UKC

In a (hopefully) brief moment of incompetence I managed to very slowly reverse into another car the other day in the private carpark we share with neighbours. The car was a Volkswagen and belonged to friends of a neighbour. It's a small, shallow dent in the passenger door. I owned up straight away and left my details for the car owner to phone me.

As, until now, I've managed not to drive into someone else's car, I've no experience with this sort of thing. I assume that it would be better to settle privately, expecting that it would be a few hundred to repair and I'm reluctant to wave goodbye to my many years of no-claims bonus.

I've spoken to the owner and they said they would get a quote from the volkswagen garage. This worried me as dealer garages are usually very very expensive and I tend to avoid them. She then went on to say that this had happened to them before and the cost was in the thousands. Which seems excessive to say the least.

So I phoned the garage I use for maintenance, he phoned the body workers he uses and gave me an estimate (without being able to see the car) of between £400 and £800. The latter was if the whole panel had to be replaced. I can stomach that and it'll teach me to be more careful.

But I'm worried that the owner will get a high estimate from the Volkwagen garage and insist I pay for that. What would a Volkwagen garage be able to do that another bodywork repairer wouldn't?

So it would be good to work out what my options are; forewarned and forearmed as it were. Does anyone have any advice?
Perhaps I might be better to go through insurance companies?

Thanks for your help.

In reply to El Greyo:

I'd recommend just speaking to the neighbor. It all seems pretty amicable so far so just mention that you know a good friendly garage and would they mind if you got a quote from there also to compare. And if you end up going there then buy them a nice bottle of wine as a thank you for being so understanding and it's all in the past and forgotten. Worked for me

In reply to El Greyo:

see what they're quoted, if it's very high then ask them if they mind a second opinion from a garage you know that's good. If they say no though you're going to have to accept it's either cough up or go through the insurance company.

In reply to El Greyo: How much no-claims would you loose? (Worth a phonecall to find out). Next renewal, it might be worth getting protected no claims bonus.

In reply to El Greyo: If it's small and shallow - is the paint broken ? If not - these can sometimes be popped back out by people like these.

http://www.chipsaway.co.uk/services/minor-dents/

Watch out for VW, or whoever saying that the side impact bars have been bent if they haven't.

In reply to El Greyo:

You could offer to do the repair yourself

youtube.com/watch?v=1IL22sLF25s&

In reply to El Greyo: When our car was bumped in the carpark we claimed off their insurance who refused to send it to VW for the repairs - the colour match on the repaired panel is close but not quite identical to the rest of the car.

In reply to tipsy:

Yes, that would certainly be my hoped for outcome. Sorry, in case it wasn't clear - the car belongs to a friend of the neighbour, who was just visiting, rather than the neighbour themselves. It would be simpler if it was the neighbour as we get on well with them.

In reply to El Greyo: Don't forget that it is not in their interest to go through the insurance either.
Even though it's a non fault they have to declare it for the next 5 years and their policy will go up a bit.

In reply to Scarab9:

Thanks. There was just something in the conversation with the owner that made me think they might not accept another garage.

We'll see. If it's too much and I can't budge the owner, I'll go through insurance. I haven't contacted the insurers yet.

In reply to Mark Kemball: Will check my policy tonight. You might be right about protected no claims. Ah, hindsight!

In reply to Dax H:

I didn't know that, but it may be worth knowing.

In reply to El Greyo: A colleague of my wife bumped in to our car in the work park and even though it was a relatively minor bump and we tried to encourage them to do it privately he decided to go through the insurance route which then the following year put ours up by some margin. It would have been cheaper to just ignore the whole thing in the end even though we were not at fault.

In reply to El Greyo:

If it is a car still under manufacturer/dealer warranty, that warranty becomes void as soon as any work, even dent removal, is carried out by a non-VW-authorised dealer. That might be the issue here.

In reply to El Greyo:

It may be worth pointing out that if you go through insurance there is next to no chance it will be via a VW dealer, most likely someone like chips away, if not an insurer approved repair garage who will use perfectly good, but non manufacture parts.

You could offer to pay for a hire car for them for the day (prob cost you £50)

Bare in mind, that contacting your insurer to report this even if you don't claim could cost you on your premium (as you've had an accident). Of course not declaring this anyway could be considered as a non-disclosure. (but plenty of people don't report this kind of knock)

In reply to El Greyo: Matching dent on the other side?

In reply to Blue Straggler:

That indeed might well be an issue. I will have to find out whether it's still under warranty.

Thanks

In reply to El Greyo: You haven't mentioned how old their car is?

If I was servicing my car at the main dealership to maintain warranty for instance, or just because I trust them to do a proper job.......... I would expect any damage caused by someone else to be done at the same place. You have inconvenienced them, not the other way around.

If down the line there is a problem with a dodgy repair, it's a lot easier to get fixed at no cost at a main dealer than Joe Bloggs down the road.

Not having a go......... it's purely a business transaction to me. Looking after myself. Your worries would be very secondary if it was a decent car. If you felt you didn't want to pay the cash....... that's what we have insurance for!!!

In reply to Blue Straggler:

"If it is a car still under manufacturer/dealer warranty, that warranty becomes void as soon as any work, even dent removal, is carried out by a non-VW-authorised dealer. That might be the issue here."

I thought the EU legislated against that a few years ago, in that work must be done to the manufacturer's specification using original parts but need not be done by a main dealer.

Neil

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Whilst widely believed, and perpetuated by dealers, this is a myth and infact the legal basis for the warranty remains regardless of who repairs or services your vehicle provided they are qualified to do the work (The only exception to this is if they bought an extended dealer tied warranty with their car i.e. parted with cash for it, not thrown in free)

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consumer_leaflets/cars/oft707.pdf

http://www.impalaclub.com/naisso/magmoss.htm

In reply to Neil Williams:

Doesn't need to be original parts, only suitable/appropriate parts - virtually no insurance repair uses OEM parts these days.

In reply to balmybaldwin and Neil:

Happy to be corrected. My "info" was from late 2003 (I was the VW owner who was hit by another driver, my car was second hand from a VW-authorised franchise dealer and was within the 12 month warranty that was provided with the car). I was told that the repair must be done at any VW-authorised repairer (not at a VW garage necessarily) and nobody objected so it was never an issue. The repairer was a third-party independent back-street place anyway - but it was VW-approved/authorised. As I said, there were no objections so nobody looked into whether this "rule" was a myth or not.

In reply to Neil Williams:

VW told is that last year, however the insurance still refused to let us have it repaired at our local VW dealer - and instead insisted on sending it away to their approved repairer.

In reply to El Greyo:

My wife did something similar. Tiny scratch on the other car, no mark on ours and she told them. The other car was nearly new tiny little Toyota and the owner took it to a Toyota dealer who decided to replace the entire panel and respray the whole front of the car presumably for an 'as new' result. While this happened they got a rental car for a week. Total cost about £2,500.

Our insurance refused to pay because it was excessive, the other insurance company sued me as the insured person and our insurance defended it. I think the two insurance companies eventually settled before the actual hearing and more than a year after the scratch happened.

If I was you I'd see if they were open to taking a few hundred quid to walk away and no insurance involvement. If they want thousands or if they have already called their own insurance then you've got no option.

In reply to Wonko The Sane:

Wonko, that may well be their point of view so I do have to tread carefully. And if they insist and it's too much, then I'll go through insurance. I think it's worth me pointing out alternatives though. And yes, it is my fault.

The car is a Volkswagen Fox around four years old. Can't remember the reg off hand.

In reply to El Greyo:

I think that's the approach........ friendly, a bit assertive, pointing out you won't just go with one quotation. It's not a new car.... and not too old. So a repair from a reputable garage should be fair to both!

In reply to Wonko The Sane:

Yes, I'm hoping a sensible compromise can be come to - I certainly wouldn't push for anything I didn't think was a good standard. I generally think if you approach people in a reasonable way, they tend to be reasonable too. I hope so anyway.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Neil, balmy, thanks very much for that. Always good to know where I stand.

In reply to El Greyo:

If you pay insurance why not use it? Whatever, if the other party insists you can't refuse. If this is rare for you you'll soon build your bonus up again and will the cost to the insurance company be your problem?

In reply to El Greyo: he's quite obviously weighing up the least cost option. Sensible.

In reply to El Greyo:
I always buy a car with a dent already in it. It saves time.

In reply to El Greyo:
Num Num is always amused at the way we indemnify ourselves against damage by purchasing insurance, and the insurance companies make the penalties for actually claiming so burdensome that we end up paying for the loss out of our own pockets anyway. Num Num is going to set up an insurance company. The BNN P&I Co. will soon be a houshold name.

In reply to birdie num num:

Or getting insurance for our insurance. Is it possible to get protection for your protection for your no claims yet? Fark me.

In reply to Bobling:
The BNN P&I Co. specializes in protection for your protection for your protection of your no claims bonus. Subject to the usual excesses.

In reply to Bobling: What about insurance against being ripped off by insurance companies?

In reply to Bobling:
Insurers rule the world. They penalize indiscriminately, and make up the premium as they go along. If you get awarded a punishment of three points on your licence for thirty five in a thirty zone, regardless of the fact that you have been punished by points and a fine, which you have duly paid, your insurers will insist that you give them more money for a period of five years, two years after your points have been removed. And all this regardless of the fact that you may have had an accident free forty years driving history with them. The BNN P&I Co. gives you value for money peace of mind. Subject to the usual excesses.

In reply to El Greyo:

If it's private land they might not be able to claim against you anyway. Going by a quick google it depends if the public have access to it, which they definitely do not if there is a barrier

You should still pay though, just saying