Neighbour not happy with us and wants us to pay for car damage

[abitmorepls]

Not me, but my partner. We moved into our new house 3 months ago, and our driveway is right next to our neighbour’s, separated by a small picket fence. Yesterday, my partner decided to wash his car for the first time since we moved here. We didn’t think much of it until our neighbour knocked on our door this morning, saying there were dirt and stone chips on the side of her car, and she thinks it’s from my partner using the pressure washer. We obviously apologised and offered to pay for her to get her car professionally cleaned or suggested that my partner could do it, but she said there’s paint damage from the stone chips and that a clean wouldn’t really help. My partner thinks it’ll be fine after a wash, but she was upset, not aggressive, but very upset, and asked why we didn’t let her know so she could have moved her car. Honestly, we didn’t realise it would be a problem, he used to wash his car all the time at our old house, and nothing like this ever happened. So, what should we do now? I feel caught in the middle.

Depends. Does your DH think that he could have been responsible for stone chips hitting her car? Certainly, if stone chips have hit it (regardless of who/what was responsible), a clean wont help.
In the past have you pressure washed a car in close proximity of another one? My dh always makes sure ours is out of the way of others when doing it .I think in this case I'd probably do the right neighbourly thing and pay to get it sorted out. Unless she is a proven CF.

Frankly, unless she had evidence that he caused the damage, I'd be ignoring her. You could be heading down a slippery slope if you acquiesce to her demands so easily, just because she said so.

If she's so convinced, she can contact her own car insurance and let them handle it, but she'd be responsible for the excess.

A pressure washer to wash a car?

Why? Is this a common thing?

When he washed the car before, was it right next to someone else's car or did he previously have more room?

How do you think the dirt and damage happened if you believe she's lying or mistaken?

its an entirely normal thing yes.

Could you elaborate? When was a hosepipe no longer adequate?

Unfortunately a pressure washer will send debris flying all over so if her car is as close to yours as it sounds I'd imagine there would be some marks left on it. Complete lack of commonsense on your DP'S part. Do you not have third party liability cover on your house insurance? I'd check on that first.

Yes very common?

How close were the cars OP and have you seen the damage yourself? If you are living in closer proximity to neighbours than before you may have to change the way you do some things

Your dp lacks common sense, its obvious a pressure washer will send debris flying all over. Its not a hose pipe. Unfortunately in this case it’s a case he pays to fix whatever damage was caused by his own stupidity.

I fail to see how him washing the car could kick up stone chips that hit theirs unless he deliberately aimed the stream at the floor that had stones just lying there.

And no way could your car have had, what, stones just sat on it big enough to cause chips as they were blasted off?

Nah. Total chancers. Id be apologising if they felt it was caused by him. Make it clear a professional valet was offered just as a courtesy, take it or leave it.

Very common nowadays

Need the pressure washer to apply the snowfoam, then to rinse, then hand wash, then rinse, then dry, then apply sealer...

It's not just a bucket, sponge and hose anymore :)

Its your partners problem let him deal with it.

If I was him I would ask them to put an insurance claim in. Was a mistake to admit liability with someone like that Chips were prob there before but partner should have been more careful. But its not in writing. I think they would struggle to get a successful claim

Do you have a gravel driveway? Are there little stones that could have caused the damage?
pressure washers do flick stones, dirt and debris up if you aim the spray in the wrong direction.

Are there stones nearby that have been lifted? Can you see the damage?

I know nothing of pressure washing, but logic would indicate that blasting mud and grit off your car in close proximity to another car could cause mud transfer and damage from grit to the other car. And a quick internet search confirms that idea.

My lower legs were similarly affected last summer when I pressure washed the patio. If there are stone chips I would ask her to get some quotes to see how much it will be to repair.

What do you do?
You make good any damage caused by DP. Washing a car isn’t going to help repair paint chips.

What is the surface of the driveway? I agree that a pressure washer would dislodge stone chips, but there’s also a fence between the properties. If the drive is very loose stones or gravel, it certainly could cause damage, but not if it’s block paving or tarmac, unless the tarmac has degraded.

It’s difficult to prove either way. She can’t prove your DP did the damage and he can’t prove that he didn’t.

this. We just have tarmac so it isn't an issue but we're still careful.

She would need to prove that any damage from stones was caused by the jet wash.

Have you actually looked? Seems like the sensible way to deal with it. Assess if there actually is any damage first then go from there. If there is it’s likely that your dh has caused it, pressure washers will throw up all sorts of debris. But don’t agree until
you actually check for yourself.

Using a pressure hose anywhere near anything of anyone else's is a stupid idea for this very reason.

Sort your neighbour out with proper compensation.

I’m really appalled by the “she can’t prove it” type comments. No, maybe she can’t. But the OP does accept that the pressure washer did flick stuff onto the neighbours car so knows her DP is responsible for damage. I shouldn’t be shocked at how many people would refuse to fix damage they caused but I actually am.

Extremely easy to do this if the ground has the slightest bit of gravel on it. Pressure washers have their place, but the jet they produce can throw up a huge amount of dirt and debris, including small stones, if not used very carefully.