Minor tip in car

hoody

At a set of temporary traffic lights at some roadworks in my local town, I reversed as I had unknowingly broke the red light. I reversed at low speed about 30m back, and tipped into a 1995 Toyota Corolla, that was coming out of a petrol station forecourt.

I got out of the car, and saw that there was feck all damage done to my own vehicle, but her light had been damaged. I admitted the tip was my fault (I'm still cringing at this bit but it was patently obvious) and offered to pay in cash for the damage - given that it was such an old car and that the only damage that I could see was to her headlight and indicator light.

We drove off and I heard from her a week later - with an estimate for repair of €357, that includes 4 hours labour at €50 an hour. She claims that the bonnet has been bent and that this needs to be repaired to allow for the lights to be fixed. I asked her to get another estimate and it was higher again. That, to me, seems like an exorbitant amount of money, especially when the car itself wouldn't be worth much more.

My questions are

- Can I now go through my insurance for the cost or will it end up costing me more?
- Legally, if I am paying for the repair on the car without going through the insurance, can I decide who will fix the vehicle?
- What sort of time-frame would I have to pay the money in?
- What should I have done?

Fey!

She may not be lying to you. In the meantime her car should be off the road as it only ha one headlight, so she could be insisting on a replacement car until the damage is undone.

It doesn't sound like a stupid amount to me for replacing a headlight and fixing the bonnet.

Just make sure you get a receipt for the work with the car details on it in case anyone says you didn't pay or didn't get the work done!

MagicMarker

Could you see any damage to the bonnet at the time?

Jimmy Bottlehead

hoody wrote: »

At a set of temporary traffic lights at some roadworks in my local town, I reversed as I had unknowingly broke the red light. I reversed at low speed about 30m back, and tipped into a 1995 Toyota Corolla, that was coming out of a petrol station forecourt.

I got out of the car, and saw that there was feck all damage done to my own vehicle, but her light had been damaged. I admitted the tip was my fault (I'm still cringing at this bit but it was patently obvious) and offered to pay in cash for the damage - given that it was such an old car and that the only damage that I could see was to her headlight and indicator light.

We drove off and I heard from her a week later - with an estimate for repair of €357, that includes 4 hours labour at €50 an hour. She claims that the bonnet has been bent and that this needs to be repaired to allow for the lights to be fixed. I asked her to get another estimate and it was higher again. That, to me, seems like an exorbitant amount of money, especially when the car itself wouldn't be worth much more.

My questions are

- Can I now go through my insurance for the cost or will it end up costing me more?
- Legally, if I am paying for the repair on the car without going through the insurance, can I decide who will fix the vehicle?
- What sort of time-frame would I have to pay the money in?
- What should I have done?

Similar thing happened me, I cocked up in a wee tip with an old car. Crap thing is, once you cock up, it's your mess to fix. In all likelyhood, it's not extortionate, but it does suck having to pay that much.

If you go through the insurance, and lose, I would assume it'll cost way way more in premium rise, along with having a claim on your policy. Legally, it's her choice who fixes the car - she can go to a main dealer if she so wishes, but I would assume this isn't the case. Maybe ask her would she consider a mechanic you know and trust, if you do have one. But,she is entitled to have her car fixed to the standard it was at before the crash, regardless of whether this is worth more than the sale price of the car or not.

Pay up ASAP, as the longer you don't, the more likely she is to ring your insurance company. Turn the tables - if someone hit you, you'd want your car repaired to a decent standard and pretty sharpish considering it's wasn't your fault. I've had to chalk it up to a hard lesson, but it's worth it if you become a better driver for it.

Fey!

If you're thinking about the insurance route, check your policy first to see if you have an excess on your policy (if you had an excess of €250, then you pay €250 and your insurance pay €125, and you lose your NCB unless you had it protected).

danjo

If you go through your insurance you will most likely pay more. Initially you will have an excess on your policy and then an increased premium.

Check your policy for the excess amount.

ArphaRima

As far as I can see you are getting off very lightly indeed. Give her the cash ASAP!

padma

While coming to a meter before a stop one day a car turning in to the estate swerved and hit me. I was driving a car worth 800 euro, The headlight was damaged and the bonnet bashed in a little bit. I knew the cost of repair would come to about 600 euro or so. He gave me 650 euro as that was what I was quoted by a reputable crash repair man we both knew. A week later my car was stolen and I got 800 off the insurance company for my troubles. All in all I ended up with 1450 euro for the car. But as the guy who crashed in to me said, If my neck had a bit of damage he could have been forking out a lot more for his mistake.

The point is it happens, you just got to pay. Similar to a bus Eireann guy who deliberately out of road rage scraped the side of my car. Bus Eireann insurance gave me 1000 euro for the scrape, as was quoted by a main dealer.

bazz26

In fairness €357 for the damage you described sounds fair to be honest.

You hit her and were at fault so she is entitled to get the car put back to the way it was before you hit her. She is entitled to get the car fixed where she is happy with. To be honest if you hit me and you were questioning the cost of the repair or trying to get me to go to a place that you wanted it done, I'd just tell you to get your insurance company to deal with mine.

I'd pay for the repair and be done with it. Once the job is done just make sure to get here to sign a declaration that the incident is settled in full.