LG John

Last week I had a low speed bump in the beater whereby I ran into the back of a Ford Focus. No attempts were made to dispute liability as I was clearly at fault. At the roadside I exchanged names and addresses with the other driver and told him I'd prefer to resolve the situation without involving insurance given the very minor damage to each car. We were both lone drivers and there were no witnesses. My car has since been repaired with scrappy parts for £30.

The guy has come back clutching quotes for £400-500 for a full rear bumper fitted, painted and ready to go. My first point of contention is that when I inspected the car at the roadside there was only scratches and gouges that could easily be filled and repainted without a replacement part. I obviously couldn't get right under the car to fully inspect it however.

What grates is that I know these quotes contain the usual 'take the ****' markup that coachworks apply to the 'paint materials' and 'labour' part of the charge. I can get the relevant Ford Focus rear bumper with mouldings pre-painted in the specified paint-code colour from Every Car Part delivered to my door for around £150. Chuck £50 at any garage and with the correct clips they will quickly swap the bumpers over. £200 is rather different to £500 but I fell the guy wants the security of just dropping it off at the bodyshop and picking it up when its done. I can appreciate that but by the same token I have to look after my own interests and I'm not prepared to pay that for very minor damage. I do however want the guy to get his car back as it was and as quickly as possible - I'm not shying away from my responsibilities here.

My question is where do I stand here legally. I've told you that its my intention to return his car to its previous condition as quickly as possible but I want to know what the bottom line legal position is so that I know where I stand when trying to press my solution home.

Thanks

Scooby Soon!

If you dont want to pay claim on your insurance?

Scooby Soon!

in my experiance people who dont want to involve insurance companies always change there mind because they dont realise how much it would cost.

If someone hit my car I wouldn't want the replacements parts from "AAA super cheap parts supplies" fitted for cash by a mates mate down the pub. I would want "5 Star auto repair centre"

imlach

If it'd been some banger that bumped into your S2000, would you be happy with the other party trying to fob you off with some part off a website and some back street garage fitting it?

...or would you have wanted the Honda bodyshop to do it, and a new part rather than a 'fill and paint' job.

Answer truthfully now......

LG John

When someone bumped into my S2000 I got it repaired by the local Vauxhual garage for £250 as opposed to the £550 that Honda were charging and that WAS through insurance. Does that answer your question.

This thread is not to debate what YOU or I would want done. I want to establish the legal position not the moral one

imlach

PS Don't know the legal position. However, I'd imagine he could pursue you through small claims court etc etc.....or claim on his insurance, forcing your insurance to pay out.

I did this once when somone hit my parked car and drove off. Neighbour got the number plate. Claimed off her insurance.

imlach

I know, but always good to see the alternative viewpoint.

You got your Honda repaired at a Vauxhall garage? Good grief. Can't believe even YOU went for that

LG John

Imlach what proof does he have I was even there? My car is repaired, he has no witnesses or photographs, etc, etc. See my point? Imagine I want to be a TOTAL c*nt about this - what is the legal position?

LG John

I regard it as pot luck Imlach - they have monkeys that don't care at every garage so you have no way of knowing if the person doing your car is as attentive as I would be when working on it. FWIW I was a little dissapointed with the job but the car is being sold tomorrow and the new owner could hardly even see the tell-tale signs of paint work when I pointed it out to him. I'm very picky though!

imlach

He has your details. Why else would he have them? He'd go to the cops. Once the police were involved, you'd be struggling with your morals.

CLSII

Don't know whether this is any use but a works car scraped my bumper two years ago and I was told to get some quotes prior to it being fixed without insurance being involved.

A new replacement bumper fitted and already colour coded by a Honda dealer was £120 (The car was a Honda). To get it sorted in a body shop I was quoted £350 and I would have lost the use of the car for possibly 3 days.

I had expected the Honda dealers to be vastly more expensive than a body shop but couldn't have been more wrong, basically because the labour costs were so low because of the ease of replacement. Might be worth a quick call to a main dealer.

LUCKO

iTrader: (3)

you mean claim this incident never happened

you sir are a w4nker, i hope you get analy violated if caught

51st state

imlach
even insurance company's do "fill and paint" its just that they have nice fancy garages and yes sir, no sir , staff to BS you,
if he went through insurance they would take into account the age and condition of the focus!!
older than 3/4years old (not certain on year) you would get fill and paint, even on your S2000!!!!!
and some of the repairs i see coming from your so called squeaky clean dealers can't touch the old dirty back alley garages,

Bubba po

Did YOU write your details on a piece of paper, or did he?

imlach

Absolutely. I'm very picky too though. I've found a good main dealer bodyshop and they gave personal attention. Had 2 resprays to get a small imperfection right...they were quite happy to redo it.

I prefer to arrange my own respray rather then let the ins co do it. Has worked well in the past.

LG John

Useful CSL - I'll give Ford a buzz in the morning

LG John

Lucko I'm not going to do that - I've made it perfectly clear that I want to get the guy sorted out. I've posted on here several times in the last year when someone has hit my S2000 and driven off. I've spend time and money putting right others mistakes and I know how it feels. But, to negotiate effectively to a solution that all parties are happy with its important that I know the absolute bottom line if I really wanted to dig my heels in.

andythejock01wrx

Kenny,

Until last year I was a Team leader in a motor claims office.

Firstly, so did you get the impression this bloke was comprehensively insured or TPF&T ?

Andy Mc

Bubba po

You ran into him! Do the decent thing!

LG John

Insurance wasn't discussed at all to be honest - I'd estimate that the value of the car would dictate comprehensive insurance.

LG John

Bubba, how many times do I have to say that I will ensure that his vehicle is returned to its prior condition in an expedient manner. What the hell else do you want me to do? Pay for engine upgrades or a free holiday for his troubles???

imlach

CLS seems to have a good potential solution. If it can be fixed at a Ford dealer for £250 with a new part, would be ideal solution. He couldn't really complain. I'd rather have a new painted part than a respray if possible (assuming colour match).

Bubba po

I EXPECT you to go through the insurance and stop whingeing like a bitch.

Bubba po

<checks reps>

Nope, still ****-all.

Critical Bill

Picture this scene...

You are sitting at the lights when all of a sudden a dozy simpleton drives into the back of your car. Your pride and joy is damaged by the actions of a spacker in a beaten up old **** heap.

The simpleton then gets out and makes out like he's doing you a favour by not disputing his own stupidity and requests you go against all insurance company's advice and take a risk by 'sorting it off the record, guv'.

Not only that, he quibbles when you present him with a quote to put your car back into the condition it was in before he spackered it up and suggests that instead you fill the holes with newspaper and spray it with Halfords generic paint.


Would you go along with that?

imlach

PPS I've heard BSM do refresher courses

LG John

Why the excess will be half the final cost and it'll cost you more in the long run with policy loading. Are you saying if someone dinged your car you'd expect them to go through the insurance to have dentmaster do £50 of work?? Do you realise that doing so would harm your next renewal as well. You know that part, 'have you had any accidents or been involved in any claims in the last 3 years'? If you claimed that dentmaster repair through the other parties insurance you've been involved in a claim and your base-line insurance quote (before NCD is applied) will cost you more.

LG John

Yes, I did when someone ran into the back of my MY99 Impreza. John Banks was in the car at the time mapping it and we had the chase the little f*ck as he tried to run. In the end he gave me cash in hand and the car was repaired perfectly - it was impossible to tell it had ever been done. You are all seriously dillusional if you think that the best way to get a car fixed is to get your insurance company to put it through their list of authorised companies - I'd rather find a company myself and see examples of their work, meet the staff and inspect their premises.

LG John

Or I could just fit a fingertip radio control like the S2000 has

Critical Bill

He was doing a runner, in this case what are the chances he was even insured?

Unless of course by using this example you are trying to tell us that this time you were the uninsured ****** trying to do a runner?

My cars get repaired by the dealer to a standard demanded by my critical eye. To me, if some little gob****e tried to blag his way out on the cheap, he might as well be trying to do a runner. Either way he'd get the back of my hand.