Accident - my fault.

[littlegreenlight1]

No denying this, just want to make sure I do things the right way.
I reversed outside a local shop and hit a stationary motorbike. Driver was in shop, I went in, apologised, he came out, we swapped numbers (though that is all, he didnt even take my car reg).
Been in touch since, and he has got back to me with an exact figure of £550 worth of damage done.
I havent seen a quote or anything.
Do I accept this and cough up/choose to go through insurance or am I within any kind of right to ask for more than one quote and that I would like to see them?
He claims the bike is rare so this one place has to do it - I assume that is his call and he can take his bike wherever he pleases even if he gets a cheaper quote elsewhere.

I cant afford to settle that out of insurance, so insurance seems to be the way to go. I just cant help wondering if hes spinning me a line, seeing as I havent seen quote etc.

Like I say, totally my fault, how stupid, I parked at shop when bike wasnt there. He parked behind me while I was in shop, I didnt even register bike there when I came out. Idiot.

Just hand it over to your insurance company and they will sort it all out, including where the repairs get done, etc.

I reversed into a stationary car in a car park (similar situation: he had parked behind me, not in a bay, while I was in the shop) and never had to deal with any of it again once I'd phoned my insurance company.

Yeah I know thats what I probably will do, just cant help thinking he is trying it on and dont want to lose my NCD etc.
Ah well. Costly mistake whichever way I go!

It depends a lot on the bike and what happened to it. If you knock over the average modern sportsbike then you could damage the exhaust (several hundred pounds upwards to replace), parts of the fairing (at least a couple of hundred to replace, less if it just needs a repair/respray) plus possibly a footpeg, handlebars and/or brake and clutch levers. That can be £200 just for those. Oh and possibly a mirror and an indicator or two. Call it another £100.

That's not to say that all that damage is always caused when a bike goes down but it can happen. Some bikes crash better than others and luck plays a big part. Nevertheless, £550 is very believable.

And this wasn't an average modern sportsbike, it's a "rare" bike. In the biking world this might mean a custom job, where the average dealership couldn't do the necessary work, or could only do it at much greater expense than his chosen garage, who may have the contacts other dealers wouldn't have. (Custom pipes/tank/paintwork...)

Well indeed. Custom paint jobs aren't cheap.

If it was a classic bike then it could be hideously expensive just because of rarity of parts. A replacement 4-into-4 exhaust for a Kawasaki Z1 is well over a thousand pounds and that's just for a replica.

I dropped my bike at a speed of about 5 miles an hour (don't ask!).

As others have said, foot peg, indicator, mirror, new handlebar, fairing is left scratched as I couldn't afford to replace/repair it.

Then don't forget to throw in labour which is generally more than the parts. £550 is easily achievable.

Sorry.

Well done for being honest. A shame it is so costly.

Some insurers let you have one strike before you lose your NCB. Check it out.

Basically, you need to do the sums. If your NCB comes to more than £500 over the next year or three, you're better off paying direct.