Dinged another car

Burnsie1983

So, when parking my car at a garage today (I had to take it back cos the fix wasn't right!) I accidentally dinges another car.

It is the first time I have ever done anything like this in nearly 20 years of driving. 

I immediately informed the garage, but t-cut didn't cut it!

Ideally I want to keep insurance out of this as the fix will cost around £200. The garage will inform the owner.

I am ideally looking for a mobile job that can come to the garage and do it in their car park so the owner can just pick his car up as normal (ie once the garage has fitted his water pump) with no inconvenience.

I am still to speak to the end. One quote suggested they needed the car for 2 days, and thus I was thinking.... Do I need to offer a hire car as well as the fix? I'm guessing so 

ElephantBoy57

Burnsie1983 said:

Ideally I want to keep insurance out of this as the fix will cost around £200. The garage will inform the owner.
I am still to speak to the end. One quote suggested they needed the car for 2 days, and thus I was thinking.... Do I need to offer a hire car as well as the fix? I'm guessing so 

The owner of the other car may prefer the safety of going through your insurance. If you come accrosss as genuine and offer enough, the other cars owner may play ball.

Burnsie1983

ElephantBoy57 said:

Burnsie1983 said:

Ideally I want to keep insurance out of this as the fix will cost around £200. The garage will inform the owner.
I am still to speak to the end. One quote suggested they needed the car for 2 days, and thus I was thinking.... Do I need to offer a hire car as well as the fix? I'm guessing so 

The owner of the other car may prefer the safety of going through your insurance. If you come accrosss as genuine and offer enough, the other cars owner may play ball.

Up to him I guess. I'd hope he prefer the speed of getting his car back. Guess I'll have to sweet talk   

Scrapit

Its out of your hands if they go through the insurance. I wouldnt for both your sakes in your the the other parties position but there are the insurance police on this site that will remind us that we are contractually obliged to inform our insurers. Thats will cost both of you money in the long run, hence why I wouldnt.

Aylesbury_Duck

Personally I would inform your insurer for information purposes anyway, just don't involve them in a claim (if the other party agrees).  That way you're covered if the other party deliberately or just inadvertently informs their insurer later on.  It's not worth the potential hassle if they do find out and you will have met your contractual obligations.

Homer_home

Why can't the garage it's at fix the repair?

As you're at fault it's up to the injured party as to how they proceed , all you can do is try to persuade them around to your thinking , if you move fast enough , and can get the car repaired before they would pick it up normally you might get lucky.....

KimJongUn88

Most garages that undertake mechanical repairs don’t have a spray booth or Bodyshop.

Petriix

I'd get a few quotes and then offer the third party the cash plus £50 or so sweetener. It's really not worth the hassle or increased premiums for either party to involve the insurers for a minor prang where no injury is involved. It is absolutely their right to claim against your insurance but would likely be losing out by doing so, assuming that your offer is sufficient to return the car to it's original condition.

KimJongUn88

As is usually the case, the OP will be shocked at the quote for a proper repair at a proper bodyshop and start moaning that the innocent third party is trying to rip them off. 

MinuteNoodles

Ideally I want to keep insurance out of this as the fix will cost around £200. The garage will inform the owner.

I am still to speak to the end. One quote suggested they needed the car for 2 days, and thus I was thinking.... Do I need to offer a hire car as well as the fix? I'm guessing so 

Who said it'll cost £200, the garage that don't have a body shop and aren't bodywork specialists? If it's metallic paint you can often end up having to do a full side respray costing four figures in order to ensure that a repair doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. If they need a car whilst theirs is getting repaired then yeah you'll need to pay for hire. That could cost the thick end of £150 on it's own.

Burnsie1983

KimJongUn88 said:

As is usually the case, the OP will be shocked at the quote for a proper repair at a proper bodyshop and start moaning that the innocent third party is trying to rip them off. 

Good news. The owner phoned me today to say his car is back and he's happy with the results and to thank me for being so upfront and quick about the process.

A little willing goes a long way. Cost £270 in the end