Car damage payment help!!!!

Daisy2010

A friend had a crash recently, nothing too serious but a few hundred worth of damage done to car. The driver who caused the damage agreed to pay the repairs rather than claiming on insurance and left. Not sure if they swapped insurance details.

My friend knows her though and took her word for it. My friend notified the Gardai afterwards of the incident so they noted it.

Now, what happens as regards covering the repair costs. Does my friend pay the garage on collection of the car and get money off the other driver afterwards or are the garage supposed to contact the driver who caused the damage to pay???
Not sure how this works. Any enlightment on the do's and don'ts of this issue would be great. Or just plain legalities of it.

Thanks.

readytosnap

What happens is you get the quote from the garage show it too the other person, get the money off them then get the garage to do the work. no ifs no buts.

Anan1

Regardless of who's paying, your friend needs to inform their own insurance company of the accident.

Daisy2010

Hi,
Well that would be my opinion. My friend was going to just pay himself and bring receipt to other driver who seemed trustworthy. I disagree but that's me. Anyone ever experience doing just that? My friend is eager to get car repaired immediately and was being nice about not claimimg off insurance.

Anan1

Daisy2010 wrote: »

Hi,
Well that would be my opinion. My friend was going to just pay himself and bring receipt to other driver who seemed trustworthy. I disagree but that's me. Anyone ever experience doing just that? My friend is eager to get car repaired immediately and was being nice about not claimimg off insurance.

That might work out fine, and then again it might not. Either way, your friend is obliged under the t&cs of their policy to immediately inform their insurance company of any accidents, whether they intend claiming or not.

sunnysoutheast

Daisy2010 wrote: »

Hi,
Well that would be my opinion. My friend was going to just pay himself and bring receipt to other driver who seemed trustworthy. I disagree but that's me. Anyone ever experience doing just that? My friend is eager to get car repaired immediately and was being nice about not claimimg off insurance.

+1 on notifying the insurance company of the incident, but stating that your friend won't be claiming at this point in time.

Also, don't be surprised if your friend's acquaintance suddenly decides that the repair quote is too large, and that they'd prefer if some guy their boyfriend knows or something similar does it for a cheaper price, and is all that paint spraying really necessary? The end result being that your friend spends time running round trying to save somebody else money.

If/when this happens the wisdom of advising the insurance company will be revealed. Let them deal with it.

SSE

Daisy2010

Hey,
Thanks. So if the other driver doesn't pay up does your insurance company have to chase her or your own solicitor? Sorry I just presumed that you only informed your insurance company if you were claiming off them. My friend is paying out of his own pocket regardless as he doesn't want soaring premium.
I suppose what I want to clarify is if she doesn't pay up he'll have to chase her via solicitor as how would the insurance company have to do it.
Thanks

Anan1

Daisy2010 wrote: »

Hey,
Thanks. So if the other driver doesn't pay up does your insurance company have to chase him or your own solicitor? Sorry I just presumed that you only informed your insurance company if you were claiming off them. My friend is paying out of her own pocket regardless as she doesn't want soaring premium.
I suppose what I want to clarify is if he doesn't pay up she'll have to chase him via solicitor as how would the insurance company have to do it.
Thanks

If the other driver doesn't pay up then your friend (assuming they have comprehensive cover) has two options. Either they can claim themselves from the other driver's policy (this doesn't require a solicitor, but it does require a bit of time & effort), or they can claim from their own insurance, and their own insurer will hopefully then recoup the money from the other driver's insurer.

ABajaninCork

Daisy2010 wrote: »

Hey,
Thanks. So if the other driver doesn't pay up does your insurance company have to chase him or your own solicitor? Sorry I just presumed that you only informed your insurance company if you were claiming off them. My friend is paying out of her own pocket regardless as she doesn't want soaring premium.
I suppose what I want to clarify is if he doesn't pay up she'll have to chase him via solicitor as how would the insurance company have to do it.
Thanks

Why is your friend paying out of her own pocket?? Didn't the other party agree to pay? As others have stated get the wonga from them first and don't take cheques either. Notes of the realm or verifiable bankers draft only!! And her premium won't increase as she's claiming from the other party.

When she informs the insurance (as she must under the terms of her policy), I presume she took the other party's details? Then all she has to do is inform the insurance of non-payment and they'll chase them for the dough!!

It's pretty simple. All you're doing is over-complicating matters.

jamescd

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Why is your friend paying out of her own pocket??

Because his/her friend wants to get the car fixed asap and then just get the money later from the other driver.


I was in the same predicament when my neighbour reversed into my car while she was trying to park it in her driveway. I agreed to bring it to a garage of her choice. My neighbour paid the garage herself and I collected the car no problem a few hours later.

Anan1

jamescd wrote: »

Because his/her friend wants to get the car fixed asap and then just get the money later from the other driver.

The problem with that is that, if the other driver fails to pay, the OP's friend can no longer claim the cost of the repairs from their insurance.

goz83

jamescd wrote: »

Because his/her friend wants to get the car fixed asap and then just get the money later from the other driver.


I was in the same predicament when my neighbour reversed into my car while she was trying to park it in her driveway. I agreed to bring it to a garage of her choice. My neighbour paid the garage herself and I collected the car no problem a few hours later.

I was in my car last year when my neighbour reversed out of her drive and bumped into my car. It was enough to jolt me in my seat, but she started to drive off slowly until I got out of the car. SHe stopped and rolled down her window...."oh sorry (insert my name), did i hit you?" I reply "yes, didn't you notice your car stopped without using your brakes?...Look, it's grand, i'm not injured and i'm having a new bumper put on it in a couple of weeks." She thanks me and drives off. The fog light fitting was damaged and some paint scuffed, but I was actually getting a facelift bumper installed soon after, so i let her go.

To the OP....Tell your friend to inform her insurer. If she doesn't she could be in trouble if anything goes arseways. She doesn't have to claim, but she does have to inform them. She should have taken details from the other driver, but she will have to give what ever details she has. If she can get the car registration and insurance info, she should, but does not need to claim. She should get a quote for repairs and give the quote to the other driver to pay the money. The garage will likely tell her to wait a couple of days anyway. And what about a car while repairs are getting done? Will she do without one, or will she be renting one? This all needs to be considered too.

Daisy2010

Thanks very much everybody. That makes sense re insurance. Will tell him that and hopefully he will. Cheers.

goz83

Is your friend a he, or a she? Post #7 seems to suggest both. Or are you your own friend?

jamescd

goz83 wrote: »

I was in my car last year when my neighbour reversed out of her drive and bumped into my car. It was enough to jolt me in my seat, but she started to drive off slowly until I got out of the car. SHe stopped and rolled down her window...."oh sorry (insert my name), did i hit you?" I reply "yes, didn't you notice your car stopped without using your brakes?...Look, it's grand, i'm not injured and i'm having a new bumper put on it in a couple of weeks." She thanks me and drives off. The fog light fitting was damaged and some paint scuffed, but I was actually getting a facelift bumper installed soon after, so i let her go.

Lucky you were in there. She reversed into my car at like 1am in the morning so I was sound asleep at that time. When I was about to get into my car the next day, I noticed a big dent at the side. I looked at it closer and there was blue paint all over it.

I glanced to my left where her blue Astra was parked. I checked the car out and found damage on the rear passenger side. I immediately walked up to her door and confronted her and her partner about it. They were quick enough to admit to it and apologise. I was very disappointed however that they did not feel the need to come up to me first :rolleyes:

goz83

I wasn't so lucky when I got a different car (current car) After only having it 2 days, my wife parked it across the street for an hour and when I was walking over to get into the car, I notice a big silver scuff on my rear dark blue bumper. I was sick! Half the cars around me were silver and I checked them out, but found nothing conclusive. The likely suspect had just cleaned her car and there were plenty of scuffs all over it, but nothing as proof.

jamescd

goz83 wrote: »

I wasn't so lucky when I got a different car (current car) After only having it 2 days, my wife parked it across the street for an hour and when I was walking over to get into the car, I notice a big silver scuff on my rear dark blue bumper. I was sick! Half the cars around me were silver and I checked them out, but found nothing conclusive. The likely suspect had just cleaned her car and there were plenty of scuffs all over it, but nothing as proof.

Ah that's some rotten luck indeed !

Luckily for me there were only two blue cars nearby, her Astra and her partner's BMW which also happens to be blue :pac: