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.

Bandito909

Selectamatic!!

I think you're the kid's mother! Come clean!!

Pov06

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

Please don't recommend people to do things if you are completely clueless.

You will get 2 used doors of the same colour and they won't match the bodywork of the car!!!

They will need to be sprayed either way to blend the colours in. I don't see why the OP should bother helping the woman. At the end of the day she wants to keep her no claims bonus but if she's asking like a pr1ck then she may as well have it.

We pay high insurance for a reason and for such high premiums I would expect my car to be repaired to the highest standard. She should have thought twice about letting her young lad drive on her insurance.

dodzy

OP, it's fairly simple IMO. If you go through the insurance, the car will be sent to one of the insurance companies approved repair centres. In D15, Soraghans take a great deal of repair work in. If they, or the like, get your car in, I guarantee you the cost of repair work to the damage you referred to will be greater that the cars worth, no question, and therefor your car will be written off.

You may then have an option to buy it back and get a backstreet repair done with the settlement figure. But it will be written off .

Meagepreat

I would say meet her with a mechanic, then she can see the damage and get the honest quote

beauf

selectamatic wrote: »

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.

That doesn't happen. Why would someone spray it the factory colour? They mix a colour to match, and blend it in.

selectamatic wrote: »

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 only hassle with the insurance is that they'll give pittance for an older car. But I've never found it harder. Other then they'll do anything to get out of paying a claim.

Not going through the insurance most of the time ends up in arguing with the other party, as the only reason they won't go through insurance is to save money. So they usually use all sorts of delaying tactic to save even more money, or not pay at all. Not paying at all looks there where its going with the OP case. Doesn't seem like less hassle at all.

I don't get your responses, you seem overly concerned about people claiming on insurance and no experience of car repairs. Yes if the other party was smart, and the OP got three quotes from their own repairers, they should realise just paying the OP is the smartest option. But they seem to want to drag it out, or not pay.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Seth Brundle

Meagepreat wrote: »

I would say meet her with a mechanic, then she can see the damage and get the honest quote

Do mechanics (or body repair specialists) sit around all day waiting for opportunities like this? Presumably they also work for nothing?

ba_barabus

kbannon wrote: »

Do mechanics (or body repair specialists) sit around all day waiting for opportunities like this? Presumably they also work for nothing?

Mike and the mechanics might do a house call :pac:

selectamatic

Pov06 wrote: »

Please don't recommend people to do things if you are completely clueless.

You will get 2 used doors of the same colour and they won't match the bodywork of the car!!!

They will need to be sprayed either way to blend the colours in. I don't see why the OP should bother helping the woman. At the end of the day she wants to keep her no claims bonus but if she's asking like a pr1ck then she may as well have it.

We pay high insurance for a reason and for such high premiums I would expect my car to be repaired to the highest standard. She should have thought twice about letting her young lad drive on her insurance.

I'm sorry but it's quite possible to get used body panels that match the original colour of the car after all they have been sprayed the same colour at roughly the same time so chances are they will still match obviously some replacement parts that are found might not match but in that case you leave said part and keep looking, its a 99 focus not exactly the rarest car in ireland so parts are plentiful.
More to the point I am far from clueless Pov I have fixed two cars this was so far in my life when I have had unfortunate accidents one silver car and one black and both matched just fine so please refrain from the childish name calling when your argument is flawed

ShaunieVW

Even though they were painted at the same time it doesn't mean they will match. There is way too many factors, was it washed and waxed regularly, in a garage? In the sun? Cleaned with the sweeping brush? Absolutely go through the insurance, did the young lad have a full licence I wonder and mammy is trying to keep the fact that he was on his own in the car from insurance?

beauf

selectamatic wrote: »

I'm sorry but it's quite possible to get used body panels that match the original colour of the car ...

Nothing is impossible. But the odds of finding clean panels (not damaged) that are the exact same color and aged the same way, for a 16yr old car are not as easy as you are suggesting. Also its spraying an old car the factory color unmatched/blended that made no sense.

dodzy

dodzy wrote: »

OP, it's fairly simple IMO. If you go through the insurance, the car will be sent to one of the insurance companies approved repair centres. In D15, Soraghans take a great deal of repair work in. If they, or the like, get your car in, I guarantee you the cost of repair work to the damage you referred to will be greater that the cars worth, no question, and therefor your car will be written off.

You may then have an option to buy it back and get a backstreet repair done with the settlement figure. But it will be written off .

That is something most people don't understand. A car written off for insurance purposes isn't necessarily written off totally, as in not drivable. it means that the cost of repairs are more than the value of the car. That could well be the outcome in this case if it goes through insurance. OP needs to tread carefully.

visual

You pay insurance for this very reason
report to garda inform insurance company and let them deal with it.

Don't know why you are even bothering with dealing with the mother. You don't need this hassle.

whomitconcerns

Deleted User wrote: »

That is something most people don't understand. A car written off for insurance purposes isn't necessarily written off totally, as in not drivable. it means that the cost of repairs are more than the value of the car. That could well be the outcome in this case if it goes through insurance. OP needs to tread carefully.

This may apply if he is claiming from his own insurance. But that's not the case here. It's not for her insurance company to decide if its worth repairing...they just have to do it.

mickdw

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That is something most people don't understand. A car written off for insurance purposes isn't necessarily written off totally, as in not drivable. it means that the cost of repairs are more than the value of the car. That could well be the outcome in this case if it goes through insurance. OP needs to tread carefully.

OP could end up with a tiny payout here. What will insurance value this car at? Less than the 800 figure I'm sure

beauf

Deleted User wrote: »

That is something most people don't understand. A car written off for insurance purposes isn't necessarily written off totally, as in not drivable. it means that the cost of repairs are more than the value of the car. That could well be the outcome in this case if it goes through insurance. OP needs to tread carefully.

Thread here with some examples
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/what-happens-when-a-car-is-written-off.82050/

The implication is of course that if you hit an old car, you basically refuse to pay for the repair, knowing it may be written off if the owner claims on your insurance. Which might result in them having to buy a another car.

On the flip side the car is probably worth very little, so the cost of repairs or getting a similar car is probably much the same. The cost to the person who's claimed against though may be very significant in terms of increase premiums.

In my experience people are either easy to deal with or completely irrational when it comes to car accident costs.

beauf

mickdw wrote: »

OP could end up with a tiny payout here. What will insurance value this car at? Less than the 800 figure I'm sure

The other might refuse to pay anything. Insurance might be the only option.

Duckjob

whomitconcerns wrote: »

This may apply if he is claiming from his own insurance. But that's not the case here. It's not for her insurance company to decide if its worth repairing...they just have to do it.

^ this

OP is entitled to have their car restored to the condition before it was damaged. Remember the mothers insurance company are not insuring the car, they are simply paying out for damages, they don't get to force the OP to get rid of their car.

In 20 yrs of driving I've had a few bumps and scrapes where I was at fault. I've always gone out of my way to play nice and put things right outside of insurance because for these relatively small knocks its really not worth getting insurance co involved.

The lady in question would wind her neck in if she had any sense. She sounds a bit dim tbh.

selectamatic

Most definitely a bit dim! She's hung herself by acting so, had she been helpful and understanding about the situation chances are it might not be going through the insurance now her premium will hit the roof all because she reacted so ignorantly to the repair quote that a panel beater her boss recomended gave!
That said I do feel there is a move towards going through insurance for every little thing in Ireland with the result premiums are getting out of hand and most are situations where this can be avoided (although this option is far less desirable for the op as the woman has reacted in such a petty manner)
It takes a highly skilled panel beater to blend two doors that have been filled with a wing that will be left untouched if the whole side of the car was being sprayed it'd be a different story. Also the reaction to using second hand parts to me is quite baffling and also the insinuation that anyone who would use second hand doors wouldn't know what they are at is ridiculous! A door skin is composed of many layers and therefore is very difficult to repair immaculately using the pull fill and spray method. As I write this I'm looking at a silver bora belonging to a local fella and I know for a fact the bonnet 1 wing and the front bumper are second hand replacements due to a run in with a tractor and you genuinely wouldn't know they are replacements unless you were told,this is the best way to fix older cars by a mile if you have a dented door that has been filled there is a chance the seams could be compromised and therefore water can ingress so please don't throw accusations and blanket statements about when there is absolutely another way to fix something that is equally as good if not better than your own preferred method. With regards to paint the first coats are indeed done using the same factory code and the last one is blended however this blending is very difficult when an original part is left in situe directly beside the newly repaired area in this case the wing. Also with regards to a comment made about the woman thinking twice about letting her son on her insurance this is a very flawed statement with the way insurance is for young drivers parents are practically forced to let their children on their insurance if they wish for them to learn to drive at an early age which is the best time to learn by a mile. With the way the woman has reacted insurance is most likely the best way but in many other cases it's not. However it is becoming more and more common for people to go running to insurance companies for every little thing and this is what's driving insurance premiums mental. I'm no fan of insurance companies and for good reason people see them as their guardian angels but they are far from it after all their end game is to make money that simply the name of the game so never forget we as drivers and customers are only ever business nothing more nothing less.

pablo128

@ selectamatic, I get what you are saying about the doors, but at what point do you say a car is only worth X so put S/h doors on it?

Another point is the car is only worth 800. That might be the case, but the OP may well have put 4 tyres and had a service and t/belt done recently. therefore the car is worth much more than that to him.