How much should I pay?

elanora

I backed into a new mini on new years eve. I forgot about celebrating and went home, even though in the storm and night we agreed I had made the slightest scratch on her car near the reg plate and no dent.

She called me today to tell me the garage had said the scratch was deep enough to let water in and they quoted her £150 to respray bonnet.

This may not seem a lot to you and my insurance excess is £250, so should I pay this amount and ask her for a letter saying that it will be the last amount to settle the dispute? Or can I ask her to get a more reasonable quote ( it was smaller than a penny in size)?

vax2002

Yes she has to get 3 quotes.

Sgt_Pepper_2

vax2002 wrote: »

Yes she has to get 3 quotes.

Says who?

Maybe if its going through the insurance.

Obukit

Take the £150, that is cheap for matching paint and respraying an entire panel. In the end she holds all the cards and you need to keep her sweet as an insurance claim will cost you much more than £150 over the next five years.

s_b

its a bargain
yes get her to sign a chitty

[Deleted User]

The excess only applies if you are claiming for damage on your own car. Where you would have to pay the first £250. Does not apply to third parties.

waynedance

pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay pay up.

I hope that makes my opinion clear why risk a claim against you for £150

The end.

Hintza

Standard charge on lease cars is around £200 per scratch so just pay up. She could possibly get it slightly cheaper but not by that much.

Quentin

vax2002 wrote: »

Yes she has to get 3 quotes.

Ignore this bad advice.

(Were she to go to this trouble at your request, then expect to have to pay for all her time and inconvenience).

In fact she is entitled to take the car to any garage of her choosing to get fixed.

Beware simply agreeing to pay yourself - you leave yourself open to the final bill being far more than the £150 (eg a hire car may be needed whilst the job is being done, etc).

neilmcl

And also be aware that your insurer will expect you to report the accident regardless of fault/claim.

pendulum

She has a duty to mitigate her losses, that's where the "3 quotes" thing comes from, it's to stop people from saying "I paid £2,500 to fix this scratch" when it should have cost much less - you have a duty to ensure you pay a fair price for any remedy work. A fair price doesn't have to be the absolute lowest you can get it done for, and £150 is not excessive (paint and bodywork is expensive), so just pay it.