Advice Please - I bumped my neighbour's work van parked opposite my drive

Ron_Stoppable

Friday 22 June
I bumped my neighbour's work van while reversing off my drive. It's parked directly opposite my drive, straddling the pavement; they already have two cars on their drive. I apologised to my neighbour and offered to pay repair costs, as I expected them to be far less than £500, the excess on my insurance.

Have a look at the pictures and see if you agree with my assessment of the damage: I was moving very slowly and slightly dented the bodywork and a paint scuff. It's my first accident in 10 years of driving.

Friday 29 June
I got an email from my neighbour telling me that his Transport Manager at work had got a quote from their preferred garage of "about £500."

Sunday 1 July
I emailed his Transport Manager explaining that I found the quote excessive, stating that I had photographic evidence, and asking for a written quote from their garage detailing exactly why £500 was required to repair such minor damage.

Monday 9 July - today
The Transport Manager emailed back. He says he was off sick last week, but that the van has already been fixed.
"As the van is a lease vehicle we have to have the vans repaired by either an authorised Vauxhall dealer or a local garage which is what we have had done in this instance.
The damage caused was not as minor as it looked because where the damage was, meant that a replacement door was required, which is what we have had done.
When I get the final account I will let you know and if you still feel that this amount is excessive then you can let me have your insurance details we will put the claim through insurers.
Hopefully this matter can be resolved quickly."

My queries are:

• As I'm paying, don't they have to go to a local garage of my choosing? Surely they can't just get it fixed for an excessive fee without my agreement?
• If the Transport Manager was off sick last week, then who would have authorised the repair?
• Did he deliberately not respond to my request for details of damage/cost because he knows that £500 is excessive?

Please help!
I have spent the evening googling extensively for some knowledge of my rights here and would gratefully appreciate any advice.

Quentin

You have no excess to pay, so forget that angle.

They are entitled to use their own choice of garage.

So best to leave them to claim against your insurer. Then if the final cost makes it worthwhile, pay your insurer back and get your NCD reinstated.

phill99

Reality is, you have damaged soe one elses property and are acting like the injured party.

From your pics it would appear that the top of the half panel is creased,which is difficult to repair and will normally have to be replaced, then be resprayed and then partially re sign written.

£500 is cheap for that. Put it through your insurers and out it down to insurers.

Ron_Stoppable

phill99 wrote: »

From your pics it would appear that the top of the half panel is creased,which is difficult to repair and will normally have to be replaced, then be resprayed and then partially re sign written.

£500 is cheap for that. Put it through your insurers and out it down to insurers.

I honestly had no idea. It's my first accident ever and I've been driving a fair while. To my untrained eye it just seemed like two bumps and a bit of paint. Thank you for the insight, Phill.

paddedjohn

I agree that the bill doesnt sound a lot for the damage caused by the OP but surely the van owners have shot themselves in the foot by having the repairs carried out already. Is it possible to claim retrospectively?

adamc260

paddedjohn wrote: »

I agree that the bill doesnt sound a lot for the damage caused by the OP but surely the van owners have shot themselves in the foot by having the repairs carried out already. Is it possible to claim retrospectively?

Not really, if they can prove it's reasonable to the insurance company then they can look to reimburse the costs. Generally speaking though you shouldn't have the vehicle repaired without the insurers agreeing to the costs etc (Should you decide to go down that route)

forgotmyname

Have you seen the van since and have they repaired it?

What condition is the rest of the van in?

They could say that the van is advertising their business and it does not look good for customers to see damaged vehicles. Hence the speedy repair.
I guess they could also say you offered to pay for the repair and not put it through the insurance which also pushed them towards a speedy repair.

I think its a choice of payup what they ask or pass it onto your insurance.

They can get your insurance details anyway. So may bypass you and claim directly.

lordra

Wonder what happened!

paddedjohn

lordra wrote: »

Wonder what happened!

Give them a chance, they only posted a few hours ago;)

Ron_Stoppable

Forgot to say above...
Saturday 2nd July - the day after the £500 quote
I went to a local repairs centre, on the recommendation of a friend who owns a business with similar vehicles and uses them for his bodywork repairs. I showed them the damage on my car and the photos of the damage on the van. They quoted £120 exVAT to fix the van (and £90 to fix my car), so I felt aggrieved at the van company quoting £500 - that's why I may have come across as "acting like the injured party" (phill99).

However, from the above replies - thanks everyone! - it seems the quoted repair price may not be excessive after all.

lordra wrote: »

Wonder what happened!

I haven't got the knowledge or expertise to verify the accuracy of a quote for work that has already been carried out. Initially I didn't want to go through insurance as I thought the repairs would be cheaper than my excess.

As that isn't the case, it's wiser for me to inform my insurers, pay the £500 excess, and let them handle repairs/costs.

vaio

don't forget the excess only applies to the damage to your car, by the sound of it you'd still be better off paying the £90 and repairing it yourself