Damage to Neighbours Car,.

[shi-tzu]

Hello,, hope for some advice!., My 10yr old Grandson accidently

opened their car door on the shared driveway catching the Neighbours

car bodywork, causing a small dent.

My daughter reported this incident to her Neighbour & offered to get the damage repaired at her cost.,

The Neighbour insisted on using her own Bodywork Garage & produced an inflated quote.,

My Son-in-law works in the motor trade & can get the damage repaired

for a lot less money., but the Neighbour insists on her choice of repairer.

How does my daughter stand in the eyes of the Law? is she obliged to use the Neighbours repairer? Thank you in anticipation.. SHI-TZU.

[lenn]

Point out the difference in cost and offer a figure somewhere in between in full and final settlement.

 

The problem I see in using your own repairer is that it leaves the situation open for your neighbour to complain about quality of repair.

 

If your neighbour uses their own repairer then that is their choice and not your problem.

[rebel11]

Hi shi-tzu

 

I would get 4 or 5 quotes, then say that is all your willing to pay. If you want to take me to court that is fine, I will show the Judge all the quotes. All the quotes will be in the same ball park figure. There is only so much work involved in repairing a small dent.

[MaisyMouse]

Unfortunately not

 

Was it simply a dent or was there paint damage as well ?

 

Was the dent on a flat piece of metal or on a crease ?

 

What is the metal under the paint, steel or aluminium

 

Is the paint on the surface metallic ?

 

The age and condition of the car may also have something to do witht he cost of repair, moreso if it is a rare edition model, or classic car.

[rebel11]

It's a basic repair, nothing complicated.

 

Unfortunately not

 

Was it simply a dent or was there paint damage as well ?

 

Was the dent on a flat piece of metal or on a crease ?

 

What is the metal under the paint, steel or aluminium

 

Is the paint on the surface metallic ?

 

The age and condition of the car may also have something to do witht he cost of repair, moreso if it is a rare edition model, or classic car.

[Slimm]

I can see why your neighbour would be reluctant to put their car in the hands of your son-in-law who they may not trust, instead of a garage they're used to.

 

 

I'd suggest you ask them to get 2 quotes, asking for 4-5 is unreasonable. If at all possible it might be worth getting a couple of decent digital photo's of the damage for your records.

 

 

It's definitely not worth falling out over - if you upset them they could just go ahead with repairs and make a claim for the invoice value against the vehicle insurers who would not disregard a formal estimate/invoice from a reputable garage - just not worth the time/risk.

[rebel11]

You need to read the post, I'm not suggesting the neighbour gets 4 - 5 quotes, but the daughter, to show what the neighbor is quoting is too much.

 

I can see why your neighbour would be reluctant to put their car in the hands of your son-in-law who they may not trust, instead of a garage they're used to.

 

 

I'd suggest you ask them to get 2 quotes, asking for 4-5 is unreasonable. If at all possible it might be worth getting a couple of decent digital photo's of the damage for your records.

 

 

It's definitely not worth falling out over - if you upset them they could just go ahead with repairs and make a claim for the invoice value against the vehicle insurers who would not disregard a formal estimate/invoice from a reputable garage - just not worth the time/risk.

[Slimm]

I'd suggest that obtaining 4-5 quotes for someone else's vehicle is bordering on the aggressive. If someone admitted damaging my car and then insisted on either taking it to 4-5 garages or having 4-5 people from garages to look at it I think I would be seriously considering calling their insurers. Getting a single engineer to look at it would be more reasonable.

 

 

The person with the damaged car is the victim here - whilst they should be reasonable (thus 2 quotes, not 1) they don't have to allow all and sundry to poke around their property.

[rebel11]

All that's needed is some pictures / video of the damage, to get 4 or 5 quotes. If the neighbours quote is excessive then the daughter does become

a victim as she would have been ripped off.

 

I'd suggest that obtaining 4-5 quotes for someone else's vehicle is bordering on the aggressive. If someone admitted damaging my car and then insisted on either taking it to 4-5 garages or having 4-5 people from garages to look at it I think I would be seriously considering calling their insurers. Getting a single engineer to look at it would be more reasonable.

 

 

The person with the damaged car is the victim here - whilst they should be reasonable (thus 2 quotes, not 1) they don't have to allow all and sundry to poke around their property.

[DES_1001]

Well if it was me and you were messing me around wanting the family to fix it, i wouldn't have any of it, i would just want your insurance details and if you wouldn't provide them then i would report it to the police and get them to get your insurance details.

I know you don't want to hear this but you ARE at fault, they are the victim!

Forget this stupid 4-5 quotes!

[rebel11]

Report what to the police? Waste police time? Report it to the Insurance company, that's why insurance premiums go up, why not hire a claims company too. Lol.

 

Well if it was me and you were messing me around wanting the family to fix it, i wouldn't have any of it, i would just want your insurance details and if you wouldn't provide them then i would report it to the police and get them to get your insurance details.

I know you don't want to hear this but you ARE at fault, they are the victim!

Forget this stupid 4-5 quotes!

[DES_1001]

you report it to the police "as failing to report an accident"!

If you didn't know THAT is an offence!

[rebel11]

Yes.

 

you report it to the police "as failing to report an accident"!

If you didn't know THAT is an offence!

[unclebulgaria67]

you report it to the police "as failing to report an accident"!

If you didn't know THAT is an offence!

 

It was not an accident. It was a 10 year old boy opening a car door, accidently hitting a neighbours car. The Police would not be interested. It is purely a civil matter involving neighbours. Plus it appears the accident was not on a public highway and involved no injury to anyone or notifyable animal.

 

As it was a 10 years boy, the parents of the boy could just deny any responsibility and tell the neighbour sorry, but if you park your car too close, if children are accessing the family car, then you take a risk. It is not as if the car owner, would take a 10 year old boy or his parents to court.

 

The parents of the boy are being more than reasonable to pay the cost of how much they could get the job done. They are under no obligation to pay the car owner whatever amount they want for a garage of their choosing.

 

Advice is to admit no responsibility here for the actions of a 10 year old boy. Advise the neighbour that as they have not accepted a gesture of goodwill, that they will receive no help.

[Slimm]

Sorry to disagree but I seriously doubt the motor insurers of the vehicle will deny indemnity here - cover will almost certainly be in place for damage caused by 'persons getting into or out of' the vehicle. Failure to provide insurance details after they have been requested by someone involved in an accident with you is a criminal offence (Road Traffic Act, Section 154). Whilst the police certainly wouldn't be happy to spend time on this matter it's not the victim they would blame.

 

 

Thus my advice to OP is to politely express surprise at the amount of the original quote and ask for one more to double check - I think the neighbours will agree that's fair. I'm assuming here that the original quote was from a proper garage on headed paper but I'm sure OP would have mentioned were that not the case.

[unclebulgaria67]

Sorry to disagree but I seriously doubt the motor insurers of the vehicle will deny indemnity here - cover will almost certainly be in place for damage caused by 'persons getting into or out of' the vehicle. Failure to provide insurance details after they have been requested by someone involved in an accident with you is a criminal offence (Road Traffic Act, Section 154). Whilst the police certainly wouldn't be happy to spend time on this matter it's not the victim they would blame.

 

 

Thus my advice to OP is to politely express surprise at the amount of the original quote and ask for one more to double check - I think the neighbours will agree that's fair. I'm assuming here that the original quote was from a proper garage on headed paper but I'm sure OP would have mentioned were that not the case.

 

Yes I can see where you are coming from.

 

If there is a dispute, then let the Insurers deal with it. I would not pay for an expensive repair, just to keep the neighbour happy. If they have refused a more economical repair, then they will have to accept going down the Insurance route.

[green_and_mean]

Failure to provide insurance details after they have been requested by someone involved in an accident with you is a criminal offence (Road Traffic Act, Section 154). Whilst the police certainly wouldn't be happy to spend time on this matter it's not the victim they would blame.

 

 

 

Third party insurance is only required under the same Act on a public road or in a public place which your drive is not, therefor it follows its not an offence to fail to produce if you have an accident on your own property.

[unclebulgaria67]

Third party insurance is only required under the same Act on a public road or in a public place which your drive is not, therefor it follows its not an offence to fail to produce if you have an accident on your own property.

 

Has the law not been updated recently ? Now it is compulsory to have third party Insurance unless you declare SORN.

 

There is nothing stopping the neighbour using Askmid to find out the Insurance details and then submitting a claim directly to the insurers of the car the 10 yr old kid was getting into. It might not be a smooth process getting the claim settled, unless there is some cooperation.

[steampowered]

Your daughter will have to pay a reasonable amount. If the amount is very expensive, there might be a good reason for suggesting another bodyshop. But if it is just the son-in-law being very cheap, I think it is fair enough to insist it is done by an independent garage. The neighbour will be worried that if the son-in-law does it he won't do a proper job.

 

There might be some room to compromise by going for a cheaper independent.

[Conniff]

Third party insurance is only required under the same Act on a public road or in a public place which your drive is not, therefor it follows its not an offence to fail to produce if you have an accident on your own property.

 

Has the law not been updated recently ? Now it is compulsory to have third party Insurance unless you declare SORN.

 

 

Can you come back on this please G & M ?

[SuperVillain]

Umm... I would look at the recent decision in Coles v Heatherton [2013] EWCA Civ 1704.

 

Background - Several insurers arguing that RSA (more than etc) using their own repair network who inflated costs for repairs.

 

Without going into the minutiae of the decision it was basically held that the direct loss in an RTA such as this is the diminution of value of the car. This is represented by the cost of putting the car back to the condition prior to the incident - i.e. the repair cost. Heatherton argued that Coles had a duty to mitigate their loss by having repairs done at a lower cost, which the Court held incorrect.

 

It's about what's reasonable in the circumstances. The Court isn't likely to see a your neighbour choosing their own repairer as being unreasonable. Furthermore the case also confirms the neighbour doesn't have to get the car repaired to demand the money as the direct loss has been incurred.

[unclebulgaria67]

The conclusion I come to is that if you are not prepared to pay the neighbour the cost of the repair they want, then you report this event to your Insurers and let them deal with it. You should also give your neighbour your policy details and advise them that you will let the Insurers argue this out.

 

The Insurers may just pay the neighbour the cost of repair, as it is not worth the hassle for a small dent. On the other hand they may argue the toss. I have heard of Insurers refuse to admit liability for the acts of young children in these situations. Perhaps they do so, as the damaged car owner will probably get the car repaired on their own insurance and are unlikely to take any court action against the parents of a child.

[green_and_mean]

Can you come back on this please G & M ?

 

What if the car is SORN and has an accident on a private drive? The need for continuous insurance has nothing to do with the requirement to produce insurance on private property.

[green_and_mean]

When it boils down to it the child is liable and has probably got no assets so let them sue the child. Its not a motoring matter the car wasn't being driven and wasn't on a public road as far as I can see.

[Conniff]

you report it to the police "as failing to report an accident"!

If you didn't know THAT is an offence!

 

No it's not except under certain circumstances and this is not one of them.