car ran into my fence- what next?

split_second

hi all bit of a strange situation but hope you can help

last night a car rolled down the hill outside my house and through my front fence, just missing my house :eek: police were informed as it was a strange car, in my garden that smashed my fence (i thought it was stolen)
owner turned up, full of apologies, admitted fault, willing to pay to put it right, doesnt want to go through insurance if possible.

a few quick questions:
1. when the car was retrieved, it sounded like it had underneath damage (lots of scraping metal noises)- his son is going to discuss arrangments for getting the fence fixed, i am going to tell him about the noises on the car so the other guy knows to get it checked out, should i wait till they get the car looked at before getting fence quoutes?

2. should either insurer be informed? the guy doesnt want to inform his insurer and if he pays me off then i dont need to inform mine as it has been accidental damage, he has admitted fault and is willing to pay, he only wants to go to insurance if it works out a lot more than the excess to pay me and fix the car if needed

3. what are the legalities as to what i am entitled to? the fence is 3 quarters damaged. i.e only 2 panels can be kept, they were made by the previous owners of the house and cannot be bought, am i in the right to go to a fence place of my choice, ask them to quote for a regular fence that matches the ones put up by the council around the other houses (surrounding houses are l.a mine is private) even though it is different to what i had (cant exactly ask previous owner to help as he disappeared when the house got repossessed) or am i legally speaking coming out better than before as it would cost a fortune to get that done (they have concrete posts and bases, i had wooden which is cheaper)

thanks in advance

geri1965_2

I would get two estimates and send them to him - he can then decide if he wants to sort it out himself or send it to his insurers. His excess won't apply to your claim anyway, only to his damage. If he can afford to pay for them both himself without involving his insurers then fair enough, but I would have thought that the cost of his vehicle repairs plus your fence damage would amount to quite a lot.

scottishblondie

I'd say it's only reasonable to ask for him to restore what you had before - if he ends up going through the insurance then I can't see an insurance company forking out to replace a wooden fence with more expensive concrete anyway. Get quotes to restore your fence to it's previous condition, since what was there can't be matched exactly then the entire fence should be replaced with something equivalent.

vaio

I think Scottishblondie has pretty much got it spot on. You are entitled to have the fence repaired to what it was before the accident.

So, get a couple of quotes for repairing it including making some new panels to match the existing ones (or replacing the remaining couple with new so they all match).

Once the third party or their insurer has agreed the costs then you are at liberty to negotiate with the fence people to up grade the fence to whatever you want with you paying the extra cost.

split_second

thanks

the main problem is the 3 wrecked gates cost nearly £100 each to buy- then there is fitting. i will get the quotes, let him decide what to do, i'll just have the equivalent of what i had then decide what i want to do long term, i'll ask for a quote for everything up to and including the main gate which has been damaged, then once that is done ask for a seperate quote for the remaining 2 panels which were not damaged and will just mismatch.

that way an insurer/any outsider cant say i am being unreasonable, there is a clear divide of a 3ft wide path between what he damaged and is paying for and what doesnt match and i am paying for

vaio

I don't think you would be being unreasonable to expect a fence that matches everywhere. So either the damaged panels get replaced with something that matches the rest or they replace the whole lot