AIBU to think DS should not pay for damage to driving instructors car?

[Humpyrumpy]

DS damaged the wheel of his instructors car today. Instructor suggests he pays for repair.
AIBU to think that is what insurance is for and that driving instructors cars will inevitably get damaged?

YANBU and I agree with you.

YANBU. Unless your DS threw the instructor out of the car and drove off first.

I suppose it would depend on the circumstances, i.e., if your son had disregarded something that the instructor had told him to do/not do.

Definitely not.

YANBU

A hazard of the job. surely driving instructors expect their cars to be damaged...

How did he damage it?

YANBU. The instructor has dual controls, he should have caught it before it happened and if he couldn't, then I guess it truly was an accident unless there are more details?

No, it shouldn't matter as long as it wasn't deliberate damage. It should be covered by the instructor's insurance.

I wouldn't have thought so! What exactly happened?

Instructors generally have higher insurance for this very reason. Don't pay!

YANBU. Assuming it was a dual control car, the instructor had control of the car and therefore it's at least as much his fault.

Not all instructors have dual controls. I agree it should be the instructors problem as long as DS was broadly complying with the instruction.

Damaging the wheel is likely to have been a steering issue, rather than something you could correct with the dual controls I would have thought. Occupational hazard though.

YANBU, that's exactly what his insurance is for, why didn't he use the dual controls to stop it before it happened? It's the instructors fault, that's what dual controls are for!!

YANBU. I damaged the wheel ony instructors week old car when I was learning (I was actually on the way to my test!) and he never even mentioned me paying for it.

Or maybe I couldn't hear him over my sobbing!

I'm pretty sure that's what insurance is for.

YANBU It's part what you pay for within the lesson, instructor time/petrol/insurance.

That's why it works out (when I looked) £25 per lesson or £125 for a year fully comp on my dh's car for him to teach me.

Zillion When I was learning, I recall my instructor grabbing the wheel so many times if I looked like I was going terribly wrong.

Wow thanks for those speedy responses. I didn't think it was fair, just wondered if it was in anyway standard practice (seems not).

I can't believe people are answering you with YANBU before they even know what your son did.

How did he damage the steering wheel?

My driving instructor's car was written off in my first driving lesson. I didn't have to pay anything, and he carried on teaching me at normal rates as soon as he had a replacement car.

I does sort of depend on how he did it I think. If he took a knife to it or stubbed out his cigarette on it (I'm struggling to imagine how a steering wheel can be damaged) then I guess the instructor might have a point. If it was accidental then the insurance should cover it, and the instructor will be more vigilant in the future.

A wheel, or the steering wheel?

The cynic in me says he'll either pay for the damage or his fees will suddenly increase.

Wheel or steering wheel?

Of course he shouldn't have to pay.

Insurance etc. should be covered by the cost of lessons.