Our customer was parked in a lot near Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, British Columbia, when their Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe was hit by a large truck. This 577 horsepower luxury coupe starts at around $200,000 CAD putting it in the luxury/high-value vehicle category for ICBC. With this special insurance category, coverage is approved and priced on a case-by-case basis. While most regular cars have a $300 or $500 deductible, our customer's Mercedes carries a $5000 deductible! This made it a no-brainer for our customer to invest in a 2 channel dash cam to protect their investment. Not only would a 50/50 or at-fault claim cost a minimum $5000, but the additional hikes to their insurance premiums would far outweigh the cost of the dash cam.
In this video, you can see that the truck drove too far to the right and clipped the passenger side of our customer's car. We wouldn't be surprised if the truck driver didn't notice the hit, the impact wasn't huge and there's typically a fair bit of vibration with these vehicles. Regardless, the damage was done to our customer's quarter panel that would have cost thousands whether they went through insurance or not. With the video evidence, there's no doubt that our customer was at fault and thus the claim should not affect their premiums whatsoever.
While there was no license plate on the front of the truck and the rear was quite dirty, the dash cam could not pick that up. However, the company's name and phone number were clearly captured. Furthermore, the video offers a clear description of the at-fault vehicle. This evidence combined makes it possible to make a claim without the specific license plate of the vehicle.
