Son's "Old" Car - Dented in Car Park

JohnG

We are in a slight quandary at the moment, our son has just told us that a car reversed into one of his car doors in the local car park as he was reversing out himself.
It's not the worst of dents and doesnt affect the door opening or the car's drive, however its' clearly visible and ordinarily it would/should need repairing.
However, as we are not intending to put the car through any more MOTs after it's current MOT, due to it's age and condition, it doesnt seem worth going through/reporting it thru his insurance especially as it might result in higher premiums in future even though it wasnt his fault?
I've read one or two threads on this subject and the consensus seems that all accidents should be reported to your insurance firm regardless but we just don't want to risk higher premiums especially when the damage is relatively insignificant.

The bloke who reversed into my son has given his details so I'm thinking we should approach him for a sensible private compensation settlement without involving insurances (As I will attempt to knock the dent out myself) I certainly don't think he should get away scot free when it was his mistake for not looking before reversing (Fast too apparently).

Anyone else had this dilema and how did it work out?

19lottie82

so, by saying you don't plan on getting the car MOT'd after the next one, or asking if you should knock it out yourself, are you saying that you wouldn't use any money to get the dent fixed? If so, then sorry but that's dishonest and wrong.

If you are going to get the dent fixed, then of course, get the other party to pay for it, but if not that's pretty sneaky asking for compensation to try and make a quick buck. If the car isn't worth getting put through another MOT then it must be a heap anyway. Do the decent thing, accept that accidents happen, accept the guys apologies and don't try and get money out of him under false pretences.

vaio

although as you say you should report all incidents to your insurance company I can see the thinking that suggests not doing so.

although you are not going to claim for yours because of the age/condition does the same apply to the car that hit you because if he claims for his damage then you will both be on the database and you have zero chance of getting away with not reporting.

New_Collier

We had a similar incident - but it wasnt much of a dilemma. We discussed it with the other [at fault] party, they had trashed their car, the damage to our car was relatively minor, & no one was hurt. They were young, trying to build up NCD. They undertook to pay for a repair to our car at a crash repair garage. We didnt go anywhere near either of our insurance companies. They did what they said they would do. It all worked out fine.

ROY47

The other chap admitted it , HIS fault end of story

get an estimate for it ,DON'T tell insurance unless you want rediculous insurance next time

go and talk to him ,don't say you were going to scrap the car ,show the estimate and then say we would take a settlement and get it sorted with a friend who owns a bodyshop for x amount

if you explain to him about his insurance doubling next renewal I know I would pay up

and as for this quote

"so, by saying you don't plan on getting the car MOT'd after the next one, or asking if you should knock it out yourself, are you saying that you wouldn't use any money to get the dent fixed? If so, then sorry but that's dishonest and wrong."

one answer to that

come into the real world of insurance rocketing sky high

If both sides are happy with outcome , who cares

19lottie82

ROY47 wrote: »

and as for this quote

"so, by saying you don't plan on getting the car MOT'd after the next one, or asking if you should knock it out yourself, are you saying that you wouldn't use any money to get the dent fixed? If so, then sorry but that's dishonest and wrong."

one answer to that

come into the real world of insurance rocketing sky high

what's that got to do with insurance prices, I didn't mention insurance. What I'm saying is, imo it's not morally right to taker money off someone to say you're going to pay for something when you are not. Surely the decent thing to do would be would to be accept it was an accident and these things happen. There would be no way I would take money off someone by lying to line my own pocket.

If they are going to get the dent fixed, take the cost of it from the other driver. If they aren't, dont. Simple.

diable

ask the other driver for a "donation" for the repairs and leave it at that......

ROY47

apologies you are correct you didn't mention insurance prices

but I still say they damaged it ,they pay up end of story

no matter what you do with the money repair vehicle or not

give the one who damaged it a choice of increased insurance next time or not

19lottie82

ROY47 wrote: »

apologies you are correct you didn't mention insurance prices

but I still say they damaged it ,they pay up end of story

no matter what you do with the money repair vehicle or not

give the one who damaged it a choice of increased insurance next time or not

OK fair enough. I guess it's a difference of opinions here. Personally, if I was the OP I would tell them to forget about it, because accidents do happen, as I hope they would if the roles were reversed.

ROY47

"as I hope they would if the roles were reversed."

in the climate of where there's a blame there's aclaim

unfortunately most people don't

pendulum

19lottie82 wrote: »

... are you saying that you wouldn't use any money to get the dent fixed? If so, then sorry but that's dishonest and wrong.

Why? If someone drives in to you they should compensate you enough to get back to the position you were in before the accident, in other words pay for the cost of repair. If the 'victim' accepts that compensation offer, it is then up to them if they get the damage fixed, or choose to live with the damage (and the associated decrease in value of their asset due to the damage).

The only thing wrong with this thread is the fact they've already decided not to put the car through another MoT next year. It's possible it could pass without any work needed?