Accident insurance claim

Dixon1976!

I wonder if someone could advise.
I recently backed my car into a parked vehicle and damaged their front passenger door.
The owner wasn't around so I left my contact details.
Owner calls me later that evening and says that he wants to get the damage fixed but doesn't want to go through insurance.
I asked them to obtain 3 quotes and then depending on the amount, I will decide if I can sort with cash or through insurance.
4 weeks later they get back in touch via email and sent me 3 quotes - much higher than I ever expected!! (£1500 - £2000)
However, this is were its gets tricky, on the same day the quotes were received, I happened to be at the same place where the bump took place and the car i hit was also parked up there and had already had the damage repaired. (I did a reg check to make sure and took photos to prove the door was in good condition)

Given that the repair work has been completed without me agreeing to one of the repair quotes or to a process of settlement (cash or via insurance) - where do i stand???
They knowingly sent me 3 quotes after the repair work was already complete which surely isn't the right way to go about this

Any advice please?

Aylesbury_Duck

Dixon1976! wrote: »

I wonder if someone could advise.
I recently backed my car into a parked vehicle and damaged their front passenger door.
The owner wasn't around so I left my contact details.
Owner calls me later that evening and says that he wants to get the damage fixed but doesn't want to go through insurance.
I asked them to obtain 3 quotes and then depending on the amount, I will decide if I can sort with cash or through insurance.
4 weeks later they get back in touch via email and sent me 3 quotes - much higher than I ever expected!! (£1500 - £2000)
However, this is were its gets tricky, on the same day the quotes were received, I happened to be at the same place where the bump took place and the car i hit was also parked up there and had already had the damage repaired. (I did a reg check to make sure and took photos to prove the door was in good condition)

Given that the repair work has been completed without me agreeing to one of the repair quotes or to a process of settlement (cash or via insurance) - where do i stand???
They knowingly sent me 3 quotes after the repair work was already complete which surely isn't the right way to go about this

Any advice please?

£1500 to £2000 is about right. My neighbour had panel damage on a rear door and it was £1560 to repair.

I suppose it is possible the owner has contacted their insurer and made a claim and you are yet to hear about it. It would be odd but if they have given their insurer your details then your insurer is going to want to know why you didn't inform them.

If the other party has had the work done at their own cost without informing their insurer, then that is a tricky situation because if you refuse to pay and opt to put it through insurance instead, both of you are going to be asked questions as to why you didn't notify your respective insurers.

Dixon1976!

Thanks- he hasn't gone through his insurers as he wanted to settle with cash and he only has my name and number at this stage.
I am not trying to dodge payment as I did hit his car but the way he has gone about getting the repair work done before sending the quotes has raised my suspicion somewhat!

harrys_dad

You need to report this to your insurer, and let them deal with it. Irrespective of whether your suspicions are right or not this can only end badly otherwise in my view.

Aylesbury_Duck

I believe he could trace your insurance via your registration number so don't rule it out.

Assuming he has gone ahead and arranged repair privately, I think you have a couple of options:

1. declare what you know, stress that you hadn't agreed to pay for anything until you had seen the quotes and agreed to one of them (or not). What do they propose to do now?
2. say that having reviewed the quotes, they are higher than you envisaged and therefore that you now want to put it through insurance.

I'd be concerned that this is ultimately going to involve insurers and you haven't informed yours four weeks after the accident. If the other party has had the work done and can provide a receipt for a value you're happy with, it might work out and you're left with a bill and the decision as to whether to break the terms of your insurance and the risk that comes with it.

Dixon1976!

Noted thanks for the advice.
The only reason i didn't notify my insurance is that I was willing to settle with cash as I thought it would be about £500 to repair. It took him 4 weeks to come back to me with quotes and until then i was unsure of what I was going to do.
Probably a bit of nativity from my side !!

I'll give him a call

Aylesbury_Duck

Dixon1976! wrote: »

Noted thanks for the advice.
The only reason i didn't notify my insurance is that I was willing to settle with cash as I thought it would be about £500 to repair. It took him 4 weeks to come back to me with quotes and until then i was unsure of what I was going to do.
Probably a bit of nativity from my side !!

I'll give him a call

Probably a bit early for that. Go with an Easter theme first.

Dixon1976!

haha- slight error on my behalf !!