Chingford Railway station our car got hit.

[Man in the middle]

Time for The Godmother to go seek advice elsewhere, methinks (perhaps a solicitor at £150 per hour rather than someone who is giving their time for free).

 

I'll try (but I doubt I'll be well received):

 

The sort of problem you face is notoriously difficult to solve. Quite honestly the widespread use of CCTV in this country is a waste of time in many instances. As you have seen, it is virtually impossible to gain access to it and if you are lucky enough to find someone who agrees to provide it, by the time you do so it will have been overwritten.

 

I think you will have to suck this one up. For future reference, if anything similar happens again:

 

1. Report it to the police.

2. Report it to your insurers (as you are almost certainly obliged to anyway).

 

The police won't do anything but you'll need to do so for when you do (2). Let your insurers sort it out - it's what you pay your premiums for.

 

Stuff happens, I'm afraid, and sometimes the perpetrator cannot be brought to book.

[Man in the middle]

Just out of interest, what would you have done if you had been provided with the CCTV footage as soon as you asked for it?

[Man in the middle]

You can report this type of incident on line and get a crime reference without having to speak to anybody. All you need to do is that and, of course, report it to your insurers. You don't really need to give yourself all this grief by trying to obtain the CCTV (which may not help you anyway). If anybody legally needs it they will make an application for it. 

[Man in the middle]

2 hours ago, The GodMother said:

Thing is the cctv is gone.

Then that's largely that. As I said, stuff happens. All you can do is let your insurers deal with the matter.