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Original poster

Child bashed car door

103 replies

stoneyfaces · 12/04/2024 11:17

This morning I was parked in the school carpark, both me and the next door car were parked properly (neither too close etc) the kid in the back of the next car was jumping around a bit and being a bit silly, but then swung their car door out and took a massive dent out of the side of my car.

It is going to cost a lot to repair- it’s damaged 2 panels and it’s quite a nice car. The mum of the kid said it was just an accident, and I should claim on my insurance- she wouldn’t give me her insurance details as she said it wouldn’t be covered because her car was stationary and it wasn’t the drivers fault (I suspect she might be right). Should she pay out of her own pocket for the damage?

OP posts:
LittleBearPad · 12/04/2024 11:18

Phone your insurance company give them her registration and let them sort it out.

crumblingschools · 12/04/2024 11:18

As @LittleBearPad said

Original poster
stoneyfaces · 12/04/2024 11:19

But no fault claims still result in higher insurance premiums, I could be penalised going forwards

OP posts:
LeafUsAlone · 12/04/2024 11:20

Did you take any photos at the time with her car in it? Regardless, as above, let the insurance find her and deal with it.

LittleBearPad · 12/04/2024 11:20

Not necessarily, depends on the policy, and you’ll be better off than having to pay out to fix it now.

Sunshineclouds11 · 12/04/2024 11:21

stoneyfaces · 12/04/2024 11:19

But no fault claims still result in higher insurance premiums, I could be penalised going forwards

Not always.

This is what you pay insurance for.

TheBestEverMouse · 12/04/2024 11:21

She's being absolutely ridiculous. Her son opened the car door into your car. Her fault! Even accidents can still be someone's 'fault' even if they didn't mean to do something. You need her insurance details.

SpicyNoodleSoup · 12/04/2024 11:22

She should absolutely pay to fix the damage. It's up to her if it goes through her insurance or not.
If she won't accept this, I would call your insurance and explain what happened and give her reg number. Let them sort it out.

MrsSkylerWhite · 12/04/2024 11:22

Some people are unbelievable. As others have said, give the details to your insurers.

QuitMoaning · 12/04/2024 11:22

stoneyfaces · 12/04/2024 11:19

But no fault claims still result in higher insurance premiums, I could be penalised going forwards

So what do you want to do? Repair yourself and possibly no impact on future premiums or claim of the insurance who will ask her to reimburse.
I am not sure what you are asking as none of us can go and get her to pay you direct.

TimeGrabsYouByTheWrist · 12/04/2024 11:22

Did you know this person?

I'd phone your insurance, give her registration.

Her saying it wouldn't be covered because the car was stationary is utterly bull sh*t!

Was there any CCTV? I'd be tempted to give her registration to the police if you don't have a name stating she refused to give her details.

Vitriolinsanity · 12/04/2024 11:22

My son did the same to a stationary hire car in a car park. Their insurance claimed against me.

Original poster
stoneyfaces · 12/04/2024 11:28

I have photos, her car reg and know her name.

There’s lots online about non-fault claims still affecting insurance prices and I don’t want to put in a claim if it is going to be rejected because both cars were stationary and there was no driver fault. It looks to me to be a closer situation to vandalism- which not all policies cover.

OP posts:
LittleBearPad · 12/04/2024 11:30

stoneyfaces · 12/04/2024 11:28

I have photos, her car reg and know her name.

There’s lots online about non-fault claims still affecting insurance prices and I don’t want to put in a claim if it is going to be rejected because both cars were stationary and there was no driver fault. It looks to me to be a closer situation to vandalism- which not all policies cover.

If you phone your insurance company you’ll be able to find out rather than randomly googling things!

crumblingschools · 12/04/2024 11:30

You should tell your insurance company anyway if you are having repairs done

MinervaMcGonagallsCat · 12/04/2024 11:30

LittleBearPad · 12/04/2024 11:18

Phone your insurance company give them her registration and let them sort it out.

This.

It's her (child's) fault and her insurance problem not yours. If she doesn't want to claim she pays it herself.

I'm pretty sure it's an offence fir her to refuse to give you her details.

MinervaMcGonagallsCat · 12/04/2024 11:31

stoneyfaces · 12/04/2024 11:19

But no fault claims still result in higher insurance premiums, I could be penalised going forwards

It's not your fault so it shouldn't affect your insurance. Your insurance company will take it up with hers.

Clearinguptheclutter · 12/04/2024 11:32

you need to tell your insurance company what happened and ask them to advise if you can claim. Doesn’t mean you then claim.

the best course of action would be for her to agree to pay you and not involve
insurance at all. Thats what happened when similar happened to me. But it doesn’t look likely.

Dotjones · 12/04/2024 11:33

You are probably obliged to inform your insurer even if you don't make a claim - most policies require you to inform them if there's something that "could" lead to a claim.

It's true that even when you're not at fault a claim can lead to increased premiums but
a) you've got a good chance it won't, if you were both parked correctly like you say
b) if they were to find out somehow your policy could be cancelled which might be a major problem if you have an accident in future which they refuse to pay you for because you invalidated your insurance by not telling them.

Definitelynotme2022 · 12/04/2024 11:37

If you phone your insurance company and ask, you may still be penalised!!

This has just happened to my xh. His van was broken into, and he phoned and spoke to insurance company but decided to pay for it himself. He's just renewed his van insurance, ticked the no claims in the last 5 years box, and they phoned and charged him an extra £80 because it still counts.. And this will be for 5 years.

TeresaCrowd · 12/04/2024 11:40

I made a claim of someone elses insurance for this and it was fine. My policy didnt go up much as they recovered all costs from the other side. Careless woman with shopping bags. My car was pretty new, in excellent condition and had a specialist paint, plus the dent was in the door pillar area so a new panel not a pull out job. Cost nearly £3k. Her 'car' was stationary but her door (part of her car) was moving... Initially she wanted to avoid insurance but when she got the quote she soon changed her mind. I let my insurers know I was pursuing someone but not making a claim to start with.

I do think the amount insurance premiums sometimes get hiked when nothing has yet happened is a bit rich though. It was in a car park of a major tourist attraction nowhere near my home, so none of the location or usage risk based factors they ask about when calculating your price has changed, and I just parked up like every other person centrally in a space. It doesn't inherently make me more of a risk yet they are allowed to say it does (whilst not allowed to accept that if they are going to use the big sweeping statistics rather than on an actual individual basis, that women are far less costly than young men). More people would do the right thing without a load of hassle if it was like other insurances like holidays, or my pushbike policy, where it's not a massive hassle to make a claim. Hell my cycling policy even replaces new for old and costs a tenner a month, so you don't get people feigning personal injuries to get enough money to replace their written off possessions. Another rant for another day though.

AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii · 12/04/2024 11:45

Definitely let the insurance deal with it OP. I would be absolutely livid if this happened to me, I’m always eyeballing people who park next to me getting out or with kids. I open my kids car doors for them if parked next to another car because they can be unpredictable. I see it all the time in car parks people flinging their doors open without a care or not watching or helping their kids out of the car

Longma · 12/04/2024 12:01

Should she pay out of her own pocket for the damage?

You can't force her to not go through the insurance or,to hand over money to you.

If you go through your insurance you can give them her car registration details. They may then try to,claim the costs from the tier driver. You dint need their insurance details for that.

Your insurance may or may not be affected by a claim you make which isn't your fault.

You could go online and get a couple of quotes for car insurance with and without the claim to see if it would currently make a difference and how much by.

Re the repairs - maybe go and get a couple of quotes and compare it against what your excess is too.

PollyPut · 12/04/2024 12:22

@stoneyfaces if she'd had child lock on her car then it wouldn't have happened. There are steps she could have taken to prevent this happening.

What would happen if this child opened the door whilst it was moving?

SendmetoWales · 12/04/2024 12:33

Sorry this happened. She will be worried that her insurance premium is going to go up if you claim so she should have offered to pay for the repair. A friend of mine was involved in a similar incident, although he was the one that did the damage. And yes his premium did reflect this when he renewed this month, it was a big hike.