Knock for Knock Bump

daxprime

Hi all.

Long time reader... first time poster.

I had a small bump with my neighbour as I was reversing into my drive a few months back. They were reversing out of their drive as I was reversing into mine. We both got out and looked a bit embarrassed. Oh well these things happen and the main thing is that nobody is hurt. We didn't bother going through insurance companies because the damage wasn't that bad and the excess would probably have been more than the cost of repairs. Plus premiums would go up etc etc.

Anyway, it turns out my car didn't really have any damage aside from some nasty scratches down to the base layer... but its a light coloured car anyway so I left it as-is. Theirs however had a nasty crushed corner on the bumper. It was an older car so the bumper was metal. They got some quotes for their repairs and mentioned when I saw them a few weeks later that it cost about £300 to get a new bumper + spraying + installation. Not as terrible as I thought for an older model. Anyway a month later I received a letter through the post. It was a copy of the repair bills with quite a blunt letter asking when the AGREED repair bill would be paid by myself...

HOLD UP? Sorry I must have missed something there? Agreed costs? I didn't agree to anything. Oh wait and now its £400? They had gone and done extra work because something else needed repairs and thought they could chuck that in as well! Just add your fuel bill on as well while you're at it!

I told them there wasn't an agreement of any sorts and they lost it. I mean properly lost it. I walked away from their house because they were just getting more and more angry. They started messaging me on Facebook with more abuse. Claiming I fully agreed to fix pay their repair costs and that I conned them into not going through their insurers. The truth is that when we got out of our cars after the incident, they were the first to say we should avoid talking to our insurance companies. They would come around periodically and bang on the door yelling all sorts.

Anyway fast forward 2 more months to today and now they're planning to take me to small claims court. What a waste of court time. I don't even have my car any more because I share my partners to save costs.

So the question is: should I be worried about this going to Small Claims Court? Surely they can't win this... There's absolutely no agreement in place and nothing in writing. I know verbal agreements are still legally binding but I didn't agree anything and at the end of the day, they are the ones who have to prove the agreement. I can pretty much sit there and say diddly squat.

I feel like this has cost them more than they thought and now they're annoyed they didn't go via their insurance company and now want to take it out on me.

Anybody had this happen before? Would it be worth going to my insurers and getting them to take the case on?

Cheers all,

D

AndyMc.....

daxprime wrote: »

Hi all.

Long time reader... first time poster.

I had a small bump with my neighbour as I was reversing into my drive a few months back. They were reversing out of their drive as I was reversing into mine. We both got out and looked a bit embarrassed. Oh well these things happen and the main thing is that nobody is hurt. We didn't bother going through insurance companies because the damage wasn't that bad and the excess would probably have been more than the cost of repairs. Plus premiums would go up etc etc.

Anyway, it turns out my car didn't really have any damage aside from some nasty scratches down to the base layer... but its a light coloured car anyway so I left it as-is. Theirs however had a nasty crushed corner on the bumper. It was an older car so the bumper was metal. They got some quotes for their repairs and mentioned when I saw them a few weeks later that it cost about £300 to get a new bumper + spraying + installation. Not as terrible as I thought for an older model. Anyway a month later I received a letter through the post. It was a copy of the repair bills with quite a blunt letter asking when the AGREED repair bill would be paid by myself...

HOLD UP? Sorry I must have missed something there? Agreed costs? I didn't agree to anything. Oh wait and now its £400? They had gone and done extra work because something else needed repairs and thought they could chuck that in as well! Just add your fuel bill on as well while you're at it!

I told them there wasn't an agreement of any sorts and they lost it. I mean properly lost it. I walked away from their house because they were just getting more and more angry. They started messaging me on Facebook with more abuse. Claiming I fully agreed to fix pay their repair costs and that I conned them into not going through their insurers. The truth is that when we got out of our cars after the incident, they were the first to say we should avoid talking to our insurance companies. They would come around periodically and bang on the door yelling all sorts.

Anyway fast forward 2 more months to today and now they're planning to take me to small claims court. What a waste of court time. I don't even have my car any more because I share my partners to save costs.

So the question is: should I be worried about this going to Small Claims Court? Surely they can't win this... There's absolutely no agreement in place and nothing in writing. I know verbal agreements are still legally binding but I didn't agree anything and at the end of the day, they are the ones who have to prove the agreement. I can pretty much sit there and say diddly squat.

I feel like this has cost them more than they thought and now they're annoyed they didn't go via their insurance company and now want to take it out on me.

Anybody had this happen before? Would it be worth going to my insurers and getting them to take the case on?

Cheers all,

D

Surely with split liability you'd be liable for half their costs.

daxprime

If we went down the insurance route I guess so yeah? But it was never officially agreed with insurers as split liability. Between us we know that both parties are to blame. I just don't see what their objective is going through small claims without some kind of proof. I feel like they've decided they now can't afford the costs and want their money compensated for.

debtdebt

It’s all down to how liability is apportioned. Have you both agreed it was 50/50?

If so, they owe you 50% of your damage and you owe them 50% of theirs.

If they take you to Court, you’re going to have to enter your own cost of repairs as a counter claim otherwise you will be estopped from claiming them.

[Deleted User]

Did you report the incident to your insurers at all?

daxprime

Sorry I should have been clearer.

We both agreed to fix our own cars. No agreement of us helping them and them helping us. We didn't fix our car because it wasn't worth it. Plus we don't have the cash.

[Deleted User]

So it wasn't reported to your insurance for information, they will be unhappy to say the least.
Good luck getting them involved now.

If the neighbour is harassing you report it to police.
Unless you feel like paying their demand court is the next option for you both.

daxprime

Hey sorry I didn't see your question about insurance. We initially spoke about it with our insurers and they said that if the damage was as minimal as we suggested AND it was likely to be split liability, that we could try and resolve it outside of a claim.

Car_54

Get an estimate for your repairs. It proBably won’t be much less than theirs. Write to them, then if necessary counter their court claim.

daxprime

Unfortunately we don't own the car anymore! We've downsized to one! Plus the damage was so minimal it wouldn't have been worth the time. I think my bumper bounced off of theirs without crushing.

AndyMc.....

daxprime wrote: »

Hey sorry I didn't see your question about insurance. We initially spoke about it with our insurers and they said that if the damage was as minimal as we suggested AND it was likely to be split liability, that we could try and resolve it outside of a claim.

Send the court paperwork to your insurance and let them sort it.

Then declare an at fault claim to your partners insurance.