What would you have done?

CuppaTea

Yesterday my son and a few of his school friends were taken by car to another school for an event. As my son got out of the car, a gust of wind took the door and it hit the car next to it, causing bodywork damage.

My son was mortified, petrified and very apologetic. The lady of the car reassured him but wanted the details of the driving mum who was with him, to claim on her insurance.

When I found out about this, I immediately offered to sort out the payment myself and have been liaising with the lady concerned myself.

She message me last night and said she wanted me to know that the incident wasn't entirely my son's fault. She said the driver mum had been badly parked and squeezed herself into a non parking space causing restrictions on each side.

As I have since offered to take responsibility and sort out the payment, I don't feel I can now back down and ask the driver mum to go halves. She originally offered and I declined before I knew of the bad parking.

As the driver mum is a friend and was doing me a favour, I've decided to let it go. Would you do the same?

Comms69

No. I wouldn't offer in the first place until I knew all the facts.


Regardless of fault, the driver is responsible for their vehicle.


Also this is going to cost a fortune!

need_an_answer

I think I would be inclined to initially ask the other driver for a quote to fix her car and go from there.

Even the smallest amounts of damage can actually be quite expensive to fix.

get the quote and then decide if you want to pay or if it is something that needs passing back to your friends insurance company to deal with.

Accidents happen and that is what insurance is for.

In the meantime your friend might also want to tell her insurance company as an advisory measure.

You have been very generous in your actions up to this point but realistically if it is going to cost more than your friends excess on her policy to fix you may need to go down that route.

My understanding is that yes possibly your friend may have been at fault not because she parked too close but because due care wasn't taken when your son opened the door of the car in which she was responsible for.

I feel sorry for your son but as I said before accidents happen and he's done the right thing as have you in trying to take responsibility.

Hope it works out for you all.

System

CuppaTea wrote: »

Yesterday my son and a few of his school friends were taken by car to another school for an event. As my son got out of the car, a gust of wind took the door and it hit the car next to it, causing bodywork damage.

My son was mortified, petrified and very apologetic. The lady of the car reassured him but wanted the details of the driving mum who was with him, to claim on her insurance.

When I found out about this, I immediately offered to sort out the payment myself and have been liaising with the lady concerned myself.

She message me last night and said she wanted me to know that the incident wasn't entirely my son's fault. She said the driver mum had been badly parked and squeezed herself into a non parking space causing restrictions on each side.

As I have since offered to take responsibility and sort out the payment, I don't feel I can now back down and ask the driver mum to go halves. She originally offered and I declined before I knew of the bad parking.

As the driver mum is a friend and was doing me a favour, I've decided to let it go. Would you do the same?

Back away - this ain't your problem. Let the driver and the car owner sort this out through insurance. Maybe you son will be asked for a statement but apart from that, it's not really your concern.

rach_k

How old is your son? I think, for me, it would make a difference from a common sense (rather than legal) perspective e.g. if he's 10, the driver is responsible for getting him out of the car safely but if he's 16 the responsibility shifts more to him. If the gap was tight, a 16 year old should be able to either hold the door firmly, ask a friend to hold it while he gets out or scoot across to the other side.

Either way, as you've already offered to pay for it I would do as long as it's no more than a couple of hundred pounds. If it's more than that or you can't afford it, I'd just apologise to the mum and say it was more than you expected so she'll have to go through her insurance. If your son is older, I'd offer a couple of hundred towards her excess, but if he's young I'd probably offer to go halves. If you might be relying on her for lifts in future, you might want to cover the full excess however old your son is!

AndyPix

^^ Agreed with this ..(meaning post#4 - sorry, cross posted)


Let the insurance companies sort it out - maybe buy the mum a drink next time you see her

bertiewhite

CuppaTea wrote: »

a gust of wind took the door and it hit the car next to it, causing bodywork damage........

.....She said the driver mum had been badly parked and squeezed herself into a non parking space causing restrictions on each side.

It can't have caused that much damage if space was restricted then?

System

Problems arise when (and this happened to a colleague of mine) the bill is astronomical, which it could easily be. My friend scrapped the bumper of a BMW, very small and admitted it with a note on the windscreen. Next thing you know, £1500 for a solid-gold bumper spray done at BMW HQ. Pay it or insurance job. Now, I would wait until you know the bill and then make up your mind IF you really want to get involved. Really though, the driver is at fault AT THE END OF THE DAY as the passenger doesn't have insurance and it was her car that caused the damage.

Pollycat

andydownes123 wrote: »

Back away - this ain't your problem. Let the driver and the car owner sort this out through insurance. Maybe you son will be asked for a statement but apart from that, it's not really your concern.

Can the OP (morally, not legally) back away after:
1. Offering to sort out payment for the damage herself and
2. Refusing the driver's offer to go halves
without causing trouble with the driver who is a friend?

System

Pollycat wrote: »

Can the OP (morally, not legally) back away after:
1. Offering to sort out payment for the damage herself and
2. Refusing the driver's offer to go halves
without causing trouble with the driver who is a friend?

Yeah maybe. Might be the only option when the bill comes in though....

By agreeing this early, the issue might get a bit tricky. Probably why insurance companies insist that you don't accept responsibility until later (if at all), so no one expects anything. If the car is a banger, it could be write-off and if that suits the car owner, then it starts to unravel in any direction.

Couple of years ago I shunted a lady's car. My fault, I was daydreaming. I offered to pay for repairs and then spent two months praying the repairs were financially manageable, because if they weren't, I was going to have to take a huge backwards step and go through insurance anyway.

Often wondered what would happen if a cyclist hit my car...I suppose the honourable thing to do would be to pay for car repairs but I suppose there's no obligation unless you take them to court.

Comms69

andydownes123 wrote: »

Yeah maybe. Might be the only option when the bill comes in though....

By agreeing this early, the issue might get a bit tricky. Probably why insurance companies insist that you don't accept responsibility until later (if at all), so no one expects anything. If the car is a banger, it could be write-off and if that suits the car owner, then it starts to unravel in any direction.

Couple of years ago I shunted a lady's car. My fault, I was daydreaming. I offered to pay for repairs and then spent two months praying the repairs were financially manageable, because if they weren't, I was going to have to take a huge backwards step and go through insurance anyway.

Often wondered what would happen if a cyclist hit my car...I suppose the honourable thing to do would be to pay for car repairs but I suppose there's no obligation unless you take them to court.

Indeed, and that's if you can get details.


It's fundamentally wrong that cyclists have no insurance nor registration.