Help regarding car crash

Hi all,I'm after some advice regarding a Spanish car rear ending me in villamartin,

The morning we were setting of to drive home to the UK we were sat stationary

at a zebra crossing and were rear ended by a Spanish car (not hire car), driven

by a chap and his wife from Newcastle area, The chap stopped at the road side and got out,admitted full responsibility and agreed to pay the full damage repair to our vehicle upon his return a week later to the UK,I STUPIDLY agreed not to call the police as he was driving in flipflops,and exchanged details also took pictures of the car regarding number ectopic,upon arriving home I have found out all details given by him are false,and I'm seeking advise on how to trace the owner of that vehicle,as I have  Bill of £835 for my car to be repaired,how anyone could do this to a family with 2 young children in the car makes me feel sick,

Any help will be appreciated

Many thanks

** EDITED ** he was probably drunk ,l take it you have his registration number if so give it to your insurance company their leagal department will sort it out ,you should have call the police big mistake on your part .

The driver was not drunk at all and was in flipflops,And yes I have the registration number and pictures,under Spanish law this can lead to a fine ,up to 10,000 Euro for giving false details,insurance companies wont chase abroad as it costs to much money unless its a serious case,

As ive stated any help would be appreciated as to how the owner of the vehicle can be traced, under Spanish law I have 12 months to sue the registerd keeper ,

So I'm assuming you are now home in the UK or travelling back? You could/can report to police after the event although of course better they attend.

Were there any witnesses ?

You can obtain the current keepers name and address by getting a 'informe de vehiculo' normally used when buying or selling cars. You can buy this online or direct from DGT Traffico (wilth a digital signature) or through the office of a Gestoria in Spain - If you are back in the UK your only option is to buy online and have it e-mailed to you unless you can get someone in Spain to do it for you.

The informe costs between 12-50 and 25 euros some are better (more complete) than others 

There is something that I don't understand. As the other driver lied to you about paying for the damages etc. what makes you certain that he was the owner of the vehicle? This must be down to the police and your insurance company to find out. Just because someone at the insurance company says something, it does not mean it is true and factual. You must insist that they find the owner of the vehicle and then try to get the money from him. You stated that you took photos of the cars but have not said if you have any photos of the other driver and the passengers.

You also have not stated if your car is UK or Spanish registered. If it is UK insured you have legal assistance and they have a lot of expertise in similar matters, use them. As stated above if you do not like the first answer you get from your insurance company politely ask to speak to someone more senior and if you don't get the right answer ask to go even higher. I assume that you have not claimed on your own insurance because of loss of NCD which is your right but that means you are landed with the bill.

Lessons need to be learnt. 1) Never believe anything the other party says. 2) Not only photograph the cars but also all the people arround! 3) Even if not claiming off the other party get them to fill out the accident report form. 4) inspect their paperwork i.e. DL, insurance docs, ownership docs. Failure for them not to supply any of these is an instant reason to call the police.

You can use tracing agencies to find this driver but it might end up costing more than the damage and there is no guarantee that they will be successful. It is fairly easy for a UK insurance co. to find the registered owner of a Spanish car. Have they even tried?

It seems that unfortuneately you have learnt an expensive lesson

A couple of points the first is how can you drive back a car when the damage is 835 pounds, dark roads etc

I don't understand why you didn't get insurance details or understand how the Spanish system works, I am asuming that you had PROPER European insurance cover, green card etc

Next point is Spain you insure the car, if it is a spanish car, not the driver, so it doesn't really matter who was driving the car, what is key is tracing the keeper which is Spain is quite simple

Next I would advise posting on a very local forum torrevieja.co.uk and name and shame the driver, include the car details and registration number, chances are somebody will know them

Also look at the Facebook group N332 there are some good contacts  there

Thanks for the info guys its really appreciated,my car is a hyundai ix35 2015 UK plated as thats where we live, it is a fairly big car,the crash bar behind the bumper is bent and the bumper is pushed in,but lucky for us no damage to the lights ect,hence the reason it was legal to drive home,as for the cost to fix genuine parts,spray job, plus labour =835 ,I'm going to try the sites you have mentioned,all our insurance is fully legal for driving abroad,and we carry all equipment needed to be legal in Spain and France,but like some have said mayjor lesson learnt on our side not calling police,,the reason I'm paying for the damage and not claiming on my cover  is all insurance companies regardless of fault or not put your premiums up the following year,with the chap who was driving I don't know if he is the registerd owner,but like you say the key is tracing the owner

Thanks again for the useful info guys,I shall post if there is any updates

If this occurred in the UK you could claim full compensation from the MIB (Motor Insurers Bureau) as I've done twice in the last few years. 

This procedure follows EU law, whereby each participating motor insurer in any EU state is obliged to contribute to the fund for both damage and injury claims.  Before the earlier EU legislation the MIB was originally intended only to apply to injury claims where the negligent party was either without valid insurance or untraceable.  The about 10 years ago the MIB fund was extended to include damage by another EU directive.

The same facility will be available in Spain, but I do not know the name of the Spanish equivalent to the MIB.  So you should be able to recover the amount in full, but it'll take a bit of effort.

** EDITED **

This message was last edited by acer on 23/08/2016.

I have just caught up with this thread, and it is stated that all the details the other driver gave are false, so whats to say the registration on the car is correct also? I feel the only safe way to deal with an accident abroad (or even at home) is to involve the police, as they will get details from the other driver you may not, and in the UK at least, police generally test for drink driving too as a matter of course where a incident has occured. How sad the other driver was English, it doesnt say much for English abroad.

I think all you can do is try all ways to get recompense, or reluctantly just accept you will have to bear the cost. My sympathies, Rob

SRobbie  I have just sent you a PM. 

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