Flying gazebo CF or AIBU

[motormummy]

The neighbours gazebo took off in the wind, blew across the road and landed on two of our vehicles parked on our drive. Minor (£70) damage to one but our low value kids learner car had £400 of deep scratches needing professional repair on 3 panels.
It has taken me the best part of 5 months to sort out getting the work completed on both vehicles, but they are done now. I have kept the neighbours in the loop as to when and where work was being done.
My eldest son was leaning to drive at the time the damage occurred, and the neighbours as an interim payment gave him £200 towards the work.
As the car was having the gazebo damage repaired, I thought it would be practical at the same time to get a couple of unrelated previous minor dinks/ scuffs sorted at the same time and at my own expense. The car is red so it’s never going to look perfect but it certainly looks much nicer now.
I’d had a couple of quotes for the gazebo damage at £400, and the additional work was another £400, which I was prepared to pay myself so no issue there.
But, my neighbours are now saying they don’t think they should have to pay the outstanding £200 for the gazebo damage.
They have paid the £70 for the other vehicle damage, but what has now really upset me is they have insisted on seeing the receipt for the work done on the learner car as if I’m trying to rip them off. Nothing wrong in asking to see the receipt, it’s the manner in which it has been asked for that is the problem, and I’m not asking for more than the damage cost to repair.
They can see the car and I’d told them how much the quotes had been for. Of course I have the receipt for £800 and they can see it, but it’s the principle of the thing now.
If I went to their house and jumped on their car bonnet I wouldn’t expect to only pay half of the damage I’d caused. I feel so hurt and dismayed by their current attitude that I don’t really want to go back and discuss it any more. I just wanted to cry when I got home earlier.
I think maybe they assumed wrongly I wouldn’t get the car repaired as it’s just a little old learner car, and bunging a teenager some cash would be the end of the matter. AIBU to expect them to pay the outstanding £200 or should I just walk away in the interest of neighbourhood harmony?

Look at it from their perspective.... an accident happens and suddenly your learner car looks, in your words, 'a lot nicer'. It could look as though you were taking advantage of the situation and forcing them to pay for additional work. They really have no way of knowing whether you are telling the truth or taking advantage of the situation. So unless they are family or long-time friends, I wouldn't be offended by their request.

Also, for what it's worth, I also would have gone through insurance.

Are they aware that you were gettinf additional work done to the car at your own expense?

I imagine now the work is done, and they can now see the car has had a lot more done to it than repairing the damage the gazebo caused, and are quite reasonably worried that they are being ripped off?

If they've only asked for receipt after seeing the completed work, then i imagine this is the reason. Go and explain that you had additional work done that you paid for, but you might need to get a breakdown from the mechanic for the costs of their damage, and a seperate one for the extras you paid for.

I think you muddied the waters by having extra cosmetic work done on what sounds like a cheaper runaround car. I don't blame them for being suspicious. They probably saw the car being 'minted' when they knew it was already (pre Gazebo strike) somewhat scuffed and scratched etc. Not surprising they may have thought 'hang on a minute, is this all being done on us' l too would've asked for a receipt to ensure l was only paying for my damage.

X posts ChatterMonkey

I'm very surprised they agreed to pay. It should have gone through insurance and they possibly pay the excess although there is no obligation as it is your choice to have an excess on your policy.

I don’t understand why people pay for insurance then go through this rigmarole of avoiding using it at any cost. It just leads to these kind of situations.

You should have given your neighbour a receipt - totally unreasonable of you to expect them to pay without seeing one. You also shouldn’t have had the additional work done at the same time, that would have made me suspicious too.

And as for feeling hurt and mistrusted, I think you need to get a grip.

@NeedAHoliday2021

It’ll be called “an act of god” and your car insurance pays so neighbours not liable. Then you can take them to small claims court with evidence they didn’t anchor it properly. (We had this re a fence panel hitting a neighbour’s car).

It's not an act of God, it's an entirely predictable outcome caused by their negligent failure to secure their property in a strong but not exceptional gust of wind.

I thought the phrase "Act of God" was usually used wrt events which are excluded from insurance coverage anyway!

It’s fair enough for them to ask to see proof of the costs of their damage. You should have asked for two separate receipts.

So I would persist with asking for the money but say they are welcome to check with the garage the cost of the damage.

Come on everyone, we all know that if the Op had gone through insurance then her premiums would have been hiked up for the next five years!

She would understandably like to avoid that, for something which wasn't her fault and THE NEIGHBOURS AGREED TO IT!

I don't think it's unreasonable for them to want to see a receipt but don't berate the op for trying to avoid being hundreds of pounds out of pocket for this!

So the op has extra work done on the car and the neighbours quite rightly want to check they are paying only for the damage they caused.

Imagine it the other way around, would you be telling op to just pay up?

Just show them the receipt, what’s the problem?!

Reminds me of when my friend’s husband did some roofing work on our house. It was more than he quoted us so we asked to see the receipt. Turned out he’d bought himself a new drill too and added that to our bill, the cheeky fucker.

I would have just gone through the insurance if your scenario happened to me.

I really do t understand your AIBU? They've not said they won't pay, they've said can they see the receipt? You seem to have taken massive offence at that, I personally would've gone round and said works complete now, theirs the receipt and my bank details.

Problem solved!

Going through insurance isn't always the best way. The (voluntary) excess on my insurance policy was £500. I didn't realise the compulsory excess was £350. If this happened to me then I'd need to pay £850 in pointless excesses just to have the work done. If the OP has similar insurance costs then no wonder she got it seen privately.

OP, I'd like to see a receipt if I were in your neighbours' position. It's a lot of money to give away in blind faith.

@Offmyfence I agree I'd have immediately provided the receipt without being asked. Odd not to especially for that sort of amount

[quote liveforsummer]@Offmyfence I agree I'd have immediately provided the receipt without being asked. Odd not to especially for that sort of amount [/quote]
Exactly, as an example of someone was isolating and you were getting them done shopping, whilst at the shops. I'd just give them the receipt and say this is how much you owe me.

I think they sound very reasonable. They offered to pay, have already paid £270 and are not really refusing to pay this sun either - they just want to see the receipt.

As pp have said, they could have told you to claim on your insurance.

My guess is they can see that the little learner car has been significantly spruced up. They can see that a lot of prior damage has been repaired and they want to make sure that they're not paying for it. I must admit that I'd be suspicious too - £800 to repair the bodywork of a cheap learner vehicle is a lot.

So what's the problem? You have the receipt - you show them, they pay.

I think the depreciation to the low value car should have been agreed rather than repairs. That is unless the car is relatively new. An 8 year old car, not so much.

Posted too soon. As they agreed to pay, are you going to pursue this?

If you "don't like their manner" even more reason to show them the receipt and get the thing sorted without firther argument.....or maybe you are trying to charge them for some of the other stuff? Its the only reason I can think of not to just do it and get the thing closed out.

You've said more damage than was caused has been repaired, and told them the bill is 400. I think the thing you're not necessarily making clear is the bill was 800 in total. Because I'd be asking to see the receipt if you'd told me it was 400 and had significantly more work done.

I don't believe it was only a couple of minor dinks if it doubled the cost of repairs, so the neighbours has definitely noted the extra work.

The original 200 + 70 was given in good faith, but then you've gone and got extra work done and they're questioning that.

I can appreciate here that it’s a bit of a long post to read completely through for some people here??
But: the principle here is, is it ok now to only for half of something you have broken?
The value of the vehicle is irrelevant. You could replace the word ‘car’ with boat/fence/greenhouse/whatever and have the same question
But thank you mumsnetters I think I have got this now and given my head a wobble.

With out any proof I think paying half is generous, with itemised receipt then if they agreed to pay full then they should pay

It's called act of god and you should go through the insurance which might write of the learner car