Cyclist damaged my wing mirror

cyclonebri1

dannymccann wrote: »

First off, why not get a quote from somewhere other than a stealership, which will provide the same, if not better service, for half the cost, and second ask the person to go halves on the quote you are happy with and be done with it. Surely the effort and cost of a court case isnt worth even £150 to you? And lets face it, it was an accident, if the girl was out with her mates leaving a trail of destruction behind her I could understand, but she was out with her mum!

In the future park somewhere else further away from the obvious point of travel for pedestrians and cyclists in your new shiny car. Or buy a shitter and then there is no need to worry

I was looking at the cost of complete replacement door mirrors yesterday , I knew they were expensive, £159 unpainted for my car, and it,s nothing fancy, found non oem ones for about £60 on the net, still need painting tho'. The parent may be more agreeable to those figures ??

The plastic cover is available separately for most mirrors, but if the mount or surround is kaput then you will have to replace the lot.
Breakers yards are familiar with the cost of these items so always strip them of salvaged door, you may just be able to get one in the correct colour too. Could save someone, probably you unfortunately, £100, :T

maninthestreet

Check the price on Ebay of a replacement wing mirror. Most mirrors that have a colour-coded cover are sold un-painted. However, you may well find someone on Ebay selling the right cover in the right colour for your car - I did when my wing mirror got damaged on my old car.

custardy

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

I was looking at the cost of complete replacement door mirrors yesterday , I knew they were expensive, £159 unpainted for my car, and it,s nothing fancy, found non oem ones for about £60 on the net, still need painting tho'. The parent may be more agreeable to those figures ??

The plastic cover is available separately for most mirrors, but if the mount or surround is kaput then you will have to replace the lot.
Breakers yards are familiar with the cost of these items so always strip them of salvaged door, you may just be able to get one in the correct colur too. Could save someone, probably you unfortunately, £100, :T

the OP shouldnt have to downgrade the quality of their car for the parents
the OP had an OEM mirror and should be brought back to the same position

cyclonebri1

custardy wrote: »

the OP shouldnt have to downgrade the quality of their car for the parents
the OP had an OEM mirror and should be brought back to the same position

I would agree completely, if this was going through insurance, and another insurered vehicle was involved, unfortunately the OP could well, from what I've read here, end up footing the bill herself.

Ps, you cant tell the difference between the oem and pattern parts I've looked at, so I would save the £100, remember this is MSE?,

Ivrytwr3

sebdangerfield wrote: »

My advice, from a purely moral background would be to get the damage fixed and be grateful of any renumeration from the girl's mother. Afterall, as a cyclist she was under no obligation to even stop in the first place, let alone pay.

What are you talking about? She damaged someones property and you are saying she does not have to pay?

And to those saying go to another garage/search Ebay etc; why?!

The OP has had the car approx 1 year, why should she settle for anything aside from getting the car repaired to the exact standard it was in before some bint rode her cycle into it?

My advice:

a. Get the quote from the VW garage in writing.

b. Get work done, pay for it yourself.

c. Mail quote and bill, recorded delivery, to bint and bints mum, requesting payment with 14 days

d. If failure to pay, or some sob story excuse, take them to small claims; very easy to do.

Get photo's of the damage.

Keep a log of all correspondence/telephone calls between you both.

Ask the witness to write/record a a statement of what he saw (dates/times/weather conditions etc). If it does go to court/insurance, he may forget details, so it's best to write them down now.

gardner1

Ivrytwr3 wrote: »

What are you talking about? She damaged someones property and you are saying she does not have to pay?

And to those saying go to another garage/search Ebay etc; why?!

The OP has had the car approx 1 year, why should she settle for anything aside from getting the car repaired to the exact standard it was in before some bint rode her cycle into it?

My advice:

a. Get the quote from the VW garage in writing.

b. Get work done, pay for it yourself.

c. Mail quote and bill, recorded delivery, to bint and bints mum, requesting payment with 14 days

d. If failure to pay, or some sob story excuse, take them to small claims; very easy to do.

Get photo's of the damage.

Keep a log of all correspondence/telephone calls between you both.

Ask the witness to write/record a a statement of what he saw (dates/times/weather conditions etc). If it does go to court/insurance, he may forget details, so it's best to write them down now.

my thoughts exactly dont take any !!!! just because it was a poor 15 yr old cyclist,at the end of the day she hit your parked car and is liable

richardvc

It would go down as a 'non fault' claim so shouldn't affect your insurance.

Let your insurers know (I believe you are honour bound to do that anyway) and let them do the work for you - it's what you pay them for !

geri1965_2

forgotmyname wrote: »

Wouldnt have thought home insurance would pay out unless you hadsome form of personal cover.

They should help you in the event of someone taking you to court but not pay the costs awarded.

Contents insurance usually has a section which covers you for your personal liability, i.e. if someone claims against you or a family member for something you have done.

The insurers will either defend the claim or settle it, including costs.

Hintza

richardvc wrote: »

It would go down as a 'non fault' claim so shouldn't affect your insurance.

Let your insurers know (I believe you are honour bound to do that anyway) and let them do the work for you - it's what you pay them for !

Personally I wouldn't trust the insurers not to put up the premium. It is just one more accident to be added to the database possibly raising the insurance for everyone in the area.

If it was me I would look at alternative options and trying to make it as cheap as possible for the other party whilst not devaluing the car.

sebdangerfield

pendulum wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Res_ipsa_loquitur

Straightforward case if you ask me. 15yo in sole control of the bike. 15yo hits parked car. This would not normally happen unless there was negligence. Kid defaults to being responsible.

Really the chances of this winning in court are very high, and you must surely admit that the OP has almost nothing to lose by suing in small claims, if indeed it comes to that.

PS) Strongly agree with getting other quotes before you go ahead with the repair work - at least 3 - so you can show you've mitigated losses.

With respect Pendulum, I'm sensing a decent knowledge of law but a distinct lack of the practical application of it.

You are correct that Res ipsa loquitur would apply in some cases of damage but in practical terms the DJ must still be convinced on the balance of probability that the 15 year old had been negligent in it's cause.

In this matter, the car was parked where public were alowed to cross so the 15 year old was acting lawfully in riding her bike and the simple fact of life that 15 year olds fall off bikes sometimes. She does not have to be doing anything wrong or forseeable for this to happen. If this was the case and the matter was forseeable then Res ipsa loquitur may apply.

However, we have the matter that the 15 year was acting entirely within the law by riding her bike on a public right of way, damaged a car belonging to the OP and her mother stopped and offered contact details to the OP when she was under no obligation to. We can't prove that the matter was as a result of negligence on behalf of the 15 year old or malicious so the criminal offence of damage is not made out. Equally, the matter would not proceed far in the civil courts as criminally, the cyclist has no obligation to have even stopped or given details in the first place. The civil part brings us back to the fact the 15 year old was acting lawfully and went beyond what the law demanded of her in stopping and giving details for you to contact her. I'd doubt that any DJ would find in favour of a child going about child like business and having the decency to give you details and offer to pay.

I've said before I'm a criminal lawyer, not a civil one and I'll bow to pendulum's prowess in this matter now. I simply don't see this matter getting past a legal interview with a decent lawyer.