Someone hit our car, now refusing to pay up!

Katyag

I will try and keep it short! lol

On the 10th of Feb someone hit our car while DH was driving (DS and I were also in the car). The police were called and the person who hit us admitted blame completely to the police and us. He told police he wanted to pay for it outside his insurance to protect his no claims bonus, we were a bit iffy about this but police said all his documents checked out and if he then changed his mind about paying they would then charge him with driving without due care and attention.

So last week DH took the car to Ford for a quote to repair it, the front passenger door (where i was sitting) is dented and a large scratch along it, rear passenger door (where DS was sitting) is badly scratched too and so is the rear quarter. We knew Ford would be more pricey than a smaller garage but we told the police we would be going to Ford and they said fine. Anyway quote is just shy of £1,300 plus they will have the car for 8 days and told us to get him to pay for a hire car in the meantime.

So DH spoke to the guy who hit us on Sunday and hes now saying the police told him the damage was approx £300, i mean how would they know! And that he is going back to the police as he isnt happy with the quote, DH told him fine go to the police as they said if he changed his mind he would be charged as hes admitted all blame.

DH has said he will go to a local garage at the weekend and ask for a quote from them too to compare them, but part of me is wondering if we should. I mean hes admitted it, weve done our side so do we have to run after him getting the best quote just to suit the guy who hit (and inconvienced) us??

DavidHM

weve done our side so do we have to run after him getting the best quote just to suit the guy who hit (and inconvienced) us??

Er... not exactly. You are under a duty to mitigate your losses, which means that you can't insist on the most expensive repairer but nor do you have to accept a sub-standard repair.

Ultimately the police don't really have anything to do with this - the charging decision should be quite separate from whether or not he pays up. That means they have no power to insist that the car be taken to Ford, nor can they say of course what a resonable quote is.

Bear in mind that lots of main dealers actually outsource their body shop operations - in which case there is no advantage to you in giving Ford an extra profit margin unless it's to preserve a warranty. I'd probably get two more quotes (emphasising that you want the job done properly) and then give the other side the option of choosing the lowest, so that you cannot be criticised at all - being more than fair to him - and if he still refuses to pay, insist on going through insurance.

Bossyboots

I simply don't understand why you are putting yourself through this. Just get in touch with his insurer direct and make a claim. His no claims bonus is not your problem.

Quinny_2

Bossyboots wrote:

I simply don't understand why you are putting yourself through this. Just get in touch with his insurer direct and make a claim. His no claims bonus is not your problem.

Couldn't agree more,providing you can find out who his insurer is.

Or........

I personally would put it through my own insurance,suffer a reduction in no claims until your legal cover sorts it out.If you have the name of the officer who attended the accident,then they will want this information to substantiate your claim.Finding the name of his insurer won't be a problem to your insurance company,as they will obtain that through his registration number,and also through the DVLA database.

Ken.

DavidHM

The short answer why you would put yourself through this is that if there are three quotes on the table, it will be harder for his insurer to point to any delay in making a claim or to suggest that there is any element of padding to the amount sought, if he does not pay up.

It may be much less painful spending an hour on a Saturday morning getting quotes than spending far longer arguing about whether a quote is reasonable or not when you don't really have any direct comparison.

If he prevaricates further then I would simply refer the matter to his insurers. Given that the police were called to the scene and it is an offence not to give the details of the insurer, the OP should have them to hand - and he will have been given a HORT1 to provide them to the police at a later date, so that if he has lied this can also be checked.

sleepymy

To be fair, I'd get 3 quotes from local garages, don't tell them it's an insurance job because a lot of them stick the arm in stretching the job out so they get more for their courtesy car rental from the insuance.

My hubby pranged a girl's bumper and held his hands up straight away, we said we'd cover it as it wasn't a big job. The first garage said that it'd be something like £350 and they'd need it in for 5 days so would supply a courtesy car. We didn't like to ask the people to run round for quotes so just put it though the insurance. They took the car to another repair place (recommended by my insurers) where the car was photographed, the girl took it back in 2 days later where they had a new bumper sprayed and ready and just popped it on for her. So for the sake of one greedy garage I've lost one of my '3 in 2 yr' protections.

Obviously the job will cost more and take longer than ours but it's doubtful they really need to keep the car that long! Some day it might be you on the receiving end... just make sure the guy pays you the money, don't leave the car in and be left with the bill if he is a sod and does a runner.

Katyag

DavidHM wrote:

Er... not exactly. You are under a duty to mitigate your losses, which means that you can't insist on the most expensive repairer but nor do you have to accept a sub-standard repair.

Ultimately the police don't really have anything to do with this - the charging decision should be quite separate from whether or not he pays up. That means they have no power to insist that the car be taken to Ford, nor can they say of course what a resonable quote is.

No we wont be insisting on the most expensive but since the car is a Ford and the Ford dealership we bought it from is close to our home we took it straight back there. And yes as you say we want it done properly.

The police were involved as he didnt want to give any details and basically wanted to leg it at the scene so we called the police who wanted to give him a breath test incase he had been drinking and thats why he was in such a rush to go.

Katyag

Bossyboots wrote:

I simply don't understand why you are putting yourself through this. Just get in touch with his insurer direct and make a claim. His no claims bonus is not your problem.

This is what im leaning towards now he is getting awkward.

saintjanet

You are in the right they are in the wrong,cost is not your problem,how the other party pays,is not your problem.

Let your ins.co. sort it out,you have a right to expect your car to be in the same condition as it was before.It is not up to you to run around getting quotes to save the other person money,If as you say he admitted fault you will not lose your no claims or any excess you may initially pay,they will claim it back for you from his insurance.

vaio

sleepymy wrote:

.....My hubby pranged a girl's bumper and held his hands up straight away, we said we'd cover it as it wasn't a big job. The first garage said that it'd be something like £350 and they'd need it in for 5 days so would supply a courtesy car. We didn't like to ask the people to run round for quotes so just put it though the insurance. They took the car to another repair place (recommended by my insurers) where the car was photographed, the girl took it back in 2 days later where they had a new bumper sprayed and ready and just popped it on for her. So for the sake of one greedy garage I've lost one of my '3 in 2 yr' protections........

if the final bill was lowish you can generally repay the insurance company and get the claim removed

rosscobley

by the sounds of it the repair will be quite a big job as they will most prob have to respary the complete one side of the car to make it match and blend in with the rest. I would say you are looking around £800 - £1000 for the job to be done tidy. I cant see the other guy having that type of money so speck to your insurance company as the car will have to be off the road for a few days so you will need a hire car and you most prob wont get one of them unless you go with a well known repairer. so that is extra cost as well. He is messing you around so just tell him you are going to contact you insurance and he will have to deal with them. Also try and contact the officer that attened. So can get a written report off him them so there will be no problem with blame then