AIBU to insist he gets more than one quote??

[clpsmum]

I reversed into a parked car at the weekend. Got out and checked both cars for damage, mine was fine the other had a tiny shatter sort of scratch about an inch long on the bumper. I knocked on the door and explained what happened and left my details etc.

Next day they called and said repair would be £140. I took the money to them end of story or so I thought.

They A&E now saying there is a lot more internal damage than originally thought and the repair will be £725 and possibly more if they discover any more damage.

I actually don't know how I managed to cause this much damage as it was the tiniest little bump. However I did and I accept responsibility. Thing is they are refusing to get quotes from any other garage. Are they BU or am I to ask them for other quotes to compare?

I would tell them that you have now reported to your insurance company, and they will be handling everything from here. Do not hand over any more money, they are taking you for a ride.

I suspect they have now taken it into the garage for a full service or something! Ask to see a copy of both estimates, the £140 and £700 one and see what extra has been included and if it is even in the same area.

If they refuse, pass it to your insurance company. Did you get a receipt for the £140?

Pretty silly thing to hand over cash in the first place, always go through insurance

Btw I got the £140 cash back from him when he started on about further repairs etc. was just trying to avoid insurance premiums going up and loss of NC

Did you take a photo of the bump?

Have an email from them with a breakdown of costs/damage. Then you can work out if it is reasonable or not.

That sounds very dodgy. If you do want to get it fixed without the insurance company getting involved then tell him you want to have a bodywork person of your choice come to him to give a quote - its not causing him hassle so he would have no grounds to refuse really. If he does then clearly he is being a thieving shit. Well done for knocking on his door, not many would.

It sounds like the boot floor may be bent, it is an expensive repair and most insurance will write the car off.

Modern car bumpers have crumble zones, so the bumper looks fine but a lot of internal damage can be done.

And it's people taking advantage that makes people not want to own up- my now DH went very gently into the back of someone's car when he was in his first year of driving. There was some damage to the other car- however on closer inspection the damage had rusted, so can't have been DH! He paid a small amount (less than £100 I think) to the other party anyway, because his insurance was extortionate and he didn't want to run the risk of an insurance claim bumping up his premiums even more.

With that in mind, when I scraped another car getting into a very tight space at uni, I got out, examined my car and theirs, and decided they'd never notice one more scratch among the many that were on there. And didn't own up, in case they tried to claim for more damage than I had caused.

Definitely ask for a breakdown of costs as a start.