Broke someone's wing mirror whilst driving. How should I approach it?

AdrianC

aileth wrote: »

Hang on a sec, are you saying JUST the mirror part broke or are you saying the whole wing mirror broke? If it's just the glass, £200 is incredible. We had a 2001 reg a-class which had the mirror glass smashed by an errant football, and I think it cost us £15 off ebay. It was heated and electric.

I had a mirror glass broken on my old H-reg Saab. Unfortunately, it'd also broken the motor, but that wasn't visible from outside. The glass wasn't expensive, but the motor certainly was - north of £200 for the pair, and that was about five years ago.

Quentin

jonj123 wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback so far. So if I ask him to sign a piece of paper saying that he has received the money would that be sufficient evidence in case he later contacts my insurer and claims he hasn't received the money?

Yes. But remember you are responsible for all costs (not just the repair), so nothing to stop him coming back and saying he wants paying for a hire car whilst repairs are carried out/they discovered more work - electrics whatever and claiming that off you or your insurer.


Also were he to approach your insurer they will be unhappy you have breached your policy agreement by not notifying them of the incident.


At the very least get him to sign a full and final payment agreement if you feel you trust him not to report this or renege on the deal.

Stoke

Idiophreak wrote: »

£200 doesn't seem crazy money, especially if it was body-coloured. Someone smashed one of mine a few years back and it was £250 odd....

Yeah I know someone who had one stolen off a Fiat Punto and it cost nearly £350 once body colour matched etc.

JustinR1979

Old W reg could be an M5, and a mirror is several hundreds of pounds with the special glass and folding mirror etc.
Maybe offer to get a replacement from ebay/scrappy and bung hom £50 for his trouble.
Replacement shouldn't be more than £20 for a normal car.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

JustinR1979 wrote: »

Old W reg could be an M5, and a mirror is several hundreds of pounds with the special glass and folding mirror etc.
Maybe offer to get a replacement from ebay/scrappy and bung hom £50 for his trouble.
Replacement shouldn't be more than £20 for a normal car.

Are you kidding? my 04 megane black manual mirror was new £65 plus vat from motorfactors in truepart £45 plus 5 shipping from ebay £45 salvage yard £112 from dealership.

JustinR1979

A year ago I got a colour coded mirror for an Audi A4 for about £20 off of ebay, I based my reply on this

atrixblue.-MFR-.

JustinR1979 wrote: »

A year ago I got a colour coded mirror for an Audi A4 for about £20 off of ebay, I based my reply on this

And whilst you got a deal there its wrong to say a normal wing mirror shouldnt be no more than £20. The OP is already thinking the guy is going to rip them off, to say one shouldn't be more than £20 is going to reinforce that thought process of the OP's.

JustinR1979

He could have a quick look around the net, see what's available.
Even £50 mirror plus £50 bung to the chap for his trouble would be a result.

Nodding_Donkey

If I was the op I'd pay it before the guy gets fed up and turns it into an insurance claim with all the expense that involves.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

JustinR1979 wrote: »

He could have a quick look around the net, see what's available.
Even £50 mirror plus £50 bung to the chap for his trouble would be a result.

he could be could prove fruitless,the point here is that OP is at the mercy of this chap. they are at fault, and inconvenienced them for their negligence, and ultimately have very little say in how the chap goes forward, he can get quotes say that's how much its, the op has a choice insurance or pay up or agree to try and mitigate costs by paying garage direct.