to be severely fecked off at receiving bill for slight damage to wall....

[Klaw]

....when at the time of the ding the wall owner said not to worry about it.

I'll try and keep this brief:

Managed to stupidly coast car into wall of my friend's mum's neighbour. My car touched his car and knocked the top of low wall slighlty off.

He was called back from pub to see to damage as I was not about to move my car when it was touching his. He moved his forward and so I could move mine, We lifted top slab back onto wall and it looked no different from before.

I offered my details but he said forget it, so I (foolishly?) said if in cold light of day there was more damage to contact me via friend's mum. I was meaning to his car, really.

Anyway a few weeks later my friend has called me to say that she and her mum are hopping mad cos he's given them a bill of £41 for cementing top stone back, to give to me.

Now, I'm under the impression that he really ought to have contacted me with quote/s before getting work done so that I can agree to it or else arrange to have work done. My partner could have done work for peanuts!

What would you expect?

My friend's mum could refuse to pass bill on to me, cos he doesn't have my details, but I really can't have her taking the brunt of any nonsense that would cause.

He was less than polite when he first arrived at the scene and doesn't really deserve any decency.

No sure what to do for best....

Message withdrawn

Sounds like he's chancing his luck!

When I first starting reading I thought you were going to say that the bill was £100's so £41 seems quite a bargain. If the top slab was loose it would need re-mortaring as it could present a hazard should it fall onto something/someone at a later stage. You did offer to deal with the matter should it warrant it so he is really only doing what you invited him to do. However it might be worth asking for a receipts as a bag or mortar wouldnt cost more than a fiver and take about 20 minutes to do so the rest would be his labour which may be deemed a tad steep. That said, I would be inclined to pay to keep the peace and be grateful that you got off lightly. If you do pay you should get it written down that this is in full and final settlement to stop him then turning round and presenting a bill for damage to his car.

Message withdrawn

Thanks All.

Trifle, I'm not against paying the £41 (which is £41 more than I have at my disposal). I am more annoyed that he's not contacted me prior to getting work carried out

which also worries me (like you say) that he would turn around and present bill for bumper damage, which was purely cosmetic.

And why did he not contact me within, say, 7 days to advise that the top slab needed cementing?

I agree with lennygirl. If I damaged the wall I'd expect to pay and TBH I'd be pleased it was "only" £41. I think I'd struggle to find someone prepared to come out to a job for any less and if he'd gone down the insurance quote type route, it could well have been more.

Pay the bill (as you would have done if that was what he said in the first place) and put it behind you.

I think actually YABU - a bit. If you damaged his property then you should be responsible for repairing it, however, I also think that you could send a note back to him saying that you are prepared to deal with it, provided he can let you see 3 quotes for the work from a range of tradesmen, plus projected costs for any raw materials. Obiously it seems he has already gone ahead and had the work done, but he shouldn't have done, and your response will point that out to him.

Hmmm, difficult one. I would not want to pay if I were you, BUT I would feel bad for friend's mum. It is only £41, and not hundreds, so it's not the end of the world, but, as someone said, he should have gone through insurance company.
COuld you ask him for invoices for work to see prices, and tell him you will pass them onto your insurance company? It might make him go away. I would be very cross that he said it was ok at the time and then billed later.

I would pay and be glad he's not gone through the insurance.

true. Maybe he thinks he's saving you some cash by avoiding insurance.

get him to sign receipt that clearly says you are paying £41:00 in full and final settlement so as to deter him asking for more later

YABU. You offerd to pay without giving a list of conditions (i.e. 3 quotes, using your partners labour, etc). If he had gone the insurance route it could have cost way more as tradesmen have been known to put their prices up for insurance work. £41 including labour and materials seems reasonable. Often there is a min labour fee of a hour anyway.

You say bumper damage is cosmetic, but why should anyone have to put up with any damage to their car if it is noticeable. Scratches and cosmetic damage do devalue cars when you come to sell/trade-in. Only saying this cos someone scratched DH's car in car park and didn't leave a note. It cost £££hundreds so had to claim on insurance.

Agree with trifle about agreeing full & final settlement with this man, if he later claims for his bumper you may have to use your insurance as costs could be high. Ask for receipt (presume bill gives details of tradesman and is to be paid direct?).
Pay up and move-on and be thankful there was no greater damage.

"He was less than polite when he first arrived at the scene and doesn't really deserve any decency".

That seems a bit unfair since you crashed into his car and wall. I would pay the £41 and be very glad I got off lightly - my friend had someone crash into her bumper last week, no damage so she didn't take the name of the person who crashed into her - she took it for a service, they removed the bumper, suspension dented - 400 notes

Which she now has to claim off her insurance - and she has a £150 excess - all for being 'nice'

You were lucky

You didn't hear how he spoke to me!

Anyway, as I said already, I'm not disputing that I should pay the £41, which I don't actually have. I am more annoyed at the bill some 4 to 6 weeks down the line, with no initial contact to say that he had a quote for repair work. Cos my dp could have done a better job (no doubt) for the cost of materials.

I will pay but feel that he's not being fair to me by just landing me a bill after saying he didn't need contact details and all was fine.

Sorry YABU - you offered to pay and he has taken you up on it. £41 doesn't seem excessive so I don't think he's pulling a fast one and really why should he pay?

I would go round with the money and ask directly if he intends to make any further claims and if so could he contact you in advance.

x post!

"so I (foolishly?) said if in cold light of day there was more damage to contact me via friend's mum"

so you hit his car,damaged his wall and then offered him an option to charge you for repaying the damage if he decided to later on.
yep,he's being an unreasonable asshole.
i mean what was his car and wall doing in the way of your poor driving in the first place?

He could have asked for your contact details to discuss it with you first. Doesn't seem right, that he should just hand over a bill like that, when nothing was agreed.

Why don't you call you Citizens Advice office in the morning.