to her Ford Mondeo, she began to investigate.

A security company had offices opposite her house so she popped in to see them and, luckily, they were able to provide her with CCTV showing the culprits committing their dastardly act. And what the 35-year-old saw made her blood boil.

The film shows a workman, who had been tarmacing the road, smashing into Vicki's car as he attempts to reverse his truck around it. Such was the force at which he hit, that her car was shunted down the road, but acting as if nothing had happened he waited for a colleague to jump into the cab before they both drove off.

An angry Mrs Flatt, facing the threat of losing her chance of cheap car insurance, said, "It is not just a few scratches, they have really dented the boot. The footage shows the car being shunted forward about two feet.

"None of the workmen get out and inspect my car. They just drive away. It must have been obvious that they had hit something."

She then set about trying to trace the company that were responsible for tarmacing the road, and after being sent from contractor to sub-contractor and back again, she finally discovered the offending truck belonged to a company called JT Tarmac.

Contacting them, she was told that none of their drivers remembered hitting anything, but the incident is now being dealt with by the company's motor insurance firm.

Craig Handy, spokesman for CoverGirl Car Insurance Services, specialists in women's car insurance, praised Vicki Flatt's sleuthing, saying, "It really isn't on for people to drive away after hitting someone's car, but sadly it does happen.

"But Mrs Flatt's detective work seems to have caught the perpetrators this time, and so it looks like her cheap car insurance premium won't be affected."

*A replacement car can normally be arranged under one of the following conditions: (1) Comprehensive policyholders – a replacement car may be available under the terms of your insurance policy. Please check your policy details for more information. (2) Non fault accident – where we have the name, car registration number and insurance details of the person who caused the accident, we can supply a replacement car. This is done on a credit hire basis which means the costs for this service will be passed onto the insurance company of the person who caused the accident. We may not be able to arrange a replacement car where we are unable to get an admission of liability from their insurance company, or where the driver is untraceable or uninsured. (3) Repair garage – if your car is booked in for repairs following an accident, the repair garage may be able to provide a replacement car (subject to availability).

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