Car park damage advice please

paulpud

I've just returned from a weekend away to celebrate my other half's birthday. At the end of an afternoon outing, I parked my car on the hotel car park at about 6.00pm yesterday, and returned to it around 7.45pm to go out for an evening meal. The car park was now almost full, mostly with cars of guests at a wedding reception at the hotel and as I approached my car I noticed the awkward angle and close proximity of the car parked next to me. As I got closer I was gutted to see what looked like quite substantial paint damage to the driver's door and I suspected it had been hit by this awkwardly-parked Audi at the side, confirmed when a closer inspection of the Audi's bumper showed several fresh-looking scrapes on its side.

Whilst the hotel staff attempted to locate the driver of the car, I returned and took some photos of the damage to both cars. When the elderly driver emerged he was initially adamant that he hadn't hit my car, and claimed that he'd noiced the damaged door as he parked but when presented with the evidence he eventually, albeit slightly grudgingly, accepted that it must have been his car that did the damage and we exchanged names, addresses and phone numbers.

With a little finger-wetting and rubbing the damage seemed not to be as bad as it first appeared, and there does not appear to be any significant denting of the body work, but there are one or two deep scratches on the door and sill that will need attention. He expressed a wish, subject to the cost of repairs, to avoid an insurance claim and I told him that I would use a little scratch remover to take out whatever I could before obtaining any repair quotes.

Having never been in this situation before, I would appreciate any advice regarding what to do next. I intended to approach a couple of local body repairers to get a couple of quotes to send to him, requesting either payment of the cheapest quote by return to enable me to get repairs carried out, or his insurance details if he considers the cost worthy of taking that route.

Do I need to inform my insurance company now and make them aware of the situation or will it be ok to let them know if and when the other driver opts to go through insurance? I know insurance companies can inflate premiums for no-fault claims and it would be pretty unfair on me as my car was parked correctly. Also Is there anything else I need to do or should be aware of?


Thanks in advance

oldone_2

Inform your insurance company immediately. In the cold light of day the other driver may decide it was you who damaged his car.

Cash-Cow_3

Under the terms of your policy you have to inform them even if it's just for 'information' as this is likely to be.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

i woundered when the do gooders would jump on it.

listen people is it worth the hassle of "informing" your insurers and having to do so for five years and have a upped premium because youve had a vehicle involved in a minor bump through no fault of your own. do you inform your insurers if you scuff your wing mirrors against a wall? because after all you have to inform the land owner of any potential damage you may have caused to his wall and infrom your insurers, same as if a drunk kicked your mirror off, criminal damage should report to the police and inform your insurers.

if its gunna cost this person who hit the OPs car £200 to have it repaired i think ge'd rather do that and forget about a scuff and the OP and thirdparty can not worry about any insurer adding a risk elemant to their renewal and have to pay for it for five years.

scheming_gypsy

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

i woundered when the do gooders would jump on it.

listen people is it worth the hassle of "informing" your insurers and having to do so for five years and have a upped premium because youve had a vehicle involved in a minor bump through no fault of your own. do you inform your insurers if you scuff your wing mirrors against a wall? because after all you have to inform the land owner of any potential damage you may have caused to his wall and infrom your insurers, same as if a drunk kicked your mirror off, criminal damage should report to the police and inform your insurers.

if its gunna cost this person who hit the OPs car £200 to have it repaired i think ge'd rather do that and forget about a scuff and the OP and thirdparty can not worry about any insurer adding a risk elemant to their renewal and have to pay for it for five years.

that.. just that.

ignore all the people who say you must tell your insurance... if you don't tell your insurance and he doesn't tell his, then it never happened. There's a good chance it might just polish out or need a touch up, if you let him sort it then it's no harm done, if you tell your insurance then you you're telling them you're a liability and more likely to have another accident - which will increase your premium for the next 3 / 5 years.

CaptainKidd

I second what the two above said, aslong as the audi driver pays up the full cost and you are happy then i would just leave it at that, i would also go to decent body repair garages and not the cheap ones just so you can save the guy money as its you who would have to live with it if the job wasnt done right.

Hope you get it all sorted

mrputney08

I would be inclined to sort it out as amicably as poss' between the 2 of you which is what I think what you intend doing.
It would be a lot less hassle and probably save expense in the long run. It all depends what the quotes come back as and you would need to weigh it all up. It would possibly cost you in the region of £200-300 at a 'guesstimate' -for half of the work-and you wouldn't have the use of a car for that time.

If you were to send a copy of the most reasonable quote to the other driver and get him to agree to pay at least half, in writing, and pay you before you get the job done -but push for more to start with- I think that would be a reasonable compromise.

Half a payment for damage is better than several years of blacklisting and higher premiums.
I'm sorry to hear you are having to deal with this and I hope you manage to come to an amicable compromise.

mikey72

What happened to the good old days.
Years ago my car was hit in a hotel car park, they owned up, we went down and had a look. They'd pushed the boot panel in, and when we opened the boot it wouldn't close again.
We both drove round to a local garage, they suggested a price to fix it, they went to the bank, gave us an envelope full of money, we gave them a receipt for full and final settlement, and then spent the money on the holiday.
I pounded the panel out with a hammer until the boot shut again, and left it at that.
Did we inform the insurance?

paulpud

Thanks for all the advice.

I think the first thing I'm going to do is get the quotes sorted out. I'm not going to let just anyone have a go at bodging it because I know the paintwork is a !!!!!! to match up, but I know of a couple of local bodyshops with decent reputations that should be fairly competitive, and may even be able to carry out a 'smart repair' - as long as my car ends up looking like it did on Friday at minimal cost and inconvenience to me I'll be satisfied.

mcjordi

your meant to tell them BUT.. if you can sort it between the 2 of you then do it that way you may well be hit with higher premiums aswell as the old blokey.
if its cheap enough take the cash and do it that way..

atrixblue.-MFR-.

paulpud wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice.

I think the first thing I'm going to do is get the quotes sorted out. I'm not going to let just anyone have a go at bodging it because I know the paintwork is a !!!!!! to match up, but I know of a couple of local bodyshops with decent reputations that should be fairly competitive, and may even be able to carry out a 'smart repair' - as long as my car ends up looking like it did on Friday at minimal cost and inconvenience to me I'll be satisfied.

good luck!!