Money Moral Dilemma: Should we pay to repair our neighbours' car?

Bellisima

Amazing how few people ever want to claim on their own insurance, but then is that not the whole point of insurance, to pay for damage that occurs by accident? Cars do sometimes spontaneously combust, just seen that on the Watchdog programme. Nothing to do with poor maintenance and everything to do with poor manufacture.

I have claimed on my car insurance a couple of times in the 40 years I have been driving, and the premiums hardly went up at all. Yes I lost some of my No Claims, but not all.

If you cannot find out how the fire started (how do you even start) then your neighbour should claim on their insurance. Their car was probably accidently damaged by being parked close to yours, so how can this be your fault?

Kynthia

This really should be in the insurance section of the forum. There are too many people commenting here with no knowledge of how insurance works.

If the policy holder wasn't responsible for the fire in any way, then their insurance isn't going to cover other people's losses. That's what other people's insurance is for.

Only the OP can decide whether want to pay for their neighbour's loss, can afford it, and what will happen to their relationship if they don't. However legally they don't have to as they didn't do anything wrong. A compromise could be to cover the excess or the first year's difference in premium, but it would have to be clear it was a one off goodwill gesture.

hazyjo

No.


What if it had caught fire in a car park? Would you expect to pay for the damage to all the surrounding cars?

gloriouslyhappy

I'd let the other people sort out whether or not they wish to make an insurance claim if their damage wasn't covered by my insurers and would not offer to pay for their damage. However, in the interest of good neighbourly relations, I'd take round a 'sorry' card and a small gift eg bottle of wine / bunch of flowers / flowering plant.

Ilona

gloriouslyhappy wrote: »

in the interest of good neighbourly relations, I'd take round a 'sorry' card and a small gift eg bottle of wine / bunch of flowers / flowering plant.

Saying sorry is an admission of guilt. If involved in an accident never say you're sorry, even if it was your fault. Just exchange insurance details and let them sort it out.

Ilona

System

Lots of people saying no here, when really and morally, your property (through no fault of your own) has damaged someone elses property. Think for a minute if it was drainage and you had flooded someones house, wouldn't you feel obliged to offer to help?


In my view, if you can afford to repair your neighbour's car, then you should offer to do that, as it was your property that damaged theirs. Remember, if your property was not positioned there, there would be no damage ultimately, it's your reposibility.


Obviously, if the damage is substantial and you cannot afford to put it right, then you have no option but to tell them they must claim on their own insurance. it's just one of those things, accidents that you have to suck up and move on with. If you can't afford it, you haven't another option really. Tell your neighbour that your insurance and their insurance will need to battle it out how they wish.


I wish to add something though...if you agree to pay, then be very careful, these things have a habit of spiralling out of control cost wise. You'll be fighting over which garage, hourly costs, replacement of parts. I would chuck it to the insurance companies, apologise profusely, bake them a cake, do a BBQ for them, whatever it takes to get your relationship back on track. If they don't agree, who really cares?

saphist

In law the insurance company should be liable. One of the main principles of Insurance is Proximate Cause,which briefly is the active efficient cause which brings about a chain of events without the intervention of a new and independant cause.eg if your home contents are smoke damaged because of a fire in adjoining property. I can only think the person you are dealing with at the insurance company does not have enough knowledge regarding this. Approach them again and if they still say they are not liable consult a solicitor because they are.

newwiseman

Assuming the fire was not deliberate vandalism, so was an unforseen fault for example, it was still your vehicle that caused the damage, so your neighbour could justifiably sue you for the damage. Your car insurance may not cover this but this is public liability and would expect home insurance to cover this. If not, you are still liable, certainly not your neighbour.

tain

I don't think I have enough insurance knowledge to properly comment, but these are the questions I'm asking myself about this situation:

- Why would negligence be the deciding factor in a payout?

- If there is a good reason for the insurance company not paying out, then you need to consider this carefully. If your neighbour disagrees, then they need to get their insurance company to counter the findings of your insurance company. This isn't something you should do yourself.

- Cost is a major factor. I wouldn't even be asking if we're talking about just £200 or so, as the insurance excess will be more than that. Thousands, then I'd be demanding they went through the insurance anyway.

NBLondon

I'm guessing that the questioner's insurance company is rejecting the possibility of a claim from the neighbour based on the terms of that policy. The neighbour could claim from their own insurance but that insurance company w(c)ould then try to recover their losses from the questioner as the primary cause of the damage to their client's property. Plus the neighbour could also sue for loss of NCD etc. So if the questioner's motor insurance doesn't pay that - does their home insurance cover them?

So the answer is whether offering to pay the neighbour is a cheaper option in the long run than being sued and having insurance companies and solicitors fight it out.