Accident problem. Dealing with a dangerous and unpredictable woman. Need advice

Nomad44

I dented a woman's car with my company vehicle. I sustained no damage so asked her if we could sort it out without the insurance company. She obliged and got back an estimate from her dealership of just shy of £700. I gave her the cash. Her car goes in on Monday. If there is damage underneath, the repair bill is likely going to be over a grand which I can't afford. In which case I will have to tell my boss which is what I wanted to avoid all along. Her car will then be at the dealership with no-one to pay for it until the insurance company takes care of it. Can anyone tell me what would happen in this scenario? How will she get her car back? Thanks

Franz_Ferdinand

Nomad44 wrote: »

I dented a woman's car with my company vehicle. I sustained no damage so asked her if we could sort it out without the insurance company. She obliged and got back an estimate from her dealership of just shy of £700. I gave her the cash. Her car goes in on Monday. If there is damage underneath, the repair bill is likely going to be over a grand which I can't afford. In which case I will have to tell my boss which is what I wanted to avoid all along. Her car will then be at the dealership with no-one to pay for it until the insurance company takes care of it. Can anyone tell me what would happen in this scenario? How will she get her car back? Thanks

Simple, it will be returned when the garage are paid.

She has two options, claim via her insurance, which will no doubt involve a car on credit hire. Or she claims direct from your insurance.

How's she dangerous and unpredictable? She's not the one crashing into other vehicles.

Nomad44

Franz_Ferdinand wrote: »

Simple, it will be returned when the garage are paid.

She has two options, claim via her insurance, which will no doubt involve a car on credit hire. Or she claims direct from your insurance.

How's she dangerous and unpredictable? She's not the one crashing into other vehicles.

She will have to claim off my company insurance surely as it was my error. And is she likely to get a coutesy car straight away. And is there any issue with not reporting the accident straight away or can that be explained to the insurance company

Franz_Ferdinand

Nomad44 wrote: »

She will have to claim off my company insurance surely as it was my error. And is she likely to get a coutesy car straight away. And is there any issue with not reporting the accident straight away or can that be explained to the insurance company

Yes, she's likely to get a car.

I don't know your boss, so can't say if there will be any issues. You could get sacked, who knows?

Quentin

How much is (was) the woman's car worth before you hit it? Is it worth the costs you are agreeing to pay?


When you are to blame you are liable for all the costs involved, not just the repair bill, though if repairs are uneconomic then don't agree to pay and offer a write off settlement. (Would the £700 you already paid cover its value before you hit it?)

Nomad44

Quentin wrote: »

How much is (was) the woman's car worth before you hit it? Is it worth the costs you are agreeing to pay?


When you are to blame you are liable for all the costs involved, not just the repair bill, though if repairs are uneconomic then don't agree to pay and offer a write off settlement. (Would the £700 you already paid cover its value before you hit it?)

Its worth more than the repairs. BIB is where the problem is. Initially she was 'you do it my way or not at all', in other words I'd be involving my company and risking the sack. I've already agreed to pay for a hire car while its being fixed, but now she's telling me she will walk and get a taxi if needs be. This is after I pleaded with her to keep the costs of the hire car down. This is what I mean when I say unpredictable and this is why I'm preparing for a worst case scenario as I think she's slightly unhinged

Car_54

I'd suggest the only unhinged thing she has done was agreeing to avoid the insurers.

Nomad44

Car_54 wrote: »

I'd suggest the only unhinged thing she has done was agreeing to avoid the insurers.

Yes , precisely. This is what her old man says, but before you get self righteous, I have given her the repair costs in cash, accepted to pay for a hire car, even though the one she chose was a five seater and costs more than the economy one. I know she's entitled to it as this is what she would get from her insurers, but I'm just asking for a little leeway here. Is there something so wrong in that. I've been landed with over £800 in costs for a dent thats about 2 inches by two inches. Why must everyone extract the most they can get out of any given situation. This happened on Monday. By next Thursday she will have her car back. 10 days. Would it be that quick if she went through the insurance.
And I forgot to add that I didn't scarper after the dent. I could easily have done. It was a quiet residential track.

Franz_Ferdinand

Nomad44 wrote: »

Yes , precisely. This is what her old man says, but before you get self righteous, I have given her the repair costs in cash, accepted to pay for a hire car, even though the one she chose was a five seater and costs more than the economy one. I know she's entitled to it as this is what she would get from her insurers, but I'm just asking for a little leeway here. Is there something so wrong in that. I've been landed with over £800 in costs for a dent thats about 2 inches by two inches. Why must everyone extract the most they can get out of any given situation. This happened on Monday. By next Thursday she will have her car back. 10 days. Would it be that quick if she went through the insurance.

Probably if you're accepting liability.

Wait until she gets her cash lash phone call.

Roland_Sausage

IF it does go to the insurance, surely your boss is going to be asking why you tried to hide it from him?

Might have been better just to be honest and go through insurance in the first place. I doubt your boss would have done much over a minor driving incident.

But trying to cover it up, that's probably a much more serious issue.

Nomad44

Roland_Sausage wrote: »

IF it does go to the insurance, surely your boss is going to be asking why you tried to hide it from him?

Might have been better just to be honest and go through insurance in the first place. I doubt your boss would have done much over a minor driving incident.

But trying to cover it up, that's probably a much more serious issue.

Well no, but I'm not very savvy when it comes to strangers and cars. I never set out to cover it up. I set out to pay for the damages out of my own pocket. Never knew what was involved in such circumstances