Young lad scraped along my car

Cianos

My friend was driving my car (properly insured!) and a young lad driving his mum's car under her insurance tried to reverse away from a hold-up in the road, and ended up breaking my wing mirror and heavily scraping along the front and rear door as well as causing heavy scratching on the back part of the rear wheel arch.

My friend was stationary, handbrake up and the young lad admitted fault immediately and has apologised over text.

We got a quote of €800 from a panel beater to fix the damage. The mother is saying it's a ridiculous quote and that the insurance won't pay out that much for my car anyway (99 Ford Focus). The mother actually works for a mechanic (who fixed the wing mirror) and the panel beater was recommended by the same mechanic.

She doesn't believe that her son did that amount of damage, even though we told them that a dent in the front bumper was in fact there before (my friend wasn't sure at the time of the incident).

The mother now wants to come and see the car, but I'm not sure what the best process is here. I don't want it to drag out, I just want to get it sorted. We do have their insurance details and have been in fairly regular contact with them.

Advice much appreciated

pablo128

Ignore her. Tell her to contact the insurance company. FFS 800 for repairing 2 doors, a quarter panel and a new mirror is absolutely acceptable.

Actually tell her if she keeps it up you may need a few days car hire while yours is being repaired.

Diemos

€800, Sounds fine, a guy cut me up at a round about in March and badly dented my wing, I needed a new wing and a re-spray and the alignment (I think, mech said suspension work) also and it came in at €1200. My car is old and not worth much but it wasn't my fault. Why should you have to pony up or or live with damage that was not caused by you. It's no business of hers what your car is worth.

The guy who hit me tried to drive off but got stuck in traffic. I did not even entertain doing the fix privately, save yourself the headache and go through your insurance, cover you ass. Trust me on this.

antodeco

Also technically she didn't cause her damage, he did, so not much to do with her.

Either way, just go through the insurance and they will send out an assessor. At the end of the day, I know he's a young lad, but his mammy can't fight the battles for him forever!

Gumbo

Lodge a claim through the insurance. You can always drop the claim at any time if she decides to pay up or she can pay back her insurance company herself.

Get it done Monday and start the process to save time as they will want to inspect the car also.

Supergurrier

She sounds like an old wagon trying to bully you, ignore her.

coolbeans

Cianos wrote: »

My friend was driving my car (properly insured!) and a young lad driving his mum's car under her insurance tried to reverse away from a hold-up in the road, and ended up breaking my wing mirror and heavily scraping along the front and rear door as well as causing heavy scratching on the back part of the rear wheel arch.

My friend was stationary, handbrake up and the young lad admitted fault immediately and has apologised over text.

We got a quote of €800 from a panel beater to fix the damage. The mother is saying it's a ridiculous quote and that the insurance won't pay out that much for my car anyway (99 Ford Focus). The mother actually works for a mechanic (who fixed the wing mirror) and the panel beater was recommended by the same mechanic.

She doesn't believe that her son did that amount of damage, even though we told them that a dent in the front bumper was in fact there before (my friend wasn't sure at the time of the incident).

The mother now wants to come and see the car, but I'm not sure what the best process is here. I don't want it to drag out, I just want to get it sorted. We do have their insurance details and have been in fairly regular contact with them.

Advice much appreciated

The guy's mother is in no position to be dictating to you as you're the injured party. Stand up to her and just go through the insurance. You're entitled to have your car repaired to a high standard.

frozenfrozen

tell her you've decided to just let it go through insurance as it wasn't worth the hassle of dealing with her. she'll be paying an extra 800 a year at least until the no claims is back. she probably thinks she's being smart questioning the mates rates price of 800 for the whole side of a car to be repaired.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

I'd say she's never been in the situation before. I remember I dented a lads door (just one panel) and was shocked at the price to get it fixed. Anyway if she continues to be contrary just let the insurance deal with it. I wouldn't be letting her near my house either if I was you.

ba_barabus

Go through insurance

/End of thread

Tigger

Go to the local main dealer for your car
Ask for a quote
Show her insurance her quote
Use the money they give you to give the panel guy €800
Go on a nice city break with the change

bazz26

You are entitled to have the car put back to the condition it was in before the accident. This means that you can get the car repaired where and by who you want not the other party. I find in these type cases where the other party doesn't accept the quoted price or knows someone who can patch it up for next nothing, will just whinge, moan and stall rather than pay to have it repaired properly. Best not engage with these people any further and just go through their insurance company.

kirving

Yeah, tell her you want to go through insurance. You're doing her a favour by allowing them to get its done privately, at what is clearly a good price as the mother works for a local garage. Any messing about whatsoever on her part isn't on.

wylie

You have been nice enough at this stage, I would just go through your insurance OP.

Good luck

cormie

Does anyone else not think it would be better to just agree a settlement price rather than spending 800eur to repair cosmetic damage on a car that's probably not even worth that? Even if you got 500, that would be saving her 300 and what odds is it to her whether your car is looking good or not, she just cares about having to pay out I'd say. If you got 500 and sold the car for 400, then that's €100 more in value you're getting than if you got the repairs done and sold it for €800 without the cosmetic flaw.

mickdw

Surely insurance will only pay out value of the car so going through insurance will not result in a money maker in this case.

Squidgy Black

cormie wrote: »

Does anyone else not think it would be better to just agree a settlement price rather than spending 800eur to repair cosmetic damage on a car that's probably not even worth that? Even if you got 500, that would be saving her 300 and what odds is it to her whether your car is looking good or not, she just cares about having to pay out I'd say. If you got 500 and sold the car for 400, then that's €100 more in value you're getting than if you got the repairs done and sold it for €800 without the cosmetic flaw.

Why would he sell his car? He'd then be left without a car and end up spending money on a new car which he could end up having loads of trouble from, especially if it's for 900 quid.

monkeysnapper

A few years ago our neighbour took out our back light on our 99 Audi a4 . now this car was immaculate. And she scratched back by light.

She admitted fault and said get it fixed and shed pay bill.

When we gave her bill for 180 she refused to pay it.

My advice ....... Insurance ..... I won't be making that mistake again .

cormie

_Tyrrell_ wrote: »

Why would he sell his car? He'd then be left without a car and end up spending money on a new car which he could end up having loads of trouble from, especially if it's for 900 quid.

If they were considering getting rid of it any time in the near future I meant to say

Lellostag

Definitely go through the insurance. The quoted €800 is very cheap and she's mad to not accept it, as it'll probably end up being the double when it is done through the insurance anyway, sp her loss in the end.

She sounds like one of those people who just can't help themselves, so for your own peace of mind ignore her and let the insurance company sort it out.

challengemaster

cormie wrote: »

Does anyone else not think it would be better to just agree a settlement price rather than spending 800eur to repair cosmetic damage on a car that's probably not even worth that? Even if you got 500, that would be saving her 300 and what odds is it to her whether your car is looking good or not, she just cares about having to pay out I'd say. If you got 500 and sold the car for 400, then that's €100 more in value you're getting than if you got the repairs done and sold it for €800 without the cosmetic flaw.

Why on earth would anyone in their right mind screw themselves out of money to benefit someone they never met that has just damaged their property and then complained when presented with a repair quote? They obviously don't give a shít about you or your property - that's what insurance is for.

selectamatic

To be honest I wouldn't recommend insurance for many incidents involving older cars as it's a drawn out way of dealing with things and also cars can in general be fixed cheaper. Now I do get the impression that this woman isn't doing herself any favors by acting in the way she has so I would first have a good long calm chat with her about her approach to date and then look to find common ground and proactively work towards fixing the situation. 800 isn't bad when getting a panel beater to do all the work but I feel ye are going about this the wrong way the panel beater should be used for only the back wheel arch damage as this cannot be replaced. It does however make far more sense to replace the two doors with 2nd hand undamaged ones than getting a panel beater to fill and spray them. What color is the car? If its a common enough one I'd be confident ye'd source two doors handy enough. I would recommend ye get this done using the mechanic she works for. That way everything should be all fixed up good as new and cheaper then 800 so everyone will be happy.

colm_mcm

I'd only be using a repairer of my choosing rather than a friend of the person who damaged my car.

the_syco

Tigger wrote: »

Use the money they give you to give the panel guy €800

If she gives you the cash. Me, I pay the mechanic for the work done.

Cianos wrote: »

We got a quote of €800 from a panel beater to fix the damage. The mother is saying it's a ridiculous quote and that the insurance won't pay out that much for my car anyway (99 Ford Focus). The mother actually works for a mechanic (who fixed the wing mirror) and the panel beater was recommended by the same mechanic.

After the bad taste the auld wan is giving me, I'd use the panel beater that the insurance company advises you to use, or one that I'd know of. The panel beater she wants you to use may do it cheaper, but maybe not a good job of it. At the end of the day, it's your car, his wallet. She doesn't want to play ball, don't play ball with her, go through the insurance, and she'll find out the hard way not to smack the gift horse in the mouth!

selectamatic

When its a car thats worth about 500 I wouldn't care who fixed it as long as it was fixed! I drive a 98 1,3 corolla at the moment and to be honest as long as it was fixed satisfactorily after an accident that wasn't my fault I wouldn't get to hung up on who fixed what!

cletus

A guy crashed in to me a couple of months ago. Admitted liability immediately, and asked to pay for it himself. I said id think about it, but got his insurance details anyway, and headed off to work. I received a call from a friend of his to say that if i brought my car to his garage he would repair the damage for me today. Given the extent of the damage, I wasn't to confident that they wouldn't just do a poor cosmetic job (wing, bumper and wing mirror were replaced). I said I'd prefer to go to m through the insurance. His friend told me that if I went that route, he would dispute liability.

tl;dr go with insurance, not with the hassle.


As for people suggesting that the op should settle for second hand parts and a bit of a respray, fine if you caused the damage and want a cheap quick solution, but somebody else damaged your property, through no fault of your own, and you are entitled to have it repaired to a level comparable to before the collision

selectamatic

an unblemished door is the same thing whether new or used it will also have proper ford spec paint on it that has been factory sprayed and dried so in fact it is of a better standard then what a panel beater could do

bazz26

selectamatic wrote: »

When its a car thats worth about 500 I wouldn't care who fixed it as long as it was fixed! I drive a 98 1,3 corolla at the moment and to be honest as long as it was fixed satisfactorily after an accident that wasn't my fault I wouldn't get to hung up on who fixed what!

The value of the OP's car is not the issue here, what is the issue is that this woman is trying to dictate how things pan out on her terms so that it costs her as little as possible to fix someone else's car that her son damaged. The reality is that when you are liable you don't have a choice.

Now most people are reasonable and will only want their car put back to the way it was before the other person damaged it but when you are dealing with someone like this reason goes out the window so time to deal with their insurance company. Her attitude could be the same if the OP's car was worth €5k or €50k.

beauf

selectamatic wrote: »

an unblemished door is the same thing whether new or used it will also have proper ford spec paint on it that has been factory sprayed and dried so in fact it is of a better standard then what a panel beater could do

Paint fades over time differently on different cars. Its likely a donor door or panel will be a different shade then the rest of the cars panels.

I've a very common old car and could never find panels, bumpers. Every place I tried the donor panel were also damaged and would need fixing and spraying to match. So you end up doing the same thing anyway.

Unless you're happy with the "Harlequin" look.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VW_Polo_III_Harlekin.JPG

selectamatic

beauf wrote: »

Paint fades over time differently on different cars. Its likely a donor door or panel will be a different shade then the rest of the cars panels.

I've a very common old car and could never find panels, bumpers. Every place I tried the donor panel were also damaged and would need fixing and spraying to match. So you end up doing the same thing anyway.

Unless you're happy with the "Harlequin" look.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VW_Polo_III_Harlekin.JPG

The rest of the op's car has been weathered since 99 so spraying the doors with fresh paint that is the same code as the original will not produce an identical colour. Where as sourcing a part off a similar aged car that is in good condition can produce a better match. Obviously it might not for example if we were dealing with red, the colour red could be faded on the donor doors, however if that's the case the you don't get those doors you get different ones that match the colour of the rest of the car.
Please OP don't take it that I am defending the woman's actions I most certainly am not. If she reacted like that I'd to me I'd have f*%ked the head of her but I would still take the most logical and stress free method of having my car fixed available and in general that's not through insurance when dealing with cars of a certain age/value. The case would be much different if you had a 152 focus but this is not the case. And before anyone jumps down my throat I drive an auld corolla so I've no high horse to come down off! I'm merely offering a solution that solves the problem without having to deal with insurers as if this is forced through insurance she could deny liability and this would draw things out majorly. Now I'm not saying she would succeed as you have an apology message already but none the less it would take a good while to sort a messy situation like that out! And all for what? The satisfaction of winning that everyone seems to crave why don't people see the value in going for the most stress free solution. Modern society is getting to hung up on insurance claims and court cases in the end the stress and hassle of it all outweighs the "moral victory".

cormie

challengemaster wrote: »

Why on earth would anyone in their right mind screw themselves out of money to benefit someone they never met that has just damaged their property and then complained when presented with a repair quote? They obviously don't give a shít about you or your property - that's what insurance is for.

It's not screwing themselves out of money, it's just a different approach to get more value from the car/their time if they plan on selling it soon than going through all the hassle just to get the car back the way it was in the first place, from which he'll have gained nothing for the time wasted, getting €600 cash means he's already made 75% of what he might hope to sell the car on for and cuts out wasting time with hagglers and tyre kickers when the time comes to upgrade and he can let it go for even €400 and have saved a load of time and avoid the hassle of not being without the car for a few days, insurance meetings etc and have made enough to cover wasted time and the original resale value between the €600 and €400 than he'd be able to sell the car for had it never happened.

The way the OP describes the mother makes her sound like a difficult bean, but maybe she's just thinking out loud after getting a much higher price than what she was thinking given the value of the car, she probably didn't think about the labour/paint involved and is just basing her shock and reaction against the value of the car, which isn't such a rare reaction for one to have when they first learn about the price of something. She might just need a day or two to calm down and digest the costs involved and then she'll be more understanding and cooperative.

There's people here talking about using it as a money maker and going on a city break and people supporting their suggestions. The OP owes the mother no favours but maybe they don't want to go the "money maker" approach and my suggestion would suit the OP better and the only person losing out is the panel beater not getting extra business.

Someone was at fault and scraped the door of my car after contact on a roundabout, she disputed liability at first. It left a mark that actually just polished out at no cost other than a small bit of time. In the end she agreed to donate a small sum to an animal charity and that was it all done.