How much should I pay?

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  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
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    pendulum wrote: »
    She has a duty to mitigate her losses, that's where the "3 quotes" thing comes from...

    There is no "3 quotes" thing!

    You take your car where you want to!
  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
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    neilmcl wrote: »
    And also be aware that your insurer will expect you to report the accident regardless of fault/claim.

    Not just "expect" it!

    You are bound by the policy conditions to report all losses, and if you don't, then that is a breach of the conditions that can come back and bite you in the future. It allows an insurer to void the policy maybe when you have a big claim against you!

    If you are not making a claim, tell them you are reporting it for information only at this stage.

    Should the costs subsequently escalate, then your insurer can still be involved.

    (Do not admit liability to the third party over this!)
  • neilmcl
    neilmcl Posts: 19,460 Forumite
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    Quentin wrote: »
    There is no "3 quotes" thing!

    You take your car where you want to!
    +1. Agreed. Yes there is a duty to mitigate losses but it'll be up to the OP to take the other driver to court to argue they haven't done this, it's not for the driver to prove this up front by getting multiple quotes.
  • pendulum
    pendulum Posts: 2,302 Forumite
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    neilmcl wrote: »
    Yes there is a duty to mitigate losses but it'll be up to the OP to take the other driver to court to argue they haven't done this
    It is the other way round. If the OP (or their insurer) refuses to pay due to the figures being disputed, it'll be up to the other driver to take the OP to court to recover the money, whereby the burden is on them to convince a judge that the money is justifiably owed.

    Producing multiple quotes and showing you chose the cheapest is an excellent way of justifying the amount owed. With just one quote, the claim is weaker and open to failure if it's agreed by the judge to be unreasonable or excessive.
    Quentin wrote: »
    There is no "3 quotes" thing!

    You take your car where you want to!
    You can, but you won't be able to recoup the money if you take it to the first garage you see and they end up ripping you off, as you've not carried out your duty to mitigate losses. That's not the case if you had sought multiple quotes and opted for the cheapest.

    That's where the "3 quote thing" comes from, and it's not a myth, it is a good idea when dealing with expensive claims. It's not necessary over this £150 bill though.
  • Strider590
    Strider590 Posts: 11,874 Forumite
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    elanora wrote: »
    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.

    That's very cheap for a respray, but expensive for a touch up (or smart repair)..... I suspect they'll do the later and charge slightly over the odds.
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  • Premier_2
    Premier_2 Posts: 15,141 Forumite
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    elanora wrote: »
    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)?

    You should have reported the accident to your insurers and allow them to handle any claim. It's what you pay them for.

    If the insurer believes the price is too high, they will argue the toss with the claimant/their repairer, but to be honest, it's unlikley any decent body shop would give much change out of £150 for a bonnet respray (including all the preparation)
    "Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 2010
  • neilmcl
    neilmcl Posts: 19,460 Forumite
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    pendulum wrote: »
    You can, but you won't be able to recoup the money if you take it to the first garage you see and they end up ripping you off, as you've not carried out your duty to mitigate losses. That's not the case if you had sought multiple quotes and opted for the cheapest.
    No insurer will refuse a claim based one quote from a single garage, particularly if its a main dealer. They may question the claim if it includes things like expensive hire cars etc.

    Bottom line is if you are not at fault there is no legal mechanism in place to say you must have 3 quotes before making a claim.
  • rev_henry
    rev_henry Posts: 4,959 Forumite
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    Premier wrote: »
    You should have reported the accident to your insurers and allow them to handle any claim. It's what you pay them for.

    If the insurer believes the price is too high, they will argue the toss with the claimant/their repairer, but to be honest, it's unlikley any decent body shop would give much change out of £150 for a bonnet respray (including all the preparation)
    Yes and allow them to inflate your premium for the next 5 years and take some NCD off you, just for £150.

    Just pay up OP, and yes a signed 'full and final settlement' statement sounds a good idea.
  • pendulum
    pendulum Posts: 2,302 Forumite
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    neilmcl wrote: »
    No insurer will refuse a claim based one quote from a single garage
    Logical reverse: Every insurer will accept a claim based on one quote from a single garage.

    Wrong. If only it was that easy, it would be like printing money. A reasonableness test IS applied.
  • Joe_Horner
    Joe_Horner Posts: 4,895 Forumite
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    rev_henry wrote: »
    Yes and allow them to inflate your premium for the next 5 years and take some NCD off you, just for £150.

    Just pay up OP, and yes a signed 'full and final settlement' statement sounds a good idea.

    ^^ This. Years ago I had a mate who bought himself a brand new Peugeot (on finance) with his first real pay cheque. On the way home from collecting it from the dealer he stopped at an accessory shop to buy an alarm (they weren't standard fit back then) and someone broke in and stole the radio while he was in the shop!

    Cost of replacement radio and broken window was around £400 and we worked out that, if he claimed on his insurance, they'd pay out £200 (claim less excess) but his loss of no-claims would have cost him around £1200 over the next 4 years.

    So effectively they would have been loaning him 200 quid for 4 years at about 55% APR!

    As for the OP, £150 sounds reasonable for respray of a bonnet. Depending on how new the new mini is, a full panel spray would probably be justified to put it back as close to "as was" as possible.
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