to ask for more than one quote?

[fluffyanimal]

Had a small prang in the car the other day, entirely my fault. We were both moving at very slow speeds. My car is hardly marked, the other driver's has damage to paintwork. We've been sorting it out very amicably and will probably not go through insurers. Other driver has provided me with one quote for the repair. AIBU to ask for another quote for comparison? DH thinks I am, as the other driver has already gone to effort to get the quote and could just decide to let insurers sort it out, which would stuff our no claims bonus. I just want to be sure I'm paying a fair price. Opinions, MN jury?

I can see both sides - usually you'd get 2 quotes but then if I was getting my car repaired, there is only one place I would trust as they did my car before and were who my insurers told me to use on that occasion. Check it's a reputable company and make sure you arrange to pay the company direct so there's no chance of the person using a cheaper quote and pocketing some money from you. Sounds horrible, but in the snow someone went into dh's car and the lady paid direct before we picked up the keys.

We actually went for the cheap option for dh's car as it has high mileage and isn't perfect (if it was my car we would have gone with the full works or new bumper etc as mine is much newer). Our quote for full works was over £300 for a few scratches which we felt unnecessary so got the woman to pay for the £90 job - she still felt that was too much and in the end I felt we should hbave pushed for the £300 job as she was so ungrateful.

I think if you want to keep it private and away from insurers, you should just accept it.

It depends on the car too. If I'd bought brand new, I'd want it to go to the local dealership to have it done. It would cost more there than at a usual garage, but I think that should be my choice if my car has been damged bcause of someone elses mistake. If I wasn't so bothered about the car, I'd still want to use the nearby garage that I trust and who I know will give me a decent courtesy car, or will be willing to drop me home/ collect me if I didn't need a courtesy car.

Thanks both. Good advice about paying direct to the garage.