Sorting out damages without claiming

sapper

My wife dinged the back of a car last week, no one hurt and no visible damage done to the back of the other car, other than a few paint marks. My wife exchanged details with the other driver just in case and now the other driver has gotten in contact to say that she has two small dents, that she has been told she will need a new rear bumper and that it will cost in the region of EUR280-370.

Now I know that that isn't too bad, but whats the etiquette for checking the valdiity of the other drivers quote? You can't help but suspect that some people would use this situation to earn a bit of pocket money...

My wife swears that she couldn't see any damage on the day, so I suggested that she asks to take a photo of the dents and then get it appraised ourselves. You don't want to just hand over EUR300 on the basis of a phone call right?

If we do pay over the EUR300 - is it acceptable to write a cheque to the garage that gave her the quote?

Rudolph Claus

Women drivers :rolleyes: Spend another E270-E300 on driving lessons for her.

Anan1

I know this is no help to you now, but it's always a good idea to carry a disposable camera in the car for situations such as this. To be honest, that quote doesn't sound outlandish to me. Given that your wife is at fault, the other driver also has the option of claiming for a replacement car while the work is being done. My advice would be to pay up promptly, as any hesitation on your part may lead the other driver to just go through the insurance, something you definitely don't want. These things happen, it could have been a lot worse.:)

gyppo

Anan1 wrote:

I know this is no help to you now, but it's always a good idea to carry a disposable camera in the car for situations such as this. To be honest, that quote doesn't sound outlandish to me. Given that your wife is at fault, the other driver also has the option of claiming for a replacement car while the work is being done. My advice would be to pay up promptly, as any hesitation on your part may lead the other driver to just go through the insurance, something you definitely don't want. These things happen, it could have been a lot worse.:)

Sound advice.

SoBe

Anan1 wrote:

I know this is no help to you now, but it's always a good idea to carry a disposable camera in the car for situations such as this. To be honest, that quote doesn't sound outlandish to me. Given that your wife is at fault, the other driver also has the option of claiming for a replacement car while the work is being done. My advice would be to pay up promptly, as any hesitation on your part may lead the other driver to just go through the insurance, something you definitely don't want. These things happen, it could have been a lot worse.:)

QFT

€300 doesnt go a long way to fixing a car these days,as we all should know

DonJose

Pay up and get it over and done with as fast as possible. As far as I know the owner of the damaged car is able to claim a rental for up to 5 days while her car is getting fixed. In rip off ireland that alone could easily cost €500.