To get my neighbour to repair my car through her insurance?

[JillBob]

Long story short, my elderly neighbour has managed to crash into the side of my parked car and taken off the wing mirror and scratched the driver side door and wing.

She came around to apologise with her son in tow and when I asked if it was going through insurance she said she would rather pay for the damage.

Before she came round I was adamant that it would go through her insurance but on hearing her explanation it sounds like her husband is currently in hospital and she was rushing there. Hence the crash…

I’ve wasted all today trying to get quotes with very little success other than one from a BMW dealership for at least £1500. I can’t drive the car anywhere as it has no wing mirror and if I’m honest I haven’t got the time to be running around trying to get my car fixed when trying to hold down a full time job and sorting kids.

I also need a car to get me to and from work which I obviously won’t have if it doesn’t go through the insurance.

AIBU to go round and tell her it needs to go through her insurance?

You drive a BMW and use the mirrors?

The other thing to think about is that as you are obviously a nice neighbour, if she is paying you are at least subconsciously going to look for the cheapest quote. That may well not be the best work. In my, albeit admittedly limited, experience, insurance companies tend to go with reputable garages and get a good job done. Obviously if a garage does a botched job for an insurer they are not likely to get more work from them, and if you're unhappy the insurers will be the ones to take it up. Whereas if you ho fir a cheap quote and it's not great then it will be you who ends up fighting with the garage, not your neighbour who will feel her responsibilities end with settling the bill. Protect your own interests - none of it is your fault and it's entirely reasonable to want things sorted properly.

It's the wing mirror. I don't understand why you can't drive it.
Give her the 2 options.

@Lennybenny

It's the wing mirror. I don't understand why you can't drive it. Give her the 2 options.

Not legal - Construction and use.

Definitely go through insurance

You have no guarantee that she would pay herself and could end up being guilt tripped about asking her for money while she’s going through a hard time

Insurance. What if it turns out there's more damage than you realise? Easier and cheaper to go through the insurance.

Insurance definitely. She probably thinks it will be a couple of hundred quid repair and forgotten about.

If it makes you feel any better, our elderly across the road neighbour managed to crash their car off the drive, over the road, into another car, through our front garden and straight into our living room. It was an impressive display of bad driving.

Insurance may be better for her as well, she may have good NCB and therefore may cost her less overall.

Plus hopefully they will alert the DVLA to her dangerous driving.

@sayanythingelse

Insurance definitely. She probably thinks it will be a couple of hundred quid repair and forgotten about.

If it makes you feel any better, our elderly across the road neighbour managed to crash their car off the drive, over the road, into another car, through our front garden and straight into our living room. It was an impressive display of bad driving.

Were they sorry? In shock?

@Dillydollydingdong

You ring your insurance company and tell them what's happened. Hopefully you've got comprehensive insurance and they'll arrange for repairs, apart from your excess which you pay yourself. Your insurance company will then claim from HERS.

Or, if she wants to pay for the damage herself, she can. She can’t be forced to claim on her insurance, but she must tell them about the incident.

Co tact your insurer. Explain what happened. Give them her name,address and car registration. They will take it from there.

The longer you delay calling your insurer, the more they will wonder why it took so long.

I also need a car to get me to and from work which I obviously won’t have if it doesn’t go through the insurance

You will if it goes through your insurance. They make a claim against her. How she pays is up to her. There’s also the possibility that the repairs must be done by someone of whom your insurer approves.

She no doubt thinks it's going to be about £200 worth of damage. Go through the insurance or you'll regret it.

Someone drove into my parked car and drove away. I thought they had just taken off the wing mirror and scraped the drivers side but actually the wheel and axel were also damaged but I couldn’t tell without driving it. It cost thousands - and that was in 1990!
There may be damage you don’t know about yet.

I work in insurance. Go through insurance 100%.

She won't realise how much it's going to cost. She'll think it'll be a few hundred pounds. Body shops are crazily busy at the moment, so are charging full whack without any competitive quotes for quiet periods.

When a neighbour pranged ours in November, it looked just a few dents and scratches, but we got quotes varying from £1500 to £2750 but what was worse was 2-3 MONTH timescales for doing the repairs. We finally got it back at the end of January, so basically, just over 2 months without a car for something pretty simple.

If you can't manage without it, tell her not just the quote, but also that she'll have to finance a hire car - she won't pay all that, so just cut to the chase and get her insurance details. If she won't give you them and insists on paying, just claim on your own insurance and they'll use the database to contact her insurance to make the claim on your behalf.

Yes insurance for that 1500 is going to shock her anyway i reckon plus excess and hire car

just say you cant possibly afford to lay out for one

@skodadoda

Or, if she wants to pay for the damage herself, she can. She can’t be forced to claim on her insurance, but she must tell them about the incident.

It's not her choice, it's not her car. The OP can choose to claim via her insurers who WILL claim against the neighbour's insurance, whether neighbour likes it or not. Only if it were the neighbour's car would she have the choice to repair her own car herself or claim for her own car.

Personally I would go via insurance - you need a hire car, and it is all dealt with without you faffing around.

It was an accident, but you shouldnt be inconvenience because of it.

When she finds out how much it will cost she'll go through the insurers.

Somebody reversed into me in a car park and was going to pay herself until we got the quote for the repair and then she changed her mind.

Also invariably once its in there is part they can't get hold off from Germany. I was 12 weeks without my car for a simple thing but fortunately the insurance paid for the courtesy car.

Let insurance handle it.
They may think they'll be happy footing the bill until they realise just how much it actually costs to have what looks like minor damage repaired and the hire car on top.

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

You drive a BMW and use the mirrors?

Don’t delay and contact your insurers. Let them get the hire car and pay for repairs. Otherwise you’ll be stuck.

She may have no claim bonus protection. She may not be insured. She may have lost her license. None of that is your concern.