Damaged someone's wing mirror

Tiloumilou

Hello, would love a bit of advice please!

Last Friday, I damaged a gentleman's wing mirror. He was stationary on my left, car on on the pavement on either a single or double yellow line. There was a car turning on my right. I basically thought there was more space and clipped his wing mirror. I stopped, got out of my car and gave him my details. I took his, took a picture of his wing mirror, plate number which also showed the yellow or double yellow line he was parked on) He looked at my car and asked what damaged I had. Basically nothing that a bit of polish on my wing mirror would not erase. I looked at his car and it was a wreck (not damage I caused but you could tell he had a few accidents with it, lost of dents and a missing wing mirror on the other side). He turned round to me and said "oh let's not get the insurance involved and I will give you a call"
I said that I would have a think about it as I had never have an accident before and I did not know what was the usual procedure.

Fast forward today. He calls me and say that the cost of having his wing mirror repaired would be £190 + VAT. I decided to bluff him and said that I had been in touch with my insurance and that I had send them pictures of his wing mirror, along with pictures of mine, plus picture of his car with the plate number and the yellow or double yellow line showing. I said that the insurance were going to investigate why there was so much damaged on his wing mirror and none of mine (was the damage on his done before?) and also whether he should have been parking there in the first place because of the yellow line(s). He got very quiet on the phone. I asked him for his insurance details. He quickly replied that he wasn't able to give them to me as he wasn't at home but would be in touch, he then hang the phone very quickly after that..

Is it just me or is he acting a bit weird, shall I contact my insurance or shall I leave it for now?
Any advice would be very appreciated x

rs65

Tiloumilou wrote: »

Is it just me or is he acting a bit weird

Just you. He is probably speaking to an injury lawyer just now.

You damaged his stationary car (regardless of where it was parked) and had the chance to deal with it outside insurance. I would be telling my insurers now.

notanewuser

Somebody did similar to me (but we were both moving) a few weeks back. They drove off, so I had to sort it out myself. The cover on the repeater light (indicator) on the mirror was smashed - the rest of the mirror and housing was fine. It cost me about £180 to get it fixed.

It doesn't matter where he was parked, or how, you tried to squeeze through a space that was too small. Stop trying to wriggle out of fixing the damage you (and you alone) caused.

lonestarfan

I broke someone's wing mirror caused by a tesco van coming out of a turning too wide. I left my number wrapped up in a plastic bag to keep it dry and left it on their windscreen and they rang me that evening. I agreed for him to get two quotes. What he actually did was get a replacement mirror at a scrap yard. Cost me £20. We were all happy. Sometimes there are genuine people out there. He was really pleased that I left my number. I think it was only proper to do so.
My mums newish car though had a wing mirror replacement and that cost £150 plus vat.
Perhaps he's just gone to an ordinary garage or a dealer and he's entitled to do so as you did break it. Perhaps you could get two quotes yourself. I can't comment on whether you should contact your insurance company or not as I'm not sure.

System

Cars don't have wing mirrors now. They are called door mirrors.

Classic cars have wing mirrors, and they are mounted on the wings.

InsideInsurance

Clifford_Pope wrote: »

Cars don't have wing mirrors now. They are called door mirrors.

Classic cars have wing mirrors, and they are mounted on the wings.

But my Mk1 Ford Fiesta didnt have any lights in its Quarter Light Windows

To the OP - you hit a stationary vehicle and so are liable for it. There are only exceptional circumstances where a stationary object is any way liable for an accident and even then you are talking a token 20%

£190 + VAT, depending on if it was just the glass that broke or something more, sounds fairly reasonable and will be a lot less than the impact of claiming on your insurance.

MoneyMission2015

I agree with notanewuser. It is irrelevant where he was parked, so stop focusing on that. Getting an insurance company involved means you will have to declare that for the next 5 or so years on every renewal.


You could ask him to get 2 or 3 quotes & have the quotes sent to you, then agree to get the repair done & its all over with.

stator

What type of wing mirror is it? If it's a grey plastic job then he's conning you.
If it's a painted colour matched wing mirror with indicator integrated then the quote doesn't sound wrong if it's being done by the dealer.

I don't know why on earth car manufacturers started colour coding bumpers and wing mirrors instead of the old cars where they were meant to be durable and easily replaceable. In my opinion they should change the law to limit the costs of minor damage like this. They should only be able to claim for an unpainted plastic replacement, it would keep our insurance premiums down.

InsideInsurance

stator wrote: »

What type of wing mirror is it? If it's a grey plastic job then he's conning you.
If it's a painted colour matched wing mirror with indicator integrated then the quote doesn't sound wrong if it's being done by the dealer.

Add indicator, dimming glass, motorised etc as well as body coloured and it could be a bit of a bargain, particularly if going to a franchised dealership.

Nasqueron

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Add indicator, dimming glass, motorised etc as well as body coloured and it could be a bit of a bargain, particularly if going to a franchised dealership.

Add heated defogging mirrors to that list on newer cars (mine has them)