Damage to my car?

Revival

The side mirrow on my car was damaged by someone. The garda had notified me about this as they had seen it on CCTV. I told them I would sort it out myself. I went down and the person in question said they would pay to get it fixed. I got a quote for €315 and priced it with another garage to make sure I wasnt been done, it came out €15 cheaper. I left the quote in and now he doesnt want to pay it as he could get it done with a friend for half the price.

Should I not have the right to go where I want to as I done nothing wrong. Can I make a claim on his insurance if i get his details. And what will happen if I press charges - will I get my money in court?

BoB_BoT

to the best of my knowledge you're entitled to get it done and repaired to the standard it was before damage. Having a "friend" fix it is not something you have to accept. If they're not happy to sort it through cash, tell them that you do it through the insurance company then. If they refuse to give details, then go to the gardai.

foggy_lad

Revival wrote: »

The side mirrow on my car was damaged by someone. The garda had notified me about this as they had seen it on CCTV. I told them I would sort it out myself. I went down and the person in question said they would pay to get it fixed. I got a quote for €315 and priced it with another garage to make sure I wasnt been done, it came out €15 cheaper. I left the quote in and now he doesnt want to pay it as he could get it done with a friend for half the price.

Should I not have the right to go where I want to as I done nothing wrong. Can I make a claim on his insurance if i get his details. And what will happen if I press charges - will I get my money in court?

if you go the insurance route their insurance will cover it but this may take years to go through, let the guards know that this person is not playing ball and tell them you want it to go through the insurance and their attitude may change? it also might be an idea to give them the two quotes to show you were not trying to fleece them.

jimmycrackcorm

Why not let his friend fix it? You still have the comeback if it is not repaired properly. Just make sure you get a guarantee on the work done - tell the guy that the quotes you got cover the guarantee and how can he do the same with his friend.

dudara

This is not a Consumer Issue in the strict sense of the term. Moved to Motors

dudara

biko

Guess it depends on if the friend is a qualified repair man or some guy with bits and bobs and duct tape.

Viper_JB

biko wrote: »

Guess it depends on if the friend is a qualified repair man or some guy with bits and bobs and duct tape.

You'd also wanna make sure that he can provide you with a replacement car while the work is being done - no justifications as to why you should be with out transport due to an incident caused by someone else.

Reloc8

Legal View :-

You are entitled to be compensated in the amount of the damage to your vehicle (note you're not entitled to have it repaired, its just sort of presumed that that's what you would do with the wedge).

In this case there is a dispute, more or less, between the two of you as to what the amount of the damage is, i.e. the amount it will take to get it fixed and you can therefore sue/claim on insurance - yes, lots more trouble than its worth. For what it is worth, the person paying for the damage is entitled to pay on the lowest quote for the work, conditional on the work being in fact a sufficient repair.

Practical view :-

- Get the guy to give you the quote from his friend in writing, make enquiries (maybe with your own garage) as to what his reputation is like (maybe they don't know him).

- ask the guy who quoted you what the breakdown of parts & labour on the €300 quote is. If parts are €150 - €160 then his quote is not entirely eh 'cowboy like'.

- in other words, as long as it is done and done properly, why do you care who does it ?

So, find out who he's proposing to do the work, establish that they are a proper outfit (proof of insurance etc.), establish that the quote is realistic, get a guarantee of the work & parts on completion.

Basically what I'm saying to you is that for a repair of this minor nature, you need a strong reason not to be accomodating in how you work it out between you. These kind of things are always fierce awkward (he'll be on the defensive etc. you're rightly aggrieved) and a complete pain in the arse to resolve, but 9 times out of 10 the other person is not in fact looking to screw you.

guil

Reloc8 wrote: »

For what it is worth, the person paying for the damage is entitled to pay on the lowest quote for the work

are ya sure about that, a stone came off a truck before and broke my windscreen, ford wanted €800 odd to fix it so thats the estimate i sent in
but aaa windscreens done it for €300

the_syco

biko wrote: »

Guess it depends on if the friend is a qualified repair man or some guy with bits and bobs and duct tape.

Agreed. If the friend causes damage, the friend may disappear, leaving you worse off. Either get the friends name, and check him out, or inform the person that if he deosn't pay up, you get the Gardai and/or insurance company involved.

Actualy, regarding his insurance, did his car hit your car, or did he break the side mirror by himself?

Owen

Just ask where the friend works/what he does for a living. If it's just a guy who's handy with cars, don't use him. If he works in a garage/bodyshop, drive on.

Reloc8

guil wrote: »

are ya sure about that, a stone came off a truck before and broke my windscreen, ford wanted €800 odd to fix it so thats the estimate i sent in
but aaa windscreens done it for €300

Well...I was saying that its the lower price (presuming the job is done properly in either event) that will apply - if I follow you that's what happened in your case.

Unless you're saying someone paid out 800 but the job was done for 300 in which case eh fair play to you.

guil

Reloc8 wrote: »

Well...I was saying that its the lower price (presuming the job is done properly in either event) that will apply - if I follow you that's what happened in your case.

Unless you're saying someone paid out 800 but the job was done for 300 in which case eh fair play to you.

ur right with the second bit

if claims were to go the way you suggested there would be a lot of heal dragging trying to always get a cheaper quote