This is the scenario every driver dreads. You are parked nicely in a parking lot and someone accidentally hits you and goes off without leaving you a note. A hit and run.
We were parked in the usual spot at Plaza Singapura on Sunday. It's always this lot if I can help it because it's beside this walkway down a travelator to the 5th floor where crowds are much thinner than 6th. Anyways I happen to come back to put down some shopping and noticed my license plate on the floor and scratches on the front bumper. Someone had obviously hit our car and didn't leave a note.
I immediately called Meimei to inform her and went straight to reviewing the dashboard camera. Surely it must have captured the incident. We were supposed to be buying lunch for everyone but these threw everything off. Meimei called the Plaza Singapura management office to request for a video but was told to call the Traffic Police instead as they cannot release security footage to the public. And so she did.
While I was frantically scrolling through clips by the minute, the traffic police arrive in about 30 minutes. I had just found what I think to be the offending vehicle that hit our car. It was a hit and run so we were right to call the cops. So we go through with the police what I would assume is the usual process of providing narrative of how I found the car, what happened etc.
Just as we were in midst of recording our statement and the traffic police taking pictures, a middle aged man approached the car and said he was the one who hit us. Interesting~. Is he back here because he genuinely was gonna own up or is here only because the cops have been called. I didn't catch his conversation with the police but Meimei shared with me later that he mentioned he is a lawyer and her alarm bells were on heightened alert.
The man started apologising for hitting our car and offered to compensate us. I told him I'm not familiar with the cost of repairs and I would be bringing it to Volkswagen so there is no ambiguity on repairs. He seemed reluctant to accept it and says he drives a Lexus and knows what it cost to go to the dealer. I smiled and said to him knowingly "yah, they would just replace the whole bumper." He replied, "If we can settle privately I can give you $450 now but if we repair at the dealer I will have to claim my insurance." Seeing that he seems to be sincere, I offered to bring my car to a 3rd party on Monday and have it assess before letting him know the cost. He agreed and we exchanged contact details.
He continued to provided details of his vehicles and finally left. Meimei was following the whole conversation and came over to quickly check on the car plate number the man had provided. Although the numbers were the same, the other alphabets given to the police were different. Hmmm what's going on?! We immediately asked the traffic police about it and were told that it's important to have the right car plate details else it may jeopardise the insurance claims if it went to that. We showed the police the video and they called the man to clarify. They had him come back to our floor and verify the correct car plate. At the same time we exchange photos of our NRIC so I have his details should I need to make a report.
Haiz all these really put a sour touch to the whole day. We drove home and had to order Grab along the way. The kids were hungry and tired from waiting for all these to conclude.
I think the fella thinks the same and transferred $750 instead through PayNow. I guess its a small compensation for the hassle. Obviously its not enough to cover my day of leave ... far from it. But at least it's an amicable resolution to it all without all the paperwork of insurance and claims.
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