Accidental damage to third party car

[newmoses]

I am posting for a colleague at work.The situation isthat his car broke down, flat battery.A kind hearted man came to the rescue and gave him a jump start with his leads.Afte getting the car going(the helper was in his company fiesta van revving the engine), the helper asked my colleague to shut the bonnet down for him, which he duly did.Unfortunately when he shut the bonnet down, the arm that holds the bonnet in place slightly creased the bonnet.My friend has now been landed with a bill for repairs, parts, labour etc for nearly £900.00.The company car is alease car leased to "N power Yorkshire ltd meter plus).The lease company is FMG support fleet incident management.My colleague doesn't have £900.00 to pay and was asked to shut the bonnet down by the car driver which he did as a goodwill gesture.Any help in avoiding having to pay this extortionate amount would be helpful.

[sailor sam]

I am posting for a colleague at work.The situation isthat his car broke down, flat battery.A kind hearted man came to the rescue and gave him a jump start with his leads.Afte getting the car going(the helper was in his company fiesta van revving the engine), the helper asked my colleague to shut the bonnet down for him, which he duly did.Unfortunately when he shut the bonnet down, the arm that holds the bonnet in place slightly creased the bonnet.My friend has now been landed with a bill for repairs, parts, labour etc for nearly £900.00.The company car is alease car leased to "N power Yorkshire ltd meter plus).The lease company is FMG support fleet incident management.My colleague doesn't have £900.00 to pay and was asked to shut the bonnet down by the car driver which he did as a goodwill gesture.Any help in avoiding having to pay this extortionate amount would be helpful.

 

'Slightly creased the bonnet'? A £900 repair bill sounds like more than a 'slight crease' to me. How exactly did the arm cause the damage? Was it a fault or was it the case that your 'colleague' failed to release it correctly? As far as it being a 'good will gesture' goes, I would suggest it was the other way round. The driver of the van may be in hot water using a vehicle which does not belong to him, for such an activity.

 

I can see this one being very tricky. Basically your 'colleague' and the 'good samariton' are equally responsibe for the damage in my view. How you are going to settle who pays what is going to be anyones guess unless you can prove there was a fault with the bonnet stay.

 

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I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

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[deep in the whatsit]

He closed the bonnet as a goodwill gesture? The other driver did not have to help i think he had the goodwill to stop and help.

 

He damaged it accidently but he did do the damage, No point him trying to get out of that. As it was not a motoring accident your friends

car insurance may say nothing to do with us, Legal protection may help though.

 

Can he get an estimate to have the work done cheaper?

 

In the end though they would need to take your friend to court to pay for the costs. Depends how far each side are

willing to take it. I bet the driver got into trouble as well.

Probably a memo saying drivers are not allowed to help motorists.

 

One driver does something silly and we would get memo's for months afterwards.

[newmoses]

Success.The bus driver who I was representing told me when I came in to work that FMG, the leasing company sent another letter asking for his insurance details, so he phoned FMG and asked why they wanted his insurance details when it wasn't even a road traffic accident.The bus driver then asked if the car is insured to do breakdown and recovery.The reply from FMG was " I can see where you're going with this.No it isn't insured for breakdown and recovery.You've obviously looked into this.There will be no further demands for any payment whatsoever.I will contact the lessee and inform them there is no charge"..Nice result.After all, the jump leads were offered in good faith, and the bonnet was closed in good faith.It was just so unfortunate that the bonnet got damaged.

[sailor sam]

Maybe the 'good samaritan' van driver will have to pay for it then. We may never know.

 

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[newmoses]

The guy who phoned from FMG said that nothing more will be heard.I told the bus driver at work to get confirmation in writing.

[newmoses]

Latest update:- Step in Axa.They sent a letter demanding the repiar cost from my colleague.He phoned Axa and spoke to a woman who basically stated that "Being covered to use the EON car as a breakdown/recovery vehicle is immaterial.She then asked for the colleagues insurance details, to which he declined saying that neither his car or the insureds car was involved in a R.T.A.The stroppy woman at Axa said that they want the money for the repair and want it in 7 days.I then stepped in with a letter to Axa requesting a copy of the insured vehicles policy.The letter was sent on behalf of my colleague with his name and address on it.A reply was given stating that the insurance policy is confidential and a copy was refused.Now if I remember rightly, an insurance policy will have something like "Not to be used in conjunction with any other business than that specified".If this is the case, then the EON man who was driving the car should not have been using his vehicle as a breakdown/recovery vehicle, nor was he insured under business insurance to act as a breakdown patrol officer.This signifies to me that Axa realise that this is not going away.Can my colleague request a copy of the insurance policy under the Freedom of Information Act?.Should all defence material be submitted to the defendant?.Are there any laws or case studies that can be used?.Fleet Management Group(FMG ltd), decided not to pursue the matter any further when asked by my colleague if their cars were insured to be used as breakdown/recovery vehicles.It is only Axa who are trying to pursue it.Any further help would be greatly appreciated

[Santa1023]

If I damage someone else's propert accidentaly then they could reasonably make a claim on me for the cost of the repair. My house contents insurance covers me for personal liability (with an excess) and I would pass the claim on to them to deal with.

 

If your friend has PL insurance that may be a solution.

[sailor sam]

It would seem to me that FMG have made a claim through their insuers (AXA) and they are now attempting to recover it from the 'TP' (you). In my opinion, the driver of the van is obviously trying to divert responsibility away from him but, under the circumstances, I feel that it should be him they should persue because the vehicle was in his charge at the time. AXA are only doing what any insurance co will do under the circumstances. You will recall me saying that this would be 'tricky' in post #2 and it appears that is now the case. You have an option (as pointed out by Santa) of passing it to your collegue's insurers or waiting to see if they persue the matter though the small claims court.

 

Please Note

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek face to face professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

 

[newmoses]

Around 6 weeks ago,I compiled a letter for the colleague at work requesting AXA send a copy of FMG's insurance policy(As I believe there will be a clause saying something along the lines of "Not to be used in conjunction with any other business".).I gave them 10 days from the date of the letter, otherwise the matter would be considered closed.As of today, there has still been no insurance policy copy.The matter is closed then in my opinion.